Here, Darling.
Baby Just Say Yes
Alaska’s plan were already on the way, she was thankful for the fact that Ava was in kindergarten now as it gave her time during the day to plan out all the things she needed to do to get the bakery up and ready to go, she was so excited.
Lucy had been the biggest star in the world, coming around most nights to help Alaska with her plans and also to keep Ava company and busy when Adelaide needed to pop out to do last minute things.
Ava looked Lucy and claimed that she was now her new best friends, making her a close replacement to Zack which Lucy would always gleefully would rub in his face when she felt it was appropriate.
Chris still hadn’t returned from visiting his family, phoning up every couple of weeks or so and informing Alaska that he was going to have to prolong his stay, but with Chris’s job he could work anywhere in the world and could still get the job done.
Alaska had missed her friends company; after all he was the oldest she had from Baltimore, even if they had drifted apart in the last few years. But she wished she was able to help and support him with the problems his family was going through, but she knew deep down that that wasn’t exactly possible.
All the money that Alaska needed to get her business equipped was coming out of her college fund which she hadn’t fully needed five years ago, landing a full scholarship to the University of Baltimore meant that the money her Grandmother had left for the girl in her will would be used to start up her business, something she knew the old lady would be proud of.
After all the woman practically raised Alaska after her parent’s had started to pull in the extra hours pre-divorce and when they were constantly arguing and fighting post-divorce. She could remember countless afternoons and weekends spent in her Grandmother’s brightly coloured kitchen, learning new recipes and perfecting old ones as the pair worked their way through numerous cook books.
She had loved that woman more than her own mother and she was devastated when she had passed away a couple of weeks before her eighteenth birthday, knowing that the confidant she once had was now gone forever.
It kind of broke her heart sometimes when she realised that Ava would never be able to meet her Grandmother, that some of the best people that Alaska knew would never be able to share their wisdom with Ava. It killed her inside.
Ava was out tonight staying at Spencer’s at his sixth birthday sleep over party, Alaska was worried about this. She knew how bad the pair were when they were together and she was worried about whether Caroline would be able to cope with them and little baby Francesca all at once.
But this did give Alaska time to get back to work at the bar and to pull in the extra cash what she desperately needed with Christmas coming up and the draining cost of setting up her own business, she never thought that it would be this hard or strenuous.
“Last Call” Texas called from her end of the bar, it was just the pair working tonight with Serendipity taking a day off to visit some family down south and Tallahassee picking and choosing when she could be bothered to turn up and show her face.
It was quiet today, something she knew Serendipity would definitely not be happy about and would result in her getting the girls to do whatever necessary in order to pull in the bucks. While Texas was keeping her end of the bar busy, Alaska was working on a napkin, writing down all the things that she had left to do, and to pay for, at the bakery.
The bakery was all she seemed to be able to think about, she was living, breathing, eating and sleeping nothing else. It was the only thing that seemed to be on her mind an it never seemed to go away. She knew she was boring Lucy and Texas already with all the talking she was doing about it but she couldn’t help it. It was like a drug to her.
“Hey, can I get a beer or am I too late?” A voice asked near Alaska causing her to jump and her pin to draw through all the work she had been doing, she looked up, eye’s wide, to see a bemused Zack looking back at her.
Alaska eyed the clock, biting her lip slightly before pulling out a bottle and cracking it open handing it to Zack and refusing to take the money in return, after all it was now passed closing time and the customers were slowly drifting off in small groups, using each other as support.
“What you doing here?” Alaska asked, crossing her arms as she rested against the bar, her eyes surveying the muscular boy in front of her, his eyes already drooping slightly and his hair was a definite mess as though his hand had been running through it constantly all day.
“Just finished in the studio for the day so I thought I’d come and see if you were here” Zack yawned, running his hand through his hair causing his muscles to go taut, showing off his tattoo as he tipped the neck of the beer allowing the liquid to flow down his mouth.
“Last minute shift, Ava’s at Spencer’s for a birthday sleepover so I figured that I might as well” Alaska shrugged, picking up the tea towel and wiping the side of the bar, lifting her hand in a half hearted wave at the few customers that were leaving. “Beat’s being home alone” she sighed nodding to Texas as she headed into the back to deposit the cash into the safe.
“Chris not back yet?” Zack questioned, taking another gulp as Alaska grabbed herself a glass, pouring herself a hefty glass of JD and Coke and practically downing half the glass in one, smacking her lips together before wiping them with the back of her hand as she heaved herself over the bar and into the empty seat next to Zack, propping her feet up on the counter as she allowed her body to relax.
“Nah, reckon’s he might stay out there a couple more months or so, wants’ to make sure if everything is a-OK before he comes back home, if he comes back home” Alaska sighed, closing her eyes as she allowed her body to rest.
