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The family had always done things a certain way at the bakery. They made cupcakes and pies and other treats that were well-known by Chicagoans, distributed all over the city in grocery stores and other shops. There were plenty of families all over the Chicago area with stories about picking up the bakery's classic vanilla cake covered in sprinkles for a birthday or anniversary.
Maggie, however, wanted to do something a little different. She had become friends with the owners of Icing bakery in Lincoln Park in the past year. Georgia and Cora ran the place and Maggie even met Georgia's hunky brother who was an investor and also a player on the Chicago Otters.
She would go to games and sit in the suites watching the players and eating the catered food. The pulled pork sandwiches and mashed potatoes from a local barbecue place were amazing. The desserts were not impressive. Georgia and Cora agreed.
And then a few weeks ago, Overland Bakery came up in conversation during a game.
"You know, the team just got a new owner," Georgia said. "We could put in a good word for you."
"Oh! Your family's bakery would be perfect for the arena!" Cora exclaimed.
So Maggie went home that night and started thinking about it. Her bakery could make some really special things in big batches and serving an arena would definitely be a big batch of special things.
It could also be a risk and they would have to bring on workers to take on the extra projects. Her father wasn't too excited about the prospect and her sister with the MBA who ran the finance department didn't seem too keen on spending that kind of cash. But Maggie convinced them to let her take this meeting at the arena and see what happened.
And that's how she ended up holding on to a rolling cart for dear life as she slowly walked down a ramp into the belly of the place.
The arena's security guy led her to an elevator and slowly helped her push the cart over that break between the floor and the elevator so nothing would fall off. Maggie breathed a sigh of relief as the doors started to close with the cart secured. One major task to get everything up to the suite was done without losing any of it.
"Hold on!"
The command came from someone on the other side of the doors and she heard the security guy press the button to open the doors back up just as some jerk slipped in at full throttle and almost ran directly into the cart.
"Whoa!" he said as his eyes went wide at the sight of Maggie.
Maggie grabbed onto the cart for dear life, making sure to secure as much as possible without anything falling off the side. She kept it all on except for the cake box with her black cherry chocolate cake. It tumbled off the side before being caught by the stranger in the elevator who had knocked it off. The jerk prevented it from touching the floor, but he smashed the box on its way down.
Maggie didn't need to open the box to know the cake was ruined.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. That cake was going to be the centerpiece of her presentation and now it was probably a smashed mess in a cake box.
"Oh, I'm so sorry."
Maggie opened her eyes to see a man with brown eyes, his hair slightly disheveled over his brow, a bit of scruff on his face. She knew he was probably sincere in his remorse by the look on his face, but it was a face she really wanted to punch right now.
She gingerly took the cake box from his hand and put it back on the cart. "It's OK," she replied to a tight smile.
Maggie couldn't help the tone in her voice that made it sound very not OK. But she was trying to make a good first impression on anyone in the arena in case they decided to hire Overland Bakery. She couldn't make enemies out of anyone who might be offering her a contract.
But this jerk in the elevator was now an enemy.
"I'm usually much better with construction stuff than cake boxes," the man said sheepishly.
"I can tell."
Again, trying to be professional, but it was really hard to make her voice sound reasonable when all she could think about was what that cake was going to look like when she opened the box.
The man in the elevator seemed to get the hint and pushed himself against the wall as they quietly rode up to the suite level she was going to do her presentation in.
Maggie tried not to scowl at the man standing there in worn-out jeans and a t-shirt with one of those high-vis vests on that you would see on a construction site. He probably wasn't kidding when he said he was better at construction than desserts. He also looked damn good in those jeans, not that Maggie cared or whatever. At the very least, it wasn't her main concern right now.
The doors finally dinged and the man got out first and put his hand out to keep the elevator open.
"Do you need some help with that?"
"No, thank you," she muttered as she pushed it into the hallway as carefully as possible so nothing else got ruined.
But then she didn't know where to go next and awkwardly stood there trying to find the sign to tell her where suite 216 was. The sooner she could find it, the sooner she could get this disastrous presentation started.
