"I hate this fucking office," Sam muttered under his breath as he glanced at the clock.

The hours seemed to roll by as slow as possible just to torture him as his boss seemed to decide to pile every other person's work onto his own. By the time it was 5, Sam was ready to throw himself out the window of the building. He packed up his things as quickly as possible and headed out the door. He was ready for a drink or two. Or perhaps the entire bar.
As he was walking, a sign caught his eye.
New September Savings! Buy one get one free! (And if that wasn't good enough advertising, here's a picture I drew of a cake!)
The words were followed by a crayon drawing of a cake topped with pink icing and strawberries.
Sam laughed aloud, figuring he might as well go into the bakery/cafe. It was named "Slice of Heaven" and he knew it was a local store. He passed it every day to and from work but never really had a reason to go in. But today he could use a little pick-me-up, especially if it had sugar.
A little bell rang above him as he opened the door, and the pungent smell of brownies hit him as he entered.
Behind the counter, a dark-haired man was placing a tray of fresh-from-the-oven brownies on the counter behind him. He turned around and Sam got a look at him. He was attractive, in a dorky way. His nametag read 'Gabriel'. He gave Sam a bright grin, "Hey there, what can I do for ya today?"
Sam glanced at the pastries and cakes in the glass, settling on a slice of chocolate cake.
"That it?" When Sam nodded, he rang up the total and handed Sam a little box with the cake.
Sam took a seat at a table near the other side of the counter, opening the box and beginning to eat it. When he tasted it, he mentally slapped himself for never coming before.
"Holy crap, this is good."
From his place near the register, the man smiled, "I do my best."
"You made this?" Sam asked before taking another bite.
"Of course. I made everything in here, food-wise at least." Gabriel said with pride.
" So you run this place?" Sam realized he had nearly eaten the whole thing.
"Yup. I opened it up a few years ago. Office hours sucked."
Sam sighed, "I second that."
"I'll take a guess that you work in an office and hate the job?"
"Spot on. I'd quit the damn job if I had anywhere else to go. I get paid, so I guess I can live with it." Sam said with bitterness.
Gabriel moved closer to Sam, leaning against the counter. "Well, I always thought it was important to like your job. I mean, I'm not crawling with customers. There are some days when I don't get anyone in here at all. But I like to bake and sometimes sneak a few treats, so I can sleep easy."
Sam nodded slowly as he swallowed the last bite, "That's a pretty good mindset. But anywhere I'd like to work don't have openings where I could earn money."
"What would those be?" Gabriel asked in curiosity.
"Well I'd like to work in a library. I love reading and books and all that nerdy crap I'm usually teased for…"
"No judgment from me, I sometimes wear a floral apron when I make cookies." Gabriel said during Sam's pause, earning a toothy grin from him.
"Or I'd like to work in an animal shelter or something like that. It would be cool to be able to spend that much time around the dogs."
"Dog person, eh?"
Sam nodded, giving another smile on whim.
"But the only openings they'd have are as volunteers and I need the money to pay rent. And then, because of my office hours, I don't have time to do things at either."
"That seriously sucks."
Sam nodded, staring a little sadly at the empty box.
"This bakery doubles as a café, right?" he asked, looking up at Gabriel.
"Yup. Coffee and pastries are the morning specials."
"Then you'll probably see me again. I pass here on my way to work, and I could use coffee other than the ones they serve in the office." Sam stated as he stood and grabbed his bag.
Gabriel made a face, "My coffee is definitely better. Mine is made with love and not tears of the employees."
Sam laughed softly, shaking his head a little as he walked towards to door.
"I didn't catch your name, Gigantor." Gabriel said.
"Sam," He tossed the box into the trash can.
"See you around then, Sam."
The bell rang again as he walked out again, satisfied.