the butcher and the baker

cherry chocolate cake

Blair woke up to Darwin pawing at her face, the sun was just peeking over the skyline and the city was just waking up. pigeons cooed on the rooftops and Blair needed to get dressed and ready for the day. she put on a fresh mulberry purple dress with gold embroidered flowers and berry vines and her favorite apron that was dark blue with yellow stars. Blair took her carpet bag and had one last look out of the window but noticed something strange, there was a man standing on the street below her apartment. he was wearing big heavy boots, a leather coat that showed off his slightly beefy and tall physique. Blair found this quite strange, he was looking in her direction but quickly walked away when he saw that she had noticed him. Blair walked to work and took her normal rout. she had gotten to the bakery just in time to get the shop opened up, the bread from a day or two ago got put in the discount basket to be sold for less and the fresh and warm bread took its place, loaves of buttermilk, sough dough, rye, and brioche bread came out of the oven. soon, the shop filled with the scent of all sorts of baked goods. when the usual baking was done, Blair sat at register waiting for someone to come in. suddenly, the phone rang. it was a woman named ms Jane collymore, she had wanted a cake for her friends birthday, she had wanted a cherry chocolate cake. Blair happily obliged. the usual moisture it took to bake a cake had mostly been replaced with the juices from the cherry pie filling she had cooked just for this occasion. the devil food cake base allowed for it to be rich and chocolatey. she had decorated the cake with black cherries and cream. she boxed the cake and tied it all up with a bow. Blair briefly closed up the shop to go deliver the cake. as she walked to the address, Blair couldn't help but feel like she was being followed, Blair got to the building and was climbing up the mahogany stairs, the windows were a magnificent stain glass and the light reflected into hundreds of colored rhombuses. at the top of the stairs, a dark oak door with a brass beetle knocker sat. Jamie, knocked at the door thee times, the deep thumps echoed through the softly lit stairwell. an old woman opened the door. 'are you ms Blair, from blares bakeshop?" "yes I am" replied Blair. she handed ms collymore the cake. "here is the 25 that I owe you" Blair took the money and thanked her. Blair returned to her bakery and sold 4 loaves of fresh bread in the next 3 hours, this was unusually good business. for the rest of the day, a handful of people came into the store, Blair sold two baguettes and even a muffin through the afternoon. as business was slowing towards late evening, her mind couldn't help but wander to the man that she had seen that morning from the window, his strong physique, his mysterious eyes, his medium length dark curly hair. something about him just felt untouchable and just out of reach. Blair just couldn't get him out of her head, but she soon snapped back into reality, she would probably never see him again let alone gather the courage to talk to him. it was around closing time when Blair snapped out of her dazed state. Blair swept the shop and locked up for the night making her nightly walk home. Blair was at ease that night coming home and finding Darwin sitting at the windowsill. Blair made a comforting dinner consisting of diced onions, carrots, potatoes, and ground beef with an array of spices in a pastry shell, baked until golden brown, she prepared Darwins meal of shredded chicken and kibble. as they ate their food, Blair's mind once again wandered to the man, why couldn't she get him out of her head, surely something would take her mind off of it. Blair soon finished her meal and walked to bed. her dreams filled with surreal images and figures that danced around her mind