Chapter Seven : Kaoru’s Cake House, II
After a stop at Maria’s Bouquet, Jasmine made her way towards Kaoru’s Cake House. Her mother’s message was still vivid in her mind, “Send Wing my regards and tell him that these flowers are free. It’ll be a promotion as the flowers are being sold at Maria’s Bouquet.”
Jasmine stared at the bouquet that she still held; fresh chrysanthemum stalks of white and yellow.
She crossed from Block F to Block D of Wisma Kesuma as she continued on. While taking another step, she suddenly remembered the incident in the lift she had with Ginn an hour ago. It was an incident that she would most likely never forget.
She felt lost. Her hatred for that particular man had simply dulled away. Now, in her heart churned an emotion that she thought was impossible. The odd sensation she felt…was the feeling of falling in love. Honestly, it was the first time she felt so. The feeling felt way better than the one she had towards Wing whom she met a two days back.
With Block F left behind her, she continued walking until she finally came to a stop in front of a small mini house. It was double storey building with a touch of antique European to it. Its lawn was decorated with a carpet of gra.s.s and dainty flowers of many colors, just like the chrysanthemums she brought. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a pair of b.u.t.terflies, their wings fluttering about as they danced around the flowers. Jasmine’s lips curved into a smile as she walked into the shop.
At the very second she stepped foot inside, four men whipped their heads at her direction. One of them was someone she certainly recognized as Wing, the handsome chef she met when he bought carnations at Maria’s Bouquet. As for the remaining three, they were strangers to her but she was sure that they were definitely Wing’s employees.
The three employees each wore a matching uniform; a white long-sleeved shirt, a dark brown vest and a bowtie of the same color. They had on matching trousers and shoes, but one would not really be able to see their legs with the long white ap.r.o.n tied around their waist.
The moment Denny glanced at Jasmine, his heart suddenly froze in captivation. His eyes seemingly sparkled and his heart praised her beauty. Who was she?
“Jasmine! Do come in!” greeted Wing as he guided her over to an empty table near the cashier counter. The chair was held out for her and she took a seat. She was then, introduced to the three employees under Wing’s care.
“This is Denny,” Wing gestured over to the 28 year old, a light dirty blonde haired male and also a Leo. Without delay, Denny smiled and bowed in respect. His heart was beating rapidly.
‘Will today be the day I meet my partner in life?’ he hoped.
Jasmine mentally praised the male’s handsome features. An original bishounen! She was sure that he made the girls melt and probably made a few guys fall for him as well.
“That one there is Bob.” Wing pointed at the direction of a young male that lost height-wise to his colleagues. He was of the age of eighteen and a Gemini. He was one year younger than Jasmine and still attended university. He was a pet.i.te boy but don’t look down at him, he’s stronger than you think—especially in terms of tempers.
“Next to Bob is Izz.”
Jasmine turned her attention towards the guy that stood at the far end of the cake display rack. He was 25 years old and a Virgo. He seemed to be the quiet type and his expression showed calmness, just like someone with many untold secrets. Izz gave a short, sweet smile at Jasmine and bowed his head in greeting.
“What would you like to drink, Jasmine?” Wing asked directly after the introductions were done.
Jasmine didn’t answer the question first but instead, extended her hand that held the bouquet towards Wing whilst saying, “Before that, my mother wants to give you these flowers.”
“For free,” she added afterwards.
Bob and Izz exchanged quizzical looks while Denny suddenly grew jealous. ‘Wing’s getting flowers from her?!’ his eyes narrowed slightly at the seen before him.
“Eh? For free? They’re chrysanthemums… Why?” Wing accepted the flowers hesitantly.
“As a promotion. She wanted me to inform you that we are selling these flowers now. Every bouquet has ten stalks, fresh fromCameronHighlands. A bouquet only costs RM20,” Jasmine smoothly promoted the new product of Maria’s Bouquet.
“It can’t just be free! There must be some kind of ulterior motive?” Bob suddenly spoke up. Wing was quick to give him a look, his gaze hard and sharp but Bob remained unnerved. Wing quickly apologized to Jasmine and added, “Please forgive him. He’s doesn’t really think before he talks.”
Bob snorted when he heard Wing’s accusation.
“It’s alright, what’s important is friendliness. I feel more comfortable. As for the flowers, you don’t have to ask so much. After this, if you’d like, you can just buy at Maria’s Bouquet, okay? Don’t buy from any other shops alright!” Jasmine replied jokingly.
Wing brought his gaze to the ground and nodded his head, but he then he thought, ‘There aren’t even any other florist shops near this area.’
The bouquet was handed over to Denny who realized that he had shown his dislike and a twinge of jealousy instead of keeping it in. Even so, he took the bouquet without question. Wing had noticed the change in behavior and it didn’t go unnoticed by the other two as well whom whispered to each other, “He’s jealous!”
Denny felt himself being talked about and as quick as lightning, he turned his gaze at Bob and Izz’s direction. His lips were pressed into a thin line. His two friends merely smiled at him with a sense of derogatory.
“Denny, put the flowers in the cylindrical gla.s.s pot on the counter yesterday! Make sure you put the water in first,” ordered Wing but in his heart, he was whispering, ‘Don’t you play a fool this time, Denny!’
