BAKED DELIGHTS

Written By

Steve Palmer

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INT. JEFF'S BEDROOM DAY1.

A messy bedroom, clothes strewn across the floor, general untidiness. JEFF is lying in bed, asleep, whilst his alarm rings incessantly. Jeff is 19 years old, and has recently left college. Today is the first day of the summer break, and his first day at his new job. He lazily swipes at the clock, attempting to silence the alarm. He knocks it off the bedside table, and rolls out of bed.

INT. BATHROOM CONT.1A.

Jeff is getting ready, putting on a blue dress shirt whilst brushing his teeth. He looks over at a brush, then himself in the mirror, then turns and leaves the room.

INT. KITCHEN CONT.1B.

Jeff's making himself a sandwich, when he looks over at the clock on the cooker. 8:51. Jeff's late. It takes a minute for this to get through to him though, and he stares down at his sandwich, until it clicks in his head.

JEFFShit.

He grabs a slip of paper from the notice board in the kitchen, runs out the house, hastily locking the door, and jogging down the street.

EXT. STREET DAY2.

Jeff jogs through the streets of his town, down the main street passed the main shops, glancing down at the slip of paper, then up to the street signs, then back down at the paper. He takes a turn at the end of the main high street, to a street filled with empty shops and charity shops. At the end of the street, on the corner, is a small, non-descript caf-like bakery.

EXT. BAKERY CONT.2A.

The front of the shop is a large window, from which the entire seating area can be seen. There are a few customers sat at the tables, although there appears to be no members of staff behind the counter. Jeff, breathless from his jog to work, hurries in.

INT. BAKERY CONT.2B.

Jeff, breathless, looks around the shop as he walks in through the door. He checks the slip of paper again, making sure he has the right shop, then pulls out his phone, checking the time. Still out of breath, Jeff walks over to the counter, and goes to call out to any member of staff that might be able to hear him. As he does, he

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suddenly becomes conscious that all the customers in the store are staring at him. He begins to speak.

JEFFDoes anyone know where I can find

He trails off as he reaches for the piece of paper. He drops it, and it flutters down in front of the counter. He bends to pick it up, when we hear an unknown voice.

UNKNOWN VOICEY'know, if you'd been on time, you wouldn't look as stupid as you do right now.

Jeff gets up to see who is speaking to him. He sees a girl, now suddenly behind the counter.

JEFFYeah, hey. Do you work here?

GIRLOf course I work here, look what I'm wearing.

She motions to her clothes; informal, absolutely nothing that would suggest she was an employee rather than a customer.

JEFFOh, okay, I see. I'm sorry, did I ask you your name?

She stares blankly. Jeff notices a namebadge.

JEFFOh, so you're Ruby? That helps. I'm Jeff, I think I said. Uhh, I start today.

GIRLNo, I'm not Ruby. And if you do start today, Jeff', why were you late?

JEFFI overslept. I was kinda nervous, and I couldn't get to sleep.

GIRLDon't worry. We've all been there. Well, not me, but... Just don't make a habit of it. Anyway, eat this, you'll feel

(MORE)

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better. Meet me in the kitchen GIRL (CONT'D)

when you're ready.

She offers him a small, chocolate cupcake. He willingly takes it, and takes a large bite. Almost immediately, his eyes light up, and a smile broadens across his face. He stops for a moment and thinks to himself, before racing to the kitchen. He shouts to his colleague, who by this point has disappeared somewhere in the kitchen.

JEFFIf we're going to be working together, maybe I should know your name? It might help.

GIRLFor now, you can call me Master.

JEFFThat's never going to happen.

Jeff grabs his apron and the girl meets him at the till. She begins explaining how to work the till as a customer approaches them.

GIRLOkay, now, just remain calm, and get whatever cake they ask for. They're all labelled up behind, so you can read them as well. You'll learn most of the customers orders by the end of the day. These are our regulars.

