"He knows I'll make it up to him later."
Laughing at her naughty innuendo, I whipped out the binder I'd put together and pulled out the laminated, color-coded charts I'd worked on yesterday.
Benny touched my wrist. "Is it true about your job? I saw your Facebook and Twitter feeds," she explained. "I asked Vivian but she said that you hadn't said anything concrete."
My tummy clenched just thinking about the awkward conversation I'd had with my boss. "They didn't fire me. Actually, they tried to get me to stay but I just thought fuck it. I'm done. So I quit."
"What happens now?"
"I have no idea." My tummy tightened even more. "I really don't. I'm sort of…waiting. I've been careful with my money so I have enough to keep me going for ten or twelve months, maybe even longer if I really cut back to the bare minimums."
"I don't think you'll have a hard time finding a new job."
"I've already had a few offers." I didn't tell her that one of them was from Yuri. "I considered two of them seriously but I just keep thinking that maybe this is the push I needed to go off on my own. I can set my own hours. I can work with people who will respect me and not steal from me. I can be the master of my own destiny, you know?"
"I have faith in you." She squeezed my arm. "You'll land on your feet."
"Let's hope so. Otherwise Vivi might be in the market for a new roommate." I tapped the schedule to get us back on track. "Mark, the reporter for the Life section of the paper, is coming out with a photographer around eight. I thought we'd feature you, Marco, Adam, Celia and Lupe in that piece. Mark loves your buns—"—I winked at her as she snickered—"—so I know he's going to give you a great write-up."
"And Flora at Hoy?" Benny named the major Spanish language newspaper in the city. "Is she still coming today?"
"She'll be here at nine o'clock but I promised I'd snap pics from the official opening for her to use. Ada Montoya will be here around ten to shoot a package for the noon, six and ten broadcasts on the Spanish channel news."
Benny self-consciously touched her face. "Should I put on more makeup for that?"
Before I could answer, Dimitri swept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Holding her from behind, he bent down and placed a noisy kiss on her cheek. "You don't need makeup. You're already so damn beautiful. Put on more makeup and I'll have to grab the bat from your office to fight off the men who will be stampeding down here."
A blush crept up Benny's neck and colored her cheeks. Dimitri dropped his lips to her ear and whispered something that only she could hear. Her eyes widened briefly and she curled under her lips as if to stifle a frustrated moan.
Normally, their public display of affection would have inspired such envy in me. It was the same thing I felt when I watched Ivan nuzzle Erin's neck or stroke her hand so lovingly. Today I felt oddly…hopeful. Tonight I would see Yuri—and anything could happen.
As if reading my mind, Dimitri loosened his embrace of Benny. A mischievous smile played upon his lips. "So—tell me about this picture."
I groaned. "Please don't tease me, Dimitri. Vivian hasn't let up since the dang thing showed up online."
He laughed. "I'm shocked. Sweet little Vivian being so mean? Never."
"Sweet? Honey, don't let that innocent schoolgirl exterior fool you. Underestimate Vivian at your own peril."
Still smiling, Benny finally found the courage to ask what I'm sure she'd been dying to know since I walked in the front door. "So are you two dating or what?"
"We're getting together tonight."
"He asked you out?" She looked so excited I was surprised she wasn't jumping up and down.
"Not exactly," I said and dropped my gaze. "He sort of told me."
Dimitri snorted with amusement. "Now that sounds very much like Yuri."
"Is he coming over this morning?" Benny wondered.
I shook my head. "There was some issue in Europe. The pipeline, I think." I'd hit the internet after he'd called me and found a few articles hinting at trouble. "He should be back here sometime this afternoon. Or, at least, that's what Anna, his assistant, told me last night in the email she sent."
Benny frowned. "He had his assistant email you about your date?"
"I know." I rolled my eyes. "Believe me. He's going to hear about that. I thought about sending him a text to let him know how uncool it was but I sort of felt bad for him. I have a feeling he's under a lot of pressure."
She hummed with uncertainty and glanced at Dimitri. He put up his hands and stepped away from her. "I'm not touching this one."
She thumped him in the chest. "You better go on then. I don't want you to feel conflicted while we gossip about your boy."
Grinning, he kissed the top of her head and left to help Marco. Benny turned back to me. She studied me for a moment before finally saying, "I think you have to establish very early in this relationship how things are going to go. He's like Nikolai. He's used to people doing what he says, when he says it. It's hard to break bad behaviors once you let them start. Look at my brother? Like—whoa. I should have nipped that gangster crap of his in the bud but I let it slide. Bad habits, you know?"
"I get it." I sensed she felt awkward telling me what she thought but I appreciated that she cared enough about me to lay it on the line.
"Look, I really think that Yuri has put you in a different category than all those other women he's…romanced. There's real potential here, you know?"
I nodded. "When we were having dinner the other night, I could tell Yuri feels out of his element with me. I feel the same way with him. This is new territory for both of us. I'm not playing by the same rules most of the women he's dated used and he's definitely not playing by the same rules of the guys I've dated."
"Sounds pretty exciting actually. You're both entering a whole new world filled with possibilities."
I liked the way she described the way things stood between Yuri and me. It had a hopeful ring to it.
In no time at all, the bakery got crazy busy. By the time the doors were opened at six on the dot, there was a line snaking down the street. Patrons swarmed the place, many of them old faces who had followed from the other location. Benny and some of her longtime employees stood near the door and welcomed them inside.
I was so utterly thrilled by the turnout and snapped dozens of pics. Tagging the hell out of them, I posted them to the bakery's social media accounts and my own. I watched the hashtag I'd chosen for the launch gain momentum.
By the time the first reporter showed up, the line of waiting customers had grown even longer. Benny looked a bit frazzled but one soothing caress from Dimitri settled her nerves. I stood on the sidelines and watched her interviews. All the coaching I'd done had really worked out for her. She came across exactly as I knew her to be in real life—sweet, authentic and excited about her business.
I kept an eye on the reviews on some of the major online sites and the bakery's Facebook page. There were a couple of complainers about the slow pace of the line early in the morning but overall the reviews were hugely positive. Everyone raved about the pastries and burritos and Lupe's special hot chocolate.