keep calm and have a cupcake (landon)

[leanna mallory hart]

"Red velvet, light on the cream cheese!" Leanna heard someone shouting from out front. "In the back!" She hollered in response. Some days were always busier than others. This was definitely one of the busier ones. Leanna didn't have time to get a red velvet cupcake from the fridge. She was working on a wedding cake that had to be done by tomorrow at noon and she still had add-ons to add to it, and for some reason, the fondant wasn't sticking right. Irritated, she pulled the fondant off the tier she was working on and re-rolled it, then put it back over the cake...

Perfect.

She pressed the edges down, making sure it stuck just the right way. Oh thank GOD, she thought. She knew she wouldn't have had time to do it again. Leanna leaned against the table, inspecting the cake closely for blemishes when she heard her name called. Looking up, she saw one of the afternoon girls peek in the room. "Your cousin's here. He looks kinda miserable." Leanna sighed. Landon only ever came to the Perkanya when he was really unsettled about something. Knowing just what he needed, she opened the walk in refrigerator and stepped inside, grabbing the apple pie. She stepped back out and got a plate, placing one of the perfect slices on it, then put the slice in the microwave while she put the rest of the pie back in the fridge. When she came out, she waited for the beep, then pulled the piece out and scooped some vanilla ice cream on the side, and added some whipped cream. Going out front, she nodded to the cashier. She was gonna need a few minutes. Going over to the corner booth, Leanna set the plate down in front of Landon, and sat down across from him. "Why so glum, cuz?" she asked, picking up his fork and spearing some of the pie, bringing it to his lips. Sometimes it felt like Leanna was the oldest cousin, and Landon was still a toddler.

(aa7bff)

[landon james hart]

Landon had never felt this crappy in a long time. His first conversation with Carter in twelve years had not gone as he hoped it would and he had a feeling that things wouldn't be going well for a while. That, and the fact that he officially filed for divorce from Eleanor, had him feeling a little kicked in the mouth. He knew that it was a long time coming for his divorce, but there was still a sense of failure on his part because his marriage was ending. Everyone had told him to begin with that Eleanor hadn't really changed, but he didn't want to believe them. But after finding her with another man and then finding out about her other affairs, he couldn't take it anymore. They had tried separation for almost a year, but he just couldn't see himself trusting her ever again when she'd been cheating on him for years.

After filing the official divorce papers, Landon felt a sense of relief that it was finally going to be over. Since he and Eleanor had signed a prenuptual agreement, there wasn't anything she could contest and get custody of really and since they didn't have any children, there wasn't much to be fighting about. Eleanor came from a family with money, so he didn't worry about her well being in that manner and he had stopped caring for her emotional health months ago when she stopped caring about his. It was a bitter resentment for being the man she cheated on, but he would learn to get over that. Once the papers were filed, he went over to Perkanya to see his cousin Leanna. She was one of his best friends and had been growing up, even though she was younger than him. He always felt like she was more of his sister rather than his cousin. When she came over, bringing pie with her, he knew that she knew something was bothering him. As she picked some of it up and held it to him, he ate it and took the fork. "I just filed my divorce papers," he said, knowing that it was better to lead with that than talk about Carter first.

[leanna mallory hart]

Leanna grimaced. Divorce papers... If she was to be completely honest, she'd been waiting to hear those words coming from Landon's mouth for years. She hated his wife. It was no secret from him how she felt about Eleanor, but Leanna was always civil to Eleanor, even if she was sarcastic about it. She never caught it anyway, though Landon always did. She was sad for her cousin, but she also knew it was best for him. "That... royally sucks." She wasn't lying. She thought Landon would have been able to work it out, since he was so good at that sort of thing. She thought that maybe Eleanor would come to her senses and see what great of a guy she had married. But... apparently not. Unable to say anything, Leanna picked up the fork next to her and used it to get some of her own pie and ice cream. She put it in her mouth and chewed slowly, happy the warm pie and cold ice cream was able to distract her for a moment. And man, Kennedy could make some kick ass apple pie. Which was saying something, considering Leanna hated cooked apples.

