Hello everyone! I decide to not hold this story any longer from you and I hope you will enjoy the first chapter of this short idea I have come up with when the idea of title hit me 🙈 Have fun while reading ;-)

The sound of the alarm clock woke me up. Or at least that's what I thought at first until I realized that something was wrong with the sound. I turned over with a sigh, still clutching the pillow to myself, but as soon as my vision cleared enough to see what time it was on the clock, I sat up immediately. I now knew why I didn't recognize the sound of the alarm clock. I must have hit the snooze button and went back to sleep by accident. That's why I overslept and even though I didn't work the morning shift today, I still felt panic that I wouldn't be able to finish everything on time.

Today was Sam's birthday. The rest of us and I were organizing a surprise party for him, just like we do every year. The only difference compared to previous years was that this year I was responsible for preparing the cake. I was never good at cooking, but I was no longer good at baking. The only cake I knew the recipe for and which turned out quite decently was layer cake. I didn't make it often because, as I mentioned, I don't like spending time in the kitchen, but it was the only option I had. Yesterday I spent the entire evening searching the internet for some easy recipes. Of course, I was so absorbed in it, calculating in my head the chances that the cake would come out of the oven in one piece, and I didn't notice that Sam came to rest a moment after training with Elvis on the tower. I had to quickly come up with an excuse and the alarm saved me at the last minute. And that's good, because just a moment and I would certainly tell Sam the whole plan for today.
Yesterday I almost ruined the surprise party, so now I had to do everything not to mess up with the cake. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time because I overslept, and even though I got ready in almost record time, I was still in a rather dangerous slump.

Luckily for me, it turned out that I had all the ingredients for the cake at home. At least one less thing to worry about. I took everything out on the counter and started preparing the dough. I focused all my attention on this, and only when the mixture was already lying around, poured into molds to harden a bit before baking, and I went to wash my hands, only on the way from the bathroom back to the kitchen did I notice that almost an hour had passed. The tension flooded my mind again. I was afraid I would run out of time and ruin Sam's surprise party. And I couldn't let that happen. Sam was my best friend and if anyone deserved the best surprise party, it was him. So I had to do my best and prepare this cake.

I placed all the layers in the gingerbread man and it wasn't long before the timer started beeping. I took the cakes out of the pan and started spreading a thick layer of strawberry cream on their insides, which I made yesterday. When I finished, I looked nervously at the clock, but I was relieved that I still had enough time to bake the entire cake. In my joy of making it in time, I didn't notice that some of the jam was sticking out of the pieces of cake. I only realized it when I opened the oven and was hit by a faint burning smell.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make another one, it would take way too much time, so I had to pack this one. I also took a present for Sam and was about to close the door when I heard the faint sound of the phone. I felt my pockets but couldn't find it anywhere, so it must have stayed upstairs charging. I left my things and quickly ran up the stairs, grabbed my phone, and went back downstairs to lock the door behind me. Only then did I read Ellie's message and I just burst out laughing. I put my phone away and headed towards Pontypandy.

"Do you have it?" Ellie asked me excitedly as soon as I entered the fire station.

"Yes," I nodded, then pushed the bag with my gift into her hands. "Hide this from Sam," I asked. "I'll take the cake upstairs soon."

"You better give it to me," Ellie argued, then jerked her head nervously in the direction I had come from. I turned my head slightly, but immediately looked away, only to see Ellie already walking up the stairs.

"Ellie!" I hissed through clenched teeth. Same as last year again, I sighed, but the familiar voice made my anger evaporate as I turned to face its owner.

"Hi, Penny!" Sam moved a little closer.

"Hi Sam!" I waved back, shyly lowering my gaze.

'Think of something, Penny!' I repeated in my mind. Last year, I drove Sam around Pontypandy under the pretense of checking that everything was safe. It didn't work out too well, because almost the entire city was involved in organizing the surprise event. But before I could think of anything, Sam took me back to reality.

"Will you come up with something or will we skip it this year with this whole show?" He whispered in my ear. "Maybe you just want to go for a walk instead?" He suggested, extending his hand towards me.

Sam had already put his things in the locker, and for a moment I was grateful that I still had to hang my jacket on the hanger because this way I could focus my attention on something.
I couldn't deny that I was very tempted to say yes to his proposal, but it seemed too good to be true. I usually enjoyed our time together from a distance, from a safe distance, because I wasn't and still am not sure if there was even a chance that Sam would one day feel about me what I feel about him.

"Don't tell me you prefer to make up excuses to keep me away from the fire station?" His question broke me out of my thoughts. "Again. We both know you're not the best at it," he teased me. He was in an exceptionally good mood today, so maybe a little change wouldn't hurt me.

"Agreed," I agreed.