On the weekend, Ryan stayed home to catch up on his sleep as Violet was too busy to go out with him.
Unfortunately, his plan to sleep was disturbed when his sister, Hannah appeared at his door.
"Ryan!" Hannah rammed her knuckles on his door and grumbled when he didn't answer. "Ryan!" she knocked again. "Get up, you lazy bum! Just wake up and open this door, will you? This is important!"
Ryan squashed his face against the pillow before he stood up and staggered towards the door. "What?" he barked at her. "Can't you let me get some sleep?"
"It's ten in the morning," Hannah said, pointing at the clock. She took a step back and stared at Ryan for a couple beats. "Are you alright?"
Ryan went back to his bed, closed his eyes, and slammed his body on the mattress. "I'm alright, I'm just sleepy," he mumbled. He was tired. Last night, he spent his time listening to Marina chatting about his matter with Violet.
Marina was telling him that he should talk to Violet about his feelings. But then, Ryan did not think that it was a good idea. Right now, he was not sure of what he was feeling. He only knew that Violet was someone that he could talk to.
"Okay, then." Hannah nodded.
Ryan grimaced. "You woke me up for nothing?" Fortunately, Hannah was his sister. Or else, he might be tempted to scold her.
"I'm going out," Hannah announced. She marched into his room and crossed her arms. "I thought I could ask you to look after my daughter for a while," she paused and turned around to exit. "But I see that you needed some sleep."
"Hannah," Ryan called with a sigh. "If you want me to look after your daughter, you can leave her with me."
"No. I'll have someone else to look after her. You need to rest," she said before shutting the door gently.
Ryan stared back at the door and scowled. "Whatever," he muttered before he slammed his body back to his bed.
...
Violet scooped some vanilla buttercream and dumped them on the vanilla sponge cake. She spread the icing evenly across the cake with a metal spatula pushing towards the edges. When her phone rang, she placed the spatula into the bowl and picked up the phone. "Yes, Evan?" She identified him from the caller ID. "What can I do for you?" she asked, clipping her cell phone between her ear and her shoulder.
"Just checking," Evan said. "Is everything alright?"
"Hmm," Violet replied. She took the offset spatula and continued frosting her cake, smoothing the buttercream on the top. "The workers were alright. They fixed a few things around the bakery."
"That's good." Evan nodded. "If you need me to come over…"
Violet laughed. "It's alright. I can manage on my own. It's rare for you to get a day off. You should be enjoying yourself." She placed her spatula in the bowl and checked her cell phone when she heard a beep. "Listen, I've got to go. I got an incoming call."
The call ended soon. Then, Violet turned to her cell phone and pressed the green button. "Yes?"
"Hey, Violet! It's Hannah," There was a voice from the other line. "Are you still in your bakery?"
"Hannah? Yes," she answered after a moment of hesitation. "I'm still in my bakery."
"Great!" Hannah exclaimed. "I'll be there in two minutes."
"Wait!" Violet said. She looked at the phone screen and noticed that it was disconnected. "Oh shit," she cursed. She took off her apron, ran towards the entrance, and unlocked the door. She looked around and scanned for any sight of her. Hannah showed up exactly two minutes later with her daughter, Lily in her arms.
"Hey!" Hannah waved at Violet. She put her daughter down and peeked inside the bakery. Then, she frowned at the atmosphere. "The bakery is awfully quiet. There's nobody there. Something happened? Did you get robbed or something?"
She laughed. "No. Everything's fine. We're closing today for kitchen inventory and spring cleaning. What are you doing here?"
Hannah's lips curved into a smile. "I'm glad you asked. I need your help."
"What kind of help?" Her voice tensed. She couldn't help but feel uneasy when Hannah showed up without a warning. She could sense that something was going to happen.
"Could you look after Lily for a while?" Hannah asked. She lifted her daughter and handed her to Violet.
"Well," Violet paused as she took Lily in her arms. "I don't mind at all. But what's up?"
"I have a date with my husband!" Hannah answered cheerily. "I hate to trouble you, but I don't have anyone else to turn to. Everyone else has plans today and my mother is away. I'm a bit relieved that you're closed for the day. At least I'm not interrupting you with your operation."
"Well, yes," Violet laughed nervously. "But I got –"
"I should be back after an hour," Hannah cut her off. "But if I don't show up, you should call Ryan and have him pick up his niece, okay?" Hannah bent down and kissed lightly on her daughter's cheek. "Take care, little girl! Have fun!" She looked up and smiled at Violet. "Thank you so much, Violet."
Violet blinked. She had a hard time trying to figure out what happened.
Everything happened too fast!
Before she could finally comprehend what had happened, Hannah was already gone, leaving her daughter and a bag of Lily's necessities with her.
Violet led Lily into her bakery and locked the door behind her. She took the little child into her office and sat her down on her chair. She squatted and looked at the small girl. "Now," she said, touching the little girl's cheek. "What am I going to do with you?"
...
Ryan opened his eyes lazily. His sleep was once again disturbed. First, Hannah came knocking on his door, and this time with his ringing phone. He reached for his phone on his side table and pressed it to his ear. "Hello," he said, gently rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"Oh, Hi!" the other line said.
Ryan frowned at the familiar voice.
"It's me, Violet," she introduced herself after a moment of silence.