How to Frost a Cupcake

Evan was holding a tray of assorted cupcakes —carrot, cookies 'n' cream, and banana split when Sarah walked in with a cautious look on her face. She watched him fill the cupcake display case and decided to help him.

"I can't believe that Violet would agree to pretend to date. This is boring," Sarah sounded dejected. "I was hoping that something crazy and fun would happen."

There weren't many customers that morning, and Violet was out for a meeting with a supplier. The other staff was working in the back kitchen, except for Risa and Tara who were chatting at the counter. Sarah thought that this would be the perfect time to discuss their plan to help her best friend.

Two nights ago, Violet had made a video conference between the three of them and they discussed Violet and Ryan's plan to pretend to date. After a long discussion, Violet then made her decision to go through with this plan.

"Well," Evan paused as he put placed the last chocolate cupcake with French vanilla buttercream on the display case. "At least things will turn back to normal."

"And she didn't have to worry so much about his father's threat," Sarah said. She took a mocha cupcake from the display case, peeled the cupcake liners, and took a bite.

Evan stared at the woman next to him and remembered his conversation with Violet a few days ago. Violet hinted that Sarah liked him and that he should tell her how he felt. But he wondered if that was true. He had never seen Sarah giving him the slightest clue that she liked him.

Evan stared at the board where customized orders from customers were recorded. There were 15 chocolate cupcakes with a raspberry butter-cream cupcake bouquet order from Mrs. Brown. Each bouquet would consist of five cupcakes. Then, there were 100 Very Vanilla cupcakes for Miss Lin.

Evan grabbed a tray of vanilla cupcakes to the open kitchen and began frosting them with vanilla buttercream. "Don't you need to attend your training?"

"My manager gave me a few days off after I did well in that audition last time. Evan, in a few months, I might turn into a famous singer," Sarah said, beaming. She then took another bite of her cupcake and moaned in satisfaction. "This cupcake is delicious."

Evan glanced at Sarah and caught her staring at his frosted cupcakes. "Since you're not doing anything, would you like to help me then?" he asked.

"I'd love to!" Sarah said enthusiastically. She finished the cupcake, walked towards the sink, and washed her hands with soap. Then she returned to Evan after drying her hands with a kitchen towel. "What do I do?"

Evan took a box of royal icing 'forget-me-not', and put it on the table. "You can help me place these flowers on the cupcakes."

Sarah grimaced. "You always wanted me to help you with the flowers or sprinkling. Can't I do the frosting instead?"

Evan laughed nervously. "The last time you help me frosting cupcakes, you made them look like poop."

"It wasn't my fault," Sarah defended herself. "In my defense, they were chocolate butter-cream. Of course, it would look like poop when you pipe the frosting swirling like that."

Evan Xiao adjusted his glasses. "It has nothing to do with the butter-cream. It was your piping technique. I have never frosted my cupcakes poop-like."

Sarah put her hand on her hips. "If you're good at this, why don't you teach me how to frost them nicely? Evan. Teach me."

Evan stared at her for a couple of seconds. "You want me to teach you how to frost cupcakes?"

"Why not?" Sarah returned her stare. "We're not busy. This is the perfect timing."

"Alright," Evan agreed. He took another piping bag with vanilla buttercream and handed it to Sarah. "Watch how I do it first."

Evan held the piping bag with his right hand an inch above the cupcake. He began squeezing the bag while moving his hand in a circular motion around the top of the cupcake. Evan could usually frost a cupcake in seconds, but now, he purposely frosted the cupcake in slow motion so that Sarah could see how it was done. When he was done, he placed the piping bag on the table and smiled proudly at his work.

"It's perfect!" Sarah mentioned, admiring the cupcake.

"Thank you," Evan said. "Now, it's your turn."

Sarah gripped her piping bag and held it exactly as Evan did. Except that her hand was shaking.

"You should hold it properly with both hands," Evan advised.

Sarah did as she was told and began to squeeze it real hard.

"Stop! Stop it right there!" Evan shrieked.

Sarah looked up at him. "What did I do wrong now? I haven't started frosting yet."

"You're putting too much pressure on the piping bag," Evan commented. "Here, let me guide you."

Sarah went back to her cupcake and held the piping bag above the cupcake. Then she felt Evan slid behind her. His hand held hers. She turned around only to find that she was leaning against his body.

"Let me teach you how to apply the right pressure," Evan said.

Sarah swallowed as his breath tickled her ear.

"Relax," Evan whispered. He held Sarah's hand an inch above the cupcake and started to lead her hands put on the right pressure by squeezing the bag, and moved her hand in a circular motion around the cake. "There. It wasn't that hard."

Sarah took a deep breath and looked at her frosted cupcake. It was perfect.

Just then, Violet entered the kitchen carrying a brown box with both hands. "What are you guys doing?".

"Sarah made me teach her how to frost the cupcake," Evan explained. Then, he quickly looked away to avoid his friend's gaze as he was afraid that Violet might say something unnecessary.

Violet placed the brown box down on the stainless steel table. "Guys, listen to this. I had a very brilliant idea while I was out meeting with the suppliers. I'm planning to hold a cupcake sale to boost our sales."

"I think it's a brilliant idea," Evan said. "We could attract new customers with our promotions and build our relationship with our customers as well."

"I know. I think it may help a little bit with the bakery's income," Violet said. "I've been thinking of things I could do for this bakery and this is one of the things I wanted to do. I think it's time for me to stop depending on my father's money to survive."

"When are you going to do this sale? Should we make some preparations now?" Evan asked.

"I haven't decided yet. I need to look at the date and some data first." Violet said as she tapped her fingers on the stainless steel table. Then, she looked at her friends and smiled. "With both of you on my side, I'm sure this sale will be a success." She raised a brow and continued, "You guys will help me to make this plan work, right?"

"Sure," Evan and Sarah chorused.

"You're the boss," Evan said. "We will follow you if you think that that will be the best."

"Good." Violet smiled. "Now, all I need to do now is to plan this carefully and we'll be good."

Both Evan and Sarah exchanged a glance as they watched Violet enter her office. Somehow, they both got the feeling that their friend wanted to do this cupcake sale to shift her mind from the dating arrangement.