Baker Boy

Chapter Three

Andy opened the shop early and began taking the chairs off the table. When Deacon came, she took the chance to use the bathroom before the customers started coming in. As he started brewing coffee for the dispenser, she flipped over the sign to let people know that they were open before heading to the back.

The toilet was small, built like an afterthought next to the storeroom. Andy could barely sit down on the seat without her knees connecting with the wall.

She swapped out the empty roll of toilet paper with a fresh one and washed her hands. After that, she checked the soap dispenser, making sure that there would be enough to last the day.

When she stepped back out, the café was filling up, but Deacon was doing fine. The sound of an electric mixer could be heard in the kitchen.

Andy stepped behind the counter, slowly edging her way towards the door. She was dying to find out who was in there. However, the pleasant chime of the bell hanging above the coffee shop's door went off.

"Can you get that?" asked Deacon. "I'm a little busy." He poured an ice blended drink into a plastic cup carefully, sloshing the mixture around to get all of it out.

Andy nodded and headed to the cashier till. "Hi, what can I get you today?"

She got an order for a simple latte and went right to work. As she poured soy milk and coffee into a cup, he mind wandered – they could not have replaced Jade that fast, right?

The chime went off again and the deliveryman entered with a few cardboard boxes and sacks on his quivering trolley. Carefully, he weaved through the tables, his bright yellow company shirt standing out among the students.

Watching him from the edges of her vision, she filled a paper cup with some coffee and milk.

"Here," she said, offering him the cup.

He smiled. "Thanks."

"You got the napkins, soymilk, straws, cups, cocoa, and flour?" asked Andy, reading off her list.

The man checked the delivery and gave her a 'thumbs-up' and his tablet for a signature. Deacon pushed past her, almost making her fall as he clamoured to get past her.

"I want to sign it!" he shouted, grabbing the tablet.

Shaking her head, Andy leaned down to pick up the sack of flour. The deliveryman began to unload his trolley as Deacon took his time to sign his name nicely.

The sack was heavy, but Andy managed, hauling the frumpy thing into the kitchen. The machine was no longer on, but there was already a batch of cookies baking in the oven.

Andy frowned, setting down the sack and looking around. Her arms were aching from yesterday's conditioning class. There was a click of metal and the door of the pantry opened. Her heart stopped as ice ran through her veins.

He had flour in his short, dark hair – probably from the mixer. His black shirtsleeves had flour fingerprints from his decision to roll them up after he started baking. That choice revealed the full sleeves of tattoos that wrapped around his arms.

The boy was built but still lean and lanky. Andy stared at him unconsciously, trying to place him. With those tattoos, he clearly was not a dancer. His chiseled features led her to the stupid conclusion that he was a model for the School of the Arts.

She watched as he set down the container of eggs by the milk and cream cheese on the worktable by the wall. Then he turned around.

His grey-blue eyes met hers, sending her heart into an erratic dance. Breaking her stare, she hurried out of the kitchen.

Warily, Andy exited the kitchen after depositing the sack of flour on the counter. She pulled Deacon to the cash till, the furthest they could get from the kitchen without leaving their posts.

"He's new?"" she asked, keeping her voice low.

Deacon frowned. "Who's new?"

"The guy in the kitchen with all the tattoos," she shot back. "The one that reeks of cigarette smoke and whiskey."

"Yeah, he's new. Jade is gone, so someone had to fill in."

Andy pulled out a bag of coffee beans to refill the nearly empty coffee machine. As she clipped up the bag, she muttered her breath, "He gives me the creeps."

"He's Aellius Johnson," stated Deacon. "Goes by 'Eli', but he hates talking and people in general."

Speaking of the devil, Eli emerged with a set of beautifully iced cupcakes, which had been frosted to look like roses. He looked the other way, ignorant to Andy's hostile gaze.

"He's from the School of Culinary Arts," added Deacon.

"I don't see why they'd even take him in," spat Andy. "He's the black sheep of the Academy."

Deacon chuckled.

"What?" she snapped.

He shook his head, saying, "He's the big bad wolf, and guess what, Little Red Riding Hood?"

Andy folded her arms. "Pray tell."

"He's got his eye on you," said Deacon, with a wink.

Her vision focused on Eli who was standing behind Deacon. Gentle brown irises met the cold, gunmetal grey gaze. He stared at her for a moment longer before returning to the kitchen. That was all he needed to sear himself permanently into her mind.

Now beside her, Deacon lost it. He was wheezing in-between bouts of laughter.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" he gasped, his face flushed crimson.

For that, he got a handful of coffee grounds chucked into his hair from an unimpressed Andy.

"I'll murder you one day," threatened Andy. "You won't even see me coming. It'll look like a bloody accident."

That afternoon, Andy went for a ballet class - one of the extras arranged for the upcoming appraisals. Madame Carolyn decided to work on the girls' turns.

"And one, two, three, four," she counted out as a group of four made their way around the room with a series of travelling pose turns.

Clapping her hands to accentuate her counting, she analysed the girls' technique. Her sharp eyes missed nothing and it was almost impossible to escape self-practice in her class.

"Adrianne!"

Andy fell out of her ending double pirouette and it was not her fault. The block of her pointe shoe connected with the wooden floor, drawing the attention of anyone who had missed Madame's shout.

"You're leaning back on your turns," Madame Carolyn said. "Go with the next group."

Andy sighed and went to the side where McKayla and Julia were talking to Cass. When the exercise finished, Madame called them into the centre to do a little farewell dance before dismissing them.

Then it was back to the Brew House for her.