chapter #9

“Paul, we can’t just sit here and twiddle our thumbs.” I said.

“Then what do you suggest we do, huh?” He snapped back, sounding irritated.

“I’ll call Robin! You work on fixing this piece of crap.” I told him and he took his tool box from under his seat and got out of the van. I followed him and took out my phone and called Robin’s number. She didn’t answer at first and I wondered if she was still angry with me for ignoring her advice.

But luckily she picked up after a few more rings.

“Why are you calling me, Stas? Leave me alone. I have nothing to say to you.” she said and I could tell by her tone that she was furious. But before she could hang up, I said:

“Wait, don’t hang up! I need your help. It’s urgent.”

“Oh, really? You expect me to fall for that? Just stop bothering me!”

“Please, just listen to me. We’re in big trouble. Paul and I were on our way to deliver the wedding cake but his van broke down and now we’re stranded on the highway and the wedding is in an hour.”

"What? You’re with Paul?"

“Yes, I’m with Paul. Look, I know you don’t like him, but he’s the only one who could help me with the biddy problem. He told me he is going to pay me my wages after delivering the cake. You know how important this is for me, right?”

“Stas, you’re unbelievable. You know how I feel about Paul. He’s a jerk and a liar and he doesn’t deserve your help. And you’re asking me to help you after what happened in the morning”

“Robin, please. This is not the time to argue. We need your help. Can you please come and pick us up? We’re on the highway near exit 12. The cake is still intact but we have no way of getting it to the wedding on time.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line and I hoped she would say yes.

“Fine. I’ll come. But only because I care about you, Stas. Not because of Paul. And don’t expect me to be nice to him, okay?”

“Thank you, Robin. You’re a lifesaver. I owe you big time.”

“You sure do. I’ll be there in 15 minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”

She hung up and I sighed in relief.

“Robin’s coming.” I told Paul, who was still tinkering with the van.

“Great. Maybe she can fix this thing too.” He said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes and hoped that they wouldn’t fight when she got here.

I checked the time and prayed that we would make it to the wedding before it was too late.

Soon, we saw Robin’s car approaching and we waved at her. She parked next to us and got out of the car.

“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late. Traffic was a nightmare.” She said.

“Robin, you’re amazing. Thank you for coming.” I said and hugged her.

She hugged me back and then looked at Paul.

“Hey, Paul.” She said coldly.

“Hey, Robin.” He said equally coldly.

They glared at each other and I felt the tension in the air.

“Okay, let’s not waste any more time. We need to get this cake to the wedding.” I said and opened the back door of the van.

Robin saw the three tier wedding cake on the back of the van.

“Wow, that’s a beautiful cake. You did a great job, Stas.” Robin said, admiring it.

“Thanks.Paul help me too.” I lied, hoping to ease the hostility between them.

“Yeah, he helped you by driving this piece of junk that broke down on the highway.” Robin said, snorting.

“Hey, watch your mouth. This van is a classic. It just needs some TLC.” Paul said, defending his vehicle.

“TLC? More like TNT. This thing is a ticking bomb. You should have gotten rid of it a long time ago.” Robin said, mocking him.

“Oh, yeah? And what do you know about cars? You drive a Volkswagen, for crying out loud.” Paul said, insulting her car.

“What’s wrong with a Puff? It’s eco-friendly and reliable. Unlike your gas-guzzling monstrosity.” Robin said, pointing at his van.

“My van is not a monstrosity. It’s a work of art. And it has character. Something your boring Volkswagen will never have.” Paul said, gesturing at her car.

“My puff is not boring. It’s sleek and modern. And it has features that your van can only dream of.” Robin said, smirking.

“Like what?” Paul asked, challenging her.

“Like GPS, Bluetooth, backup camera, heated seats, sunroof…” Robin started listing.

“Who needs all that crap? All you need is a steering wheel, a gas pedal and a radio. And maybe some duct tape.” Paul interrupted her.

“Duct tape? Is that what you use to hold this thing together?” Robin asked, laughing.

“No, I use it to shut up annoying people like you.” Paul said, grabbing a roll of duct tape from his tool box.

I knew, where this is going. I've tried to stop them by saying, " Guys, you can continue this fight someday later but for now we have more important in hand to deliver this cake to before the wedding."

And that made me realize that I am right and they've to put their differences aside and focus on delivering the cake, and with the help of Paul we shifted the wedding cake into Robin wagen and got into the car but Paul stopped.

" What happened? Why aren't you coming?" I ask him.

" Well, I just can't abandoned my car on highway and Matt is coming. I will fix my van then I will come."

" But we don't know the address for deliver the cake."

He handed us the clickboard and pointed the address. Robin nodded the address and without wasting our time. Robin hit the gas pedal and drove away.

We reached the destination and saw a high-rise building. I got out of the car and asked Robin to stay in the van until I found out where the wedding was.

I headed straight to the reception where a lady was sitting behind a screen.

“Good evening, ma’am. How may I assist you?”

“I’m here to deliver a wedding cake for Miss Rebecca. Could you please tell me which floor her ceremony is on?”

She asked me to hold on while she checked.She looked at her computer screen and typed something. Then she looked up at me and smiled.

“Miss Rebecca’s wedding is on the tenth floor, ma’am. You can take the elevator on your right!" She said.

" Thank you so much," I said to her.