It was done, and baked to a beautiful perfection. The yellow cake was ever so slightly golden, and despite being firm, it was soft and spongy. A light smile graced my face. It was my first cake at my new job, at least, the first one I’d made without any assistance.

“The icing.” The voice came over my shoulder and I turned to my childhood friend, meeting his warm eyes as he held out the icing for me. We both applied for the same job, and we both got admitted. However, only one of us would keep the job. After today, our boss would choose the cake he thought was best… and one of us would walk home without the job of our dream. It would be the first time in all our life that we wouldn’t be together in something.

“Thank you,” I murmured. “But I already have the icing of my choice in my possession.”

He paused, a strange emotion flashing through his face. “I see,” he said with a nod. “Well, I wish you the best of luck.”

“You too.” I kept my eyes on his retreating form. I had chosen pinks and blues for the icing on my cake. I turned to my cake and smoothed out the icing, dropping in smeared pink hearts in the light blue. I blew out a shaky breath, my cheeks a bright crimson, and began to draw a dog on the top of the cake in white icing. It was a small dog, a puppy in fact, with pointy ears and a look of hope in its round and shining eyes. More specifically, it was a white German Shepherd puppy.

I took a step back to admire my work, and then picked it up and walked it to the table, sitting it beside the other cake, perfect and two tiered. It was all white, with white puffs of icing along the side and a thin red line which traveled all about the cake, winding and winding around the sides, before coming to curl in a perfect heart on the top.

I took a steady breath, feeling my eyes burn as our boss looked over the two cakes. It was clear which one he preferred. But my friend, he stared not at the cakes or at our boss as I was, but at me. His gaze bore into me, and I knew exactly why. I had exposed myself to him. I had known from the beginning that I would not win the challenge, and that I would lose the job. But I didn’t want that to separate us. So for my cake I had not just put a puppy on it, but the puppy we had wanted as children… when we were married.

“Rose,” I met my boss’ gaze. He shook his head. “Thank you for your excellent work. I am happy to recommend you to other bakeries in the area.”

“Thank you.”

“Shane, my boy,” he turned to my friend and shook his hand. “Congratulations. I will see you tomorrow and we will go over your new duties.” He took a step back and smiled at us both. “That is all for today, thank you both for your great work.”

I dipped my head in acknowledgement and quickly made my way to the exit.

“Rose…”

I walked faster, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall.

“Rose.” His voice was closer, and firmer as I pushed open the door and walked out the shop. I had made my intentions clear, but not because I thought he would come after me. I simply wanted him to know… It was selfish, but I couldn’t bear the thought of him not knowing.

“Rose!” Shane came running up behind me and grabbed my arm. “Rose I-“ he stopped. He must have felt the way I trembled at his touch. I kept walking. Shane fell into a comfortable silence and walked slowly with me. I didn’t look at him. I didn’t want to deal with the consequences of my actions. So I wandered about the streets, turning here and there, with my best friend walking by my side.

At last I felt a tug, and I finally turned to look at him. But he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he opened a door and stared inside. Barks and howls came from the door and my eyes widened. Could he really mean- “Do you want to go in?” He asked.

I smiled. “Yes. I’d like that.”