An ordinary baker

The Next Day Morning At Anne's House

Anne was walking to the freezer to get a glass of water. She was still in her nightdress because she has just woken up. She saw Dexter in a yellow round-neck shirt and blue jeans which were ripped on the knees.

He was humming and combing his hair, preparing to go out.

"Good morning Dexter, are you going out?" Anne asked him.

"No, I'm about to dance ballet" Dexter answered sarcastically while combing his hair.

Anne rolled her eyes.

"Asshole" She whispered as she was opening the freezer.

"It's too early to start cursing okay?" Dexter said and suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Anne, go check who's at the door, I'm busy," Dexter said still arranging his hair.

Anne groaned, closing back the freezer. She walked to the door and opened it and to her surprise, she saw a delivery man standing on her doorstep with a bouquet of red roses and a small package.

"Good morning ma'am, you're Miss. Stewart right?" The delivery man said to Anne smiling sweetly at her.

"ye… yes??" Anne answered, wondering what was going on.

"Okay ma'am, this is for you" he handed Anne the flowers and the small package and literally left Anne dumbfounded.

"Who was that?" Dexter asked. He was just as surprised as Anne seeing her with a bouquet.

Anne closed the door, "Some delivery guy just handed this to me and left,"

"Whoa! Congratulations Anne, you've gotten yourself a secret admirer..." Dexter teased Anne.

Meanwhile, Anne removed what was used to wrap the roses and kept the flowers in an empty vase on the center table.

"Wow! the flowers are so beautiful," Anne said to herself, admiring the lovely red roses.

"It sure is," Dexter said.

"Do you have anyone in mind who might've sent for these?" he asked Anne, playfully winking at her.

"how am I supposed to know Dex?" She said.

Dexter facepalmed. "She's so dumb" he mumbled.

"I am going to break your face!" Anne said to Dexter as she started opening the small package.

Dexter laughed. "What I mean is that it's pretty obvious who might've sent this. It's no other than, Prosecutor Carl..."

Anne sighed, she guessed that Dexter was right but she didn't think that Carl would go ahead and send her flowers after she had clearly told him to move on.

She opened the small package and saw that it contained up to six granola bars.

"Wow,!" she said under her breath with a cute smile on her face and a small piece of paper fell out of the package.

Anne picked up the paper and saw that it had a note on it.

'Good morning, goddess I hope you had a good night and I also hope today would be as beautiful as your eyes and the flowers I sent. Yours truly, Carl'

Anne couldn't help but smile as she repeatedly read the note in her head but in Carl's voice. What made it so romantic was that the letter wasn't typed, it was handwritten by Carl himself.

"Anne, are you smiling? ...Prosecutor Carl sent it right?" Dexter asked to be sure.

Anne immediately stopped smiling and cleared her throat. "Yes, he… he… sent it" She stuttered.

"Wow! Carl is not even here and you're already getting butterflies in your stomach" Dexter said, laughing at the way she stuttered.

"just shut your mouth, okay?" Anne growled at Dexter and he laughed, collecting the package from Anne's hands.

He saw a few granola bars inside the package and he quickly unwrapped one of them and started eating it.

"mmm, oh my gosh! I bet these are going to be so expensive more than the regular ones," Dexter said with his mouth full.

Anne sat down on the couch and started massaging her temple.

"Why is he doing this? Sending me flowers and love letters after I specifically told him to move on and forget about me… Or is he trying to make me go crazy?" She said.

"No, he's only trying to win your heart and I see nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's working, you were smiling reading that note" Dexter said.

"No I wasn't" she lied.

"Anne, I know you like him. Don't forget that you can hide your feelings from everyone except me… I guess you're only fighting your feelings because you're scared of being betrayed again," Dexter spoke the truth.

"Oh yeah? Then watch me keep turning Mr. McAlester down until he finally gives up on me," Anne said.

"Well, if that's the case you're not going to eat any of prosecutor Carl's granola bars," Dexter said.

"Give me that!" She drags it from Dexter's hands and Dexter laughed.

"I'm out for a walk, see you later sis," Dexter said leaving the house.

"bye little devil," Anne said.

..

Meanwhile at Kim's house***

Treasure woke up feeling so tired and lazy because of the stress she had from last night's performance. She was still lying down on her bed when she heard a beep on her phone.

She lazily sat down on the bed and collected her glasses that were on top of a drawer right next to her bed. Treasure wore her glasses on her face and read the text she just received on her phone.

'Enjoyed your performance last night, Treasure or should I say, Tracy? It doesn't matter to me. I'll always keep watching you, my little pet.'

"aargh!!" Treasure screamed in anger and threw her phone away as soon as she read the text.

Her phone broke into pieces as it forcefully crashed into the ground. She didn't bother about her broken phone at all. Besides, she now has the money to buy a new and better one.

Treasure knew that whoever had sent her that text was her stalker who has been sending her disturbing messages for quite some time now.

He won't let her rest, he's always watching her like it's his job.

Treasure was at least happy last night that she finally has enough money to clear all her debts in school but now, there's another problem she has to deal with.

How can she finally be free from her stalker who wouldn't leave her alone?

**************

It was some minutes past 12 pm and Anne was sitting down on a couch designed in leopard print. Her hair was packed in a low ponytail with a few strands of hair partially covering her forehead. She looked so cute and innocent with that look. She was putting on a pink corset top and black mom jeans which made her appear adorable and sweet.

Anne was firmly holding her purse, waiting patiently for the owner of the house to attend to her. The house was filled with expensive furniture and her image was reflected on the expensive marble tiles.

One could easily tell that the owner of the mansion is a multi-billionaire.

Anne heard footsteps of the elderly man who is the owner of the house, slowly coming down the stairs.

