In His Eyes

01|Valley of Shadows

The light shone on that sunny October morning, with the wind blowing with just the right amount of gust, Tom made his delectable and sought after pasty, his signature chocolate cake. As the dough was fluffy to a mere cushion-like finish. He knew it was a matter of time before his friend would devour the baked goodies in a second.

     He smiled to himself. For some unfathomable reason he always found peace in creating food, he loved the way the finished product came out of the oven. The smell of dark chocolate blending with the sugar made scrumptious aroma to his nose. And let's not forget about the taste. A balance of sweetness and tartness harmonized in the most fantastic manner in his pallet, and he knew, he wasn't the only one.

     For once in his life he was content about something. He knew he was only good in one thing. And that baking. So for the past months, he took in culinary and quickly excelled in the process, having to know more and more techniques to amplify and utilize his skill in baking even more.

     At the beginning he was fond of his new found freedom, having to carelessly achieve his dreams which later felt to draining for Tom to even cope with. So, for several days, Tom searched for the best bakeshop that was hiring and that's where he ended up in A Touch of Sicily. A new business ran by Lucia D'elia to whom Tom's has been very well acquainted too.

     Placing the freshly baked cake on the table, he quickly arranged and prepared the necessary items to begin there breakfast. He was happy this way, taking in more of the feminine side and doing all the housework while his best friend Kate just leaved him be, trusting him with everything to do with the apartment.

     “I knew you would be making cake” Kate's sudden comment startled Tom by the bones.

     He then looked over to Kate and watched with amusement in his eyes as she sat down and took her first bite. Her eyes baffled into an encasement as she mourned for the cake that rested on her pallet.

     “Cakes as good as always, Tom” She replied in between bites, mourning.

     Tom just replied her comment with a chuckle and resumed sitting down with her while indulging himself with his homemade cake. And my, was it delightful.

     To the soothing silence that surrounded them, Kate made no attempt in prolonging the question she has been meaning to ask to him.

     “Tom?”

     He looked up and grimaced to Kate's sudden call, arching his eyebrows to her. “Yeah?”

     “Isn't your internship starting today?” She wondered, eyeing him calmly while she twisted and turned her fork around her hand.

     Tom shrugged. “Yeah, what about it?”

     “Well you see... I kinda fixed you up for a blind date later this evening“

     “Another one?!” Tom replied, knowing inside of him that he wasn't always the luckiest one in the dating department. His previous relationship could testify to that.

     “It's no big deal. I met the guy and his name is Rob. He's a friend of a friend and he's really really nice with the right amount of witty that suits your style” She explained in a rush as she nervously tried to smile to keep herself away from the glares Tom diverted at her.

     “I know you like them shuffled” She added. It's true, he did like them crazy or even with the slightest tad of ADD.

     Tom thought about it for a split second, He surely did find the name Rob quite attractive. He would always picture someone with that name to be very outspoken and entitled and the fact that Kate met the guy is a bonus. That'll save him from having a date with the less attractive ones. Nice and witty, those two were qualities Tom obsessed about in guys. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to agree to this.