"So you can have your cake, give you something good to celebrate."

[glamorqueen]

Who: Romeo Dalton and Liz Harrison
What: Let them eat cake!
Where: Liz's store
When: Wednesday afternoon

It had been a crazy morning. Romeo had done a life appearance on a morning breakfast show talking about Grease, so he had to be up a lot earlier than he normally would be. Then he had to squash an appointment at the day spa for The Works because he could never been seen without anything but perfectly manicure nails, and there was the quickie with Winnie at lunchtime when his lover came home for his lunch break. That actually turned into two quickies because they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Needless to say, Romeo had been very reluctant to let his lover go back to work, but alas, he walked him back and now had an errand to run.

He found the place he was looking for that came highly recommended by his agent who knew this place often did cakes for opening night parties, so that would work. It was all very cute and quaint, like it stepped out of a Fairy Tale or something. He went in and rang the bell on the counter that was currently unattended and took his compact mirror out of his bag to make sure his hair was all in place.

Comments

[losing_my_religion]

Liz hadn't been lying when she told Jesse that she had a lot of orders in for Valentine's Day, and there had been a few more that came in before all was said and done, but she'd locked that date at this point to ensure that no more orders came in. Her store was a small operation, with just Liz and a couple of employees, so there was no question that there was only so much they could take on before all was said and done. Luckily, most of the weddings they were dealing with were at different times of day. It gave them a little bit of wiggle room for deliveries. Liz heard the bell at the door and left her two assistants in the back, working on a birthday cake for a four year old that was all Frozen characters, and made her way up front.

"Hi, I'm Liz," she said to the customer, who was checking his hair in a handheld mirror. "May I help you with something?" He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place him, and she was actually focusing on not staring at him in an attempt to figure it out.

[glamorqueen]

As soon as someone came out to help him, Romeo snapped his compact closed and flashed her a winning smile. "You certainly can, darling." He took his cheque book out of his bag and put it on the counter so he could bring a couple of pictures up on his phone. "I need a birthday cake made for my partner. February 7th. This is what I'm looking for something along the lines of this," he explained, bringing the sample photo up on his phone and handing it to her. "Journalist. I don't know how they do it. Something less boring looking, however. Maybe something sparkly, more colour, more original. No chocolate. Absolutely no chocolate or marzipan. Migraine sufferer and almond allergy."

He took out his fountain pen and flipped open his cheque book. "I understand it's not a distinct amount of notice, but name your price. If you can keep me happy, I can guarantee you extensive business will come of this. I have a lot of connections," he assured her, giving her another smile.

[losing_my_religion]

There was a certain type of guy that came to mind when Liz had thought about gay guys in the past. This was definitely that exact type of guy... Effeminate and flamboyant, and completely put together like something out of a magazine. He was gorgeous, too, and Liz had to focus to not stare him down and drool a little bit. "February 7th? I think we can make that happen, hon. How many people does the cake need to feed?" It was a standard question, and Liz looked over the photo carefully, thinking over a couple of different ideas to make the cake idea more flashy and fun. "What's your partner's favorite color?" she asked thoughtfully. She had a small notepad on the counter that she was using to make notes about everything.

She smiled right back at him with the confidence born of knowing her work and knowing it very well. "I guarantee you I can make you something that your other half is going to love. Once we nail down how much cake we need, I should be able to put together a solid quote for you. And I always appreciate word of mouth advertisement... You can put out fliers and everything else in the world, but nothing brings customers in like the knowledge that people they know have had a good experience at a place of business. I don't think I caught your name?"

[glamorqueen]

Romeo gave it a little thought. What he had initially been planning was a very intimate birthday celebration (him and Winston at The Plaza with not a scrap of clothing in sight) had slowly turned into the idea of maybe making it something more memorable. A little soiree, perhaps. "Probably about 150, I'm thinking. Give or take." 'Little soiree' in Romeo's language would never actually be anything little. If he was going to do something, he was going to do it big and loud. There were just two bitches he was seriously accidentally on purpose forgetting to add to the guest list. Shit, what was Winnie's favourite colour? Favourite colour...? Crap. "Of course, I don't need you to make a cake for that many people. Just do whatever you think will look fabulous, darling. We won't actually be serving it at the party. Winston will have it for himself to take home. How about we add another larger cake to cater for the masses? Just something standard and pretty. Whatever you think. He was raised by hippies, just make it as colourful as you can." Nice save, Romeo.

They probably hadn't been together long enough to know all the intimate details. That much he could admit. But now he was wondering what all Winston's 'deets' were beyond the actual medical emergency issues Romeo had made Winston write down in case he was at risk of anaphylactic shock or something. "It's Romeo. Romeo Dalton," he said with a smile, taking out one of his flashy business cards and handing it over to her so she had all his details. "Broadway will be singing your praises from the rooftop, I guarantee."

[losing_my_religion]

"Okay," Liz responded, making a couple more notes on her notepad before giving Romeo another confident smile. "That shouldn't be a problem. So the 150 people are on the actual night of his birthday? I can do that. You're my favorite kind of customer, you know. Come in knowing exactly what you want, but still give me a chance to get creative. I can assure you, you'll have two gorgeous cakes on your hands by the time all is said and done. Colorful but still classy." She scribbled a couple more notes, then looked back at him as he introduced himself. And then it hit her like a bolt out of the blue who he was and why she recognized him. Her smile widened and she shook her head in disbelief.

