143 Kaoru’s Cake House CH 5

Chapter Five : Handsome Chef Buying Carnations

 When the heart is empty, life is seen as too normal. The time that moves doesn’t feel like its flying past. Every step arranged has no meaning. However, one day, the heart will be filled with love. Only then, life will feel as if it has just started.

It has been more than an hour since Elle left Maria’s Bouquet. Seven customers had entered and left the shop in that period of time. Who knows how many people have lingered outside the shop to look at the fresh flowers arranged there. Some had even smelled the flowers while wearing a smile. It didn’t matter though, as long as they were people whom enjoyed the freshness of the flowers.

Ting Tong!

The sound of the bell above the door announced the presence of another customer. It was a young man in all white—the uniform of a chef’s. His long blonde hair was tied into a high ponytail and he wore simple, bottom half-framed rectangular gla.s.ses. With the high of about 6 feet tall, his long legs decreased the about of strides he took to reach the cas.h.i.+er counter where Maria stood.

Jasmine was almost done with the eighth bouquet, but left it to head towards the counter. As soon as her eyes had landed on that young man, they could not leave him.

‘How handsome!’ she thought.

“Excuse me, miss. Do you have carnations here?” the young man asked.

Maria smiled while replying, “Yes, we do. They’re outside. I’ll show them to you.”

The young man smiled too and then, followed Maria out to where the carnations were. On their way out, he glanced at Jasmine and nodded his head politely at her. Jasmine was surprised by his actions but managed to nod back politely although it was a little awkward.

Behind the young man’s gla.s.ses were sharp eyes that captured hearts. Jasmine could not help but asked herself mentally who this handsome chef was. She looked out of out of the shop’s window, watching her mother as she attended to the customer. Maria picked up several stalks of carnation flowers and then, handed them to the young man.

‘There are ten stalks,’ Jasmine counted. The young man was still smiling and so was her mother. Jasmine did not know what they were conversing about but she knew that even though she couldn’t hear his voice, that young man had caught her heart already.

Ting Tong!

Maria reentered the shop with young man behind her. “I didn’t know that there was a cake shop in this area. If I did, I would’ve visited a long time ago,” she said while heading towards the cas.h.i.+er.

“Then, please do come when you’re free,” the young man replied. His voice was raspy light a muscular man’s but he was tall and slim, not a single muscle in sight. This still, made Jasmine a little confused. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she barely heard her mother saying, “This is my daughter, Jasmine. She really loves eating cheesecakes with layers of blueberry in them. More so when it’s covered with bits of nuts.”

The young man turned to Jasmine who was already smiling a small, shy smile while nodding her head—maybe to agree with her mother’s statement?

“We have that type of cake there. If Jasmine comes to visit, just order ‘Cheese Peanut Blueberry’. That cake is a homemade special,” he said. Jasmine nodded her head again. This time, it was to agree with the invitation. She was still transfixed by the young man’s handsomeness.

Maria smiled at Jasmine’s actions. She then, asked the young man his name.

“My name is Wing,” he turned his attention back to Maria.

“Alright then, Wing, allow me to wrap up those flowers,” Maria reached out her hands to take the flowers from Wing’s arms. When she disappeared into the back to do so, Wing turned to Jasmine who was still staring, in a dazed manner, at him with a smile. Wing raised his eyebrows twice and the smile on Jasmine’s lips widened until her pearly whites could be seen. She thought that Wing was flirting with her or doing something funny to make her laugh but in truth, Wing felt less then comfortable.

“Alright, here are your flowers,” Maria announced as she returned to the cas.h.i.+er counter with the wrapped carnations in her hands. “The total is RM25,” she continued while handing them to Wing.

“Wow, that’s really cheap, miss! There’re ten stalks, and carnations too!” he exclaimed, making Maria smile.

“It’s nothing, we’re neighbors. You have your own shop and so do I. Let’s always visit each other’s shops, alright?” she explained. Wing smiled and bowed. He then, took out a fifty ringgit note from his pocket and handed it to Maria.

“The next time you want to order flowers and you’re not able to come to the shop, just call me. I can ask my helper to send them over to you. Here’s my card,” Maria gave her business card and Wing’s change to him.

“Sure, why not? Who is your helper? Is she Jasmine?” Wing replied while pointing his thumb at said girl. The smile he had on this time was a slightly teasing one, sending Jasmine into another daze.

“Jasmine’s only a temporary worker. She’s helping me while she’s on holiday this semester. My helper will be working again tomorrow,” Maria replied while motioning to her daughter.

Wing nodded his head, showing that he understood. “I have to leave now, miss. If I stay any longer the shop will be in a mess,” he then, excused himself, giving another nod to Maria and Jasmine. The both of them returned the nod. They enjoyed his presence and the conversation they shared although they had only met him today.

Once Wing was out from sight, Jasmine turned to her mother. Maria raised her eyebrows suggestively, giving a cheeky smile to her daughter before saying, “Handsome!” The two immediately burst into a fit of giggles, but calmed down soon after to resume working on the twelve bouquets of roses that Datin Sharifah needed done.