It seemed to take more out of her to work a long shift when the bar was near dead than when it was packed to the brim, the hours seeming to drag by as she constantly stared at the clock with nothing better to do except to will the time to go by faster.
“Anyway enough about me, how’s the album coming along? You never really did tell me much about the band” Alaska grinned, twisting her body to face the boy who just shrugged a mischievous smile flashing upon his face as he drummed his fingers against the bar, shrugging at Alaska’s question.
“We’re a mix between rap and death-metal” Zack shrugged, taking in Alaska wide-eyed reaction trying to do anything possible to keep a straight face “Alex and Jack are fighting because Alex wants to call the album ‘69 Way’s To Sacrifice a Goat’ and Jack wants to call it ‘99 Cents of Evil’ so it’s all in uproar” he shrugged, taking another sip of his beer to try and stop himself laughing as he took in Alaska’s reaction.
Alaska didn’t know what she was expecting but it definitely wasn’t that. She couldn’t picture the boys in the baggy jeans and t-shirts with the multiple gold chains around her neck, nor could she picture them decked out in nothing but black with heavy eyeliner and dark lipstick, studded dog collars around the neck.
“Bull shit” Alaska called, eye’s narrowing when she could see the Zack’s tell tale signs. How his eyes seemed more mischievous, the way his nose crinkled slightly as he tried to keep a straight face and finally how his hand seemed to tighten around the objects they were holding.
Zack couldn’t hold it any longer; he burst out laughing, slapping the counter with his hand as he doubled over, and catching the glower Alaska was sending him out of the corner of his eye causing him to laugh even more. He couldn’t believe she almost fell for it.
“You’re right, no we’re a pop punk band kind of thing” Zack shrugged, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve as he grinned down at the girl “we’ve done a few albums now so it’s getting easier to get into the swing of things but this one seems to be going good” and as if it was possible his smile seemed to grow wider, his eyes sparkling with happiness.
“Any way I have a question for you” Zack began, pausing to lick his lip and rub the back of his neck, his feet absentmindedly begging to tap against the foot rest of the stool, a random beat that had been in the back of his mind allday.
“Sure, shoot” Alaska smiled, grabbing the glass and taking another long sip, loving how the alcohol felt as it rushed down her throat, nothing tasted better after an extreamly long day. Zack paused for a couple of seconds longer, trying to gain his composure as he didn’t do this thing often, actually he couldn’t remember the last time he did this.
“Would you – er – go on a date with me?”
Lucy had been the biggest star in the world, coming around most nights to help Alaska with her plans and also to keep Ava company and busy when Adelaide needed to pop out to do last minute things.
Ava looked Lucy and claimed that she was now her new best friends, making her a close replacement to Zack which Lucy would always gleefully would rub in his face when she felt it was appropriate.
Chris still hadn’t returned from visiting his family, phoning up every couple of weeks or so and informing Alaska that he was going to have to prolong his stay, but with Chris’s job he could work anywhere in the world and could still get the job done.
Alaska had missed her friends company; after all he was the oldest she had from Baltimore, even if they had drifted apart in the last few years. But she wished she was able to help and support him with the problems his family was going through, but she knew deep down that that wasn’t exactly possible.
All the money that Alaska needed to get her business equipped was coming out of her college fund which she hadn’t fully needed five years ago, landing a full scholarship to the University of Baltimore meant that the money her Grandmother had left for the girl in her will would be used to start up her business, something she knew the old lady would be proud of.
After all the woman practically raised Alaska after her parent’s had started to pull in the extra hours pre-divorce and when they were constantly arguing and fighting post-divorce. She could remember countless afternoons and weekends spent in her Grandmother’s brightly coloured kitchen, learning new recipes and perfecting old ones as the pair worked their way through numerous cook books.
She had loved that woman more than her own mother and she was devastated when she had passed away a couple of weeks before her eighteenth birthday, knowing that the confidant she once had was now gone forever.
It kind of broke her heart sometimes when she realised that Ava would never be able to meet her Grandmother, that some of the best people that Alaska knew would never be able to share their wisdom with Ava. It killed her inside.
Ava was out tonight staying at Spencer’s at his sixth birthday sleep over party, Alaska was worried about this. She knew how bad the pair were when they were together and she was worried about whether Caroline would be able to cope with them and little baby Francesca all at once.
But this did give Alaska time to get back to work at the bar and to pull in the extra cash what she desperately needed with Christmas coming up and the draining cost of setting up her own business, she never thought that it would be this hard or strenuous.
“Last Call” Texas called from her end of the bar, it was just the pair working tonight with Serendipity taking a day off to visit some family down south and Tallahassee picking and choosing when she could be bothered to turn up and show her face.
