How To Bake A Proper Pie

Chapter Three

Karl found what he was looking for after a good amount of time. A bag of tea. He had no idea what the tea tasted like, how old it was, or even if it was tea at all. He only knew that this would keep the man around for a while longer. He was on his way to bring the suspect bag to the new, presumably regular, location as he put it in boiling water. He grinned as he cautiously placed the tea in front of the waiting man. The only response he received was a simple "thank you." The man had a beautiful and melodic voice that Karl needed to hear again. He wasn't sure what would compel him to speak, but he hoped this stranger had at least a bit of humanity in him. And so, when Karl was walking back to the kitchen he fell on purpose.

With a loud thud, his body crashed to the ground. He felt proud of himself and looked over at the stranger, and he saw him slowly turning around. With a painful grimace on his face, he slowly began to rise. "Are you all right?" inquired the man, who was swiftly rising to help Karl. Karl only answered, "Yeah, I am." The man approached Karl cautiously and assisted him in getting up.

"Thank you..." Karl put on a befuddled expression in the hopes that the stranger would reveal his name. "William," the man said, smiling. Karl's mouth similarly widened into a larger grin. Finally, he learned what this man's name was. He thought to himself, "William, what a lovely name." "Thank you very much, Will! Is it okay if I ask you what pie you wanted once more?" The man's expression turned into perplexed and surprised. Karl was terrified; was William furious with him for forgetting his order? What exactly did he do? What made William so enraged with him? 

"Did I say something wrong?" 

"It's just that no one has ever addressed me as Will. It's strange to hear such a variant of my name," he responded. Karl was about to respond by asking him a question when his timer rang. The apple pie was ready to be served. Karl was thrilled with excitement, thinking he would be able to offer it to William. Perhaps William will enjoy it, prompting him to visit Karl's shop more frequently. "I can offer you our apple pie, it has just been baked. It'll be warm and fresh, and it is the greatest, if not the best, I sell," he continued praising the pie, hoping Will would reconsider.

Will thought it through for a moment. He's never had apple pie before, and if he were to order it, he may not like it. All of his pals who had apple pie claimed it was horrible, and he wasn't sure whether he liked apples at all. He did on occasion, but he considered them to be unappealing most of the time. What if the apples in this pie have gone bad, or the crust is overly sweet or too salty? He didn't like changes and always ordered blueberry pie, so why is this stranger attempting to persuade him to order something different? William had been thinking for quite some time, which didn't bother Karl in the least.

"No thanks," William answered after giving it some thought. "I'll stick with the blueberry one." "Yay, I knew I was capable..." Karl stopped in the middle of his sentence. He had to carefully rehearse what William had just said to properly comprehend that this customer would not follow his advice. "How come you don't want the apple one?" He said, after a moment's thought. "It's something I've never had before. I'm not going to take the chance of paying for something I've never tried." William said as he adjusted his suit.

 "If that's your only issue then it's on me!" Karl exclaimed as he dashed to the back of the restaurant for a piece of the delectable meal. This solution did not sit well with William, but Karl was too far away for him to react. So he merely waited while sipping his tea. Karl rushed in with a piece of apple pie not long after that. He slid it in front of William's seat and moved backwards to an empty seat in front of Will. Will felt compelled to take a bite since Karl was gazing at him with such intensity.

He carefully took up his fork and began to eat a piece of the pie. Karl's smile broadened as his pupils enlarged. Karl wasn't sure if Will liked it or not; this man's facial emotions were unreadable, as he'd discovered after just knowing him for a short time, but he grinned since Will's current look was very amusing. Will placed the fork on the plate gently and surprised himself by saying, "I'll have thirty of those." He seemed serious, which perplexed Karl. "I'm just joking, clearly," he replied when he realized Karl was considering making him thirty pies.

"Wait, so you like it?" Karl questioned. "It's extremely good and amazing," Will said, "but it doesn't change the fact that I wanted the blueberry one." Karl couldn't tell if Will was kidding or if he was genuinely mad. "I can still get you one," Karl said slowly. "I just wanted you to taste the apple one." "Gosh, I'm just joking, obviously," Will remarked, and Karl was relieved that the stranger wasn't bothered by his wacky ideas. Karl wanted to sit back down when new customers came into his store. He sorrowfully smiled at Will, and he understood that Karl has to pay attention to the new customers now.