I'll Follow Your Lead

Chapter 1 - Hot Chocolate and a Cinnamon Bun

     She mindlessly prepared the man's tea and grabbed one of the freshly baked lemon cakes from the cooling rack before waltzing back to the man. As she placed his order in front of him, he smiled widely at her and rested his callused hand on her soft one.

      "You look tired, miss. It's a shame that they have such a pretty girl working so hard!"

      Dorothea rolled her eyes but quickly recovered her smile.

      "Oh, it's not so bad. I get to meet a lot of interesting people here. There's hardly a dull moment!

      She had lied to that man. The afternoons at the café were always dull and timepassed with absentminded cleaning and magazine reading. Dorothea sat on a stool behind the counter. Only one other person was in the building and it was an old woman that frequents the establishment. Dorothea had already set her up with her normal order, at her normal table and left her to watch the people pass outside of the large window. Now she was flipping through this month's Vogue issue and awaiting the evening rush. She could hear the honking of automobiles and even the clopping of horses' hooves against the cobblestone as she read the articles and studied the pictures. She was envious of these beautifully styled women as she sat in a stained dress and apron with her hair sloppily tied up with a dark red ribbon. Just as she let out a heavy sigh, the front door opened.

      The young man was about Dorothea's age and was dressed in some old, simple clothes. He held a leather-bound book and a small pencil case in his hand and wore ratty boots on his feet. He looked around the cozy building before his bright blue eyes landed on the woman at the counter. He paused for a brief moment before proceeding toward the counter and taking a seat on one of the stools.

      "What can I get for you, sir?" Her voice was warm and smooth, like a nice hot chocolate. Her eyes were much the same.

      The man cleared his throat.

     "Um," He glanced around the counter looking for a menu and the girl chuckled to herself.

     "Forgive me! I didn't even ask if you wanted a menu," She turned around and grabbed a sheet of paper, and then presented it to the man. He smiled and his eyes finally left hers. He scanned the options, surprised that such a nice place had such low prices.

     "How about a hot chocolate with a cinnamon bun,"

     Dorothea could not help but laugh at his choice. The man responded by furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"

      "I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend. It's just that I don't meet many men with an order such as this! Most men think it too sweet."

      "I've got a taste for sweet things," his pink lips quirked in a smirk. "What's your name?"

       "Dorothea."

       "Jack."