Chapter 3

Madie gave herself 2 minutes to calm down, another three to change her clothes (maybe he would still be waiting and she would not let him see her in threadbare yoga pants again!) then she went into her office and called a temp agency. She was not going to be caught unawares again!

She she told them that she wanted someone to come in mornings and work the register, so that freed Jules could make goodies, fill cases and help out the temp while Madie was free to sit in her office and do paperwork.  She had been meaning to do this for a few months, ever since her bakery, Honeybuns, got rave review from Mpl/St Paul magazine and business got crazy. 

She returned to the kitchen, and dared to peek out the door.  She was half afraid Daniel was still there, and half hoping.  She had argued with the hopeful part the whole way down the stairs, but whew it was stubborn!

All she saw was a much emptier case than when she had run off and a frazzled Jules.  Madie immediately felt terrible.  She had run off without saying a THING to Jules!  She stood straighter and walked through the door, having thoroughly perused the tables and not seeing Daniel anywhere.  Little Hope inside wilted, but Madie told her to behave as she took stock of the case.  She mumbled a not-so-graceful "I am so sorry, Jules, will get this filled right now" as she walked back into the kitchen.  Luckily, the day stayed pretty crazy, so Jules never had the chance to give Madie the third degree.  It was inevitable, Madie knew, but she bought herself a little time. 

The next day, a temp named Milo started.  Milo was 22, was a senior at the U and needed a little fill in work for spending cash.  His mom actually ran the employment agency I contacted, and she said he was a good kid.  A little lazy and entitled, sure, but great with customers and trustworthy. And available weekday mornings at 6.  Sounds great!

For the next week, Madie woke up an extra half an hour before her ridiculous normal 330am wake up time, to take some extra time on make up and hair.  Just in case she had to go out front some morning and Daniel happened to be there again.  It wasn't that she didn't want to see him; now that she had time to think (and to shower) she definitely wanted to see him.  Things were so different now, maybe it could work. 

By Friday afternoon, she started to think she imagined the whole thing.  Jules hadn't said a word and there hadn't been anyone by since, asking for her or even anyone she had caught a glimpse of as she did vital things out front around  8 am every morning. 

On Sunday, it occurred to her that he could have been in town for business or vacation (because didn't everyone want to vacation in Minnesota in KJuly?  100% humidity, awesome!).  She probably missed her only chance to see him again, to talk to him, to apologize for the way she had left.  That night, she cried a little about all of the things she let run through her fingers, including this one opportunity.  And then she vowed that tomorrow she was turning over a new leaf.  She was going to grab life by the horns!

Murphy's Law would state that Daniel come in at 7 am on Monday, but even Murphy's law didn't always get it right. It was 6:30 am on Friday.

"Hey, Mollie, how are you doing?" he said, looking as handsome as ever in a brown suit with baby blue dress shirt. Yum, he always did look scrumptious in brown and blue, thought Mollie.

"Hey stranger" she said, "it is nice to see you". Damn, why did she say that? She was pretty much resigned to the fact that he wouldn't come in again. But she had coached herself that if he did, she would act like she hadn't noticed.

Mollie was not great at acting.

Daniel blushed a bit, which was annoyingly attractive and endearing. Didn't he do anything gross? Mollie quickly racked her brain and came up with something. "Yeah, I meant to come in earlier in the week, but I was out of town, unexpectantly" he said, sheepishly. Mollie wondered if he would fill in the blanks, but instead he said "did you miss me?".

Mollie swallowed the panic in her throat. He had said it innocently enough, but she didn't want to come off crazy right out of the gate. She let out a nervous chuckle and said "Oh, you have been out of town? I am sorry, I have been so busy around here, making......things, I mean, cupcakes and donuts and stuff....and then with the customers and everything, well, um, I didn't even notice". That was just pathetic..

A slow smile quickly replaced the look of hurt that Daniel had after she started talking. He knew her so well, why hadn't he forgotten some things? "It is a little awkward, after all this time, isn't it? I am a little nervous, too. Anyway, I came in extra early, hoping we may have a minute to catch up, but I can see I was wrong. Things are already jumping here. I was hoping that you might have some time to get together? Catch up?"

"Sure, yeah. Well, um, I don't know if this is what you had in mind, but what about lunch? Today? I am sure you have plans or customers, but I thought I could just, you know, suggest it". Her voice was trailing off at the end and she just kind of stopped, her face was bright red and she didn't want to look up but couldn't help herself when she heard his chuckle.
Daniel smiled that smile again, like he knew exactly what she was thinking, bastard. "Lunch would be great", he said "can you meet me at Manny's at 1?"

"Can't wait", she said, with a smile of her own. Now when the hell am I going to find time to slink upstairs and do my hair?

They met at Vanderbilt, Mollie was a junior and Daniel was a sophomore and they had marketing 101 together. Daniel was an MIS major and Mollie was majoring in communications with dreams of opening her own bakery. But she was really just wasting time. Or putting things off, more like it.

They sat next to each other in the first class. Mollie noticed him right off the bat, how could you not, but it took Daniel to the next class (sitting next to each other, of course) to notice her. They smiled and exchanged names, and eventually started saying hi to each other regularly and purposefully sitting next to each other. She was definitely attracted to him but gave off a friendly vibe; he was interested in her. She was so nice and open and sweet, something he was after since his recent binge of hooking up with sorority girls was over. He figured he had plenty of time to get to know her first.

They settled into a rhythm of studying together and chatting impersonally. Daniel started asking more personal questions but Mollie tried to be evasive. It just made him all the more interested. Finally, just before mid-terms, she admitted that she had a boyfriend. Parker, whom she had been dating since high school and his parents and her parents were great friends. She didn't sound excited about him, but she never gave Daniel a chance to ask more.

They spent a lot of time together, studying and then hanging out, too. Daniel would sometimes ask where Parker was, and Mollie said that he was in the pre-med school at Vanderbilt, in his last year, and was doing various internships or studying. They didn't spend much time together. Daniel decided that their relationship was coming to an end so he saw his chance and started to get closer to Mollie. He genuinely liked her and he felt that if she were to open her eyes and see the possibility of the two of them together, she would dump Parker.

The week before first semester finals, Daniel and Mollie spent almost all of their free time together, getting ready for finals. The night before their first final, they studied late into the night at Mollie's apartment. There had been many looks and flirty things going on between them all week, and Daniel sensed that this was his chance. She would be going home for Christmas, seeing Parker, and she would realize that Daniel was what she wanted.

About 3 they decided to call it a night and get some sleep before their final. Daniel got up to leave, and Mollie followed him to the door. He turned around and said to her "Mollie, I have just got to say this. I have had feelings for you for a long time now and wasn't sure if I should tell you. Instead, I just want to show you". And with that, he took her head in her hands and kissed her. Long, soft but with a hint of what could be. He pulled back and looked at Mollie. Her eyes fluttered open, with a look of surprise but also lust. He knew he had her. "I will see you in the morning" he said as he walked out the door.

He had a hard time sleeping that night. He was so excited, he could barely stand it. Instead of going over what he would be tested on, he found himself thinking of where he wanted to go with Mollie, what he wanted to do with her, and to her, or course. He could feel the change in the air.