Page 3 of Estranged Biker Daddy

CHAPTER THREE

Megan

By the time Monday arrived, I was an absolute wreck and hadn't been able to sleep over the last couple of days. Even though I had been guaranteed the job, I was still nervous about starting. Blaming it on having been gone for so long at school, I did everything I could to distract myself from the fact that I was about to start my first job in a bakery and did everything I could to relax.

Waking up at exactly four in the morning on Monday morning, I quickly dressed in the uniform that Rebecca had instructed me to where, which was just jeans and a T-shirt that had the company logo on it, braided my hair so that it was out of the way and easily tucked into the mesh hair nets that I would be required to wear while baking, and made myself a cup of coffee. By the time I had gotten ready for work, it was only four thirty in the morning. Remembering that she expected me to be at work by five thirty, and I only lived about ten minutes away, I sat down at the table and sipped at the coffee in my mug.

Over the weekend, I had seen that the town had changed a bit more than I had expected. It was larger than when I had moved away four years ago, and there were several different businesses throughout the area, some of which opened around the same time as A Taste of Heaven. It was great to see that the town was finally starting to prosper, but the fact that so many rumors were floating around town made me wonder what the truth was. It was clear that the new arrivals were different from the rest of us, but it didn't necessarily mean that they were evil.

Unable to contain my excitement any longer, I finally decided to leave the house at exactly five in the morning and quickly made my way to the bakery. It was exactly five fifteen when I saw the lights come on. Looking inside, I watched as Rebecca made her way into the dining room to check the front counter. Seeing me at the window, she quickly made her way to the front door to let me in.

"You're here early," she commented as I stepped out of the cold and into the warm bakery. "I wasn't expecting to see you until five thirty." Wanting to maintain a professional relationship with her, I shrugged casually and gave her a confident smile.

"I just wanted to make sure that I was here on time," I replied, hoping that it didn't make me sound arrogant. "The last thing I wanted to do was be late to my first day of work." She stared at me for a moment before bursting into laughter for the first time since I had met her.

"You don't have to act professional here," she laughed as she shook her head at me. When she saw the confused look on my face, she laughed even harder. "Even though this is a job, I don't expect you to treat me like you would your supervisor at an office. I'm not direct or uptight about rules. All I ask is that you show up on time and do your job. Outside of that, have fun." At first, I wasn't sure if she was testing me or if she was serious, but, after seeing the genuine look of amusement on her face, I gave a sigh of relief.

"You mean to tell me that, even though they said to be as professional as humanly possible when getting your first job, you don't expect me to live by the book?" I asked, wanting to make sure I understood her. Considering my question, she shrugged.

"I do expect you to follow the health safety precautions and guidelines," she admitted after thinking it over, "but, as far as your conduct around me and your coworkers, you don't have to be strict and uptight. You can just be yourself as long as you make sure to be respectful and courteous towards others. We're not just here to work. We like to have a little fun while we're at work." The idea of having fun at work was new to me.

All my life, I had been taught to live by the book and do everything exact and perfectly the first time, all thanks to my strict upbringing. I always made sure my work was absolutely perfect, which is why I had excelled so much with baked goods rather than regular cooking. While I was great at what I did regardless of it all, the art of cooking and the art of baking were two completely different things. With cooking, there was always room for error and experimentation, but, with baking, it was always about hitting the exact measurements with the fear of ruining what you were working on. For me, baking was all about perfection, and that's why I was so good at it.

I couldn't believe that it was possible to have fun while you are at work. Even though I loved baking and even considered it fun because of how much of a perfectionist I was, I always felt as though, once it became a job, there was no room for fun. Instead, everything had to be clear, concise, and to the point. The fact that I was a perfectionist made it a job to me. I realized that Rebecca was waiting for my response and nodded.

"I understand," I informed her. "You'll have to forgive me for being so formal all the time. I suppose that it's something I'll have to adjust to." Rebecca frowned as she stared at me, looking concerned rather than upset.

"Have you ever done anything for fun?" she asked. "Or even just for the sake of doing it?" I shrugged as I thought for a moment.

"Not really," I admitted, glad to get it off my chest. "To be perfectly honest with you, my parents raised me to be a perfectionist and allowed absolutely no room for error. They were so strict that, if I ended up with an A, I was grounded for a week because my grade should have been in A+." Realizing what I meant, her eyes widened, and she nodded her head understandingly.

"Oh, now I get it," she said, shaking her head at me as she gave me a sympathetic smile. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Completely unbothered by what she had implied, I shook my head.

"It's okay," I reassured her. "Not everybody is raised by extremely strict parents. I guess what some people fail to understand is how so many of us are so used to being professional and formal all the time that we don't even know how to have fun." Asmile spread across Rebecca's face as she looked around at the bakery.

"I hope we get to change that," she told me, lowering her voice so that nobody else could hear us. "While I would appreciate a hard-working employee who always gets there work done, I wouldn't mind a new friend." Surprised by her statement, I turned to look at her.

"A friend?" I asked, and she nodded. "You would like me to be your friend?" Again, she nodded, catching me off guard, and I stopped to consider this. "Its been a while since anybody has ever wanted me to be their friend. I don't even think I know what to do." Rebecca laughed and shook her head.

"I'm sure you'll catch on," she reassured me as she patted me on the shoulder. "For right now, let's just see how you do in the kitchen." Smiling at her, I nodded in response.

"You got it," I exclaimed, eager to get to work. "Just tell me what you need me to do."