I woke up to my face being on buzz this week at the shop. I blinked when Erich stopped the video on her cellphone.

"Is that how you want others to perceive you, L?", she asked and I sighed.

"Hey, grabe naman yata yon! I was at a reunion. Of course, there will be some booze and stuff like that!", I said in self-defense. "What am I supposed to do? Play tic-tac-toe with them?"

Erich rolled her eyes at me and leveled me with a stare, "what is up with you, L? You used to be the most level-headed person I know. Why get yourself drunk?" She had her hand on top of mine as if to console me.

"Nothing is wrong with me, E.", I said and I pulled my hand away from hers just in time the microwave oven beeped. "I got to pull the pans out."

With my mittens on, I pulled out the lyanera pans and onto the table. I got a toothpick from its dispenser and thankfully, it came out clean after being inserted into the cake.

"How are you going to clean this mess out?", Erich suddenly said. I met her eyes and waved my hands dismissively.

"I have a plan. Don't worry. I won't let our business go in vain.", I said and when she was satisfied, she heaved a sigh and then left me alone. Once she was gone, I sat back on the chair and puffed some air.

Ano ba nangyayari sa'yo, self? I thought in frustration.

After thirty minutes, I removed the cake from the pan and discarded the parchment paper. I made the yema frosting by combining the all-purpose cream, egg yolks, corn starch, evaporated milk, condensed milk and vanilla extract. I mixed them well and brought to a gentle simmer.

Once I haved turned off the heat and stirred in butter, I poured them on top of the cake and spreaded evenly. As soon as I was done, I gently placed them inside the refrigerator to be cooled for at least four hours or more before I top it with grated cheese.

Yema cake has been one of our bestsellers recently. And it was such a blessing that I became nostalgic about that lately when I came across an old friend.

"Hi, Miss Love.", Ada knocked and peeked on the door to where I was seated. I smiled and nodded at her as she approached me with a clipboard on hand. "We are almost out of chiffon cake. Naka-emergency leave po si Miss Claire and bukod po sa yema cake, ito rin po ang isa sa pinaka-mabenta sa atin ngayon. May nagbatch order po at kailangan nila before lunch time kinabukasan."

"Mukha namang kakayanin ko. Sige, ilan ba ang kailangan nila?" I asked.

She bit her lip and dropped the bomb, "twelve junior at five grand cakes po."

"Anoo?", I gasped in shock. "Are you kidding me? Umoo kayo sa order without checking our stock first?"

"Uh.. Kayo po ang nag-approve last week, Ma'am.", Ada supplied and my eyes widened.

"Ako? Ako nag-approve? Hala! Teka! Wait!", I panicked and took deep breaths. When I calmed down, I began to process it. "Andito ba si
Regina? If so, tell her we need to work overtime. Tell David to buy more ingredients, asap. You, stop whatever you are doing and help us. Hayaan mo na si Regina sa counter."

"Yes, Miss.", Ada nodded and we began the day being busy with baking and preparing the orders for the next day. We called it a day by 7pm.

"Thank you, guys! Have a restful evening!", I told them and we separated ways.

On my way home, I saw the same man a few blocks away from my house. He seemed to be drunk and was spitting nonsense about having known the same woman he was talking about the yesterday. I suddenly thought of the alternative route where I go to take shortcuts to my house and opted for it.

I made it to my house with a fast beating heart, a developing fear and curiosity in my mind.

"Sino ba iyang si L na sinasabi niya!", I wondered out loud and laid wearily on my bed. "I have to get to the bottom of this! Fast!"