She walks away, leaving Jeff to deal with the customer. He grabs the cake the customer asks for, and watches as they sit back down in the seat they got up from. They already have a small pile of cake wrappers, Jeff notices. The same goes for the others customers in the shop, however, every customer seems to have ordered a different flavour of cake. Jeff continues to serve the occasional customer who approaches the till. Jeff looks around at the various customers throughout the shop. They each seem completely obvlious to each other, except the one table with a young couple sat oppositive each other. Suddenly, the customer who jeff just served burst out into tears. His saddened cries fill the shop, but no-one even glances up from whatever they're doing. Jeff enters the kitchen, to see if he should help.

GIRLI know what you're going to say, and no; we don't need to help him. He's fine. He does this every day. Just, don't bring it up to him, or anyone else, okay?

(MORE)

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Actually, rule of thumb, GIRL (CONT'D)

anything odd happens, I don't care. And no-one else does. And you shouldn't. So don't talk about it, okay?

Jeff nods, and returns to the till.

INT. BAKERY NIGHT3.

We see Jeff, slouched over the till and tired looking, pulling out his phone. He looks at the screen, 5:25. He calls to his colleague.

JEFFIs it closing time yet? All the customers left ages ago.

GIRLYou ready to lock up?

The two of them walk to the door, Jeff holds it open for his co-worker. They both leave, and she locks the door.

EXT. BAKERY CONT.3A.

JEFFDo I get one of those keys? Incase we need to lock up and you're not at work?

She stares at blankly.

GIRLWhen you've worked here as long as I have, you'll get a key. And I work every shift, so you don't need to worry about that.

Jeff opens his mouth to speak, but doesn't quite know how to respond. His colleague smirks at him, smugly.

JEFFLets just lock up and go. I'll see you tomorrow, right?

GIRLDepends how hard you look.

Jeff stares blankly.

GIRLYes, you and me. Tomorrow. 10 til 4. And do be late this time.

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JEFFIf we're going to be working togther, perhaps I should know your name?

GIRLApril. My name's April.

INT. BAKERY - MORNING4.

Jeff is behind the counter, once again on his own. April is wandering round, collecting plates and rubbish from the customers. It quickly becomes apparent to Jeff that these are all the same customers as he previous day.

JEFFYesterday, when you mentioned regulars, you weren't kidding, were you?

APRILWell, sometimes some of them don't come in every day, but yeah, most of them can't stay away. I guess they must really love the cakes.

April walks off behind Jeff, into the kitchen. He thinks to himself for a moment, and then looks behind him. April is busy washing plates, her attention fully focused on that. Jeff looks over to the cabinet, full of cupcakes, then looks out to the customers. They are all engrossed in whatever business they are attending to. Without taking his eyes off them, Jeff quickly grabs one of the cupcakes, and hides it below the counter. He breaks off a small piece, and swiftly pops it in his mouth. His eyes suddenly widen, and he begins to snivel. He runs into the kitchen.

INT. KITCHEN CONT.4A.

JEFFApril? Can I speak to you for a moment?

APRILWhat's up?

Jeff is struggling to hold back his tears.

JEFFI was just on the till, and you mentioned how good the cakes were. So, I thought I'd try one.

JEFF (CONT'D)And I'm so sorry. Please please

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please don't fire me.

Jeff is now crying.

APRILWhoah, hold up,you ate a cake? Which one?

JEFFI don't know, maybe it tasted like carrot cake, but I don't know. I'm so sorry.

APRILYou idiot.

April is now filling a glass with water. She violently thrusts it towards Jeff, who is now wiping his eyes and nose with his sleeve.

APRIL (CONT'D)Drink this, we need to get that stupid carrot cake out of you.

Jeff takes the glass of water off her, and tries to drink from it. April walks off towards the till, looking for the cake, muttering under her breath.

APRILSaid we should never have made that one, step to far. But nooooo...

Jeff stays in the kitchen whilst April looks around the counter, finds the cake, and brings it back.

APRILCarrot cake. Don't eat it. You got that?

Jeff holds the glass close to his chest, and nods his head rapidly, still snivelling.

APRILCome on, you need to get back onto tills, and I need to sort out stock. I'm gonna need to have a chat with you as well, but that can wait for later.

JEFFAm I in trouble? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to steal, I can pay for it. Please don't fire me.

Jeff beings to start crying again.

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APRILHey, come on, you're not in trouble. Just, come see me on your lunch break, okay? Positive thoughts.

