Page 65 of The Baby Dragon Bakery
“You know how I moved out from the apartment upstairs?” Saphira asked, stroking Sparky’s head. He shifted until his head was resting on her lap. “I was originally just going to put the apartment on rent, but then I thought, what if I expanded the cafe into the apartment upstairs to make it two stories? The cafe is so busy! I was also thinking of expanding the cafe’s hours, to seven to six instead of eight to five.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Theo said. The cafe was always busy; more space and longer hours would bring in more revenue.
“I would need you to come up with a proposal to see ifthose ideas are worth the investment,” she said. “And if so, how long it would take to receive a return on the investment. Plus, with the expanded hours, would we need more staff? Or how would the schedules work for my employees?”
“That’s . . . a lot,” Theo admitted. He’d surely have his work cut out for him, but the ideas were intriguing, and he didn’t find himself dreading the prospect.
Saphira let out a long breath, looking down at Sparky’s face in her lap. The baby dragon looked up at her with his big eyes. “I’ve been considering it for some time, but I’m a bit hopeless with planning that type of stuff. Aiden said he’d help me out when he got the chance, but you know he’s busy with his own gardening business, and now we’ve been wedding planning on top of that.” She bit her bottom lip. “So what do you think? Too much?”
“No! I could definitely do that,” he said, taking a sip of his iced oat chai. “You know I love the cafe, and coming up with proposals and projections was what I did a lot of in school.”
“Perfect!” Saphira let out a breath, relieved. Sparky nuzzled against her stomach, then trotted off to play in the garden with the other baby dragons. She watched them, smiling. “I used to love spending long hours at the cafe, but I’ve been pulling back more. I can’t fathom figuring out this expansion project on my own.” She covered her face with her hands. “Don’t think that I’m abandoning my career now that I’m engaged!”
“Hey, you’re totally fine,” Theo said. “You can shift gears. There’s nothing wrong with focusing on different things in different phases of your life.” As he said the words, he thought of Lavinia saying the exact same thing to him. His chest ached.
Saphira nodded. “No, you’re right. I was just feeling kind of guilty since the cafe used to be my baby, but now I have Sparky. And I want to have human babies soon, too.” They both laughed.
“I’m happy for you,” he said, and he meant it. “But . . . wow.”
“No, I know,” she said, widening her brown eyes. “It’s scary!”
“Very.”
“But exciting, too.”
He was trying to see that more.
“Anyway,” Saphira said. “I’ll finalize the numbers and come up with a proper offer, and you can see if it works for you.” He nodded, finishing off his iced chai. “Also! I do still want you to make your fusion desserts, if you think you can? Keep the Baby Dragon Bakery alive?”
“Yes, I’d love to,” he said.
“Perfect! Because I cannot lose your baking!” She hummed to herself, trying to see if there was anything she was forgetting. “Oh, and the expansion is secret for now, but you can talk about it with Lavinia. I know you guys tell each other everything,” she said with a laugh.
His heart sank.Not everything.
“This all sounds great,” Theo said, focusing. “And if you want, you can send over your business documents before my two weeks are up at the bakery, so I can get a head start on familiarizing myself with the necessary material.”
“Okie!” Saphira nodded. “I’ll talk it over with Aiden, and he can get all that to you. He has this whole organizational system that I don’t want to mess with.”
Theo smiled. “You guys are such good partners,” he said. “A good couple and good friends.”
Saphira gave him a knowing look. “You can have it all, you know,” she said. “Friendship and love, in the same person.”
Nowwhywould she say that to him?
Theo wanted that. He wanted it badly, but he wasn’t sure the world wanted to give it to him. He hadn’t done anything to deserve it.
With no response, Theo just smiled, and Saphira didn’t say anything else. They chatted for a little bit until Saphira had to go back to check in on the cafe, and Theo headed home.
He entered his quiet apartment, sighing. He thought of Lavinia again, and he got her scrunchie from his bedside table, putting it on his wrist. Sitting down on his couch, he played with the scrunchie, watching it stretch and withdraw, but it wasn’t enough.
He had wanted to call her all day, ever since the meeting with Suki, but he’d been holding back, unsure of how to proceed, afraid of what he might say.
Defeated, Theo pulled out his phone. Lavinia had texted him earlier to ask how he was doing, but he hadn’t replied with many details.
Now, he directly called her. He was selfish; he couldn’t last without talking to her.
“Hey,” she said, picking up after a few rings. The sound of her voice was an instant relief. He closed his eyes, letting out a breath.
