The Princess

“Good morning, Miss Woolridge! Bus today?” asked the kind-hearted bus driver with a sweet smile on his face.

“Yeah, all the cars were going for maintenance,” replied Rose and climbed into the bus.

“You are the only princess I know who takes the bus and runs her own business,” said the driver.

“What??” laughed Rose. “Princess?? I am no princess, Jake!”

“Your father basically built this city piece by piece. We all have jobs and infrastructure because of him. When he arrived all those years ago, this was just a vast land of green grass and nothing else, and now look at it,” said the driver.

“Oh, come on! The whole community worked together. We are in this together,” smiled Rose and took a seat behind him.

“Say whatever; everyone knows that you are our princess. By the way, why so early?” asked the driver.

“Have to open my bakery, why else?” giggled Rose. She knew she was not going to the bakery to start baking for today. She was going there to work on her wedding cake. Her whole body was jiggling with pleasure.

“Bring me some of those famous doughnuts,” said the driver.

“Next time, I will, I promise!” smiled Rose. Talking with the driver, she reached her destination. The driver saluted her playfully, and she got down smiling at him. She covered her face with the mask as she knew it would be cold in the morning. She somehow hated cold and wet things; that’s why she loved baking, being near the hot oven, watching the dough proof in the proof oven, watching the butter melt while pastries baked, watching the cake rise inside the hot oven. She gave all the cold work of handling the whipping cream and dealing with all the gelato and ice cream to Seth. That’s why they worked like a well-oiled machine.

She placed her headphones and connected the Bluetooth. She played her favourite song that Piers used to play for her, titled ‘I love you more than my life’ by a famous singer, Ari Adams. She could hear that song on loop. She was busy walking towards her bakery and kept singing the song loudly. There was no one around her, no one to look at her, no one to hear her, no one to judge her, she could just be free.

“Stop! Stop! Someone is here!” snapped one of the goons.

“Why are we caring about that?” asked the second goon.

“Remember what Boss said? No businessman or woman must be harmed because of gang war. If they won’t earn money, how will we extort money from them, you idiot!!” explained the first goon.

“Right! right! hide!”

Rose felt a gust of wind coming her way and moved her hair away from her face. She wanted to tuck them behind her ear, but her ears were covered with those bulky green headphones. The moment she reached near the door, her eyes twinkled with pride and happiness. This was her building; she owned it. This was the result of her hard work, and no one, nothing, could take it away from her.

The large ‘ROSETH’ written in gold was shining before her eyes. She moved her fingers over the name as she did every day. It was like a ritual for her. That was her lucky charm. With a wide smile on her face and her favourite song in her ear, she fished out the keys from her bag and opened the somewhat large door.

Seth had been pestering her to get a sturdier door that they could use to lock the bakery, as gang activities were increasing day by day. He had heard from other business owners how they were paying for the protection, how gangs were extorting them, but no one had ever approached Rose and Seth for the same. But Seth didn’t want to take any chances. He knew that everyone respected the name ‘Woolridge’, but that didn’t mean that one of the gangs wouldn’t come knocking at their door.

Woolridges were known to be rich, but were not associated with any gangs. And rich people attracted trouble more often. Seth wanted to do everything in his power to protect Rose. She was his only friend and family, and he was never going to leave her in danger.

The bell rang loudly when Rose entered the bakery. It was completely dark. She didn’t need light to see. She knew every single inch of that bakery. She could even navigate around with her eyes shut. Yet she reached for the switch and lit up one little bulb that lit the farthest corner of the bakery. She placed her things on the front desk and went to the storage room. First, she folded her hair in a bun and grabbed a hairnet. After tying an apron around herself, she sighed loudly and groaned, “Ah! Seth! I told you to keep these flour packets in the back room. I need space here. I will have to do everything on my own. I hate him! Let him come, I will kick his ass!”

She kept mumbling to herself and grabbed one packet of flour to change its position. She walked out, cursing Seth under her breath. She was busy looking down as she didn’t want to trip with a bag of flour in her hand. Now she really wanted to switch every light on.

The moment she reached the counter, she looked up, and her eyes widened with shock. A tall, dark figure was standing before her. She could not make out his face but could see his broad shoulder. No one was supposed to enter the bakery. And if someone entered the bakery, why didn’t she hear the bell? Who was standing before her? Was it her imagination? Was that a ghost?

She let out a loud shriek, and the big bag of flour slipped from her grip. The bag burst, and everything spilt at her feet. She didn’t know what she should do. She didn’t know what that man was going to do. She was extremely shocked when that man appeared right before her eyes and, without warning, placed her palm over her mouth.

“Shut up! Shut up!” he whispered. His voice was dripping with urgency and menace. But she could hear the pleas too. Rose was not ready, but that man started pushing her towards the back of the bakery. She could only hyperventilate. She didn’t know how to fight. She didn’t know how to escape. She could only pray for Seth to come. Her mind went to Piers.

“Piers! Please help me!” sobbed Rose. She thought this was the beginning of her best life, but now she was sure that this was her last day on earth. She surely was going to die.