It was the first of the month and rent was due. Andi was short about two hundred bucks and knew they had been late last month as well. The apartment manager tried to be nice about it but she also made it clear that she answered to a higher authority (the property management company) and that if Andi and her boyfriend were late on their rent again, they would get more than a late fee. Andi's boyfriend, Carter, was out of town on a business trip. When she asked him about the rent before he left, he simply told her she should do whatever she could to sort it out with Eve, the apartment manager.
Andi was pissed but she didn't know what to do. Her schedule had been hectic with job searching but she hadn't found anything steady. She sold a few photos in an art show but even with that money, it wasn't enough and she knew she had to come up with something fast before Eve came knocking on her door. She wracked her brain thinking about how to sell a few more photos or about borrowing money from her dad but she hated to do that.
She called up her best friend, Rain, who was quite an entrepreneur and sold knitted goods at street fairs to make ends meet since her recent divorce.
"Jesus Rain, I am 30 years old... too old to not have rent money."
"It's alright Andi, we will come up with something. Think about what you can do. I mean, you can sell your photos at the next street fair I am doing."
"Well when is that?"
"Next Thursday, the 7th."
"Shit, Rain. Thanks all the same but that's too late and Eve said the next time we were late..."
Rain cut her off... "I know, let's have a bake sale!"
"Rain, I totally appreciate your enthusiasm babe but isn't that a little 'youth group fundraiser' even for me?"
"Yeah, I guess so. But you went to culinary school and you never really bake anymore."
An idea began to rise up in Andi. "I have the best idea! I will make up a flier and teach a baking class. Can I use your house?"
"Sure sweetie." Andi was glad Rain got the house in the divorce.
"Ok, well, I am going to get on that. I will email you the flier to put up in your neighborhood and I will put one up in my apartments. You are the best! Love you!"
"Love you too babe!"
Rain was Andi's best friend and they had always been there for each other, since they were 13 years old. They had gotten in their share of trouble together but they had never been mad at each other and they always came up with creative money making ideas together.
Andi fired up her laptop and made a quick flier on word. She kept it simple and sweet with her name, phone number, and the header "Baking Lessons, Price Negotiable." For good measure she added a photo of a clip art loaf of bread. It was nothing fancy but it would do. She emailed it to Rain and then printed off five copies to put up around her apartments. She figured there was no time like the present and grabbed some push pins to go tack them up.
When she got to the laundry room, she was glistening with sweat. It was really hot outside and even hotter in a room with 10 dryers. That's when the flaw in her plan occurred to her, it was easily 90 degrees and who would want to learn how to bake when it is 90 degrees outside? She figured it was too late so she hung the flier anyway a headed on back to her sweltering apartment. Even with the sliding glass doors open and all of the fans blasting, it was sticky-hot at best and unbearable at most. She felt like it was probably hot enough to bake bread on the counter top. She cracked a cool one and slid a wedge of fresh cut lime down into the bottleneck. All she had to do then was wait.
It was too hot in the bedroom to sleep so she lie on the couch in boxers and an undershirt and fell asleep watching a bad porno. It seemed like Carter was gone a lot these days and she has been insatiable. She felt like she might have to take on another side job to support her porn habit. Since Carter was gone, she felt no need to clean up and her erotica books, dirty magazines, and rented porno's were all over the living room. It was a regular jill-off palace at her place. The fake orgasm and whirring fan put her right to sleep.
The next morning a loud knocking on the front door awoke Andi. It was almost a "cop knock" like someone was about to bust the door wide open. Confused, and in the middle of a hot dream, Andi stumbled to the door, still in her boxers and undershirt. She looked through the peephole and saw the apartment manager, Eve, standing on her doorstep.
"Fuck, not now" she thought.
She opened the door a little bit.
"Look," she whined, "I know my rent is late but I am trying to figure it out and I totally know I am in trouble with you but Carter..."
"Stop!" Eve assertively interjected. "That's not why I'm here."
Maybe it was the dream she had been having or the fact that she was usually scared of seeing Eve since it meant she had done something wrong, but she had never noticed how incredibly gorgeous Eve was. Her eyes were captivating and deep brown in color. She was shorter than Eve by a few inches but she had a solid stature that oozed confidence. She was solid and strong. She had large, round breasts and a small waist but a firm, ample belly. Her skin was cocoa, smooth looking, and Andi found herself magnetically pulled to Eve at that moment. She wanted to slide her had down velvety arms. She had never really been attracted to a woman enough to act on it before but something about Eve's confidence and closely cropped head made Andi a bit weak in the knees.
Eve snapped her back to reality. "I'm not here for that. Is this yours?" She held in her hand, one of the pink fliers Andi made the night before.
"Oh..." Andi was confused, "yes, that is mine, look, if it's not OK that I posted it, I'm really sorry."
Now it was Eve's turn to look confused. "No, it's not that. It's just that, well, my girlfriend has been traveling abroad for months and I just thought I should make her something really special when she gets back. Do you think you can teach me to bake bread?"
"Yeah! Of course I can. I am using my friend's kitchen so I will have to set up a time and date to do it. Can you do it tomorrow?" Andi was thrilled. She thought she could kill two birds with one stone and earn some money while getting in good with the manager."
"She gets back tomorrow so I have to do it today. Can you do it?"
"Well, I think my friend is working today but I can call her." Andi worried that her opportunity was quickly walking out the door.
"Can't we just do it here? How about right now?"