Sweet Treat

@afro  | outfit

Sometimes, bad days happened. There was always the chance that a mistake could be made more than once, and coincidences did happen. Then there were the days that were just so bad that Astrid felt like the universe was laughing at her. First, she had had a pretty horrid morning. She had found another bug in her apartment, and with Khari at work she either had to kill it herself or put a cup over it. Sadly, she had opted to place a mug over it, and in a sleepy haze she had accidentally upended her coffee cup and spilled her drink all over. It had taken her too long to clean it up and made her late for class at Avalon, where she had been promptly lectured in front of the company by one of the teachers. Nobody had laughed, thankfully, but to make matters worse she had struggled with every turning combination and had left company class a sweaty and angsty mess. It had gotten worse in rehearsals; she had fallen a few times when they were running the ballet and it was suggested that the take some time to herself to work on the corps section.

She was furious when she had finally gotten to go home at five when she then burned her dinner for the first time in years. After that, Astrid had stormed out of her apartment and wandered London until she remembered that there was a nice little cake place that might still be open. She had practically jogged there in the hope that it would still be taking customers, and had ultimately been surprised that there were still a few cakes up for grabs. Granted, she only wanted a slice of one, but it was still nice to see that she had the option. After having such a bad day she almost selected an entire cake, but... That wouldn't be the best of plans. She should just get her slice, plop down in the middle of the shop, and start eating. And maybe she wouldn't cry. Astrid couldn't guarantee anything. She was having a rough day and felt like her entire life was going crazy at the moment. With a sigh, she stepped up to the counter and promptly ordered two slices of the rich chocolate cake. Hey, if she wasn't going to let herself have the whole cake she at least should treat herself.

Aphrodite was being bad. She was going out for a cake tasting without Cal. She had already been to two with her fiance, but she was not finding anything that she liked. This one was on the down low though. She was going to look like a fat kid, ordering a slice of so many different cakes and then taking notes about them. At least this way if she liked it, she could take a slice to Cal. She was beyond happy that they were getting married and this was something that she was really enjoying. Of course, Cal made her feel like a princess and being told that she was worth all of this, that she was worthy of it all just made her feel even more special.

The Daycare was closed and she wasn’t ready to go home just yet so she made her way to the bakery with a notepad in hand. Stepping inside the the bakery she went to the counter and ordered a slice of all of their cakes save for one and two boxes to put them in. Finding a table she smiled and took up her fork. Looking around she saw a pretty young woman a few years younger than herself and she smiled softly. ”Hello there!”

Outfit

After her poor performance in class there was no way she was getting promoted this year. She danced like an elephant, she didn't know what she was doing half of the time. She needed to focus, but she couldn't, and even though she should have been staying late to work on the corps work like she was told to she had jetted out as soon as possible. She still had her pilates routine to do, she still had to figure out when she wanted to cross-train, but there she was, eating cake by herself like a sad sap. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears, and she kept reassuring herself that there was no way that she would sob in public. She was strong and determined, and she wasn't ruining her image just because she was beating herself up from a really, really bad day.

The cake was helping a bit. It was rich in all the right spots, and the chocolate frosting was to die for. She should try to figure out the recipe, or at least ask for it. Astrid wasn't much of a baker but she was fine with trying to figure it out. Maybe she could bribe the directors with chocolate cake and then they would happily move her up to demi-soloist and everything would be going perfectly. She had been seriously debating it when she heard a voice, and she lifted her head sharply in surprise. "Oh, hullo," she greeted, trying to muster up a bit of a smile to the other woman.

Aphrodite could not help but notice how sad the younger woman looked and it reminded her so much of herself back when she had found out that she was pregnant. Her world had crumbled, ad she hoped that this was not the case for the woman. When she turned around Affy could not help but smile at her before motioning to her haul. ”Are you okay?” She asked kindly, concern on her face. She was not willing to let anyone go through what she went through. Had she the money she had once thought about opening a business aimed at helping single mothers like herself, and those who had been abused. I was a dream and maybe some day she would be able to do so.

”Maybe you cold join me? I am just trying out different kind of cakes for my wedding cake.” She said with a small laugh and a smile. A second opinion would never go amiss after all. Not to mention the fact that neither of them would have to be alone while they ate their confections. ”I’m Aphrodite.”

She shoveled a piece of cake in her mouth, knowing how odd it must have looked. Two women sitting tables away, watching one another as they chowed down on their slices alone. Astrid noticed that the other woman had far more slices than she had, and she found it to be pretty amusing, although she wasn't about to comment. She did have two, and it was a bad day. She needed to suck it up and get over it. When the woman posed the question, it was all she could do not to dissolve into tears right there and then. "Yeah," she muttered, focusing her irritation on her cake. She stabbed the fork into it vehemently. "I'm just having a bad day. Sorry to bother." She wasn't sure she meant it, but Astrid was generally polite and that was the nicer thing to do.

