A CUPCAKE FOR MY WARRIOR-MATE

                                                                                 CHAPTER 1

Rock music blasted from the speakers of Germaine's Ear Pods as she nodded her head in time to the beat. Every so often, she would stop kneading dough and bend as far back as she could, while holding her two hands in front of her, like she held a guitar and was strumming it. With her eyes closed, she let out a loud yahoo, eliciting a look and a smile from Maria, her baker.

In order to catch her attention, Maria had to tap her ear pod, or her shoulder, there were no other ways, otherwise she would just go on and on, until she finished shaping the pastries, or until she wanted to talk to Maria. Everyday was pretty much the same - get to the bakery at five in the morning, begin preparations for the pastries, and then open at six, in time for those going to work to stop by and buy to-go cups of coffee, or, and some pastries.

Today, however, was different, Germaine was excited because she had gotten some good news the day before which put her in an excellent mood. It was something she had been seeking for almost a year now and it had practically fallen into her laps. She could not keep her yahoo's to a minimum today. Matter of fact, full blown-out dancing followed them. Add the heat from the oven to the equation and you had an excited person.

Her phone rang, interrupting her song. "Hey, Cordelia, I was wondering when you would call." There was a pause before she responded. "Well, you better get here if you want to know what happened." She cut the call and the song filtered into her ears once more, making her resume her jerking motions.

A few minutes later, someone tapped her on the shoulder and she whipped round and squealed. "Hi, Cord, I got it, I got the loan."

Her best friend, Cordelia, squealed, making Maria cover her ear and smile. "Oh, that's, great news, I was beginning to worry you would have to give up your mum's legacy." She looked around the medium-sized kitchen.

"No way, never!" Germaine gasped. "I would never allow it." Her eyes clouded up when she remembered how she had almost lost the bakery her mum had bequeathed to her. She had been worried because she did not have the funds to keep it afloat, even though she had regular customers that came in everyday to patronize her products.

The overheads were crippling. Cost of electricity and gas had skyrocketed, plus paying her two staff did not come cheap either, they were the best and knew their stuff well, so she gave them regular incentives. Over the past two years ever since she inherited it after the death of her mother, they had been by her side. Same as her best friend, Cordelia who helped whenever she could. Today she was available because it was a weekend and she didn't go to work.

"You know what this means, right?" Cordelia asked, her blue eyes twinkling as she put a hand on her hip.

"A celebration, duh!" Germaine replied, hopping like a rabbit.

Their excited chatter continued until Clara, the waitress popped her head through the swing door. "We have two orders for one Frappuccino and cappuccino and two angel cupcakes."

"Coming right up." Maria said, already getting the orders ready.

Cordelia removed the bottle she had been hiding behind her back when she came in and brandished it in the air and Germaine and Maria screamed with glee. They knew when the bakery closed, they would have a little celebration, but the day did not seem to want to come to an end as one order after the order kept coming through. This kept Germaine and Maria on their feet. Cordelia even had to pitch in as well.

When eight o'clock came around, it was with a tired, but happy sigh that Maria flipped the sign hanging on the door from open to closed, and shut the blinds as well from prying eyes. While these were measures they normally took to showcase the closure of the bakery, it still did not stop strays from banging on the door expecting to be let in. Germaine had a soft heart and had done that in the past but she had almost paid dearly for it. One night, she let in a man who said he wanted a large order of bread and cakes.

Her staff had already gone home and she was the only one left. With joy singing in her veins, she had gone to the kitchen and began packing up his orders, when she felt something cold pressed against her neck. Her mouth was covered with a dirty cloth and a man whispered into her ear warning her not to scream. She was turned round and came face to face with the same man she had let into the bakery herself.

If not for Cordelia who had stopped by to check in on her when she wasn't answering her calls and seen the guy dragging her into her store, she would have most probably been raped, or worse still, injured. She could have been killed that day. Cordelia had gotten a hold of the dough mixer and hit the man on the head where he slumped into a dead faint. The police was called and they took the guy away, still unconscious. Germaine had never opened the door again for anyone when she closed for the night.

Music thumped from the speakers as Cordelia put on an upbeat song. The wine was popped and they began singing and dancing at the top of their voices to Beyoncé's - your love is so crazy right now.

"Yahoo!" Germaine screamed, loosening her brown hair from its bun. It fell in waves around her shoulder. Cordelia did the same, and Maria and Trisha, who both had short hair, mimicked them. They all giggled. Soon, the bottle of wine finished and another one was opened. Cordelia had come prepared. They danced from the kitchen to the front and back again, then they repeated the process two more times before they settled in the main bakery.

The second bottle went the same way the first one did- speedily. What they did not know was the wine was fifty percent alcoholic. In a few seconds, things were going to get strange.

During the day when they were attending to customers, time had seemed to crawl, but when Germaine happened to glance at the time now, she screeched, much to the consternation of the others. "Guys, it's twelve midnight!"

Someone put the stereo off, and everyone looked at each other, aghast. "It's the witching hour." Maria said in a whisper.

Immediately she said so, the bright light flickered once, twice, three times, then it went out. A loud buzzing sound could be heard all around the bakery, and then the emergency lights came on. They were not as bright as electricity, but at least they were able to see each other. No one moved, no one said a thing, and then Germaine lifted a hand which Cordelia noticed was shaking and pointed at the corner of the room. "Who . . . who are those men?"

Cordelia frowned and looked at where she pointed. Sure enough, three men stood, looking just as perplexed as themselves. Maria shook her head and backed away, same as Trisha. Germaine opened her mouth in a scream, but only a croak came out. No one said a word, the two parties seemed to be sizing each other up, both wary, and then the three men formed a Charlie's angel pose, at least that's what sailed into Germaine's mind when she saw their half-crouched position as they backed each other. She took in the sharp-looking swords, four times the size of knives, they held as the three men faced them.

Then one of them spoke. "We do not want any trouble, we are just passing through, let us go and no harm will come to you.”