"Good afternoon Sir," She stood up to greet the elderly man as soon as he came down the stairs.

"Good afternoon, young lady, Please sit," he said, sitting down on the couch opposite her. He gestured his hand for Anne to sit down back on the couch and she did.

The elderly man whose name is Mr. Ross had sent Anne an email to come to his house to discuss business with her. He wanted her to bake a cake for his 65th-year-old birthday party that was coming up.

Anne knew that it was a serious business that will pay her a lot from the fact that he sent her five thousand dollars just for her carfare and that was why she didn't hesitate to rush to his house.

When Anne saw him face to face, he looked familiar to her. She knew she has seen this face before, but where?

The old man was somewhat chubby, slightly bald with grey hairs, and the wrinkles on his face made it obvious he would be in his sixties.

'Oh my gosh! that's the CEO of stone's perfume. No wonder he looked so familiar,' Anne said in her head, looking at the CEO with amazement.

She recalled that she had seen him and Carl together at a fancy restaurant the same day Carlos ditched her during their date. That was the first time she saw Mr. Ross. She has only heard about him on the news and most people know him as one of the richest businessmen in New York. Anne couldn't believe she was about to do business with him of all people. She felt that if he wanted a baker he would've asked for famous bakers who travel around the world not her. After all, she's just a simple ordinary baker.

"It's good to see you in person Anastasia, you're truly a beautiful young lady" Mr. Ross complimented her.

"Thank You, Sir," Anne smiled.

"A good friend of mine referred you to me, he told me you're one of the best bakers I could find in New York… I hope that is true," he said.

"I am a hundred percent sure I'm not going to disappoint you. You won't regret working with me Sir," Anne was assertive and Mr. Ross nodded his head feeling satisfied with Anne's confidence.

"Sir, can I please know who referred me to you? I want to thank him for letting me have the opportunity to work with you" she said.

"Oh okay, it was Carl McAlester. He told me your cakes taste like heaven and it should be you who must bake my cake or no one else..." he chuckled.

Anne was speechless, she didn't know how to react after hearing the name 'Carl McAlester'. She wondered why Carl was trying as much as possible to always be at her good side no matter how she kept on rejecting him.

She has not yet thanked Carl for the flowers he got for her and now he has connected her to one of the top richest men in New York to do business with.

'I hope today would be as beautiful as your eyes and the flowers sent... It all makes sense now, Carl is such a sweetheart no doubt' She thought.

"...So Anastasia, I want a twelve-step vanilla cake for my birthday. Can you do that?" Mr. Ross asked

"Of course Sir, When is your birthday?" Anne asked.

"Next week Friday, it's a ballroom theme party," he said.

"Okay Sir, I promise to meet up your expectation," She said.

"Alright, just hold on," Mr. Ross said as he began pressing his phone and in less than a minute, Anne heard a beep on her phone.

She checked her phone and she saw a credit alert from Mr. Ross. "what!?" Anne exclaimed with surprise at the amount she just received from him.

"Uh… I mean, Sir… this… this is more than enough..." Anne stuttered, wondering why he was giving her such an amount of money

The money was more than enough to bake even 20 steps cake.

"Please accept it, I just like paying people extra money to get something done for me so they'll do it wholeheartedly," Mr. Ross smiled.

"wow," Anne whispered.

"... and I also want to specially invite you to my birthday party not just as a baker. That way, I'll get to show off that you're the one who baked my birthday cake... Who wouldn't want to patronize you after that?" he said.

"Sir, you're too kind," Anne said, grinning from ear to ear. She was so happy.

"I promise I am not going to let you down," she said in a high-pitched voice, smiling.

"I suppose" he smiled back and she left.

….

Mr. Ross was still in the living room when one of his sons, Angelo Ross, who once helped Anne to pay for her groceries when she was stranded, was coming down the stairs immediately after Anne had left.

He was wearing an autumn designer shirt and black trousers, he looked so hot in that outfit.

"Dad, who were you talking to?" Angelo asked his father standing in front of him.

"The lady who is going to bake my cake" Mr. Ross answered.

"Oh shit! I've already hired one of the best bakers from Paris," Angelo said.

"Well, I never asked you to help me hire a baker," Mr. Ross said.

"Cool, then I'm sure you must've hired a roadside baker instead," he said.

"No, I can feel this one is good, you would've seen her, she was just here before you showed up… And I also gave her a special invitation to attend my birthday party." Mr. Ross said.

"Wow! You gave her a special invitation? Why do you trust this baker so much?" Angelo was surprised. He knew that his father is a kindhearted man but sometimes, it was too much.

"cause it was Carl McAlester who referred her to me so I know I can count on her," Mr. Ross said.

"What?? You still talk to Carl after what he did to me?" Angelo sneered at his father.

"We both know that whatever happened between you and Carl was entirely your fault..."

"…Enough dad! I don't want to bring up the past...." he gestured his hand for him to stop.

Angelo hates Carl so much because of a serious issue that happened between them in the past and hearing his father talk about Carl is like a needle piercing his ears.

"Who's the lucky baker anyway?" Angelo asked his father just to change the topic.

"Her name is Anastasia," Mr. Ross answered.

"Anastasia" Angelo slowly called her name. He remembered very clearly that he had met a lady named Anastasia a few days ago.

She wasn't just any lady but the most beautiful lady he has ever set his eyes on. Ever since he met her at the grocery store, he couldn't take his mind off her. It was like, he was drawn to her and he has hoped to see her again.

"Anastasia who? What's her last name??" Angelo asked curiously, hoping to hear the last name 'Robyn Stewart'.

However, he also had his doubts because he felt that a beautiful, classy woman like Anne couldn't just be an ordinary baker.