Chapter 26 - KMCF

"Wow!" Her icy blue eyes expanded in awe. "It smells amazing in here!" Her eyes searched the entire shop, not a single detail unsatisfied the girl. A vintage styled store, each detail corresponded to the theme.

Hunter gazed at her with an unconscious smile making its way to the surface. "Pick anything you want." He said, intending to grant her an even bigger smile.

Jennifer's head immediately turned towards Hunter, she wore a joyful expression on her face. "Anything?"

"Anything." He replied before watching her examining the delicious desserts and sweets seated in front of them.

She watched the price of the treats, she smart enough to know Hunter wasn't made of money, plus she didn't want to reduce his hard earned cash drastically. It took her a while to decide, but once she did, her index finger pressed against the glass keeping her away from it. "This one."

Her decision was a donut called Chocoholic, dipped in chocolate, drizzled and decorated in chocolate, and ironically filled with whipped cream.

**End Of Memory**

"Jennifer Anderson?" Called one out of the two men.

I didn't want to reply, but I felt highly obligated to speak up. "Yes?"

They stepped back a little bit and gradually gave us some space before saying anything. "Mr. Manning requests for your presence at Divine Sweets."

"Mr. Manning?" I asked to make sure, at the same time I could feel the stares of Miranda and Marcos stabbing me.

"Yes," the bald one replied, his deep voice echoing.

"This means you've caught Manning's interest, I knew he liked you the moment he saw you." Marcos spoke up with a grin, unaware of the very vital information about Mr. Manning being my childhood friend.

I didn't give a comment to Marcos, instead I turned to my best friend. Miranda only smirked, she really was enjoying this.

"Please inform Mr. Manning that I won't be coming." I told the two muscular men.

If and only if Hunter was ready to tell me everything, then he'd do it himself. He wouldn't send two scary looking guys because he'd be flaunting his wealth, one of the major things he lied about. If he was able to become a billionaire that makes him extremely smart and wise, he should know that I'd want him to come to me himself. So, immediately I knew this wasn't an invitation to the truth.

"Jennifer, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" Marcos said in disbelief, if only he knew why my decision was the way it was.

I ignored Marcos again and proceeded to hear what the men had to say. "I'm sorry Ms. Anderson, but failure to comply with his order will result in the removal of his support from Marnex." The bald man spoke again.

Marcos almost fell out of his chair just from a single sentence. "Is this a joke?" Marcos spouted in a nervous tone.

"I'm afraid not."

He turned his attention immediately towards me in panic. "Jennifer, if Manning removes his support, it'll make all the other supporters take back theirs. They all trust his judgement. If he breaks a contract with a company that company will immediately be labeled as unreliable. This is exactly what will happen to Marnex, that and we'll go bankrupt."

My eyes were darting back and forth between the messengers and my friends. I didn't want to go, but at the same time I couldn't bare to be the source of bankruptcy.

"Jen," Miranda sent me such a depressing look and mixed in with Marcos's paleness, I had only one option.

"Fine." Once the word came out, my stomach suddenly dipped.

"Thank you!" Marcos cried out as Miranda released a sigh of relief.

"Something good could come out of this Jen," she said, trying to make me feel better.

I doubt it.

"Right this way, Ms. Anderson," the one with the dark shades ordered as they both moved out of the exit's way.

"Wait, I have to go with you?" I asked with my hand reaching for my crossbody bag.

They nodded and watched as I slipped my bag through my arm. I was already out of the circular counter when something came to mind.

"What about the signing?" I asked the two who seemed like they were recovering from a bad test score.

"Don't worry about it, we'll think of something." Marcos replied.

I nodded and headed towards the exit with two buff men backing me up.

** **

There it was. Divine Sweets.

After being driven here by the infuriating man, to think he'd give me an ultimatum, I received a hand from one of the men.

Divine Sweets was our go to place for anything to satisfy our sweet teeth when we were younger and things were less complicated. Even if it was my favorite store as a child, I didn't want to step inside. I abandoned it out of the sweet and painful memories that it were in it. So, there it was, after so many years, I finally looked at it again.

I glanced at the men who stood in front of the vehicle that drove me, they weren't the only ones anticipating either, I was too. Don't ask me why, I wasn't sure. A person who could make you so angry, but still make you want him? And no matter how much or how hard you fight him and the feelings, they always surface again. So, you have to resort to thinking of new techniques. Ladies and gentlemen, this was my case.

I tightened my grip around my bag, while remembering the ultimatum he forced upon me and the lies he wanted me to wave off until they were necessary. I took a long and very deep breath and made my way into the store that still gave off the same aroma from many years ago.

