After a pleasant walk to work with Darius the next morning, Kat arrived at the bakery and found it unusually still. She went inside, followed some clanking to the kitchen, and saw her co-worker, Jonas, up to his elbows in suds washing trays and silicon molds. He gave an exaggerated sigh when he spotted her. “Finally, some backup.”

“Late crew skipped out?” She asked, punching in and fastening her apron.

“Bingo,” Jonas confirmed.”And Brant’s fixing an oil leak on the delivery truck.”

“Good thing I got here early.” Kat clicked her tongue. “Alright, let’s get these done.” She snagged a pair of rubber gloves and looked around the vacant kitchen. The dark ovens and the silent mixers made the room seem much emptier.

“Thank you. I’ve got to save these hands for more important things.” Jonas stripped his gloves off and set them aside to grab a hairnet.

Kat bit back a scoff as he waggled his fingers. “What do you mean ‘more important things’? Putting wooden sticks into cake balls or dipping them in sprinkles?” She dunked a tray into the suds.

“I got a gig on Friday, a magic gig,” Jonas informed her, tugging a hairnet over his spiky brown hair.

Kat looked over her shoulder at him. “Heyyyy, no kidding? Congrats! Where?”

Jonas hefted a bag of sugar beside one of the mixers and began spinning a box cutter, making it dance across his knuckles. Forks, napkins, spoons, knives, bottlecaps, saltshakers, anything small enough to be easily held in one hand had been ‘magicked’ at some point or another, much to their manager’s consternation.

Jonas flicked the knife into a spin, tossed it into the air, and finally caught it to point at her.

“My nephew’s sixth birthday party.” He said, his grin tempered with a touch of self-deprecation.

“That’s adorable. I’m sure he’ll love it.” Kat scraped off a stubborn bit of dried batter from the surface of a baking sheet. “You’ll make it to Vegas someday. Keep applying for the hotels and stuff! I saw someone online saying it’s way easier to get a gig there than at theatres, that way you can build a reputation.”

“Yeah, I will. That’s not all the news, though,” he said, slicing open the bag of sugar. “As of the end of next week, I’m not going to be around here to cover your butt all the time.”

Kat brandished a scowl in his direction. “Excuse me? Who covered for whom after someone’s tire went flat two days ago?”

“And before that, when you locked yourself out after taking out the trash?” Jonas countered, dumping the sugar into the mixer followed by a block of butter.

“And when that same car with the flat tire needed new brakes, and you missed your ENTIRE shift on a SATURDAY NIGHT?”

“And when you cut yourself on a dirty knife and had to go get a tetanus shot?”

“AND when you ‘magicked’ someone’s earring across the room into that crazy guy’s coke?” Kat accused.

They stared each other down from across the kitchen and then grinned.

“Man! You’re seriously leaving?” Kat aimed a kick in his direction as he swept past to grab a bag of flour.

“Yep. I start at Hooper’s gym across town next week. Turns out that being about to graduate with a business management degree helps with jobs. Who knew?”

“Dang. That’s great, but dang. We’re going to miss you around here. One less reliable set of hands, you know?”

“Let’s be honest, the last reliable set,” Jonas waved his hand mystically as he made the box cutter disappear.

“Har har, more like least reliable,” Kat said. “Pay’s better, I’m guessing?”

“Three dollars an hour. They need a night guy, and that works out. I can keep doing part-time classes and then go to work, and if a gig is early enough, squeeze it in.”

“A gym,” Kat said pensively, “I’m trying to decide, smell-wise, how many steps down that is.”

“Definitely fewer steps down for me than it would be for you, miss front-of-house. I get to smell like sweat either way. It’ll probably be part of my job to sanitize machines, though. All the smells.” He flicked the mixer on and tipped in a measuring cup of vanilla.

“Sure will be saving those hands,” Kat said sardonically.

“Oh, you’re funny. Oops, oh, oh no...” He returned to the sink and ‘accidentally’ let the rest of the dishes slide into the water with a splash.

“And THAT is why you are going to work at a gym and not Vegas,” Kat said. “You’re grossly incompetent, clearly.”

“Okay, incompetent, no, but I’ll accept gross,” Jonas acknowledged, pointing to the stains on his clothes. “Gross here, gross there. I’m looking forward to the new, fresh grossness of the gym,” he chuckled and fell silent.

“When are you moving on from this sugar pit, Kat?” he asked. “I swear, you’re here every shift these days.”

Kat’s scrubbing slowed. “I’m saving for next semester.”

