Page 16 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes
“‘Sup, Perry. Back already?”
“Yes,” Candace exhaled the word, seemingly breathless. Or, rather, she appeared preoccupied as she looked around the cafe with narrowed eyes, muttering to herself. “I’ve seen worse. Paint, a new sign, functional seating, social media campaigns… It would be difficult, but possible.”
Perplexed, Daisy shared a look with Rio. She felt a jolt as the woman’s attention fell on her once more.
Serious-faced, Candace asked, “What’s your overhead like? Employee costs? Rent?”
Daisy started to answer the questions until her brain caught up with what she was doing. “Wait, why am I telling you any of this? You wanna finish me off by reporting me to the IRS or something? I might not have some fancy degree, but I know how to file my taxes.”
“It’s nothing like that! I want to help!”
Daisy cocked an eyebrow.
“‘Help?’”
“Yes,” Candace repeated. “Can we speak in private?”
The woman’s cheeks began to flush, and she cast a nervous backward glance at the long line forming behind her. Of course, it was simple psychology; passersby noticed a bombshell like Candace ordering from the cafe, and were drawn like moths to a flame.
Rio caught Daisy’s eye.
“I got the register. You hear out Princess Peach.”
Daisy snorted at the nickname. Rio was a gamer, specifically a Nintendo stan, and they’d made endless jokes about Daisy being Mushroom Kingdom’s chapstick lesbian princess. Thank the stars Daisy went by “Zee” in her day-to-day life, so the nerd eventually ran out of steam. Or, Daisy thought they had.
If Candace caught the nickname, she did not mention it. She clutched a three-ring binder to her chest with both hands like it was the one thing that grounded her there.
What’s she so hopped up about?
Candace’s entire presence was different from the weepy, depressed woman Daisy met the day before. Wired was the best word to describe her. Intense. No, Daisy was sure she’d missed Rio’s joke because her attention was fixed on whatever she had to say. Her aura was like an accelerant that kicked Daisy’s pulse up to match.
But she tried not to show it.
Flatly, Daisy told her, “Alright. You’ve got until I get bored.” She lifted the counter divider between them and motioned inside the stall. “C’mon. It’s too hot out here, we’ll talk in the office.”
Wedged between the gigantic chest freezer that housed their back inventory, the back exit, and the washroom, the ‘office’ was a glorified closet. A window overlooked the employee lot, and an overstuffed desk was jammed up underneath it. There was a single fold-out chair that had long since abandoned any pretense of being padded. Since there was not enough room for two full-grown adults to stand comfortably in the space, Daisy plopped her butt on the desk. Papers, years-old tax documents and receipts, crinkled under her rump.
Candace, meanwhile, perched herself atop the chair as if it were covered in needles. The binder was still clutched to her chest. She took in the office, and Daisy, with assessing eyes.
The temperature was, of course, worse in the stifling space. Sweat started to bead at Daisy’s temple, captured by the bandana she wore. The heat building inside her was not helped as she looked down at the too-close woman. She noticed that Candace was wearing a dress today. It was pink, Princess Peach Pink to be exact, and although it was still a tame, short-sleeved cut, it was far more revealing than her romper.
The woman had to work out. Daisy’s gaze traveled the sharp line of Candace’s neck, down to taut traps and defined collar bones. Micro-movements that tensed her muscles promised more beneath the distinctly feminine exterior. More muscle,more sleek curves contrasted by strong angles, more—
Daisy grimaced. She ripped off her bandana and mopped her brow.
“My bagels were so good you just had to come back, hm? Or is there somethingelseyou’re after?”
Confusion flashed over Candace’s features as the words registered. It was hard to tell if the implication made the woman flush because she had not stopped. Her fair skin was close to the same shade as her dress, and her chest thrummed with quick breaths.
Finally, she replied with a simple, “Yes.”
“Yes, and…?” Daisy pressed, and could not keep the suggestion from her tone. “I swear, Perry… I haven’t seen you sincethatnight, and now you come barging back into my life like you own the place. Really, what gives?”
“I…”
Now, Candacedefinitelyflushed redder. Daisy was starting to feel herself flush too, but not with embarrassment. Bitter resentment soured every thought.
Just like all those years ago, Candace Perry waltzed into Daisy’s life and demanded attention. She would coo and fawn, and be sodamnlovable. Then she would leave, like every other customer and person, abandoning her to endless, lonely drifting. So, this time, Daisy would beat her to the punch.