Denny complied without any objections. He went straight to the kitchen but the moment he pa.s.sed Bob and Izz, he socked a punch at them.
Wing saw Denny’s actions but simply shook his head while Jasmine smiled.
‘They’re just like brothers!’ she thought.
Wing turned to face Bob and Izz. “What do you think you’re still standing there for?!” he looked pointedly at them.
Quick on their feet, both of them left to continue their work that was left hanging at the appearance of Jasmine earlier.
“What would you like to drink, Jasmine?” asked Wing.
“Just an orange juice would be fine,” she answered.
He gave a nod and immediately disappeared into the kitchen.
Jasmine stood up and made her way towards the cake display rack that showed the over 20 cakes. She was impressed.
The rack was big enough to fit the number of cakes of twenty kinds. It looked like an antique with its combination of display gla.s.s and pure dark chocolate wood. She held a hand out to touch the cold gla.s.s. It was evident it served its purpose perfectly as it maintained the coolness of the cakes all day long.
As she observed the cakes that were decorated meticulously in the rack, Denny returned to the cashier counter with the bouquet of chrysanthemum from earlier already in a vase filled of water.
“Beautiful,” Denny told Jasmine before setting the vase down on the rack.
Jasmine smiled and watched him decorate. He looked like macho man, making sure that the flowers were in the right position. When he was done, he stared at Jasmine without a blinking, causing Jasmine to stand there dumbfounded.
“Okay, Jasmine. Please sit.” All of a sudden, Wing appeared from the kitchen, carrying a gla.s.s of orange juice and a plate of blueberry cheese cake that was sprinkled with almonds. Catching a glimpse of it, Jasmine grinned and said while pointing at the cake, “I was just looking for that cake at the rack!”
“This is homemade special. It wouldn’t be in the rack. Denny makes this cake on Thursdays at 3 in the evening,” explained Wing. “This is our last slice in the kitchen.”
Jasmine turned her head towards Denny with a look of awe in her face. “Denny made this? Wow!”
Denny bowed his head in respect towards her. Looking at Wing, he gave him a smile yet Wing’s expression remained unfazed.
Jasmine took her seat and hastily picked up the small fork set beside her plate. Her eyes observed the slice of cake.
It was obvious that the cake was special From the outside, the cake looked like it was coated with a layer of cheese cream. As for the inside, the content was a soft span of cheese. In the middle was a layer of blueberry cream. Almond was sprinkled randomly so it decorated the top of the cake and the sides of it at the same time. The aroma of blueberry mixed with cheese, as well as almond got her appet.i.te on the run.
Out of the blue, Bob appeared at Jasmine’s side, his body bent over. His eyes were focused on the cake. While pointing a finger at it, he mentioned, “This cake is special! If it was sprinkled with ground nuts, it would be better! But if Wing had made it, even more so!”
Jasmine froze, startled at Bob’s sudden outburst.
Wing fought to keep his cool. Denny scowled at the comment of his cake’s taste being inferior. Bob could only blink when he saw all eyes in his direction. What could he do? It was a natural reaction every time he saw a slice of cake being enjoyed by someone. His pa.s.sion for cake was unbearable. That was why he worked at Kaoru’s Cake House. Turning on his heels, he left a stunned Jasmine there in her seat.
The girl glanced at Wing. He quickly bowed his head apologetically, sweating a little. “I apologize for that. Bob is really obsessed with cakes. It’s somewhat of a taboo for him to look at people eating cake. If he doesn’t comment, then he will stare. That’s why whenever there are a lot of customers; we give him lots of tasks to do to get in engrossed in things other than cakes,” he explained.
“Yeah, we give him lots of tasks to do when they’re a lot of customers,” Denny agreed. “Thank goodness he didn’t teach you the right way of eating cake,” he added.
Jasmine’s eyebrows rose in disbelief at that. She turned behind and found Bob trying to pretend to sweep the floor, most likely embarra.s.sed by his reactions just now.
“That’s enough. Please enjoy your cake, Jasmine. If there are any comments, do tell,” Wing said.
Jasmine nodded her head and turned her attention back to her slice of cake. She cut a small piece from it and brought it to her mouth. The moment the piece touched her taste buds, she could taste the delicious melted cheese that had been blended with corn flour along with the sweet taste of the blueberry core. Her eyes widened in surprise. She straightened up and covered her mouth with her palm. Her eyes then closed and spontaneously, she said, “Mmmmhh! Delicious!”
She would’ve added more but words were no match to how the taste was. She felt like she had died and gone to heaven.
Those who were watching couldn’t help but were surprised by Jasmine’s actions. Denny was speechless. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The cake that he made had received such response from the girl that he liked! Bob, on the other hand, merely smiled. He understood why Jasmine reacted that way.
Wing’s surprise disappeared after a few seconds. He shook his head and smiled as well. ‘Looks like there’s someone else that acts like Bob when it comes to cakes in this area,’ he chuckled before heading into the kitchen.
However, it was too bad that Izz didn’t witness it. What was he doing in the kitchen? Well, who cares? There’s always next time.