Black Licorice and Butterscotch // Dennor

Lukas and the Candy Factory

As Lukas walked further into town towards the candy shop, he realized he had never actually been there. He was more of a pastry person himself, so he never found himself attracted to the idea of sugary sweet and sticky candy. The only thing he really knew about the shop is that it was victorian-style with a bunch of old victorian machines. He also remembered seeing them pull taffy by hand in front of customers. His neighbors always told him it was pretty cool seeing them make the candy through the glass windows, but Lukas never understood the hype. 

As Lukas turned onto the street of the shop he immediately knew which one was the candy store. Not only was the building the only victorian-esque building on the block, there were also two ten foot tall candy canes creating an arch over the doorway of the shop. Lukas prepared his eyes for an assault of color as he read the flyers on the door. There were various neon-pink flyers showing times for tours of the facility and others showing hours for candy-making classes. 

As Lukas stepped inside, he was pleasantly surprised. The inside of the building was actually quite beautiful. Sticking to the victorian theme, everything was decorated impeccably, as if it had been preserved from the 1800s. It looked quite magical. To the left was the register and a wall of brightly-colored lollipops spanning from the very bottom of the floor to the very top of the high ceiling. There was also a wooden ladder next to the wall for the employees who would grab the lollipops at the way top. Towards the center of the surprisingly large store was a grand staircase, which led to a balcony that housed dozens of tables holding any type of candy imaginable. Lukas was already overwhelmed. It was like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

To the right was a glass barrier at about torso height, where Lukas presumed the customers would watch the taffy puller.  There were two taffy hooks on the wall, but no one was pulling taffy at the moment, so Lukas wasn't really surprised that that section of the store was entirely empty. The glass barrier continued a little farther into the store, which revealed two tables with old victorian candy makers at the ends of them. Lukas figured that the candy-making classes were probably done there. 

As he inched farther and farther into the store he could hear a tour going on, but they were in the kitchen, which was an entirely separate room closed off from the store. Lukas listened for a moment as their incredibly enthusiastic tour-guide listed off the ingredients needed to make taffy. Lukas chuckled at the oohs and aahs from the people on the tour before getting bored of eavesdropping and headed upstairs to find licorice. 

There were a few other people milling about the store buying various things and an employee shakily climbing up the lollipop ladder to get a bright pink lollipop for a little girl wearing a princess crown at the foot of the ladder. Her mother was crouched next to her, pointing up at the woman getting the lollipop as the girl looked on in amazement. Lukas missed that look. Emil used to look at him like he was a superhero when he could reach a cup on the top shelf or when he could reach really far back in the fridge to get the milk. Now Emil just rolled his eyes and glared at Lukas like an angsty teenager when he made any effort to communicate. 

Deciding he wasn't going to dwell on the past any longer, Lukas tore his eyes away from the lollipop wall and attempted at locating the licorice in the sea of a million candies. Everything was quite organzied on the tables, but there were so many of them with so many colors and tags and smells and textures that Lukas felt like he was never going to find it. 

Eventually, after what felt like 20 minutes of searching, Lukas found a bag of black licorice twists and mentally fist-pumped in victory. As he headed back downstairs, Lukas saw the tour he had heard coming from the kitchen earlier. They were all gathered around the glass barrier watching one of the employees pull taffy. Lukas decided to check it out before buying the licorice. Heading down the stairs and over to the barrier, Lukas watched on as the employee pulled the taffy with ease. 

He couldn't see the man's face from the side, but he was quite tall, with spiky blond hair making him look even taller. His arms were incredibly muscular, and his back muscles were easily visible through his shirt as he forcefully pulled the taffy back and forth. Lukas didn't realize it but time flew quickly, watching the man pull taffy for over ten minutes before he finally turned and threw the taffy onto the table where the tour could see. 

After throwing the taffy onto the table triumphantly, the man panted and swiped a bit of sweat off his forehead with a rag and then looked up, revealing the most beautiful ocean blue eyes Lukas had ever seen. "Now that the taffy is all pulled, we can get to chopping it up, which is the job of my friend Sara" he said, smiling as he looked over at the woman to his right. 

"Well that is the end of my section of the tour," the man began, I'd like to thank you all for join-" Lukas noticed the man trip over his words as they locked eyes for a brief moment. Lukas' heart pounded as the man's gaze lingered before he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. "Uh- I'd like to thank you all for joining me today. My shift at this station is over but I will be working at the register for the next hour so if you have any questions feel free to ask and if you want to buy any sweets, I'm here to ring you up!" 

As soon as the man finished his little goodbye, he glanced at Lukas one more time and Lukas averted his eyes. He had never seen such a handsome man and he was already intimidated and embarrassed from the small glances they shared a moment prior. Lukas  usually didn't get so jittery, but for some reason as soon as the man finished his speech Lukas bolted up the stairs back towards the candy as if he had forgotten something. After running away quickly, Lukas tried to sneakily peer over the balcony to see where the man was and noticed him heading up the stairs. Lukas' heart skipped a beat as he realized the man was walking in his direction.