Butcher & the baker

3: Meeting the mystery man

Rushing into the house like a bull in a china shop
"JAMES"
You follow the noise of running water into the kitchen
"Hey babe what's up?"
He looked while rinsing some vegetables in the sink while you tried to catch your breath and explain at the same time
"Job, general store, baker, Luda Mae"
He blinked at you in silent confusion as he turned off the sink while you finally caught your breath while leaning on the counter
"I got a job at the general store today in the back baking stuff"
James smile lessened as he sighed
"baking? You don't have the schooling for that, are you lying on your resume or something"
he followed that up with a humourless chuckle which did nothing but have your excitement crushed and frustration boil

"I didn't lie about anything, I told her my minimum experience and she was fine with it, they said they don't need anything fancy anyway- just bread and basic things that I can already do"
He just shrugged his shoulders and turned around brought the vegetable on a chopping board
"I mean alright- if you're excited but don't complain when it gets to be too much and you can't handle your strudels honey"
he continued to talk about his day of unpacking and organizing his paperwork for his new job while he chopped vegetables and you absently listened while you began to regret moving with him with every hour that dragged passed diner, you finally excused yourself to bed around 10 pm to lay down and try to regain your excitement for tomorrow, a soft smile laid on your lips as you thought back to Luda Mae and her motherly nature and how nice it was to talk to her, right before you drifted off to you kinds remember her saying something about a son? Maybe you'd met him tomorrow.

Waking up at 6 am was more difficult than you thought, your body felt like lead as you threw yourself into the shower to try and wash the sleep away
As you walked into the kitchen in your robe to make yourself some toast you decide to cut some extra pieces of your homemade bread for Luda Mae to try just so she knows what she's getting into.

James was still snoring as you got into your jeep to start the very short ride to the store, As you pulled into the parking lot at 6:47 you decided to sit in your car for a moment to breathe and appreciate the unusually quiet town.

It felt weird knocking on the grocery storefront door but you quickly forgot that feeling when you saw Luda Mae's smiling face, she welcomed you with a hug
"Oh dear you're early I should've guessed, here follow me I'll show you to the back, Tommy should be getting the slabs ready for cutting so you'll be able to meet him"
You felt your smile grow
"I can't wait to meet him, we're kinda sharing a space right? I hope he doesn't mind me playing music in the morning"
Luda Mae stopped and turned towards you
"I should warn you about Tommy, he's a gentle giant but can be a tad scary when you first meet him, he doesn't talk and has a mask on his face that helps him feel better, not everyone in town has been as willing to look past this"
This was probably the saddest you've seen the Luda Mae look, you decided you would try your best to make friends with Tommy even if he's a bit different, you reached out and grabbed her arm
"I can't wait to meet him! I can only imagine how great he is with a mom like you!"
She smiled warmly as you made your way to the back of the store
your station was a long stretch with one side dedicated to the meat department and the other side clearly for the bakery it seems like you'd be spending more time with Tommy than you excepted, Luda Maes distracted you from analyzing the back
"Tommy! be nice of you to come by to say hi to our new baker! She's from out of town don't worry!"
You turned around with your best smile and only saw a broad chest, you slowly made your eyes reach Tommy's face, he was without a doubt the biggest motherfucker you've ever seen, you held your bread close to your chest as you examined his leather mask taking up pretty much all of his lower face, his eyes were narrowed and eyebrows scrunched as if he was ready for you to react poorly and had his walls up-

You could understand why, the more you looked into his eyes you saw a gentleness in them, you finally willed your self to speak
"I brought bread"
You mentally slapped yourself 8 times as your bread hand hit against his solid chest while Thomas's eyebrows raised, you seemed to have surprised the silent giant, his eyes slowly made their way down to the ziplock bag in your hands still on his chest as you continued
"I thought it would be good for you guys to try my bread, see if you don't hate it- it's better toasted with some butter.! You're the butcher, right? I guess that makes sense because it looks like you could lift like 8 cows"
You chuckled nervously at your joke as Thomas shook his head no and raised his hand while putting 4 fingers up, you were confused for just a second before you realized he was correcting you on your dumb joke, you couldn't help but laugh and smile up at him
"That's good to know, I'm might take advantage of that when it comes to picking up flour bags"
He nodded his head yes very enthusiastically while his eyes crinkled so you could tell he was smiling, Luda Mae voice startled you
"Oh yes my Tommy is very helpful in the kitchen, don't be afraid to ask him for help with anything. That being said I gotta show you around so Tommy stop distracting us and get back to your battle station"
Tommy immediately turned around to leave but suddenly stopped and turned around to you so he could give you a little wave goodbye, you could help but smile widely at the big man doing such a small gesture as you waved back and mouthed "bye" he continued back to his side of the 'kitchen'
when you turned to face Luda Mae she was smiling at you
"It's nice to see you two are already getting along"
You couldn't think of anything to say so you simply smiled and nodded.
The next few hours were uneventful at most, Luda Mae gave you the grand tour of the simple bakery and after that, you helped her make some bread rolls and while that was raising she showed you how to open the store, take payments and package up anything you made.
Now and then you'd be startled by the sound of a cleaver hitting a hard surface but that was just Tommy on the other side.
Luda Mae was very helpful and clear when it came to her instructions and even gave you a recipe book of things she's made in the past for the store and made sure to highlight the best sellers which were biscuits, sliced bread, cupcakes and cornbread.
Not that surprising with a small Texas town, but maybe when you get more comfortable here you could try some new recipes.