April pulled up to the strip mall after a short trip down the road. Passing the Rancor's Nest and the bakery, Cutie Pie's, she parked by the back entrance of "Chip's Dental House," which still had to be the worst name for a dental office she'd ever heard. As she'd gotten to know Darryl Kleinschmidt, the owner and dentist, she'd learned that he had a dreadfully corny sense of humour, so something like this name was merely par for the course.
Mrs. West exited her car and made her way into the thankfully fairly close entryway. Even this early in the morning, the South Carolina heat was nearly palpable, and it was clearly going to be quite a muggy day.
"Morning, April!" A chipper voice sounded from the front desk. She turned the corner and saw first a shock of strawberry blonde hair, the long curls bouncing off the back of her chair. A dazzling smile met her eyes, and she gave her own greetings to the freckly young woman seated before her.
"Morning, Melanie. How are things?" April asked as she clocked in on the nearby computer terminal.
"Oh, not too bad. Still, they'll be better when Johnny starts sleeping through the night," Mel replied, taking off her glasses and rubbing her eyes. She and her husband had just started their family, and their newborn baby boy seemed to consider night time as prime time. "I haven't slept all night in the last six months."
"Yeah, my Tara was the same way as a baby. But don't worry. He'll be past this point soon enough, then this will just be a happy memory."
"Pretty sure that's just Stockholm Syndrome talking," another huskier voice chimed in. A tall woman with long black hair turned the corner, reading something from a file folder. She was a tad on the heavier side, carrying most of her excess weight in her small pot belly and breasts. Though she was between April and Melanie in age, and admittedly closer to Mel's then April's, she was the most experienced secretary of the three, and the one full timer among them. Her full name was Jennifer Tressider, though she usually just went by Jenny, and her name tag even read as such.
"Oh, nonsense. Children are a blessing," April tutted as she woke her computer up.
"I'll have to take your word for it," Jenny quipped, holding out a form to April. "Malcolm Kendricks has a root canal for Friday at 3:00 to add to the schedule. We'll need to add his company's insurance info to his file, as well."
"Okay, sounds good," April replied, taking the proffered paperwork.
"Speaking of Mr. Kendricks, he came by earlier with these," Mel gestured to a couple large boxes, the name "Cutie Pie's" stenciled on the side with far too many flowers and hearts. The heady aroma of fresh pastry wafted from them, and some powdered sugar was already dotted on Melanie's lips. "You guys should have some, they are crazy good."
Jenny looked at the boxes warily, as if they may very well come to life and attack her. She chewed her lower lip, clearly wrestling with herself a little. "Tempting, but I probably shouldn't. I seem to put on five pounds a day just from breathing."
"Oh, c'mon, you can't just leave me with all of these! I'm having trouble getting rid of this baby weight as it is!" Melanie had technically been on a diet since coming back from maternity leave, though technically was definitely the right word. Her willpower was questionable at times, and cheat days were fairly common. Still, she certainly wasn't that overweight, at least as far as April was concerned. Mel was unquestionably the smallest of the three secretaries.
"Well, except in one regard," April thought, her eyes dropping to Mel's low cut top. Melanie Delgado had been quite well endowed before her pregnancy, but her hormones had really sent the girls through the stratosphere, and they'd never even tried to come back down to earth. Mel herself had once jokingly referred to herself as a human dairy cow, and any excess weight she had was invisible behind the twin peaks dominating her torso. "It's a miracle she can type with those things in the way."
April was about to speak, to assure Mel that she didn't need to watch her figure in the slightest, but the blonde woman spoke up before she could. "April, have you had any yet? They are so, so good."
"No, I haven't, but I'm good. I just had breakfast before coming here..."
Mel interrupted her. "Oh, no buts! You can have at least one, right!?"
"Honestly, you may as well," Jenny added as she took a seat at her own desk. "We'll probably just pitch the extras at the end of the day, any way."
"That just seems wasteful."
"All the more reason to have ooooooonnnnneeeee," Mel sing-songed, holding out the one to April, swaying it as temptingly as she could.
April's willpower, not exactly an ironclad fortress in the first place, was starting to waver. "Well... maybe just one..."
"Yay! Trust me, you won't regret it! These things are seriously to die for!"
"Better make it two. If Mel has her way, this is the last chance you'll get."
"HEY! I do not eat that much!"
"Girls, settle down," April slipped into Mom-mode by pure instinct, a fact which didn't go unnoticed by her two coworkers.
"Sorry, MOM," Jenny replied with a giggle. "Anyway, just put them in the breakroom. Anyone can grab what they want, and we'll just have to throw out whatever is left at the end of the day. Or one of you two can take the leftovers home."
"Not me. I'm getting a belly as it is," Mel mumbled, patting her non-existent tummy under her gargantuan bust, much to Jenny's annoyance.
"Well, it's not going to be me. I'm fat enough as it is."
"Nonsense, both of you are perfectly fine. Still, if it makes you feel better, I'll take whatever is left when I clock out. Don't need to be wasting perfectly good pastries."
"Works for me."
"Same."
"There, now that that's settled, I'll put these in the breakroom. Feel free to help yourselves, as I don't need all of them, either." The breakroom, such as it was, referred to the table resting between the front desk and its two terminals and Jenny's desk a little further back. There was a desktop water cooler and a number of expired magazines resting atop it, and April set the boxes on what little space she could find. Coincidentally, it meant that much of the table was well within arms' reach of the West family matriarch, and she grabbed a pair of doughnuts from the box before sitting back down. "Well, maybe Tara would like some after work as a snack."
"Atta girl," Jenny said, watching April bite into one eclair with a soft coo of pleasure. The sounds of enjoyment made her reconsider her earlier refusal, and she grabbed a Boston Cream from the box for herself. "So, are you still joining us for lunch?"
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