The inside didn't change as much as the outside did. It looked like a new paint job and more modern items had taken place but other than that, the vintage theme still sprung about. With less than a minute, I immediately noticed Hunter. He wascl wearing a stainless white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He hadn't seen me until I walked closer to the table.

I sat across from him and placed my bag by my side as he spoke. "Hey," his heart melting smile flashed. "I got you your favorite."

My eyes contemplated my all time favorite dessert, a chocoholic. A donut that had everything to do with, you guessed it, chocolate. It was too bad that I was angry with him, so I couldn't taste the dessert my taste buds were craving.

I stared at him after my attention left the donut and was now noticing the casualties in his tone of voice. I pushed the dish aside and pulled out a file from my bag. The contents were some junk that needed to be read and signed off.

"Jen," he called my name, however I didn't dare to speak. I hoped this would end soon and I could go back to laughing with my friends.

No you don't, truth is, you really want to be here.

"Jenni," I still kept on reading the fine lines. "Nifer," he called again, "Fer," he was breaking my name apart and turning them into terrible nicknames, but sounded cute when he said them. "Enni," he tilted his head to get a better look at my face. "Jennifer," his fingers tucked away a section of my hair behind my ears, and he hit the mark.

My cheeks blossomed with red and I shot up with both anger and embarrassment. "You dragged me here with an ultimatum, why else would I not be talking to you? And not to mention there isn't a single most valuable reason as to why I'm here! This is honestly a waste of my time!" I shouted, but I wasn't loud enough for the people around me to hear.

"I wanted to see you," Hunter replied. My heart skipped so many beats, but I still stayed on track.

"By using Marcos to get to me?" I frowned.

"Would you have come if I didn't?" His green eyes watched me attentively.

He has a point, Jen.

"It doesn't matt-"

"It's a simple yes or no question."

I pondered while doing so, his attentive staring was making me feel hot all over. "No."

"Excuse me," a brunette appeared in our view, holding a tray of cookies. She was pretty, not beautiful just pretty. She was wearing the same turquoise attire all the workers were wearing, but she had on a deep red lipstick and her smile didn't seem real at all. "Would you like to try our new s'more cookies fresh out of the oven and on the house?" I would have taken her sincerely if her eyes weren't drifting off to Hunter.

"No."

"Yes," Hunter smiled at her and she slightly bit her lips.

I hope that isn't how I look like when I do that.

She wrapped a napkin around a cookie and placed it in front of Hunter staring deeply at him and ignoring my existence. "Thank you."

She perked her assets and gazed at him while he took a bite. "This is delicious," I could tell he really meant it, his eyes were gleaming. "Jen, try it."

"No-" the s'more cookie made its way into my mouth by a helping hand. I couldn't protest until I finished the bite I caught. It was like a heaven in my mouth, my taste buds were dancing on fluffy pillows. "It's good," I mumbled.

He smirked and my stomach flipped, I bet the brunette's did too. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said as she blushed, then she moved on to another table. The entire time she was here, she didn't once acknowledge me.

I plunged back down to the papers on the table. Hunter didn't even try to engage in a conversation, he either kept his eyes on me or let them wander outside. I felt uncomfortable, ironic since I was the one who wanted it this way. I wasn't sure whether the lack of food was making me feel this way or the silence between us. What o was sure of was that couldn't concentrate on what I was reading, so I constantly had to start over.

Hunter slid the plate the donut stood on top of in front of my view. I watched his movements before bringing my eyes to his attention.

"Eat something." He stared deeply into my eyes, no sparks of jokes showed within his eyes, it caused me to move my eyes elsewhere.

He was right, I hadn't eaten anything all morning. I rushed out of my condo in a hurry and missed out on eating a bowl of cereal. I didn't say anything, I had a plan to get some breakfast after leaving here. He broke apart the donut and shifted one of the halves my way and kept the other on the plate.

"Eat at least half and I won't bother you about eating again," Hunter stated.

I was reluctant at first, but slowly fell under submission. I took the scrumptious dessert from his grasp and took a bite while he observed me. All my memories founded by this shop arose and I felt a sudden wave of content and warmth.

"You haven't been here for a long time." His emerald eyes wandered around the bakery, collecting the sentimental details and renewed accessories.

My mind focused back on Hunter and I began to feel guilt.

"It changed a little, but it's still recognizable," his eyes ceased when they landed on me.

** **

Sorry to leave it at a boring cliff hanger, I needed to update today. My update schedule got messed up, so to restore it I had to hold on to the chapter for a few more days. I update on Wednesdays, just to clarify.