All That She Can See(20)

‘I’m sorry?’

‘Yeah, you should be. I shouldn’t have bothered coming here in the first place. You and your bloody free cake.’ Cynicism leaned over and whispered something in his ear. ‘Bet it’s not even free. Bet you’ve got a tip jar that I’ll be guilt-tripped into filling.’

Cherry took a quiet, deep breath before speaking. ‘Come inside. Please. I think I’ve got exactly what you need and I promise,’ she crossed her heart, ‘that you won’t have to pay a penny.’

The man eyed her through his badly repaired glasses that now sat slightly skewed on his face. He gave a slight nod that was so quick Cherry almost missed it.

‘Wonderful! In you come!’ Cherry bounded into the bakery once more and saw him notice that she was wearing pyjamas. The smallest of smiles flickered across his full lips. ‘Were you on your way here when you bumped into Margie?’ she asked.

When he didn’t reply, Cherry looked over her shoulder. He was still standing in the doorway and all of Cherry’s customers were staring openly at him, their conversations stalling mid-sentence. Without looking at any of the people watching him, he walked purposefully towards Cherry. Every pair of eyes was watching him intently.

‘I’m Cherry.’ She held out her hand.

‘I’m Chase.’ Chase looked at her hand but didn’t shake it. Cherry shrugged and put it back in her apron pocket.

‘You’re not allergic to nuts, are you?’ Cherry asked, watching Frustration, Mischief and Cynicism waddling around in wide circles outside, knitted more closely together than they’d been the other day.

‘No. Why?’ he replied.

‘Just checking. I’ll be back in a bit. Wait there.’

‘You haven’t taken my order!’ he called out as she walked into the kitchen.

‘I already know what you need!’ she called back. She quickly found what she was looking for: a rather large Optimism oatmeal cookie, drizzled in milk chocolate with Acceptance almonds scattered haphazardly on top.

‘This is guaranteed to make you smile before you leave here, I promise. Will you try it?’

Chase looked at the plate, his nose upturned, but Cherry gently nudged it towards him and hesitantly, he picked the cookie up and nibbled the edge. Instantly, his face changed, but it wasn’t a smile on his face. It was a grimace.

‘What have you put in this?’ he demanded.

‘What… what do you mean?’ Cherry’s stomach flipped. ‘It’s just an oatmeal and almond cookie.’ She let out a high-pitched laugh that sounded fake, even to her ears. It certainly wasn’t the nonchalant tone she was aiming for.

‘No it’s not. I know it’s not.’ Chase shoved the plate back towards her. ‘You’re tampering with the food,’ he said, raising his voice so everyone could hear him.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Cherry insisted. ‘But talk like that can ruin a business.’

Chase stood up and leaned across the counter, threateningly close to her face, and hissed his next words. ‘Then you need to stop what you’re doing.’

‘I don’t know what you think I’m doing but I can assure you that —’

‘Look, you can try to fix this town’s problems and make everyone here feel better with your spiked cookies but if there’s one person you’re not going to get to, it’s me. What was that, anyway?’ He picked up the cookie and took a bigger bite, swirling it around his mouth with this tongue, chewing loudly. ‘Optimism?’ He swiped his finger across the plate scooping up the melted chocolate and almonds. ‘And… Obedience?’

Cherry was stunned. ‘… Acceptance, actually. But how… how do you…?’

‘Oh, did little Mary Berry think she was special? Well, you’re not, so listen to me and listen well.’ Chase walked behind the counter spitting out each syllable. ‘You can’t change people. No matter how much you try to make them feel better or worse —’

‘Worse?’ Cherry shook her head. ‘I’d never —’

‘People don’t change.’

Everyone was watching the exchange in silence. No one moved, apart from Sally who was shuffling her Tarot cards furiously.

‘That’s not true,’ Cherry said, holding her ground and his gaze. ‘I choose to see the good in people,’ she hissed.

Chase smiled tightly and laughed a laugh so full of malice that Cherry wished she’d never invited him into her safe haven.

‘You think I don’t see the good? That’s all I see,’ he said.

A tear rolled down Cherry’s cheek as she realised what he meant. ‘You’re like me,’ she whispered and her Loneliness halved in height immediately.

Chase stared at her. Then, without another word, he pushed the plate off the counter so it crashed to the floor with a clatter and left. Frustration was standing a little taller than before as it followed Chase down the road and away.

‘Are you all right, Miss?’ a kind voice asked.

Cherry looked around but couldn’t see who had spoken until she caught Sally’s eye. Cherry moved her gaze downwards and saw a very short man standing at the counter. He had a round face with kind blue eyes and a faded pink beanie hat that Cherry liked very much.