Chapter 1

Cilla wiped at her brow with the back of her hand leaving a smudge of flour. She’d been at it for an hour and, glancing up at the clock, she had three more before it was time to open. Turning the music up, she put the tray of muffins in the oven and started on another. She already had cookies made and in their trays in the cases out front. Chocolate chips as big as her hand were her best seller and she sold them three for $3.00. Brownie batter was ready to be poured into pans and Cilla took a break. It was 4:00 a.m. and she was tired already, but she didn’t mind. She loved what she did and if it meant dragging her ass in to the kitchen in the middle of the night, so be it. She was fine with it. She had no one at home to worry about whether she was there or not. She’d rather be here anyway.

With a smile she tossed the empty water bottle in the recycle bin and got back to work. She still had petit fours and tarts to finish, not to mention the six pies that needed to bake and the one cake that she had been commissioned to do. She sighed, a birthday cake for a fifteen year old girl. Why did she take this on? She shook her head, Sid volunteered me. She paused and smiled. Sid, her best friend since diaper-hood.

They had been inseparable from the time their butts hit the playpen right through school and into college. It had been Sid who pushed her to open her shop. Sid had been there when her marriage hit the skids. Sid had always been there for her. She chuckled; Sid had a new man in his life. She had done that for him. Sid worked the counter for her and had taken an immediate liking to the gentleman who came in for a croissant every morning. She could set her watch by this guy. Every morning at 7:30 he stopped for his croissant before heading across the street for his coffee.

The one morning when Sid wasn’t there, the man seemed disappointed. When Cilla assured him that Sid would be back the next day, the man perked right up. Sid and Mark started dating shortly after that and were now living together. Cilla shook her head and smiled. She was glad he was happy. After years of bad relationships, he deserved it.

Okay, back to this cake. A birthday cake for a fifteen year old girl. What do fifteen year-old girls like these days? She studied the sheet that Sid had taken notes on. She liked music, fashion, hanging out with her friends. Her favorite color was blue and she loved chocolate. Cilla started with that. The cake would be three tiers with a bottom tier of double chocolate with a caramel-toffee filling. The next would be vanilla with strawberry fruit filling and for the top, hmm, maybe pistachio, no, red velvet with buttercream filling. She marked all this down on her notes and went back to work on the rest of items for the front cases.

By the time Sid showed up at 7 the cases were filled and the cakes were baking. He sailed into the kitchen and planted a smacking kiss on her cheek, “morning Cil!” Cilla smiled and kissed him back, “you’re in a fine mood this morning. Someone get lucky before work?” Sid laughed, “well it certainly wasn’t you baby.” Cilla just shrugged, “who has the time?” He went over to the radio, “I know you love them babe but that’s a bit loud don’t you think?”

In the midst of Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life Sid turned the volume down to less than ear-splitting. “That’s better, now we can hear ourselves think.” Cilla walked over and turned it back up, “who wants to hear you think?” He turned it down again, “come on Cilla we open in twenty minutes, you can’t have that blaring all day.” She sighed, “okay, I’ll turn it down a little, mom.”

Sid stuck his tongue out at her and laughed his way to the closet for his apron. He always wore the white apron with the pink crown embroidered just left of center. “So what’s the deal of the day today?” They got to work and when the doors to Cilla - Queen of Tarts opened at 7 they were all business.

Cilla spent the day in the kitchen working on the birthday cake. It needed to be delivered the next day to an apartment in Soho, not far from her shop. Sid kept ducking back to see the progress she was making and oohed and ahhed over every detail. “Cil, that looks great.” She rolled her eyes, “all I did was cover it in fondant. Give me a break.” Sid patted her arm, “I’m just trying to help. Did you decide what you’re going to do with the top layer?” Cil nodded absently, “I’m going to shape it like a purse and decorate it accordingly. Don’t you have customers to wait on or something.”

He grabbed a bottle of water and headed back up front, “you don’t have be so snippy you know.” She muttered something under her breath and Sid turned back, “what was that?” She snapped her head up, “I said I’m not the one who got laid this morning. I’m allowed to be snippy.” He walked over to her, “you know if you did something with this” he gestured up and down her petite frame, “you’d be able to snag yourself a man and then you wouldn’t be so snippy.”

Cilla just waved him off, “I don’t have the time or energy for a man right now. Besides, it’s been so long, I wouldn’t know what do with one anymore anyway.” Sid winked at her, “it’s like riding a bike. Once you learn, you never forget. It’ll all come back to ya.” He turned and headed back up front leaving Cilla laughing at his back