Sprinkled with Love

Ryan pulled over his vehicle in the parking spot and looked up. The corner of his lips started to twitch as he looked at the pink signboard. He had always thought that the color of the logo was too tacky. But judging from the people coming and going of the bakery, Ryan could see that a lot of people did not share the same opinion as his.

His expression continued to change. 

At this time, Ryan was starting to regret his decision to come over.

He did not know what he was thinking.

When he saw the phone straps he bought while he was on a shopping trip with his sister, Ryan immediately thought of Violet again. He wanted to thank Violet for cheering him up. But he had not seen or heard from Violet again after he sent her home.

Ryan knew that he should suck it up, walk into the bakery and look for Violet. However, he was a bit worried about her reaction.

Would Violet think that it was weird for him to show up?

What if she laughed at him instead?

The thoughts in his head made Ryan hesitate again.

He was considering leaving when his eyes fell on the phone straps he bought for Violet again. 

Ryan finally heaved a sigh.

Forget it.

He's already here. 

He should go in and give Violet what he came to deliver. Then, he can leave.

Taking a deep breath, Ryan alighted from his vehicle and headed to the bakery to find Violet.

…

Violet stared at the paper, seemingly in a deep thought. After a while, she picked up the black marker pen on her table and wrote something on it. She read the contents a few times and smiled in satisfaction. Then, she marched out from her small office and walked to the notice board to stick the paper with some colorful thumbtack.

It was not long after that the staff started to gather around the board.

"Yes!" Steven exclaimed. "Guys! We're going to have a two-day vacation next week!"

"What? Seriously?" The others responded.

"Yeap!" Steven nodded excitedly. "Violet put on the memo on the notice board."

The staff gathered around to read the notice, informing them that the bakery was going to close for two days next week for inventory and kitchen cleaning. 

Violet planned to hire the part time cleaner from the cleaner service company to help her with spring-cleaning. That way, her staff would be able to get some time off. They deserve a break after working very hard on Valentine's Day.

"Alright," Violet said as she clapped her hands to gain her employees' attention. "You guys can celebrate later. Now you need to get back to work. We've got a lot more cupcakes to bake." She watched her staff disperse and went to find Evan. She found him busy decorating his cookies and cream cupcakes with some Oreo bits. 

"I haven't seen Sarah for a while," Evan said when he saw Violet next to him. 

"Hmm… She's quite busy with some auditions," Violet said. "It seems that the agency is planning something for her." She leaned forward and shot Evan a teasing smile. "You better hurry. Once Sarah becomes popular, there will be a long line of guys wanting to get to know her."

Evan pretended as if he did not understand Violet's words. However, he was panicking in his heart.

Knock! Knock!

"Violet."

Turning around, Violet found that Risa was standing at the door. 

"Someone is here to see you." Risa's expression was a bit strange. "It's that guy who took you to the hospital the other day."

Violet exchanged a look with Evan.

They both knew that the person who sent her to the hospital the other day was Ryan Li. But what was he doing here?

Violet did not remember if she had a date with this man.

"Alright. I know." Violet nodded. "I'll come over in a while."

Once Risa left, Violet looked at Evan again.

"What is he doing here?" Evan asked. "You have a date with him?"

Violet shook her head. "It's not a weekend." Her brow furrowed as she thought of the reason Ryan might come to look for her. "Maybe his mother made him come over?"

Violet thought that this reason seemed plausible. After all, Ryan did come to find her when she decided to stay at her grandfather's place not too long ago.

"I better go and take a look." Violet took off her apron before heading out. 

She walked to the front and saw Ryan standing in front of the cupcake display.

The sight was quite interesting to look at, especially when Violet remembered how Ryan had looked down on her when he heard that she owned a cupcake bakery.

She stood there to watch him for a while before walking over. "Hello. How can I help you?"

Her voice made Ryan look up. The polite smile on Violet's lips made Ryan chuckle.

"How about our special? We have Tiramisu Cupcake today." 

Ryan followed Violet's hand and wrinkled his nose. He thought that the cream on top of the cupcake looked very sweet.

"Or, you can try our pistachio rose? I'll give you a special discount," Violet continued. "How about it?"

"I don't really like sweet stuff."

Violet raised a brow. "That's alright." She moved to the side and pointed at another cupcake on display. "You can try our Matcha Cupcake. I can assure you that it's not that sweet."

Ryan hesitated. "I'm not here for the cupcakes."

"Then, what are you doing at the cupcake bakery?"

"I'm here to look for you."

"Oh?" Violet gave Ryan a lookover. "What is it?"

Ryan was about to pull the straps from his pocket when he noticed that the people in the bakery were looking at him. It felt as if they were expecting to witness something interesting.

It would feel awkward if he handed the straps to Violet now and left. Violet would probably think that he was crazy.

In fact, Ryan began to think that coming over just to give Violet a phone strap was a crazy move.

Just what was he thinking?

"That…" Ryan cleared his throat. "Should we talk somewhere else?"