Butcher & the baker

4: Lunch break

You stretched all the pops out of your back as Luda Mae said you could take your lunch break with some of the cashiers.
You made your way into the backroom and two older cashiers you didn't know immediately waved you over, you instantly walked over and sat across from the two 30-something-year-olds who looked like bad Dolly Parton impersonators as they immediately introduce themselves as "Alberta" and "Karen" while both unpacking identical an egg salad sandwiches
You have to hold back a giggle as you introduce yourself and try to make polite small talk for a few minutes when you hear someone else enter the room sensing the room turn silent, you turn your head to see Tommy comically dwarfing the door frame, he was holding a brown bag in his hand close to his chest and made his way to the table across the room, the sound of Alberta scoffing drags your attention away from him
"Ugh why can't it just take a lunch break when no one else is here, just looking at that makes me lose my appetite"
Karen immediately nods and starts talking while loudly chewing
"Honestly, I hate the fact the old butcher left and Luda had to take that animal out of the slaughterhouse"
You felt your blood boil in a way it hasn't in a long time, you shift your eyes to Tommy who heard everything as he hunched over the table trying to make himself as small as possible, you couldn't help but wonder how much of this he's had to deal with in his life, it broke your heart- 'it wasn't fair' was the last thought you had before you stood up aggressively, while your coworkers looked at you with confusion at the sound of your chair scraping the floor while you could only look down on them and tried to keep your voice calm as you managed to say
"shame on you"
You snatched your lunch and zip-locked bread while walking away from that table, you went to the makeshift staff kitchen equipped with a small fridge, microwave and toaster, you plopped your bread in and started at the slowly browning toast trying to calm yourself down, you focused on your breathing until the jump of the toast startled you, you immediately grabbed the toast and walked towards Tommy to plop yourself across from him who immediately sat up straight, you couldn't tell if he was startled or trying to be polite, either way, you felt yourself smile as you slowly pushed the toast towards him
"I realized I told you about the bread and assaulted you with it but forgot to give you the bread, it's not buttered and nowhere as good as your moms I bet but I wanna know what you think"
You tried to look as non-threatening as possible as his eyes darted between your face, the bread and the two glaring women at the table across the room
He slowly put his hand out and grabbed the cooling toast, you couldn't help but notice the sheer size of his hand grabbing the bread it made the pit of your stomach tingle before you could start to mentally slap yourself for even starting to think that, he took a small bite of the corner of the bread and despite the tiny piece he immediately nodded his head yes and did a thumbs up with his free hand, you couldn't help but smile as hard as you could under his praise
"You like it? That's honestly so good to hear, I'll try to sneak you as much as my baking as possible" you chuckled nervously as he started tearing off prices of bread to slowly nibble on, you guessed because of the mask it made it kinda hard to eat, you slowly pulled out your lunch you had made the night before it was just a simple cheese-whiz sandwich and some apple slices, without even thinking you offered Tommy some apple slices he hesitantly took one you gave him a soft smile, as he finished eating the apple slice he reached into his paper bag and pulled out a simple-looking sandwich in a ziplock bag, he pulled the sandwich out of the bag and ripped it in half, he offered you the other half, he looked at you intently waiting for your approval you reached out to grabbed it and took a bite, it was a basic ham and cheese sandwich but you still acted like it was the best thing ever just to see his eyes crinkle with a smile after you swallowed he began eating his way through his lunch while you absently talked about the town and your training with Luda Mae, He stared so intently like you were the most interesting person he ever met, it was hard not to blush under such heavy attention when suddenly you were startled by Luda Mae placing her hand on your shoulder
"My dear I am sorry to interrupt your date sweetie but we gotta back to work, same with you Tommy can't have ya all distracted and lose a finger"
She jokingly wagged her finger and before you could correct her on her date analysis she left the room calling over her shoulder that she'll meet you in the bakery, you and Tommy both stood and you lightly punched him on the arm
"You're my new lunch friend I guess, same time tomorrow?"
You asked with a small laugh when he immediately gave you a light punch on the arm but he did it so gently like he thought you'd break, you slowly turned to leave the break room, he stood staring at you looking confused, you didn't think much off it when you made your way back to the bakery. You were happy to have made a friend and you had a feeling you were one of Tommy's first friend, it made you smile as your mind kept wandering to the gentle giant, you decided to ignore the butterflies in your stomach, that was normal right?