It was a pain on Wednesday mornings. I always just had to wait around for the buzzer on my flat to go indicating Jared was there to open the bakery for me. It was a deal Jared's wife, Lily, and I had. I could live above the bakery rent free if every Wednesday when the bakery was closed I came down and cooked the specials, rose bud cupcakes, rose water and raisin swirls and any birthday cake orders.
Lily only owned the bakery as a pass time instead of a real job. Jared was a partner in some firm and made a load of money. You would think from the look of Lily she was a gold digger. She certainly looked and fitted the part. She had waist length brown hair, brown eyes, 5"7, she looked kind of stuck up and from a rich family who had become bankrupt. She had no problem spending Jared's money as well but the moment you looked at her and Jared when they were together you could tell she was madly in love with. Who could blame her? I thought. He was good looking with a shaved head, grey eyes, 6"2, muscular and he had a good heart.
She was lovely too, coming round often for tea and cakes with me to talk. She couldn't open the shop on a Wednesday for me though because that was the day she visits her charity and I refused to have a key for the bakery because I often loose things.
Finally I heard the buzzer ring. I jumped up and scurried down the stairs because I knew I had a lot to do. I walked into the bakery and Jared was sitting at a table with some work in front of him.
"Hi." I greeted him walking straight to the stereo putting in my favourite CD. I couldn't cook without music but my choice of music annoyed Jared because it was rock.
"Not that crap again Marie." He groaned.
I laughed. "You know I cook best when I am listening to them."
"You are such a little goth." He teased not looking up from his piles of work.
"I am not a goth!" I argued.
"Lily said that she needs an extra dessert made for her mother's tea party tomorrow." He called as I was already in the kitchen.
"Did she say what kind?"
"I think she said a pavlova."
I started to cook the cakes and desserts with my usual precision. I didn't hear a thing out of Jared as I cooked but I brought him a cake and a cup of coffee after my first cakes were in the oven.
The bakery was an amazing little French themed shop on the harbour. Customers could order delicate cakes and pastries to eat inside or out or to take away. I cooked the specials and birthday cakes and Lucy, Lily's niece, cooked the usual things. Lucy couldn't cook the specials because she refused to take the recipes that I had created and pass them off as her own.
As I started to make the pavlova I realised I didn't have the berries I needed so I decided to ask Jared to go and get them for me while I decorated the rose bud cupcakes. When I went out to see him I saw the most gorgeous man I had ever seen sat opposite him talking. He had jet black hair that fell just below his ears, with dazzling green eyes that were intently laid upon Jared with his eyebrows knitted in a small frown. His face was chiselled but handsome and he seemed to exude confidence, arrogance and sex. He was dressed in a black Armani suit which showed off his muscular body that was slightly less muscular than Jared's but he seemed more powerful.
His eyes moved to me when I walked in and he seemed to drink in my appearance. A smirk came to his lips and at that moment I realised no matter how handsome he was he was going to be a dickhead. I walked up and stood next to the table.
"Sorry to interrupt gentlemen but I need to speak to you Jared." I said politely and with a small smile.
"Well sorry but we are a bit busy here so if you don't mind..." the man drawled. He gave me a crooked smile of dismissal and I wanted to slap him. His voice was deep and made my legs quiver slightly.
I gave him the same smile back to him that he had given to me. "Yes I can see you're busy but so am I and I cannot continue my work until I speak with Jared so if you don't mind..."
He chuckled deeply. "I think our work is slightly more important than yours."
"What makes your work more important than mine? My job gives me a place to live, money to pay my bills and buy food just as yours does for you." I judiciously retorted.
"She has a point there." Jared cheerfully said.
"Yes but my job is more important to me than yours is." He gave a twisted smile. "I think that is a better way to say what I meant."
"Twat." I muttered under my breath, I thought so no one could hear me. Jared tried to stifle a chuckle but he sharply turned his head to me with the look of evil in his eyes.
"What did you just call me?" he growled standing up to face me. He stood a good 9 inches taller than me at 6"3 and I had to lift my head to look him in the eye.
"Nothing at all." I sarcastically replied. I moved my head to the side and muttered "twat" again this time knowing he would hear me. Jared tried to stifle his chuckles again but was unable to this time.
"Do you know who I am little girl?" he asked, venom in his eyes.
"No, nor do I care." I retorted angrily crossing my arms over my chest.
He smirked. "I am Nick Phoenix." Realisation dawned on me. He was the head of the Phoenix mob which mainly handled loans. If you couldn't pay him back what you owed you would end up beaten, tortured or dead. My sister who had died recently had taken a large loan from him to fuel her drug habit and had killed herself when she couldn't pay him back. I needed to stand my ground.
"As I said I do not care. I just need to speak to Jared."
"What's your name?" he growled obviously furious someone had stood up to him.
"I do not see why it matters."
"It matter's because it is common courtesy to know the name of the person you are having a dispute with."
I sighed. "Marie Stokes."
Nick grew an unpleasant smile on his face. "Please say you have, well should I say had a sister named Emily Stokes."
I took a step back and unfolded my arms. "Yes I did, I mean do. Why does that matter?"
He laughed a cruel, menacing laugh. "Do we really have to do this now Nick?" Jared asked firmly.
"What better time to do it than now?" Nick replied. My stomach flipped in fear. "You owe me £1.5 million by the end of the year."
I stood opened mouthed at the two of them. Jared had his head ducked in shame while Nick had a smug smile on his face.
"Why? Why do I have this debt?" I nervously asked.
"Well, your coked up sister took a loan from me of £800,000 but then when the interest grew over a number of years and the fact she took a number of smaller loans over those years the amount grew. When she killed herself, which I must say was a very selfish act on her part, the debt was transferred to a relative. That relative is you."
I could feel a mixture of anger and desperation well up inside me. There was no way I would be able to make the money by living the way I was. I earned no money from the bakery job but earned a reasonable salary working in a bar that covered food and bills but any other time was taken up with college, college assignments and the occasional party or concert. I was doing a photography course and I had classes three times a week. I would have to drop everything and get an extra job and maybe even quit college or just not attend classes but continue with assignments.
