Behind Closed Doors

Delia was over at Madison’s apartment, both looking for a job. “Mad, we’re never going to find a job!” Delia finally exclaimed, after looking for the last hour.

“Well, not when you think like that!” Madison joked.

“Seriously, how are we going to find another bakery that wants the both of us?” Delia asked. “It’s never going to happen.”

“Well, maybe we should just open our own,” Madison suggested.

“Yeah, of course. Why didn’t I think of that?” Delia asked sarcastically. “Oh, wait, neither of us have enough money to open our own shop.”

“Hey, don’t get all bitchy at me,” Madison told her.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.”

All of a sudden, Delia’s cell phone rang. She picked it up off the table and looked to see who it was. She looked over at Madison and said, “It’s Gabe.”

“Well, pick it up!”

Delia reluctantly opened the phone and held it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, Delia. I need to talk to you,” Gabe said excitedly.

“Gabe, now’s not the time.”

“No, Del, I think I may have solved all your problems when it comes to finding a job.”

“Huh?” Delia asked, confused. “How?”

“I want to tell you in person. Where are you?”

“I’m at Madison’s right now.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in like ten minutes. Don’t go anywhere,” he said as he hung up the phone.

Delia closed her phone and sat it back down on the table. “What did he want?” Madison asked her.

“I don’t know. He said that he solved my problems about finding a job. He’s on his way over here right now to tell me about it,” Delia answered.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Madison went over to answer it, and let Gabe in. “Hey, Gabe,” Madison said with a smile. “So, I hear that you solved Delia’s unemployment issues. You wouldn’t happen to have a job lined up for me, too, would you?” she joked.

“Well, actually,” Gabe began.

“Huh?” Madison asked with a confused expression on her face.

“I bought a bakery,” Gabe said simply.

“You what?” Delia yelled.

“I bought a bakery for you,” Gabe told her. “Well, for both of you.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Delia questioned. “You bought a bakery?”

“Yeah,” Gabe said. “Listen, I felt really bad for getting you fired, and I was talking to my band, and Alex said something about the only way I could help you out was if I bought a bakery, so I did.”

“Where did you buy a bakery?” Madison asked.

Gabe turned around to look at her. “It’s over on 9th and Baltimore. The owner was selling it, and when I told her that you two would be the ones taking it over, she was more than happy to sell.”

“Oh, The Cake Place?” Madison asked, knowing which bakery he was talking about.

“Yeah,” Gabe told her. “Cecilia, the owner, apparently knows you.”

“Yeah,” Madison told him.

“She said that she would love if you guys took over. She wishes you well.”

“You bought a bakery,” Delia said in disbelief, still trying to comprehend the situation at hand. “You own a bakery.”

“Well, actually you own a bakery.”

“What?” Delia asked, not fully understanding what he was saying.

“I bought it for you. It’s yours. In fact, I’ve got papers here for you two to sign to officially make it yours,” Gabe said holding out the papers that he held in his hand.

“Gabe, we’re not taking the bakery,” Delia said simply.

“What?” Gabe and Madison asked simultaneously.

“Come on, Mad, there’s no way I’m going to take a bakery that Gabe bought.”

“Why not?” Madison asked.

“He’s just giving us a bakery! Do you not see a problem with that?” Delia asked in disbelief.

“Okay, Del, can we talk in the other room for a minute,” Madison asked, grabbing Delia’s hand and pulling her back to her bedroom. “We’ll be back in a few minutes,” she called to Gabe as she shut her bedroom door behind them.

“What the hell, Madison? You really expect me to just take the bakery?”

“What else are you going to do? Come on, he bought the bakery for you. It’s not like he can do anything with it if we don’t take it,” Madison argued.

“He bought the bakery to try to make me forgive him about sleeping with Roxanna. I am not going to take it!”

“Well, what if we bought it from him?” Madison suggested.

“With what money, Madison?” Delia yelled.

“Maybe we can make payments. I’m sure Gabe wouldn’t mind. And that way, it wouldn’t be him giving us a bakery, but more like he’s our loan.”

“I don’t know,” Delia said.

“Please, Del. This is our dream, to own a shop of our own. Who gives a damn where we get the money from? We’ll pay him back, every penny. Please, who knows when we’ll get an opportunity like this again.”

“Fine,” Delia relented, as she looked in Madison’s eyes. “But we are paying back every single cent, and this does not mean I forgive him for sleeping with Roxanna.”

“Deal,” Madison said with a smile as she walked back out to the living room.

“So?” Gabe asked when they came back.

“We’ll take it,” Madison said with a smile.

“But, we’re paying you back every single cent that you paid for it,” Delia added.

“Del, I don’t want your money. Believe me, I have more than enough to do this for you.”

“We’re paying you back,” Delia insisted. “And just so you know, that doesn’t mean that I forgive you.”

“Okay,” Gabe said. “I understand, I have to earn back your trust.”

“Yes,” Delia said. “But thank you for buying the shop.”

“You’re welcome,” Gabe said with a smile.

“We’ll get a lawyer to draw up some paperwork on how we’ll repay you,” Delia told him.

“Okay,” Gabe said.

“Thank you so much, Gabe!” Madison told him. She then looked at Delia. “I can’t believe it! We’re going to own our own shop!”