“No, it’s fine. Any chance to free the nipple and she’s on board. Hunter and unfortunately Mark are into it. Cam is enthusiastically excited about it too. Bo said he’ll help but he’s wearing a shirt—he gets cold real fast and we can’t have him wheezing during the event. Of course I’m on board, and Jamie, well... he agreed.” He flips the page. “It’ll be twenty-ones and over, queer friendly, and it’s Pride month. Come on. It’ll be amazing, I promise you. This will get people in the doors. I wouldn’t have put so much thought into it if I didn’t think it would work.”
“And it’s not because you’ll get to have us all shirtless in one spot.”
“Babe, that’s a Friday night for me.” He writes something down. “I wasn’t going to let Mark be a server, but Puck Daddy wouldn’t agree unless I let him. His biceps alone are worth looking at Mark’s pasty chest.” He sets his pink pen down. “Also, I think we need to talk about your hours of operation.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, come on. Your store is called Moonlight Confections.It’s sexy. Ten out of ten. It’s just, you’re open from ten till four on weekdays, then ten till two on Saturday.” He exaggerates a wide yawn.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Tons. A lot of people work during those hours, and the last thing they’re going to want to do is come here on the weekend in the morning. Moonlight Confections is daring and mysterious. She’s not a ten-till-four kind of girl. She’s a possible one till nine. Maybe a flirty little five till eleven. She’s dark and dangerous.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Noah blinks his green eyes at me. “Your hours are boring!”
“They’re just hours.”
“Yeah, and they’re boring, hotness. I did a little bit of thinking, because I don’t want to burn you out. So here...” I look at the mockup. “You’re not going to like this, but I think you need to hire someone part time.”
“Noah, I can’t.”
“Hear me out. Just to work a couple of hours during the week and then on the weekend. You need two days off, okay? You’re burning yourself out. Don’t worry, I did the numbers for you.”
“The numbers? When? I didn’t give you my financial information!”
Noah blinks his green eyes behind his glasses. “Honey, I am that good.” He flips another page. “I found a way to cut some costs. First thing is the Pride Valentine’s event. That’ll be next month, and I promise you, it will be packed. I’ll advertise, I’ll put up flyers, I will not shut the fuck up about it. Leave that all to me.” He writes something down. “If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s using my mouth.”Someone help me.
“This is a lot of work you’ve done.” I look up at him. “Um, thank you.”
Noah smiles kindly. “You’ve never seemed like the type of guy who likes to ask for help. That’s fine, but you have friends who do want to help you. And...” He sets his ridiculous pen down. “You’re doing all this while mourning. It’s a lot. I know it is. We all want to help you, okay?”
My throat tightens. Tears don’t come, but my eyes heat. I blink rapidly. “Thank you.”
He grabs my hand, giving it a squeeze. “This is what I’m suggesting. Now, keep in mind this is just until we get things rolling. It’s going to be an adjustment, but I think it’s going to help.” He lets go, and I move my chair closer to see what he’s written. “I think until people start coming in, cut down on the desserts in the case. Let’s be real. How much do you end up giving away?”
He looks at me.
“Um.”
“That’s what I thought. I know you want to make things, and that’s amazing, but until you get steady customers, pull back a bit. Not only will it save you money and time, but it’ll also cut down on waste and save on ingredients.” He turns the page. “I would pick a few things you really want to do and make those. Then, also, have a little binder at the counter to show off other things you’ve made. We’ll need to do this anyway for the website. That’s the thing you have to remember, you’ll be getting orders online as well. We can work on building your menu next week.”
My phone goes off, and I see the name of the guy I have a date with. “Sorry.” I open it and instantly feel defeated.This is the third time.
“What is it?”
“Ah, nothing.” I set my phone down. “The guy I had a date with had to reschedule. He had something come up. Probably some work thing.” I didn’t really ask too much about his job. I figured I’d ask about it on the date.
If we ever have one.
“Have you met up with him before?”
“No, we’ve just been talking over the phone.” He’s nice. He seems like a good guy. He’s just busy.
Maybe his taste in movies is awful, and maybe I don’t like that he thinks holidays are stupid. Maybe it’s lame, but I really enjoy holidays that bring friends and family together. I love baking for them. He thinks it’s childish. It’s fine. To each their own. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.” I shrug. “My night’s free now.”