It was quiet today, something she knew Serendipity would definitely not be happy about and would result in her getting the girls to do whatever necessary in order to pull in the bucks. While Texas was keeping her end of the bar busy, Alaska was working on a napkin, writing down all the things that she had left to do, and to pay for, at the bakery.
The bakery was all she seemed to be able to think about, she was living, breathing, eating and sleeping nothing else. It was the only thing that seemed to be on her mind an it never seemed to go away. She knew she was boring Lucy and Texas already with all the talking she was doing about it but she couldn’t help it. It was like a drug to her.
“Hey, can I get a beer or am I too late?” A voice asked near Alaska causing her to jump and her pin to draw through all the work she had been doing, she looked up, eye’s wide, to see a bemused Zack looking back at her.
Alaska eyed the clock, biting her lip slightly before pulling out a bottle and cracking it open handing it to Zack and refusing to take the money in return, after all it was now passed closing time and the customers were slowly drifting off in small groups, using each other as support.
“What you doing here?” Alaska asked, crossing her arms as she rested against the bar, her eyes surveying the muscular boy in front of her, his eyes already drooping slightly and his hair was a definite mess as though his hand had been running through it constantly all day.
“Just finished in the studio for the day so I thought I’d come and see if you were here” Zack yawned, running his hand through his hair causing his muscles to go taut, showing off his tattoo as he tipped the neck of the beer allowing the liquid to flow down his mouth.
“Last minute shift, Ava’s at Spencer’s for a birthday sleepover so I figured that I might as well” Alaska shrugged, picking up the tea towel and wiping the side of the bar, lifting her hand in a half hearted wave at the few customers that were leaving. “Beat’s being home alone” she sighed nodding to Texas as she headed into the back to deposit the cash into the safe.
“Chris not back yet?” Zack questioned, taking another gulp as Alaska grabbed herself a glass, pouring herself a hefty glass of JD and Coke and practically downing half the glass in one, smacking her lips together before wiping them with the back of her hand as she heaved herself over the bar and into the empty seat next to Zack, propping her feet up on the counter as she allowed her body to relax.
“Nah, reckon’s he might stay out there a couple more months or so, wants’ to make sure if everything is a-OK before he comes back home, if he comes back home” Alaska sighed, closing her eyes as she allowed her body to rest.
It seemed to take more out of her to work a long shift when the bar was near dead than when it was packed to the brim, the hours seeming to drag by as she constantly stared at the clock with nothing better to do except to will the time to go by faster.
“Anyway enough about me, how’s the album coming along? You never really did tell me much about the band” Alaska grinned, twisting her body to face the boy who just shrugged a mischievous smile flashing upon his face as he drummed his fingers against the bar, shrugging at Alaska’s question.
“We’re a mix between rap and death-metal” Zack shrugged, taking in Alaska wide-eyed reaction trying to do anything possible to keep a straight face “Alex and Jack are fighting because Alex wants to call the album ‘69 Way’s To Sacrifice a Goat’ and Jack wants to call it ‘99 Cents of Evil’ so it’s all in uproar” he shrugged, taking another sip of his beer to try and stop himself laughing as he took in Alaska’s reaction.
Alaska didn’t know what she was expecting but it definitely wasn’t that. She couldn’t picture the boys in the baggy jeans and t-shirts with the multiple gold chains around her neck, nor could she picture them decked out in nothing but black with heavy eyeliner and dark lipstick, studded dog collars around the neck.
“Bull shit” Alaska called, eye’s narrowing when she could see the Zack’s tell tale signs. How his eyes seemed more mischievous, the way his nose crinkled slightly as he tried to keep a straight face and finally how his hand seemed to tighten around the objects they were holding.
Zack couldn’t hold it any longer; he burst out laughing, slapping the counter with his hand as he doubled over, and catching the glower Alaska was sending him out of the corner of his eye causing him to laugh even more. He couldn’t believe she almost fell for it.
“You’re right, no we’re a pop punk band kind of thing” Zack shrugged, wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve as he grinned down at the girl “we’ve done a few albums now so it’s getting easier to get into the swing of things but this one seems to be going good” and as if it was possible his smile seemed to grow wider, his eyes sparkling with happiness.
“Any way I have a question for you” Zack began, pausing to lick his lip and rub the back of his neck, his feet absentmindedly begging to tap against the foot rest of the stool, a random beat that had been in the back of his mind allday.
“Sure, shoot” Alaska smiled, grabbing the glass and taking another long sip, loving how the alcohol felt as it rushed down her throat, nothing tasted better after an extreamly long day. Zack paused for a couple of seconds longer, trying to gain his composure as he didn’t do this thing often, actually he couldn’t remember the last time he did this.
“Would you – er – go on a date with me?”