Jeff stifles back tears long enough to force a smile, then walks off towards the till. After making sure he's not looking, April shakes her head and heads back to the sink.

INT. BAKERY AFTERNOON5.

Jeff finishes serving a customer, and checks the time on his phone. He heads into the kitchen, and grabs his wallet from his pocket. He turns to April, who is checking through boxes of delivery.

INT. KITCHEN CONT.5A.

JEFFAre you going to cover the tills? I'm going for my lunch.

APRILYeah, I am. Before you go, you got any money on you?

JEFFYeah, I was gonna grab a snadwhich.

APRILGood. Meet me by the tills in a sec, we'll have out 'chat'.

Jeff and April walk out of the kitchen. Jeff walks around the front of the counter, as April takes the place behind that was his before.

INT. BAKERY CONT.5B.

April pulls out a cake, chocolate, from the counter.

APRILOkay, buy this, then eat it.

JEFFI was gonna get a sandwhich, but at least now I don't have to leave the shop.

APRILYeah, I don't care. Eat the cake.

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Jeff hands over the money, and takes a large bite of the cupcake. Immediately, his eyes widen, and a smile spreads across his face.

JEFFThis is the best cake I've ever had. How do you guys not get more customers?

APRILThat's not important right now. Now, try this one.

She reaches over to the cabinet, and pulls out another cupcake. It is the same one Jeff took himself earlier.

JEFFCan I not finish this one first?

She stares at him blankly. He hands over the money, puts his cake down, and picks up the new one being offered to him. He takes a bite. Once again, his eyes widen, but this time, he begins to look upset. He begins welling up.

JEFFI can't believe I didn;t finish that other cake. I feel so bad. It was so delicious. But, so is this one. I just don't know what to do.

APRILDrink this.

She hands him his glass of water from before, still with some water left at the bottom. He drinks it, and starts trying to force back his tears.

JEFFOkay, okay, I think I'm okay now.

APRILGood. I should probably apologise for that. It's not nice having your emotions, toyed with. But, all the new staff go through this at some point. None of them as early as you, but none of the others stole cake whilst they were on a shift.

Jeff look at his feet, ashamed of his earlier behaviour.

APRILSo, yeah. As you probably know,

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these are just normal cakes.APRIL (CONT'D)

JEFFI'd figured that one out. Y'know, from the way all the customers are, well, always acting exactly the same way.

APRILYeah. They all have a favourite.

JEFFSo, what is it? Magic? Or is it drugs? It is, isn't it? That's why these people are addicted, and they come back every day. And, you, you gave me some! Am I addicted?

APRILNo, you're not, because it's not anything like that.

JEFFOh...

APRILIt's hard to explain. For as long as I've worked here, it's been like this. I learned not to question it, you won't get any answers out of the other members of staff.

JEFFSo, it's perfectly legal? These people are here through choice?

APRILYeah, they just, some of them need to get things out, y'know? And others, they just don't know how to properly express their feelings. All we do is provide a little, 'encouragement'. They know what they want to say, or do, we just help a little, is all.

JEFFOkay, no, I get it. I'm gonna need some time to y'know, figure this out. I'm still not quite sure if I'm all that comfortable with the idea.

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APRILThat's fine, take your time. You know what? Take the rest of the day off.

JEFFReally?

APRILYeah. Clear your head, meditate, do whatever you need to do. You're due in tomorrow anyway. If you're not here at 10, then I'll understand. And, don't worry, if you don't come back, you wont have been the first person to leave that way. We've been through a few like you.

April smile at Jeff, and he smiles back. He walks towards the door, and makes his way home.

EXT. BAKERY MORNING6.

April is stood outside the bakery shop, waiting to open up. She's also on the lookout for Jeff. She looks at her phone; 10:00. She sighs and unlocks the door, letting it swing closed behind her.

INT. BAKERY CONT.6A.

She heads behind the till and checks inside, when she hears the bell above the door ring. Without looking up, she says;

APRILI'm sorry, we're not quite open yet. If you could give me 5 minutes, please. Thank you.

She goes back to checking the till.

JEFFIf I come back in 5 minutes, I'll be late again. And I wouldn't want to make a habit of it.

April looks up, and smiles.