A twist of doubt followed her optimistic response, but she shoved it down. If Cami managed to get a job soon, then she wouldn’t have to cover her share of rent again this month, and she calculated that she’d have just enough to take three classes starting in April. One step closer to her animal science degree.

Jonas nodded thoughtfully. “Sure, sure. Or it’s the free cupcakes. One day you’ll have to curb your sugar addiction, you junkie. Hey!” He dodged a splash of filthy water.

“The nerve of some people.” Jonas primly straightened his black work tee and walked away.

“HA.” Kat laughed after him.

Thankfully, by opening time, a few other employees had arrived and it was business as usual. Kat boxed up orders, took new ones, and explained how the tap-to-pay system worked to a very sweet old man. Lunchbreak rolled around and she got a text from Darius, wondering if she had time this weekend to do something fun. After a brief flurry of messages, Kat suggested they scrounge up a few other people and play games in the park Sunday night.

She sent the text only to realize that Cami would never be interested in such a mundane outing.She only really knew one reliable person and caught Jonas as he clocked out for the day.

“Since when do you have time for outings, workaholic? You didn’t even see my band play at the student center.” He swiped at a track of flour on his shirt.

“I was visiting my grandma!” Kat protested.

“Excuses.” He pulled a deck of cards from his pocket, a sure sign that he was done with work. “So who’s the guy? This another one of your cousin’s ‘friends’ she set you up with?”

“Not this time. He’s a regular at Cake Pop, and we ran into each other at the animal shelter. He asked me out, and we hit it off,” Kat explained, lowering her eyes modestly.

“How Hallmark.” He shook his head, dancing a card. The queen of hearts. “Are you going to leave your future lucrative career for the tall, dark, and handsome stranger?”

“Hush. It would take a meteor to stop me from getting my degree.” Kat scolded. “It’s not like we’re serious. We just met. And I’m all for keeping things real light for a while.”

A glance at the work calendar confirmed that she had Sunday evening off. A bubble of worry formed as she thought about dating again. Did she like Darius that way? Then again, did it matter? Dating didn’t automatically mean a relationship. It was more like a trial period, wasn’t it?

“Little miss old fashioned.” The king of spades danced in his hands.

“Yeah, yeah... So, have you got any spare time to romp around with us at the park this weekend?”

Jonas thought about it, flicking between the king of hearts and the Joker. “I can swing Sunday. I’ll ask Genie if she’s up for it.”

“Awesome. You can invite your roommates, too, if you want. Maybe bring some sports equipment?” She asked, pleased to have somebody with an established friend group who didn’t mind sharing. “Some tennis balls or a Frisbee and a few things for capture the flag could be fun. Don’t doubt me.” She added when he looked dubious.

“You’re so wholesome sometimes it makes my eyes bleed, Kat.”

She scoffed. “Wholesome makes your eyes bleed? I recall a very overqualified magician telling me he was performing at an upcoming birthday party for a six-year-old.”

“Blood. So much of it. That’s why I have to wear contacts.” He peeled back one eyelid, grimacing.

“Uh-huh. I think it’s because you watch Holo Space’s music videos.”

“Oh, you did not just insult the Mechanical Mind vid when the last Blazecatcher’s Brig music video had a literal seizure warning.” He narrowed his eyes and gave a haughty sniff.

“Space-time continuums have flashing lights. That’s a sci-fi fact.” Kat screwed up her face and then groaned. “Jonas, who will I argue bands with once you leave for the gym?”

She thought ahead to future shifts. Exchanging quips between order pickups was part of her routine. Without Jonas, work would be a different place. Quieter but a little less alive.

“You’ll have to find some other sucker to try to convert to Blazecatcher’s Brig.” Jonas made a lazy rock and roll sign with one hand. “And admit defeat. Holo Space is the superior band.”

“Vocally, yes, but they don’t compare with Brig’s storytelling and lyrical panache!” She slapped her hand on the counter for emphasis. “The. Panache.”

Staci, the daytime manager, opened the kitchen door. “Hey, ‘Panache,’ we’ve got customers.”

“Coming!” Kat rose and straightened her nametag on her apron. “So, Sunday?”

“Sunday,” he said, a playful glint in his eye. “I’ll round up some of the guys, and we can get some games going. Have a fun lunch rush, Blazecatcher baby!” He tucked the playing cards away and headed for the back door.

“I WILL, Holo head! Good luck at Hooper’s!” Kat shook her head and then got back to work, mentally preparing to parse the madness of the lunchtime crowd.