Capture The Moment (boyxboy)

Chapter 12: Coffee and cake

Aahh...you look so intelligent and clever."

☕

Clark glances up at his cuckoo clock on his shop wall. 12:20. Morton was cutting it a bit fine. After choosing to not close his store for his lunch date, he had begged a favour from Morton to cover. He just couldn't pass by a potential customer opportunity. 

"About time!" Clark huffs as the door finally opens to reveal an out of breath Morton. 

"Sorry, my bike had a puncture, I literally had to run halfway across town." He pants, leaning forward a little to catch his breath. He now glances up at the clock. "It's not until 12:30, you still have 10 minutes." 

Clark now moves from around the counter and heads out back to grab his jacket. "It's lucky it's only around the corner." He says, raising an eyebrow. 

As Clark goes to pass Morton, Morton raises an arm to stop him. "Woah, woah there tiger...you need to at least tell me something about this date." 

"I told you already." Clark insists, pulling his arms from the gentle hold. 

"You told me you were meeting someone from the cookery course for lunch. That's all I got." Morton now straightens himself up. "Is it with the handsome teacher?" Morton looks hopeful. Clark grins and says no more. The answer is evident. "So you finally found some courage and spoke to him then? You're getting braver in your old age." Morton pushes Clark's shoulder playfully. Clark takes his time to answer. His and Roshan's interactions had surpassed a simple glance on more than one occasion. Clark still felt that mixture of embarrassment for his out of character actions. His physical desires clouding his judgement, as the morals he usually tried to live by, of getting to know a person before venturing into 'that place' were lost along the way. He felt a little like a playboy. 

"Yes we both spoke and yes we are looking forward to this date. We want to get to know each other a little better." At least that part was actually true.

"Well don't let me keep you." Morton smiles as he heads around the shop counter. Clark again checks the time. He had five minutes. 

As he enters the small cafe on the corner, he sees Roshan is already there and is presently standing at the counter waiting to be served. The guy looked a little different from when Clark had seen him last. His hair was swept to one side and his jeans seem to be very well fitted. Clark wished he had now made more of an effort as he looked down upon his baggy trousers and striped knitted sweater. This guy felt so out of his league. He takes a nervous step forward, inhaling and exhaling slow and deep to keep his heart in check. 

"Hey Chef." Clark says as he rests a hand on Roshan's shoulder. 

Roshan turns to see Clark beaming at him. "You don't need to call me chef today. I'm not in the classroom." Roshan smiles. 

"Maybe I like calling you chef." Clark replies. 

"Well that makes a change from when we first met." Roshan laughs. 

"Well, a lot has happened between us since then." Clark says, his voice suddenly turning a little quieter. 

Roshan tries to suppress his smile with a bite to his lip. "I'll get us some coffee and cake, you go find a seat." 

"Yes, chef...Roshan." Clark says with an excitable nod as he finds a quiet nook in the corner of the cafe. Soon Roshan joins him with a tray of food and drink.

Clark watches as he unloads the tray onto the table, with Roshan placing a napkin in front of Clark with his coffee, cake and a fork before tending to his own food. "You like to care for others don't you." He comments. 

Roshan dismisses the comment with a wave of his hand as he takes a seat opposite Clark "It's just a habit I guess, you know, feeding people, cooking for people. It's a way to show your love, to show you care." 

"Is that why you went into teaching?" Clark wonders as he takes his coffee cup to his lips. 

"Maybe, I suppose. I wanted to share my passion. There is no greater thing than food. It feeds the mind, body and soul and what do people do? Fill themselves with junk!" 

Clark felt he may have touched a nerve. He suddenly felt like he should stay quiet as to how many times he had visited the fried chicken shop at the end of his road. He tries to divert the conversation a little. "Maybe me stumbling upon your evening class was fate then." Clark adds. "I probably should learn how to cook for myself more."

"You know you're not the worst student I've had. Not by a long shot." Roshan laughs. "You're at least willing to give it a try." 

"Thanks." Clark beams. 

Roshan looks at Clark a moment, gathering cake onto his fork. Then he notices something hanging around his neck, tucked into his sweater. "What have you got there?" He questions, pointing to the black string. 

Clark looks down, wondering if he had dropped cake on himself, before realising what Roshan is referring to. "Oh..." he says, putting down his fork and pulling at the string. "My reading glasses." He says, pulling them out from the sweater into full view. 

Roshan subconsciously pulls both lips into his mouth before he blurts out. "Put them on. I want to see what you look like with your glasses on." 

"Uh...ok." Clark now places his spectacles on his face. The black framed glasses looked so good on him that it made Roshan sit back a little to take in the view in its entirety.

"Aahh...you look so intelligent and clever." He almost drools over his own cake. "A sexy mind" He adds to boot. "No wonder you wanted to study the Spanish language. So suited to it." 

"Well I already know a bit." Clark replies, trying not to sound too smug. "I really need to know more to get a full understanding of the books I sell in my store."

"Ah yes, your little book store." Roshan remembers. "I must visit." 

Clark nods as silence once again graces them. Roshan takes another drink of his coffee. He places the cup back on its saucer and gazes at Clark. There were only two of them sitting at their table, but Roshan couldn't help but feel the presence of a third. The elephant. The giant elephant. He sighs out heavily, causing Clark to look up from his half eaten cake. "So..." Roshan begins. "Are we going to talk about what we did in my classroom?"