And she didn't have the energy to be mean. She might have had the focus to muster up a fake kindness, but... It was all too much. "Are you sure?" she asked, inclining her head. She liked the idea of joining someone, despite the extreme amount of cake. But she only needed to have a small bite of each. "Oh, congratulations. When's the lucky day?"

She didn't move to get up, not yet. She wanted another confirmation before she decided to switch tables.

Affy was still not sure about all of this. She was happy, and she loved Cal, but there was a fear in the back of her mind. She hated the idea that she might have rushed into this, that they might have gone too far too fast. She loved him, but she was worried that she was pushing the love she had felt for Tony and for Chris onto Cal. She was worried that she was doing all of this and she was far too young. She had not yet lived much of her life.

She was worried, she was scared, but she was going to continue working on her plans. A Venue had not been chosen so everything was just hinging on the date. She and Cal had a lot that they needed to talk about. ”I’m sure. “ She said with a small smile. ’We’ve not yet decided, but there is a lot that I still need to do, and there is a lot that is not time sensitive.” She said with a small smile.

When she got the second confirmation, Astrid immediately swept up her cake and moved to the other table. She was thankful that someone was willing to talk to her, and she knew that she really needed it. She had been dragging her feet recently, she had been trying to force herself to seem happy. She wasn't, not really. She was too lonely, and she needed to stop being so negative. Ballet wasn't the only way to solve her problem, there were other things that could help. Food wasn't one of those options, of course. She was supposed to work through her problems and get over it, and she could always try to talk to someone. It wasn't that she was trying to think of this stranger like that, but it was a thought... It was always a thought. "Well, Aphrodite, it seems like you've got a lot on your plate."

She liked the girl's name, at least. It kind of fit with her own, at least a bit. Two goddesses sitting in a cafe of sorts, eating cake. That had to be a bit of a joke, even if she wasn't technically a goddess but her name just meant that. "I'm Astrid, by the way. Astrid Travers," she remarked, grinning. "Well, that's kinda how it goes, huh? How much do you have done already?"

Affy smiled when she watched the other woman move her things over quickly. She liked to have company and she needed more friends in all honesty. What she hadn’t wanted to say was that she didn’t want to make decisions on all of this, because something felt wrong, something didn’t fit right and it worried her, it scared Affy. It made her worry about the future that lay before her It made her wonder about the things that she wanted and if she really wanted them. ”I do, but I always seem to work through it all. Don’t have much choice but to.” She said with a small laugh before making a note about the vanilla icing on the cake that she had tried.

”It’s a pleasure to meet you, Astrid. I’ve not gotten much done. The date hasn’t been set, but we are aiming for next summer. To give his daughter time to get used to me and to be able to trust me and care about me. Plus, my son is only a year old and I want him to be able to a little better behaved for the wedding. “ She said with a small shrug deflecting slightly.

Now that she had placed herself at the other woman's table, she was much faster to shovel her cake in her mouth. It was everything that she had hoped for; it was rich and delicate just as it was light and airy. This was definitely one of the better places to get cake, if she was being honest. It seemed like Aphrodite was agreeing with her on that. The other woman seemed to be taking copious notes on the icing. Astrid didn't care for vanilla, but she supposed she could see the appeal. It looked a bit like snow, but it was overly sweet. "And a lot of cake as well. Why're you doing this on your own?" Wasn't the fiance supposed to help with these things?

She didn't look old enough to have a kid, but Astrid wasn't judging. "That's cute!" she said, leaning forward to examine all of the cakes. "And a summer wedding always seemed fun. It won't be too chilly, then."

Taking up her fork she tried the next slice, which was an odd ginger chocolate that had a little bit of heat to it. She was not sure how she felt about it so she wrote exactly what she thought about it, and then nodded her head when the girl asked why she was doing it alone. ”I have no idea. My fiance left town, said that he would be back and we would discuss all of this when he got back. A part of me wonders if he is actually going to come back.” She confessed before looking at all of her sweets. She had rushed into the wedding. She had rushed into the relationship and with Cal gone she was beginning to doubt everything.

She looked at the cakes when Astrid mentioned that it wouldn’t be too chilly and nodded her head. ”She was right, it wouldn’t be too chilly. it really just depends on so very much. I guess this just gives me something to do.” Besides work and hide in her home with her son. Which was feeling so much emptier now that Jamie and Callista had moved back to Italy. ”I am waiting for anything super expensive or important until Cal returns.”