Chapter 9: It's a Bake! | Whisks Worth Taking (a Bake Off AU)
Sub-ships: Camila/Lilith, Mary/Shannon
Rating: E (for eventual smut)
Ava and Bea spend the day exploring a romantic garden. Is it a date? Is it not a date? Who knows! Certainly not Ava or Bea…
Ava let go of the doorframe and stepped fully into the room. “Michael is ignoring me and I wondered if I could interest you in a walk?”
“Oh…” Beatrice glanced back at her computer. She had purchase requests from several Tarts on Fire locations to go through and correspondence between Suzanne and the network executives to catch up on…
“To sweeten the offer,” Ava said, “I may not be much of a cook, but I do know how to pack a picnic.” She did a quarter turn revealing a picnic basket backpack with a little red and white blanket attached to the side with velcro straps.
The smile she gave Beatrice was impossible to say no to. “Well… all right, then.” Plus, the picnic was already packed. “That sounds lovely.” Her morning hadn’t been particularly productive anyway. Maybe she did need a break. And the weather was beautiful.
Ava bounced with excitement, causing something inside the backpack to rattle. “Great!”
“Let me go change into something more appropriate and I’ll meet you out front?”
Beatrice returned her computer and tablet to her room and opened the wardrobe to see what she might have that would be more suitable for a picnic than her dress slacks and blouse.
She had a pair of dark green trousers that were technically for hiking, which should suit. The day was warm and sunny, so she settled on a tight black tank top but pulled a gauzy long-sleeved button-up over it to keep the sun off her shoulders. She switched her dress shoes for trainers and slipped her sunglasses into the shirt’s front pocket.
As she approached the Manor’s door, she could see Ava through the glass panes. She stood facing away from the door, head tipped up to the sun. She sported a gray baseball cap and held onto the straps of the backpack like a kid excited about the first day of school.
Fondness spread through Beatrice, warming all her limbs. This is how Ava should always look, carefree and enjoying life. It’s what someone so full of joy deserved; not feeling alone and hopeless in the rain.
The hinges creaked as the door swung open and Ava turned. Her face performed a complicated series of expressions as she looked Beatrice up and down. “Wow,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the whole professional aesthetic you’ve usually got going on, but damn!”
Beatrice felt the skin beneath her freckles flush. “Thank you?”
“You look great. RTP: Ready To Picnic.” Ava did finger guns as she shifted all her weight to her back foot. Then, she grimaced. “Okay, I am never saying that again. Anyway! Shall we?”
