William crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Nairie, I’m just here to help.”
“Well, I’d rather do this alone. Be gone.”
William continued staring at me and silently joined my side, bringing more baked goods to the forefront of the table.
“Seriously, dude, leave.”
“I think you need all the help you can get,dude.” He emphasized the last word with disdain.
Just then, a barrage of ladies in frilly frocks exited the church and flocked toward our table.
I panicked. “Oh, god, okay, fine. It’s one baklava tray per person. They’re going to try and take more. Don’t let them. They can get a little rowdy.”
William chuckled. “You realize I’ve been in combat multiple times.”
“Nothing can prepare you for the church bake sale.”
“I think we should try to sell these while we’re at it.”
William dug into the satchel he’d put down and lifted out prints of my illustrations. It was a series I did about sea animals.
“Where did you get these?!”
I reached for them, but William pulled them away. “I scanned some of the sketches lying around your bedroom.”
“Well, that’s a serious invasion of privacy.”
“Hey, they weren’t locked up, and you left them scattered all over the place. It was like you were asking for them to be seen.”
I reached for them again, but William held them higher.
“William, seriously, put those away. I don’t wantanybody seeing them.”
“Anybody or just your parents?”
I was losing my patience. “Both! People are starting to come over.”
“How about we see if they sell? And your parents won’t know they’re yours. Your signature is just your initials.”
The crowd was inching closer, and I didn’t have time to argue.
Through gritted teeth, I said, “Fine!”
William smiled victoriously and set the prints out, jotting down prices for them on note cards.
The next couple of hours were a whirlwind. I had to help William multiple times; a few women tried to take advantage of the fact that he was new to the table and attempted to talk their way into taking more baked goods than the allotted amount. I even had to translate for him a few times as some patrons didn’t speak English. I ignored his impressed looks, like he was surprised I took control of the situation with ease.
Mom approached near the end and looked pleased with the number of baked goods sold but also surprised to see William. “William, what are you doing here?”
“I heard Nairie needed help with the bake sale, so I offered.”
Mom nodded suspiciously. “Nairie, I wanted to introduce you to David before your date tonight.”
I took in a deep breath. “Okay.”
My mother’s curly hair bounced with every step in her high stilettos as she disappeared into one of the church halls.
I busied myself with organizing the remaining desserts but felt William’s gaze burning into me.
