Invite Only

This wasn’t going to be Velvet’s first rodeo with the gala. While she felt that she could be closer with Angora still, she was at least present enough in high society to be known by a number of mutual contacts, and she had met her a handful of times in other parties over recent years. Note that “met” mostly referred to actual pleasantries exchanged. Angora was a very busy bun, and their industries did not really coincide. Velvet could recognize her at a mile away at this point though, for she had seen the beautiful bun be the guest of honor in many events.

Even in high society, there was only a select number of buns who had the luxury of interacting with Angora at length. Oh well, while having Angora’s favor was huge for any bun, it was also so difficult to achieve that it was not worth putting effort into. Well, that was Velvet’s reasoning for not putting herself further into the casino owner’s radar. The invitation alone was enough to benefit her by being able to make new connections, maintain old ones, and be updated in what the glitz and glamor were looking for.

It was a crisp May morning when she received texts from her friends that they already received their invites to the upcoming gala. If she were younger and greener, she might’ve considered lying to keep up appearances–oh, I got mine too!--even if no such fancy paper had made its way to her doorstep. But she had been in this game for quite some time, and while these were socialite, fairweather friends, she didn’t need to act timid, not anymore.

“Oh really? Looks like my courier is late.”

How awful! They hoped that it would arrive soon. It would be unthinkable that she would not be invited this year when she had been a constant in previous years, that was what the messages generally wrote. However, Velvet knew that it was very much possible to be dropped from the mailing list with no explanation as to why. Maybe the bun crossed Angora or did something that irked her previously, or maybe they were overstepping their boundaries on the business end. There could be all sorts of reasons, really.

Anyway, there was no choice but to wait. There was no use fretting over whether she was one such bun that was unceremoniously dropped from this year’s gala, and since today was a free day, she decided she would bake instead. Yep, baking was a perfectly normal hobby to do, not because she was inwardly panicking.

When she opened the fridge, reached for an egg-shaped plant, and ended up breaking the sac from too much tension in her fingers, she cursed.

Okay, she was panicking.

Did she stare at her too long in that one winter event? Had she been in too many commercials, particularly on Matentines? Did she muck up the order to the Wonderland Casino that one month where they ordered a lot of pastries for a special gathering? She thought that the feedback was alright, but was there some kind of hidden malice after all? Velvet made sure that she was focusing on not destroying the ingredients this time, placing them on the counter to get ready for baking.

She still couldn’t help but let the thoughts consume her as she mixed the ingredients together. Not even the pleasant smell of vanilla could detract her from not being able to go to the gala. She already had a dress for the occasion! She was supposed to meet several of her business associates and friends there! For her to be excluded…it was a nightmare, an absolute nightmare!

Velvet was on the verge of tears when she heard the doorbell ring. Quickly, she placed the bowl on the counter and ran to the door, wiping her eyes just in case they looked watery. She opened the door with a cheerful look, and there stood a bun that suspiciously looked more like they belonged with Bunazon.

“Your order, Miss Velvet.”

It took all of her composure not to show that she felt defeated. With a small sigh and a hand running through her hair, her expression changed to something a little more professional as she accepted the delivery with a signature and a neutral goodbye.

Once she got the box through the door and in her room, she let out a curse again. Oh, who cared if she was not invited! She was not going to let this little invitation ruin her day nor her life. She had a dream that she was going to strike it out on her own and by Murmur, she would do just that!

She continued to stress bake throughout the day and almost went into a breakdown before the doorbell would ring later in the day, with the awaited invitation. In the privacy of her own home, she couldn’t help but jump in excitement and collapse in relief.