Chapter II: Cake Shop

"Senna! Open the door," Maye said behind the door as she was knocking.

"Yeah! Just wait for a second," Senna replied and walked towards the door while tying her hair.

Once Senna opened the door, Maye hurriedly walked towards the kitchen while breathing heavily. As she put the plastic bags on the counter, she spoke, "Check if I got everything you ask me to buy." Afterward, she went to the living room and threw herself on the sofa.

Senna then walked towards the kitchen counter and started to open the plastic bags to check. She picks up the food one by one and enumerates them, "Oranges, Apples, Grapes, Lemons, Pineapple, Pears, Mangoes, Bananas, Blue--."

"Stop! Okay, that's enough. I think I bought everything, hearing how I didn't miss anything from your list." Maye interrupted and then left a long deep breath as she sat up from the sofa.

"It was astounding, though! I didn't even give you the list. You have such good memorization." Senna said as she was chuckling, then she moved towards Maye and patted its head.

"OH! Why would you do that?! To remind you, I'm not a dog." Maye whined and made Senna slightly laugh.

As they were waiting for Therese, Maye went to the kitchen to prepare food for the celebration. She got lettuces, loaf bread, cheese, tomatoes, and ham to make the sandwich.

After making the sandwiches, she cooked carbonara that they all love. She also cooked pork cutlet and beefsteak. Maye was in charge of cooking for this occasion.

Meanwhile, Senna was still in the living room when she smelled Maye's cooked food, so she went to the kitchen. Her eyes widened and were sparkling because of the food she saw.

"W-o-w! It looks delicious, and you even plated it." Senna said while still staring at the food on the kitchen counter.

Maye smiled upon hearing it, so she moved the food to the table, and Senna helped set it up. All the food was cooked and plated already by Maye. The only thing that will complete them is Therese, so they patiently wait for her again.

The two continued to wait in the living room while watching some aired movie on the television. Then time passed by, and it was eleven o'clock in the evening, too different from the time the three agreed to meet.

"Therese is running so late," Senna said while staring out of nowhere.

"Maybe, she was tired of us already," Maye blurted after she nodded to Senna.

"Don't you think she got lost?" Senna added, not minding what Maye said.

"Why would she? Her room was just beside us." Maye replied while changing the channel of the television from one to another.

"Well, I asked her to buy a cake," Senna replied naively.

Upon hearing it, Maye's eyes widened in surprise, and that made her stand up suddenly while saying, "Why would you do that?! Therese is not good in directions," loudly.

Then after a minute, Senna couldn't utter a word and started blinking at Maye, and then Maye frowned at her as if asking each other what's and why's in silence.

Though, it didn't take long before they could grasp the situation, so they hurriedly stood up and picked their trench coat in commotion. Once Maye and Senna wore their coats, they hurriedly ran off to the door, but they were surprised when someone pressed the doorbell.

When they opened the door, a more shocking figure appeared before them, "THERESE?!" Maye and Senna said at once.

In confusion, they dragged Therese inside, and they took her to the living room and made her sit on the sofa. Therese, on the other hand, started to wail. Senna and Maye, who were getting a blanket and water for her, are dumbfounded.

Senna is thinking of what to say to Therese while getting the blanket from her room. Meanwhile, Maye went to Therese already and spoke to her.

"What happened? Did you get lost?" Maye asked while caressing Therese's back. But Therese cried even more, and it shocked Maye once more.

While still in confusion, she just hugged Therese more and patted its back carefully. Senna, who seemed to be still thinking, walked out of the room and stared out of nowhere.

As Senna's mind was preoccupied, she bumped her foot at the sofa and got out of balance. Maye laughed out loud at the sight of Senna, and that made Therese titter.

"Just what are you thinking?" Maye laughingly asked.

On the other hand, Senna was still on the floor and massaging her big toe. Though in pain, she smiled when she saw Therese wiping its tears.

"You should smile often. Why are you even crying on New Year's Eve?" Senna asked with a concerning eye. And she now was Indian sitting on the floor.

"I agree! why would you even cry on a happy occasion?" Maye added and sat beside Senna on the floor, copying its sitting position.

Senna and Maye looked directly at Therese with a concerning eye. They both patiently waited for Therese to look up and gazed with them too.

It didn't even take long for Therese to reply. After shaking her head as a sign of disagreement, she spoke, "If I tell you, you both will surely laugh at me."

But Senna and Maye only looked at her seriously and were still waiting for her while raising their hands as a sign of promise. Therese chuckled at the sight of her two friends acting like a dog waiting for their owner to feed them. So, she decided to tell them the reason.

Therese sighed for a bit before she spoke, "Actually, I was roaming outside and was walking around the street, then I saw a cake shop. Their cake looked delicious, and the baker designed it beautifully. And then I walked towards the window glass--"

"Then the shop owner shoos you because they think you don't have money?" Maye naively asked as she interrupted Therese.

"Wait?! Of course not. FYI. As far as I know, I looked pretty, and it's all the time. And please, would you let me finish first?!" Therese whined while frowning. And, so the two just nodded twice as a sign of letting her continue.

"So, I walked to the window glass and stared at the cake. Then the shop owner comes out to--"

"They accused you of copyright?" This time Senna asked while putting her index finger to her chin, interrupting Therese again.

"Come on, guys! How could I finish if you both are creating a different scenario in your minds?!" Therese complained as she sighed.

"Oops, sorry. Okay, go ahead." Senna said in a low tone of her voice.

"Okay! No interruption, or else I'll stop." Therese warned, and so the two stopped.

"Okay, to make it short, the cake shop owner saw me staring intensely at the cake, and so, she called me inside. Afterward, she offered me a piece of cake and told me that I don't need to pay for it." Therese finished and looked at her two friend's reactions, and she sighed in relief when they showed no emotions.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Maye said in a faltering tone.

"Uhm, I need to go to the room. I'll change clothes quickly," Senna managed to say though her voice was quivering already.

But before the two could go to the bathroom and bedroom, Therese already knew what they would do, and so she whimpered, "GUYS! You both said you're not going to laugh!"

Senna and Maye stopped halfway after hearing Therese, so they looked at her. Afterward, they burst into laughter, and Therese's face turned sour.

"My Gosh, Therese! You know you were pretty and wealthy, but why do you have to go out having your hair messy, like, literally messy?" Maye teasingly said to Therese, who was pouting.

"To tell, we have been holding our laugh from the beginning. And when you cry, that makes us nervous because we thought someone messed up with you. And finding out you messed yourself is a relief, but funny too." Senna added while laughing.

Upon seeing the two laugh out loud while holding their belly, Therese continued to feel embarrassed, so she uttered to them, "I hate you both!"

After hearing what Therese said, Senna and Maye slowly stopped laughing and told her at once, "Yeah, we love you too!" then they walked back to the living room and sat beside Therese.

Together, they looked at the window and saw tons of fireworks outside. They smiled because of its beauty and told at once, "We should look for love. We are twenty-eight already."

Altogether, they laughed at each other, and Maye put her arms to Senna and Therese sitting beside her.