So the other day I was at this bakery place that makes these really amazing cakes. Everyone knows about it so the line is always super long like it goes out the door and around the corner sometimes. I was getting a cake for my friends birthday party that nite. I was waiting for maybe twenty minutes already and was still pretty far from the front but I could smell the sugar and it was making me happy.
I have this weird thing were people kinda have a smell to them. Not like BO or perfume but something else. My mom says its just my imagination. The guy in front of me smelled like old books and woodsmoke which was nice and calming. He was an older guy maybe like a grandpa and he was looking at the little cupcakes in the case. But then these two people walked in and the whole vibe of the place just felt…off. Like when the air gets all heavy before a thunderstorm.
The girl she was probably my age maybe a little older and she smelled like burnt sugar and old pennies. It was a really bad smell and it just made me feel kinda yucky. She was wearing these yoga pants that were definitly to small for her and a bright pink top and she was talking really loud on her phone about some party she was going to. She had a guy with her who I guess was her boyfriend. He just looked tired. He smelled like rain on hot pavement which is usually a good smell but around her it just smelled like it was trying to hard to cover up the burnt penny smell.
They walked past the whole line of us just standing there. I thought maybe they were just looking at the cakes in the display but then the girl just steps right in front of the old man in front of me. Like right up to the counter. The old man he didnt notice at first but then he did and he tapped her on the shoulder. He was real polite about it. He told her excuse me but the line starts way back there. He pointed to the end of the line by the door.
The girl she turned around and looked at him like he was a bug. She took her phone away from her ear but didnt hang up and told him she knows where the line is but shes in a big hurry. She said she was very important and had to be somewhere and she couldnt be expected to wait like everyone else. She wasnt even yelling she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her boyfriend looked at the ceiling like he was praying for it to fall on him.
The old man he was still super nice. He said he understood but that everyone here was waiting and had places to be too. He said he was getting a cake for his grandaughters birthday. The girl just kinda rolled her eyes. She said her thing was more important then some kids birthday. She told him her followers were waiting for her to post and that was a real job. The boyfriend whispered something to her but she just shushed him and waved her hand at him. She turned back to the cashier a young girl who looked absolutly terrified and tried to order a big pink cake.
The cashier she was so nervous. She looked from the girl to the old man and back again. Her hands were shakeing a little. She told the girl very quietly that she had to help the man first becuase he was next in line. That’s when the burnt sugar smell got really strong. The girl puffed up her chest and said this was the worst service she ever had. She said she was a very famous influencer and she could ruin this bakery. She demanded to see a manager right now.
The poor cashier nodded and picked up a little phone behind the counter and spoke into it. The girl crossed her arms and started tapping her foot. Her boyfriend was trying to get her to leave he was pulling on her arm a little and saying they could go somewhere else. She yanked her arm away from him and told him to stop being so embarassing. She said she was going to get her cake and she was going to get it for free now for all the trouble they were causing her.
We all just stood there waiting. It felt like forever. A couple people behind me were whispering but nobody said anything out loud. The old man just sighed and looked at the floor. I felt really bad for him. And for the cashier too. We were all just waiting for the manager to come and fix it. I was hopeing they would just kick her out. I was thinking about what I would say if she tried to cut in front of me.
Then all of a sudden this super loud noise just started blareing. EEEEEEEEEEEEE. EEEEEEEEEEEEE. It was the fire alarm. It was so loud you couldnt hear anything else. Bright lights started flashing on the ceiling. For a second nobody moved everyone was just frozen. Then people started to panic a little bit. Some people grabbed their stuff and ran for the door. Other people were looking around trying to see smoke.
It was total chaos. I got kinda pushed along with everyone trying to get out. My brain was all fuzzy from the noise. I had to leave my spot in line and get pushed toward the entrance. I looked back one last time. The cashier was hiding behind the counter. The old man was standing there with his hands over his ears. And the girl was still there at the counter. She was yelling at her boyfriend but I couldnt hear what she was saying over the alarm. She was just a screaming face and that awful burnt penny smell seemed to be everywhere. They were all still just standing there as the rest of us were being herded out into the street.
I never saw the manager come. I just ended up outside on the sidewalk with a bunch of other people from the bakery. The alarm was still going off inside. I had to go to another store to get my friends cake. I never found out what happened to the girl or the old man. I just hope he got his grandaughters cake. The whole thing just left me feeling really weird and kind of annoyed. Like I saw something I wasnt supposed to and it just felt sticky and gross. I can still kinda smell the burnt sugar sometimes when I think about it.
