Before Kurt can say anything, another voice cuts in.

“No Tom, we’ve talked about this-”

“It’s Tim,” the guy says with a monotone in his voice.

“-you need to practice your charisma! It will lead to confidence!” another man appears from the backroom. He’s tall and he has brown wavy hair and dark eyes, but the most noticeable thing is his dazzling, but superficial smile. The shining plastic of his visor makes it even more popping.

Kurt works with influencers. He’s learnt to see through the façade.

The man fully steps into the light and when his eyes fall on Kurt, his entire face changes. His eyes go wide and his smile turns into a shock.

“Uh, hello,” Kurt says. He walks towards the man with his elbow outstretched. “I am-”

“Kurt Hummel,” the man says and he eagerly shakes Kurt’s hand, “LA’s biggest dog party planner.”

“Glad to hear my reputation precedes me.”

“Oh, absolutely!” the man shakes Kurt’s hand so wildly that Kurt’s afraid he’ll break it. Doesn’t this man realise there’s a pandemic? “Cooper Anderson, one of the owners, at your service. And this strapping young lad is Tom-”

“Tim.”

“-who’ll be more than happy to help you, won’t you, Tom?” Cooper says with a pointed tone in his voice. Tim rolls his eyes.

“Sure,” Tim says unconvincedly, and Kurt can feel all the hope go down the drain. The owner’s enthusiasm is admirable, but also a bit too much. It reminds Kurt a lot of all the canned responses he’s had over the years. The employee would rather be anywhere else but here.

Still, you cannot judge a book by its cover. Maybe they’re great at making dog cakes.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Hummel?” Cooper asks and he leads Kurt towards a small sitting area.

Kurt decides to put his doubts aside and he outlines his entire plan for the cake. He tells Cooper that it’s for a very important client who must be kept confidential. Kurt apologises for the last minute order, since this is a seven tiered cake. The structure of this cake is insane.

Cooper does start to sweat when Kurt shows him the sketches of the cake.

“Well,” Cooper smiles. He tries to look dashing, but he looks like a mess. He pulls at his collar. “I think we might be able to pull it off, Mr. Hummel. I’ll just have to give my employees some extra hours-”

“Fuck that!” Tim yells from the counter.

“Language, Tom!”

“Tim!” Tim shrieks back.

“Hey now,” Cooper stands up and he storms towards Tim, but before he can say anything, another voice cuts in.

“Leave Tim alone, Coop!”

Kurt, Cooper and Tim all turn to the door that leads to the back. Another man is standing in the doorframe and Kurt has to fight the urge to fan himself. This man is insanely handsome, with his slicked back black hair and his gorgeous eyes. He’s wearing a funky bowtie and a mask, both with golden retrievers printed on them.

Kurt’s in love!