Christie’s Candies
by Wendy Schreiner –
Cassidy Lewis was working as a freelance contributor for two local papers and a community magazine. She was finally making money doing what she loved; writing. Her recent assignment was to profile the new chocolate store in town – Christie’s Candies. This assignment would be right up her alley, as she loved chocolate almost as much as writing.
It was a cold January day in Newburg, New York. Cassidy grabbed her warmest coat, gloves and recently finished knitted scarf and ran out the door. Arriving at Christie’s Candies, she was greeted by a giant chocolate bar character. The grand opening celebration had begun. She interviewed the owner, Christie Carlson, got some great pictures and couldn’t resist the delicious samples. She even got to take a box of assorted chocolates home. “This is my sweetest assignment ever,” thought Cassidy.
In the early evening, Cassidy began working on her article for the local magazine. She usually had no trouble beginning her articles, but she was sidetracked thinking about Christie’s offer to come work for her part-time. Ever since she was a little girl, she had wanted to work in a candy store. This would be the perfect opportunity for that to happen. The owner liked her personality and they seemed to get along well. The extra money would be great. She had her eye on a very expensive hounds tooth print reclining chair. Maybe she would be able to afford it after all.
An hour later and her article was completed, with great pictures of the candy shop, the fun chocolate characters and even the colorful walls and decorations inside. She forwarded the email to the magazine and headed into the kitchen to prepare a light salad for her late dinner. Tomorrow, I will call Christie at her shop and tell her that I am interested in the job.
After a great night’s sleep and a quick morning jog, Cassidy nervously dialed the store’s number.
“Hello, Christie’s Candy, how may I help you?”
“Hi, this is Cassidy, I was in your store yesterday to do the magazine article.”
“Yes, Cassidy, how are you?” “I am well. I am calling to let you know that I am very interested in the part-time job.”
“Oh, that’s great,” replied Christie, “When can you start?”
“As soon as you need me,” excitedly stated Cassidy.
“Tomorrow at ten would be great.”
“Good, I will see you tomorrow at ten.”
“The dress code is black pants and a white shirt.”
“That sounds great,” said Cassidy, “I will see you tomorrow and thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome and have a great day.” “Bye.”
“Bye,” said Cassidy as she hung up the phone and jumped up and down in her living room excited to have a fun new job.
Cassidy went into her room and opened her closet. She found her favorite most comfortable black pants and grabbed a black belt. She proceeded to look through her shirts, locating a few white ones. She chose a tuxedo style shirt with white pearl buttons. It looked pretty wrinkle free which was a good thing. She had the perfect necklace to wear too. It was a fake chocolate bar with a bite out of it. Cassidy was in a great mood and very excited. Tomorrow couldn’t get here quick enough.
The next morning, Cassidy arrived at Christie’s Candies eager to learn all she could about the chocolate business. Christie greeted Cassidy and handed her the cute pink and turquoise apron featuring a candy pattern all over it. She was first shown the time clock and learned how to punch in. It was 9:50 am, so she was early; which looked good on her first day. Next, was a demonstration on how to weigh the chocolates and how to use the cash register. Customers were steady as it was the grand opening week. Five o’clock arrived quickly and it was time to go. Christie asked Cassidy when she could come back and they agreed on Monday.
The weekend went by fast. Monday got there quickly. It would be a fun day as she would be actually making chocolates. Mondays were usually slow days in the candy business except around holidays, but it was a little busy due to the recent grand opening. Cassidy worked on making a few of her favorite chocolate pieces. These included pecan turtles, buttercrunch, orange chocolate, sponge candy and milk chocolate coconut clusters. She was careful not to sample any, but they were very tempting to say the least.
The next few weeks went by quickly. Cassidy worked three days a week at the candy store and also did her writing on the other days. At home, she was busy typing up her articles and enjoyed getting out to meet people in such a fun cheerful environment. It was two weeks before Valentine’s Day and Christie’s was always busy. From the moment the store opened until the closing time, people were purchasing special heart shaped boxes of candies for their loved ones.
There was a handsome man named Rick who stood out in Cassidy’s mind. He bought his mother a box of candy. “It’s been a tradition since I was eighteen,” he had told Cassidy.
Valentine’s Day arrived and the familiar gentleman, Rick, walked through the door again.
This time, he bought a small box of chocolates and had them gift-wrapped. After paying for them, he handed them to Cassidy saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Blushing, Cassidy said, “Thank you. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too.”
After giving Rick her phone number, she wistfully thought to herself, Yes, this is a very sweet job after all.