"You're Danny Zuko," she said finally, not at all with the air of a crazed fangirl, because over the years, the better known her shop had gotten, the more she'd had celebrity customers. It didn't pay to be over-fangirly with it all. "I've seen your show. You're brilliant." It was true, too. She'd had no idea that he was even gay, mainly because she didn't keep up with gossip magazines that told all the fun bits of celebrity lives. Taking a look at what was going to be involved in making the two cakes, and the short notice, she put together a figure and gave it to him politely. "Of course, generally, we offer the option to pay half now and half on delivery, but regardless of how you pay for it, Mr. Dalton, you won't regret your choice of a bakery. How'd you hear about us?"

[glamorqueen]

Romeo took the quote and looked over it, raising his eyebrows a little. The look on his face might have been mistaken for disagreement (probably what Reecy and Autumn would have assumed he was thinking, being the evil Satan-spawned bitch he apparently was), but it wasn't that at all. In fact, he thought it was way too little and when he wrote the cheque out for her, he doubled it. "There you go, darling," he said, signing it in his flourishing scrawled handwriting and handed it over to her. "Call it a tip. No arguments. You're doing me a wonderful service. He's very special to me and it's his first birthday that we've been together, so I want to make it memorable. It will be late on that Saturday night, post-show. You're more than welcome to stop by for a few drinks and see your work being enjoyed. I can introduce you to Winston."

He tucked his cheque book back into his bag. "Thank you. I try my best. This has been the most fun I've had at work in a long time. The success can only truly be put down to Caden Drake and his crew. And please, call me Romeo. I have a father and an older brother who can carry the 'Mr. Drake' title way better than I can. Most generally refer to me as a queen anyway," he added with a smirk. "It was word of mouth. The Broadway world can be very small. You've made cakes for various production parties. There's also Lee McKenna. One of his boyfriends, Hayden, is my personal trainer. Terrible tragedy the three of them are facing. I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

[losing_my_religion]

Liz actually had to focus to keep her eyeballs from popping out of her head when Romeo turned the check over to her. It was clear that he had no problems financially, and that he wanted nothing but the best for his other half. "That's very generous of you," she finally said gratefully. "Not necessary, but very much appreciated. I'd love to meet him, though. He must be a pretty special guy. If you're sure you don't mind, I'll definitely stay for a couple of drinks after I drop off the cake. I always like to see people when they first see the finished product anyway. Thank you for the invite. I think we can call it a plan."

"Well, there's no doubt your talent is a huge part of the success, too, darling. You were a huge part of my enjoyment of the show no doubt. But from what I've heard from the few Broadway actors and staff I've met over the years, it's a lot of hard work from lots and lots of people to make the shows go off as well as they do. Oh, it's just awful what happened to Lee. When I heard about it, it hit me hard. We've worked very closely on a great many weddings, and it blows your mind when you hear something like that happened to someone you were just talking to only days earlier."

[glamorqueen]

Romeo put his hand on his chest giving her a sympathetic smile. "Oh, honey, if people in this world only did things that were necessary, no one would ever be happy or kind-hearted. That's not a world anyone needs to live in. It's not charity. It's gratitude. The only ideal this world will ever see are the ones we make ourselves. Somewhere on the other side of the city, some evil cunt is probably robbing that amount of money off a little old lady taking it to send to her daughter for IVF who can't have children despite her six figure wage and doting husband. Then he'll go home and knock up his extremely fertile crack addict girlfriend of the week who has eight children to different guys. Don't brush away gratitude as something that's only a necessity for you. Your work is making a difference to someone trying to make their own ideal. How often are speciality cakes ordered for something that's not a celebration or a mark of respect, huh? Winston underestimates his own offering to the world." He took out the New York Times of that day where Winston had an article published that day about the pressures of eating disorders in demanding career industries, such as live theatre, such as fashion, such as TV and music, and showed her.

He waved his hand, amused. "Hard work is part of my success. Talent is one thing dripping from the rafters on Broadway. Hard work and knowing how to be what people are willing to pay for. Some people in this world think I'm only where I am because I had it all handed to me on a silver platter and I'm an ungrateful bitch." He rolled his eyes. "The world needs the basic to balance out the fabulous though. Life would be boring if I didn't have someone to mock or flaunt my success to."

[losing_my_religion]

"You're right about that," she admitted, offering him a warm smile of her own. If this was what being gay was, she was really questioning with all her heart why it was so fucking wrong... and why a God of love and kindness as she was taught that he was, would make people gay and then make it a sin. How could he tell people to love one another, then punish some kinds of love while rewarding others? The truth was, all of this -- first with Jesse and Jace and now with Romeo and Winston -- had her questioning the very foundations of everything she believed in. Jesse and Romeo hadn't come in here talking about the sex they had with their other halves, and cocks and asses, and sinful, shameful things that should never even be spoken of in hushed tones in darkened bathhouses. These were two guys who'd come in gushing over the hearts and souls of the people they respectively loved, and that was really all that anyone could want in a lover. She'd give her left tit to have a good looking guy like Romeo or Jace or Jesse talking about her the way these guys talked about their other halves. Who wouldn't? "That's true, too. Most of my cakes are for the sole purpose of making a special occasion that little bit more special. Which honestly means I'm honored by every customer who chooses me to be a part of their special days. So I guess that makes sense. Thank you." She took the paper from him and looked at the article, reading over it. "Wow... You have an incredibly talented boyfriend. That's a heck of a lot of talent for one relationship," she added with a teasing wink.

"Just from what I know about Broadway, there can't be many people there just riding the coattails of the who they know side of things. You have to be talented and hard working, no doubt. Just like any other job that relies heavily on talent... Talent is meaningless without hard work." She had to laugh at that, though, shaking her head just a little. "People always hate people who are more successful than them. It's just a matter of life."