Rising Love

Café Breaks and Cute Girls

"How is the commissioned birthday cake going?" Lauren asked loudly while she put some bread dough into the mixer to knead. 

Even in a bakery setting, Lauren was the type of person who always preferred hand kneading. She liked the way the dough felt in her hands, but unfortunately, the health codes required that an industrial mixer be used. 

"I'm putting the blue fondant on it like they wanted." Zayn responded. "We were asked to make it a sea life theme - so I'm making coral reefs out of Rice Krispie treats and little fish out of fondant."

"Why not marzipan?"

"They said no marzipan, how are the miche loaves going?"

"In one of the mixers, and the pain au levain is resting after its final shaping."

"Okay, well you've got about thirty minutes, Laur. Take a break, rest your arms. I'll try to finish this up and help you put it all in the oven."

"A break - you don't even need to ask me twice to do that. See you in thirty."

Hanging her apron up and washing her hands, Lauren was still lightly coated with flour when she grabbed a sandwich from her own shop (the cashiers also handled the sandwich making aspect of the shop) and sat down at one of the single tables in her café.  Lauren sighed at the feeling of relief that came with sitting down. No matter how strong a person was, eventually it started hurting to stand up.

Lauren had reached that point at five a.m. this morning. 

  The place was busy, so nobody had really noticed that the baker responsible for all of the sandwich bread that they were eating had taken a seat at one of the tables.  Unlike her customers, however, Lauren was observant. She saw the people eating at the tables around her, among them being the old couple that comes every morning, an awkward young couple (Lauren gave it one or two dates, due to the nervous habits both teens were doing), the usual slew of rushed businessmen, and...

                                                     ...the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. 

Okay, Lauren thought to herself. Nobody could beat Megan Fox in regards to looks - but this girl was pretty damn close. Quickly, Lauren gobbled down her sandwich and went to the counter, which was stocked to the brim with with cakes, cookies, loaves of bread, pastries, all sorts of mouthwatering baked goods, many of which Lauren could somewhat remember making by hand. Rosa was at the counter, and Lauren rushed to her. 

"What's up, Laur? You're usually locked inside the kitchen all day and night. What changed?"

Lauren shook her head. "Nothing, nothing's changed. I was just taking a break, that's all."

"Bullshit, Laur. I've never seen that flustered look on your face before. Were you looking at Megan Fox's bikini pics while you were eating?"

"Go to hell." 

"I love you too. Now what really is on your mind?"

"Well. There's someone sitting at the two person table in the left corner, by the window where you can see some of the baking going on. I was just wondering if you know her. If she happens to be a regular."

Rosa consults her table guide and studies the sitting customer from afar. 

"Oh, so you're talking about Camila over at table 727. Yeah, she's a regular. She comes every morning."

"Does she order the same thing each day?"

"Nah, she varies, but she always takes the same thing home with her after she eats, if she does buy something else. Sometimes she just eats here."

"What is it?"

"Once every three days, she gets a baguette d'epi and takes it home." 

"Okay. Have you talked to her? Do you know her?"

"No."

"Fuck," Lauren whispered under her breath, but Rosa could still hear her despite the murmur of background noise from the customers. Rosa grinned, and being the eternal tease she was, she continued talking. 

"Ooh, Laur, do you like her? Are you deep in the throes of your ladyfeels?"

"Rosa, come on, cut me some slack!"

"Are you thirsty?" the clerk continued, winking playfully at a stuttering, blushing Lauren. "Are you looking for a tall drink of water to quench you?"

"You're despicable." said the baker. 

"What else is new?" Rosa shrugged. "But seriously, Lauren, you should talk to her. Introduce yourself to her, the worst thing she can say is no."

"But that's the problem! What if she says no? Don't you think that's weird, going up to them for the first time and immediately asking them out? There is so much worse that she can say than just no."

Lauren was frantic, to say the least, but Rosa was unshaken. She had known Lauren long enough to understand that in social or interaction based situations, Lauren was often in this state. New interactions could hard for her, but with the support and encouragement of those closer to her, she was able to do it. 

"Look, if you aren't okay with talking to her from a romantic point of view, then just talk to her and try to make friends with her."

"I'm not good at making friends."

"Once everyone gets out of Kindergarten, nobody is good at making any fucking friends anymore." 

"Okay."

"Look, shit. She's getting up and getting ready to go."

Lauren's head turned to face the scheme of tables that were in front of the counter. True to Rosa's word, Camila had gotten up, and was throwing her napkins and such into the trash. Putting the ceramic plate on top with the other used ones (the cafe, wanting to be environmentally friendly, decided to use ceramic), Camila dusted the crumbs off her shirt and started heading for the door. 

"If you're going to talk to her," Rosa sighed. "This is your now or never moment."

"What do I do? What should I do?"

"I've already said my piece. It's time for you to decide which way you want to go, which path you want to take regarding her. It's all up to you, Laur."

Important decisions are often pondered for a longer time than they are made. A person can take days, hours, months, weeks, years worrying over a decision looming. When it comes to actually taking action, though, it happens fast. Sometimes it happens in a process faster than human comprehension. 

I suppose, my Dear Reader, that you could call it fate. 

That is what Lauren would call it later on, when she thought over the moment that she pushed Rosa aside and chased after Camila. 

Lauren reached Camila right as she walked out the door. 

"Hey, wait up!"

Camila turned around, and saw a flour dusted Lauren looking at her, as if the world relied on Camila turning back to see her. 

"Hi there."

-

A/N: I'm an ass and decided to give you a cliffhanger. 

This chapter is also dedicated to my good pal Flxxmebug cause she basically was my sole motivation for this update. :)

I hope you're all having a good day, and that you're safe and happy. Try to make someone smile today. You all deserve the world.

Stay safe, and stay lit ;)

- Sel