Page 6 of Heartbreaker

Chapter 2

Ashley

Running down the stairs from my apartment to my shop, I think how lucky I am to be living my dream. Living above the business is so much easier for me. I come down at six in the morning, make all the orders for the day, then come back upstairs, shower and get ready. Taylor my best friend owns the shop with me, and she comes in at nine to open up, then I join her at ten, but today I’m down at nine as I have an order which is being picked up this evening, so I’ll be busy with that. It’s an engagement party and the couple want to give out boxes of Champagne Truffles to the guests, that’s sixty boxes of six truffles, so a long day is ahead of me.

Taylor and I have been friends for so long, that I can’t even think of a time she wasn’t with me. My mum and her mum have been best friends since University, now they live on the same street. She studied business management and I studied the art of chocolate, so we came up with the perfect plan. Open our own exclusive chocolate shop. I bake, and she does the business side of it all. Three years later we have the best chocolate shop in London. We have everything from truffles, to freshly made chocolate bars.

Hanging my bag up, I grab my pink and white polka dot apron, and head to the front of the shop to double check everything again.

“Why haven’t we started the music?” I ask Taylor. I can’t work without music, I need to dance around the shop, plus I love the smile on the customer’s faces when they walk in and see me and Taylor singing or dancing to the song.

“Why are you so happy?” Taylor asks and points to me. “And don’t say you’re not, I know you are, I can smell it coming off you.” She points at me again and gives me a suspicious look.

I burst out laughing. “You can smell it?” I ask walking over to the speakers and connecting my iPod. We grew up together, I bet she can smell it.

I take my phone out of my pocket as it beeps, there's a message from my Mystery Man. I have no idea who this stranger is, I was praying it was the sexy guy that I bumped into; Jackson, but every time I replied last night, I would look up surreptitiously and he wasn’t using his phone when the replies came. He was so hot, he had these sexy blue eyes that I just wanted to stare into, a sexy dimple on his right cheek and he dressed to impress. I mean I know I have a boyfriend, but I don’t get the warm, tingly feeling in my stomach, or the excitement to see him, that I did from just one conversation with Jackson. I mean we’ve been together a month, and it’s still not there. But when I saw Jackson last night, it was like a switch was thrown. The butterflies in my stomach, the electric shock when he touched me. Oh, how badly I wanted my mystery man to be Jackson.

My fantasy of us came crashing down when I saw him hugging a guy, and it wasn't a guy pat on the back either, it was a full hug and kiss on the cheek. They were close, and I kept looking over at him to make sure that it was just a one-off, but no, the other guy had his arm over his shoulder pulling him closer a lot during the night. The sexy, gorgeous guy is gay.

So, who is this mystery man texting me? I have no idea, but I’ve named him Sexy Singer. He knows a lot about music, so there is a part of me that is hoping he is this sexy rocker.

Sexy Singer: Did you Dream A Little Dream of Me last night?

I smile to myself.

“See you’re smiling again.” Taylor runs over to me. “Is it the mystery man messaging again?” she asks, snatching my phone from me. “You know I still think it’s the hot guy at the bar.” Taylor gives me my phone back after having a good nosey.

Ashley: How can I dream a little dream of you when I don’t know what you look like?

Sexy Singer: Who knows I might be Right in Front of You.

I peer out the shop window to see if I can see anyone, this guy even knows Celine Dion. I turn around as Taylor is laughing really hard behind me.

“What are you laughing at?” I ask her, hitting play on the nineties playlist, smiling as the Spice Girls come on.

“I’m laughing thinking that your mysterious guy could end up this old man, that can’t even get it up,” she says through laughter. I cross my arms over my chest. “Come on, he might even be a she, and you’re her lesbian fantasy.” Taylor gives me a cheeky wink and looks at the door as a customer comes in.

“Good morning, how can I help you?” I ask the women walking over to the counter. She looks around the shop that Taylor and I had spent months designing.

Being based in London we had to have the decor just right, we both knew that the taste of our chocolate, as awesome as it is, wasn’t going to be enough, the store had to look amazing too. We went with a pink theme, with white counters.

“I’m looking for Ashley,” the women stopped, by the glass counter looking at the macaroons.

“I’m Ashley,” I tell her, as she walks over to the wall, I glance at Taylor as the woman looks at the hot chocolate.

“This shop is beautiful, I’ve heard great things and thought I would give it a try.” She turns around with a smile. “I have some friends coming over for some afternoon tea, about six people what would you recommend?” she asks, walking back over to the counter.

“The rose macarons are really popular and the lemon ones,” I say pulling out the trays from the display counter. “You can have a sample if you’d like.” I put one of each on a small plate, and hand it to her. I turn to Taylor who is looking at my phone, and she smiles at me.

“These are delicious, I’ll take a box of each please,” she says looking at the cakes, “and the red velvet cake please.” She gives me a smile and I get the boxes ready.

Taylor walks over to me. “Your lesbian lover is texting you,” she whispers. I shake my head at her, a small smile touching my lips, I walk back to box up the macaroons.

“Would you like anything else?” Taylor asks, as I ribbon up the boxes for her.

“No, that will be all for today,” she replies.

I put the boxes in a bag. “Thank you so much for shopping with us,” I say,” with a smile.