“I just see you two,” Nikki continued, “and I wonder if I’m doing something wrong to find love. You know? Maybe it doesn’t exist. Or maybe I’m not worth it.”
“Stop it.” Her dad instantly said. He said it lovingly, but still with a sternness to let his daughter know that what she said was just flat out wrong.
“…yeah, you’re right…” Nikki trailed off.
“I mean it, Nicole.” He replied. “If you’re not finding the right guy, it’s not because of anything wrong on your part. You’re a hard worker, a talented chef, smart, and beautiful. If love is what you’re searching for – you’ll find it. Your mother and I both know you will.”
“You will, Nicole – if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“But I want to tell you something,” her father said, “and this is important. Love doesn’t complete you. Love isn’t about instant gratification which you find and then it instantly fills you like one of your amazing desserts.”
“Oh? …” Nikki propped up. The fact that her dad just referenced exactly how she’d been drowning her sorrows had again made her think that her parents could see right through what she was up to in this moment.
“Love takes work.” Her mom interjected.
Again, her father took the lead, since his monthly thought for her well-being is probably what prompted the call. “And it’s hard work. Trust us on that. We know from experience. But it will be worth it, Nicole. Don’t rush it. Just like you wouldn’t rush a batch of cupcakes, you wouldn’t rush finding love. You know that, from all you’ve been through in the past…”
That repeated reference to her baking was flattering, but also becoming more ironic due to her recent cooking fit.
Her father continued: “Now, how many have you eaten tonight?”
Nikki chuckled in disbelief that he’d been correct that she had turned to baking in her moment of despair. “How’d you know, dad?”
“Cause you’re hard on yourself, kid. And baking is the one thing you know you’re great at.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled.
“Now, this is what we want you to do, okay?”
“What’s that?”
“No, I mean it Nicole. This won’t be easy for you to agree to do, so I want you to promise me up front that you’ll do it.”
“If you’re going to tell me to stop eating cupcakes tonight, that’s not something that will happen.”
Nikki heard both of her parents laugh on the other side of her phone. Their laughter instantly began to raise her spirits.
“No, not that,” her dad said. “But now your mom has something she wants you to promise her as well.”
Her mom chimed in enthusiastically: “I want you to come over soon and bake us some of those cupcakes. You know, those delicious ones with that yummy frosting?”
Nikki’s spirits raised even more. Her mom knew exactly how baking always lifted Nikki’s mood, and she was again pressing that button to cheer her daughter up. And it was working.
“I’ll do that, mom. No problem.”
Her father then spoke: “Now, promise me …” He waited for Nikki to make her promise before divulging to her what exactly it was that she was agreeing to.
“Okay, I promise.” Nikki finally gave in. Really, though, she was actually intrigued. Her father always seemed to have such insightful perspectives on things. She wondered what his advice was going to be, and she was actually contemplating following through to do it … whatever it was.
“No more first dates.”
Nikki cut him off by laughing out loud in skepticism. “But…”
“I mean it.” He stood firm.
“But, how am I supposed to meet a guy if I don’t go on dates with him?”
“Whoa, whoa. I didn’t say no more dating at all. You didn’t let me finish. I meant no more first dates until you pick a guy – any of the guys you’ve taken out in the past – and go on a second date with one.”
A moment of silence hung in the air as Nikki registered her father’s advice.
“Just one?” She asked.
“Yep. Nikki, your mom and I haven’t forgotten how bad things got with your last boyfriend before you moved out there to the city. Abuse is no laughing matter and would make anyone reluctant to trust another person.”
“Oh, dad,” Nikki interrupted in obvious denial, “it’s not that…” But the fact that she trailed off after saying it aloud made Nikki realize her reluctancy the past year had a reason. A very good reason, in fact.
Her dad tried to pivot the conversation away from the past and instead toward the future. “But we just really think that it’s a good idea for you to try going on one second date before you go on another first date. You never know what could happen. And, besides, you promised me ….” His last sentence obviously was pressing her to follow through with what she’d already promised.
“I know, I know.” She said abruptly. “Okay, I promised, so I’ll do it.”
Nikki sought to endearingly end the conversation while she processed what she’d just actually agreed to do. So, she used the only excuse which crossed her mind, even if it wasn’t really true. “Now, the next batch is ready to come out, so I gotta go. Love you guys!”
“Love you too!” She heard over the speakerphone from both of her parents before she hit the end button.
Nikki still sat on the edge of her counter. Putting the phone down next to her, she replaced it back with another cupcake in her hand. Before she took a bite, she looked at Cupcake and joked aloud: “What? It’s mainly made of air anyways.” She then started to fold the cupcake holder down to succumb to the indulgence of the pastry’s first bite. “Besides, it’s not as bad as being named Cupcake.” She smiled to herself, laughing at her own long-running joke with her four-legged companion before biting into the cupcake.
The dog playfully growled up to her. But Nikki had known her pet long enough to read what Cupcake was really trying to say. He wasn’t growling at the fact she was eating her umpteenth one. He was growling to remind her of the promise she’d just made to her dad.
“Oh, I know,” she said with her mouth half full. “And I’m going to do it. I’ve decided it. I’m going to go on a second date.”
Chapter 9
“Hold up just a minute,” Nikki’s co-worker and closest friend said in shock. Sara had actually stopped prepping for their event that evening and turned to look at Nikki. Whereas the two women normally joked with the bond and ease of being sisters, Sara could tell that Nikki wasn’t actually joking. “You actually mean it – you’re really going to ask a guy out on a second date?” She asked, reading Nikki’s serious face.
“I mean it,” Nikki replied.
But Sara could hear the earnestness in Nikki’s voice, despite her almost year-long reluctancy to take the next step with a guy.
“What is it?” Sara asked, her seriousness now mimicking Nikki’s serious demeanor. She was reading her friend like a book. “What aren’t you telling me, Nikki?”