Just Desserts [mission/solo]

The shrill beeping of an alarm clock shattered the peaceful silence that had fallen over the small apartment, bouncing off the plain walls and echoing through the sparse room. It was now six in the morning.

Valerie jumped, startled by the sound and nearly dropped the slender knife she had been holding – an action that could have been undoubtedly dangerous, had it happened. Carefully setting down the knife and pulling off her work gloves, she blinked a couple of times to clear her head before walking towards the sound and turning off the alarm clock. A yawn overtook her just then. She had been working on something and ended up pulling an all-nighter without realizing it. That was rather typical of her, unfortunately.

“Well. No use trying to sleep now.” She commented idly.

The girl cast a glance at her still unfinished work; a large block of wood that had been carved painstakingly. The designs though intricate, didn’t exactly show a big picture or even an idea of what the finished product would be just yet. Valerie circled it slowly as she inspected her soon to be newest masterpiece, the wood shavings that littered the floor around it crunching lightly underfoot.  Her eyes widened quite suddenly and she stopped, leaning over to make sure that her eyes weren’t deceiving her – which, at this point wasn’t too far off due to her lack of sleep.

“Is that…?”

Yes. Yes it was. Upon closer inspection, the distinct shape of a slice of cheesecake was etched right into the center of the wood.

Valerie shook her head and chuckled bemusedly. If that wasn’t a sign from the Gods to go get something to eat, she didn’t know what was. Still, it wasn’t all bad. She could make the whole cheesecake thing work if she set her mind to it. Unlike a lot of artists, Valerie wasn’t one to shun a stroke of genius or inspiration. After all, one could never tell how or in what form inspiration would choose to strike. Breakfast sounded like an excellent idea.

And so, she set off to do just that after a quick shower. Years of playing dress up had given her the ability to dress herself perfectly under a scant few minutes. It was a skill that came in handy as Valerie was someone who didn’t like to spend too much time on such things.

The place she had decided to visit was a little café quite far from her place of residence. However, it didn’t bother her. Valerie didn’t mind walking. A brisk walk was sure to chase the cobwebs of sleep from her mind.

She arrived at Café’ Dorvald’s a little under half an hour, feeling a lot more awake thanks to the exercise. The little bell at the door jingled cheerily as she entered and almost immediately, she was enveloped in the comforting warmth and mouthwatering scents of freshly baked goods. A happy smile touched her lips as she inhaled deeply and headed straight to her table near the counter. It was still quite early and there seemed to be no customers apart from her. Chef Dorvald made the best pastries and desserts, in her opinion. As if summoned by her thoughts, the man appeared at her side almost immediately. Valerie noticed that his usually upbeat demeanor seemed to be lacking and that he was somewhat distracted with his own thoughts. That was strange. In all the time she’d come here to his café, he had never been anything but warm and attentive to his customers. Something was obviously troubling the man. Still, she was here to have breakfast. Not solve his problems. She picked up a napkin and proceeded to doodle a cupcake with diabetes on it while she waited for Dorvald to finish serving her order.

Chef William Dorvald looked at her sharply, suddenly recalling her sleight of hand tricks she’d played on a young man at the café some time ago. He straightened up as if a light bulb had just blinked on in his head, his gaze turning calculating. He thought of a way to put forth his request, hovering nearby while distractedly fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves.

“You’re going to ask me for a favor aren’t you.” Valerie spoke up, startling the man.

At first, his instinct was to deny it and run back into the kitchen. But then he realized that he had nothing to lose and might as well ask her now that she had picked up on it. Deflating slightly, he nodded in reply.

“Yes. I need help with a very … confidential matter.” He began hesitantly, seeming a bit ashamed about what he was going to ask.

“Okay, so you either want a sexual favor. Or you want me to steal something for you.” Valerie interrupted, not patient enough to gather up the courage to ask whatever it was that he wanted. From the shifty way he was acting, she was almost certain it was one of those.

The first part of her comment had stunned Dorvald enough that he continued to sputter and stare at her for a few moments before recovering himself.

“What?! No. No.” He rushed to say quite adamantly. “I, well, yes I need you to acquire something for me.” This was added more quietly, after looking around the empty café. “Chef Anton – my arch nemesis – his culinary skills have always been lesser than mine. But recently, he has come up with a brand new recipe for fudge that is..” He took a shuddering breath as if it pained him to say the next part. “Better than mine.”

“I will not be second best!” Dorvald slammed his fist onto the table, causing Valerie’s cup of coffee to rattle dangerously in its saucer. “I need you to go to his place and get me that recipe. I will pay you well.”

“No. Not interested.” Valerie refused him flat out and took a bite of her blueberry Danish.

Dorvald was surprised at how quickly she had refused. Perhaps something more interesting than money could persuade her. She did seem to be very fond of dessert, especially ones with fruit in it.

“I will make a dessert in your honor, especially for you. Available every day.”

This caused Valerie to look up at him and consider it for a few moments. She did love dessert. And it was obvious enough that this had nothing to do with business and more with his pride. She wanted to see just how far he could be pushed.

“Make it three. I get to choose what they are.”

This girl drove a hard bargain. Dorvald glowered at her before finally sighing and agreeing. “Fine. Just bring me the recipe. And be discreet.” Now that both parties had agreed, he gave her Anton’s address and waited impatiently. Anton was out of town for the weekend so now was the perfect time for such underhanded tactics.

Valerie finished her breakfast and headed to the place she’d been instructed to. It was surprisingly close by and as such she arrived there in a couple of minutes. She stood on the sidewalk and looked at the darkened store windows, mapping out the best way to get in and out without being discovered. Daytime break ins were a lot easier than most would assume, as a lot of people were at work so early in the morning or not yet out of bed. She got inside easily enough through a side window and carefully searched around in the dark for the recipe. Apparently Anton wasn’t the neatest person in the world. He had bits of paper pinned all over the place in no particular order. After a fair bit of time had passed, Valerie found the recipe and jotted in down quickly. Taking the original would have alerted Anton of the crime. She got out and hurried back to Dorvald.

Once he had received the recipe, his mood had changed to exuberant and seemed to be lost in his own little world, talking softly to himself, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it first.

“Do you need some time alone with the bit of paper?” Valerie deadpanned, causing him to notice her only then.

“You have my sincerest gratitude! And that’s not all, you’ve done an excellent job of it. Anton will never know. I’ll pay you extra – but don’t worry, you still get to choose your desserts.”

Well, that was a job well done. The money was a nice enough bonus but the desserts were what Valerie was really looking forward to.

1433 words in total.