I did not wake up this morning expecting to referee a grudge match between two customers.
"Hello, welcome to The Bakery, what can I do for you today?" I said with a gleeful smile on my face, looking at my first customer of the day. The customer was a guy with a menacing glare. I was taken aback by his hostility.
"What the hell is 'The Bakery' kind of a name? Couldn't you be a bit more original?"
I scoffed, offended by what he said. Torn between holding my tongue and putting him in his place, I shot him my most menacing glare back. Which, by the look on his face, wasn't as menacing as I hoped.
I won't let anyone disrespect something I'm proud of. I chose this name for its simplicity. I didn't need some special name, because the name says exactly what it is, a bakery. The food speaks for itself, I don't need to hide behind some extravagant name.
I decided to respond with,"I could be, but I decided not to. Now, what can I get for you?"
"What do you recommend?"
I tapped my chin in thought, "How about something sour, to match your personality? I got a great lemon meringue pie."
He huffed, "I'll ignore what you just said, but only because I love lemon meringue pie."
I held back my laughter, "For whom is the order?"
"Tony."
I grabbed a slice of lemon meringue pie and handed it over after he paid. He sat down in Jimmy's usual corner. I wonder how that's going to go.
Right at that moment the bell chimed, and Jimmy walked in. Speak of the devil and he appears.
Tony was too engrossed in his pie to even hear the bell. He wasn't lying when he said he loved lemon meringue pie. He had a content smile on his face.
I greeted Jimmy with a blinding smile.
The corners of his mouth tilted up a tiny bit, which made my smile even bigger. I was making progress.
"Jimmy! How are you? Another slice of vanilla cake?"
Jimmy nodded eagerly, "And a cup of coffee."
I hesitated, "Are you sure you want coffee?"
"Yes, I'm trying to cut down on my caffeine, but it doesn't happen in a snap." He made a snap with his fingers. The bags under his eyes were bigger than mine, which were pretty prominent.
I looked at him with amusement, "Alright then, I'll bring it to you in a second."
He nodded and turned around, glancing around the bakery.
I bend down to grab a slice of the vanilla cake. In shock I bumped my head against the shelf, when I heard a plate shattering.
I rubbed the sore spot on the back of my head, a bump was already starting to form.
Jimmy was glaring at Tony, grabbing him by the collar. This meant trouble. Shards of porcelain laid by his feet. I loved that plate.
"What are you doing here, you scum," Jimmy hissed.
"I don't know, how about eating?" Tony drawled out sarcastically.
"Don't taunt me, boy" he spat out. "This is my chair and my table."
Tony glanced around, not really succeeding, because Jimmy was still holding him by the collar. "I don't see your name anywhere."
This was like watching a really bad action movie, all talk but no fight. Not that I want them to fight, but I did appreciate the entertainment. Right now, my bets were on Jimmy, since he was the bigger guy.
If they did end up fighting physically, I'd stop it of course. Don't want any damage to happen to my bakery.
"If you don't shut up soon, I'm going to make you."
Tony was definitely better at comebacks, because Jimmy's were just unoriginal.
"How're planning to do that? You've become soft," Tony sneered with a look I couldn't quite place. It looked closely like disgust.
Jimmy whispered something in Tony's ear, whose gaze hardened. His eyes reached mine. I froze, not knowing what to do. Despite the amusement this fight had brought me, I didn't want to get involved.
Tony nodded at Jimmy and he was let loose. My mouth fell open as they both calmly took a seat in front of each other. It's like the whole confrontation didn't just happen.
They even started a casual conversation.
Warily I walked over to them with Jimmy's order. I placed it in front of him.
I cleared my throat, "Can I get anything else for you guys?"
"No thank you."
Whispering, I asked Jimmy, "what did you whisper to Tony that made you guys stop fighting."
"Oh, I told him we'd finish this later tonight. Can't do it in the presence of a lady."
"You dusty doughnuts better not hurt each other!"
"Don't worry, we're just gonna have a talk."
I gave him a skeptical look. No way were they just going to talk. But I reminded myself that it was none of my business.
