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“Merlin, did you eat all the almonds again?”
“What? No!”
Merlin walks out of the pantry, a bag of flour in his arms, to see Gwen frantically searching everywhere for the almonds she needs for her recipe. She’s looking in every jar on her counter, she lifts jars and bags and cups to look underneath. She even rummages through the baking tins, hoping they turn up somewhere, anywhere.
“Then where are they?!” She lifts up her skirts and squats somewhere else in the kitchen to look through another set of baking tins. “I need them now. Freya!” she calls out. “Freya!” she calls again after a few moments of silence.
“Yes?” Freya’s voice sounds as she leans partly into the kitchen, not coming all the way in because she’s busy getting the shop ready for when they open in less than a candlemark.
“Do you know where the almonds are?” Gwen asks, her voice quivering a little, starting to worry she won’t be able to complete her recipe.
“Aren’t they in the pantry?”
Gwen turns to Merlin, because he just came from there, taking note of their stock, just like he does every morning after most of the baking is done – they need to know what to buy for the next day after all.
“No, no almonds.” He shakes his head. He just looked through every ingredient they have and everything they’re missing, and he’s very sure he didn’t see any almonds in there.
“And you didn’t eat them?” Gwen checks with Merlin again.
“No!” he exclaims. “I did that once! By accident! I thought they were a snack…” he finishes in a murmur – because, yes, on his first day in the bakery, he actually snacked on the almonds on the counter, thinking that’s what they were there for. He didn’t know anything about baking back then.
Gwen turns back to Freya. “Then where are they?”
“Wait–” Freya disappears into the shop and comes back with a piece of paper in just a few moments. “Oh… I forgot to buy them.” She blushes as she realises it was her fault that they’re out of almonds.
Gwen sighs and rubs her eyes. “Okay…alright...no almonds then. I’ll see what I can do to save this cake,” she sighs again. “Buy twice the amount tomorrow, though, alright?”
“I will,” Freya nods. “I’m sorry I forgot.”
“Just...please don’t forget them again.”
“I won’t. Buying twice the amount tomorrow. I promise.”
“Good. Now, get back to work. We open soon.”
“Yes, Gwen,” Freya says, before she leaves the kitchen once more.
Merlin – finally – places the bag of flour on the counter. “Told you I didn’t eat them.”
“Yes, you did.” Gwen nudges his shoulder. “I’m sorry I accused you. I’m just disappointed I don’t have any almonds to finish this… Think it’ll be alright like this?”
“I don’t know,” Merlin shrugs. “You’re the baking expert.”
“Well… I guess we’ll see.”
Gwen finishes up the cake batter – and it comes out okay, though it could definitely be a lot better, with almonds. But Freya will never forget to order the almonds, ever again.