Baker - G. BLYTHE

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-ˋˏ *.·:·. [TWO WEEKS LATER] .·:·.* ˎˊ-

IT TOOK CHARLOTTE A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP, A WARM DRINK THE FOLLOWING MORNING AND A DAY OFF FROM SCHOOL TO PUSH THE DISAPPOINTMENT AWAY. The disappointment that was self-inflicted, it was her own fault currently felt so terrible. Telling everyone else the news wasn't something she looked forward to so, she decided to simply not tell. The letter was after all addressed to her, not anyone else so she didn't know whether Gilbert wanted this information known. Mostly it was so she didn't have to relive the pain multiple times as many people would have asked her if it was true. She did tell one person though, just because she was the only one who asked without blaming Charlotte. She told Tillie a few days after receiving the letter only after she promised not to tell anyone else. It was one of the few secrets Tillie managed to keep, she promised to keep it forever so Charlotte hoped she would. She didn't mind Tillie knowing, she just didn't want to tell Anne or Ruby, the two were likely to be devastated and take it out on her, she really could not be dealing with that right now on top of everything else. Charlotte loved her friends and would do anything for them but this was something, not the one time she chose to be selfish with them. A good decision, mostly.

"There's someone asking for you in the front Flower," Mother's voice brought her from a daydream as she mixed dough for some delicious bread rolls that Charlotte so craved when she woke up that morning.

"I'm a little busy Mother," she laughed bringing up her dough covered hands as if proof was needed to be shown. Her hands were covered in flour and her fingers were coated in the thick, gluten strands from the wet dough that was coming together in the bowl. She really was in a sticky situation.

"Charlotte," her mother replied in such a tone that Charlotte knew that there was no point in saying anything else, if she didn't comply Mother was likely to carry her out of the kitchen with doughy hands still in the bowl. This certainly wasn't something she would let her daughter miss out on.

"Okay, two seconds," she sighed. It took Charlotte a few minutes to attach all the bread dough on her hands to the dough in the bowl and once that was done she washed her hands clean of all remnants of flour or dough. She walked out of the kitchen, drying her hands on her apron and looked up. She paused and everything fell quiet. Her heart hammered against her chest as if the muscle was about to leap out from its cage. "Gilbert?" she whispered in disbelief, so quiet that he could hardly hear her. But he did hear and turned around so he no longer stared at the back window. They locked eyes for a split second, then it was as if her brain had finally got the message to her legs. She weaved out from behind the counter as quick as she could without tripping then ran at Gilbert. She tackled him with a hug, forcing him to stumble a few steps backwards as he held her tightly. "I missed you so much," she whispered wrapping her arms around the boy's torso, taking deep inhales of the scent that she had missed so much. It just made her calmer, he made her calmer.

"I missed you too Lottie," he replied softly, gently cupping the back of her head as it nestled into the crook of his neck. They stayed like that for a while, both relishing in the other's long-overdue embrace. Each feeling all sense of confusion, guilt or pain flooding from their bodies. They did eventually part, but it was with great difficulty. They had been separated for months after seeing each other every day for months, yet it was like they hadn't looked at each other before. Each glanced at every feature of the other face multiple times before they both realised that they had been staring at each other, Gilbert had been too fixated on her eyes and she had been too fixated on the smile that played on his lips.

They talked for a few minutes just catching up before Gilbert asked a question that gas her confused. "Can you come back with me? I have someone for you to meet."