She swallowed slowly, trying to think of just the right thing to say to Landon, hopefully to make him feel better. But she wasn't exactly good with cheering people up. Setting her fork down, she folded her arms on the table and leaned forward a little. "What was the catalyst?" she asked softly, hoping her favorite cousin wouldn't get offended. She was genuinely curious as to what finally tipped the scale. Obviously it wasn't her subtle (as a gun) suggestions. If the Perkanya had a liqueur license, she would have brought Landon a beer or something. Instead, she waved her hand at one of the cashiers to get him a glass of milk.

[landon james hart]

Landon could see the look of no shock on Leanna's face and knew that she had been waiting for this day to come for years. It was no huge family secret that no one really like Eleanor in his family. The only reason they truly tolerated her was for his sake, otherwise they all hated her. Landon was no idiot and knew that from the start. But, he thought that Eleanor had really changed when he married her. He didn't know then what he knew now though. Hindsight was always 20/20. In retrospect, he knew that he shouldn't have married her in the first place when his real love was always Carter. Landon had known since high school that he was in love with her, but didn't know for sure how she felt about him. Norah, Carter's best friend, told him time and again that he should go for it, but he never listened. Now, looking back, it was the dumbest thing he ever did. Had he went for it, Carter might not have left because she would have had someone to lean on when Norah died. Either that, or he would have left with her and started over somewhere new.

Sitting there, eating his pie, he heard his cousin's reply to the news and shrugged his shoulders apathetically. He had known for a long time that he needed to divorce Eleanor. They had been separated a year without any improvement on her end of things. So this was time. When Leanna asked him what the cause for him deciding finally, he knew it was a mixture of things. A lot of things. "It was a lot of things, but mostly the fact that I'm tired of living in this constant state of limbo. I know that she is still having affairs and then there's...well, what happened years ago that I can't forgive her for," he explained, putting the fork down to stop eating for a few minutes. Thinking about that awful event still killed him. Had Eleanor not been selfish and such a bitch, he would have a little girl by now. A daughter. That killed him most about everything that had happened between him and Eleanor. She had killed their child without so much as telling him that she was pregnant. And anyone who knew Landon knew that he wanted to be a father now more than ever since he was over the age of thirty.

[leanna mallory hart]

Leanna nodded slightly, listening to what he was saying. She'd known all about Eleanor's abortion. Landon had come to the Perkanya then as well, and Leanna's coworkers had to keep her busy after that so she didn't go and attack her. It had been a rough patch in Landon's life, and Leanna told him flat out to divorce his wife. That was a cruel joke she played on Landon, and Leanna lost all respect she had for Eleanor, if she had any to begin with. But sitting there now, across the table from Landon, Leanna knew something else was bothering him. She could only hope she could get it out of him.

The milk glass was brought over and set down in front of Landon. Leanna nudged it a little closer with just one finger, signaling to him that he should drink it. Comfort food. Leanna had always been good at that. She'd been baking since she was four, and always had extra for her favorite cousin. "Something else is bothering you," she said quietly. "I know you better than that. You'll feel better to talk about it." Her words were true. She just hoped Landon would believe her. He was usually okay with telling her just about anything.

[landon james hart]

The thought that his marriage of eight years was coming to an end was not something that Landon rejoiced in. While it was a relief that the burden would be gone and that he could move on with his life, he still felt like he had failed somehow in the cosmic universe. Divorce was about as common as dogs in the United States, but Landon was a believer of spending his life with someone. When he had married Eleanor, he believed that he would be spending his life with her. But that wasn't something that was in the cards for either of them since she remained a selfish person, just as she always had been. Landon had chose to be blind to that up until this point, but he couldn't ignore it anymore. After losing a child and finding out of his wife's multiple affiars, that had been the final straw. There was nothing tying him to Eleanor anymore and since they had no children, there was no reason for him to stay.

When some milk was brought over and Leanna nudged it at him, Landon took a drink and set it down, listening to her as she asked what else was bothering him. There were times in his life when he wished that Leanna wasn't so damn perceptive when it came to him. She knew too much. But usually he didn't mind talking to her about things...but this was something that he rarely ever talked to anyone about. No one really knew how he felt about Carter, aside from Norah. He didn't know if Leanna did. But he never told her outright. "Carter is back," he said, looking at his cousin in the eyes. "I ran into her the other day at the coffee shop...needless to say, it didn't go over well. I said some stuff that I shouldn't have and it really hurt her." Landon still felt awful for saying some of the things he said.