Arthur walked from his office to the small French bakery, it was several streets away and there was a bakery right next door, but Arthur liked the French one better, he couldn't pronounce the name of the place but they did the nicest pain au chocolat he'd ever had. He craved the food there, just thinking about it made his mouth water, it was 100 times better than anything he could ever dream of making. Well worth spending half of his lunch break walking there.
He inhaled deeply as he walked in, a wide smile filling his face, he slowly turned his eyes to the counter, feeling a soft swelling in his chest mixed with slight relief at the sight of the handsome long blond haired man who usually served him.
That was another reason he came here. He had such a sweet voice and such a handsome face, god he'd give anything to…
He cleared his throat, feeling himself blush slightly as he walked up to the counter.
The French man, Francis, looked up at him and smiled softly, letting out a small chuckle.
"Monsieur Kirkland, so nice to see you again, you'll have the usual I assume?"
Arthur felt his words catch in his throat, he had such trouble actually speaking to him. He always felt like his was flirting with him, his body language, the way he leant over the counter and knitted his hands when he spoke to him, the way he almost purred as he spoke, it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
He knew cashiers would flirt sometimes to try to get you to buy more, but… this felt different, he often watched Francis work while he ate and he didn't act like that with any other customers.
If only he could pluck up the courage to ask for his number or something…
"Arthur," Francis cooed, smiling, watching the man's focus snap back to him, he let out a small chuckle and watched the man stumble over himself.
"Uh, yes," Arthur finally said, straightening himself up, "Yes, a pain au chocolat and a cup of tea to go, please."
Francis nodded, lifting himself from the counter as Arthur took money out from his wallet and handed it over to him. He pulled himself away from the counter to make his tea and get the pastry from the oven.
He glanced back at Arthur as he made his tea, pouring it into one of the cardboard take away cups, picking up a pen and writing his phone number on the cup, as he had for the last month and a half.
He had no idea why the man hadn't paid any notice to the numbers he'd written in the past. Maybe he was just a busy man, or unobservant? Who knew, but he was going to continue doing it until he got a call or was told to stop.
He turned back and put the cup down on the counter, his number facing the man, he smiled softly as he bagged the pastry, holding it out to him. "There you go, have a nice day handsome."
Arthur smiled, shifting on his feet again, he inhaled softly, willing himself to talk, "Thank you," he said quietly, "Do you, uh," he bit his lip, feeling his stomach tighten, "…Do you make the pastry yourself?"
Francis nodded, leaning back on the counter, looking up at Arthur with gorgeous, sparkling and bloody enchanting deep blue eyes. "Of course we do, what kind of bakery would this be if we didn't make it ourselves?"
The French man smiled up at him for a moment, biting his lip softly and swallowing softly, "…Have a nice day Arthur."
Arthur nodded, flashing a weak and nervous smile before pulling away. He cursed himself as he reached the door, food and tea in hand, turning his head to look at the man again, Francis gave him a small wave, and he forced himself to leave.
He swore to himself, holding his lip between his teeth, he pulled the pain au chocolat from the paper bag and began to eat it, shaking his head as he began the 10 minute walk back to his office.
He couldn't do it. It was so hard. No matter what he did he couldn't ask him, he'd been so close that time, but he'd chickened out at the last second.
He felt so stupid…
God he was so stupid…
He kicked the curb, gritting his teeth and letting out a growl, "Damn it."
He huffed, taking another bite of his food, he huffed softly, forcing himself to calm down and enjoy his food. It was too good and too expensive not to savour.
It was so good.
He'd calmed himself and finished his pastry by the time he got back to work. Usually he'd drink his tea first, he sipped it as he walked to his desk and frowned, finding it'd gone cold.
He looked across the room, smiling as he saw Kiku walk in, he remembered him mentioning once that Arthur always had his tea too hot.
"Kiku?" he asked loudly, "Would you like my tea? It's too cold for me."
Kiku smiled and nodded, "Oh, yes thank you Arthur." He walked up to him and took the cup, "Is this from that nice French place?"
Arthur nodded as he handed it over, smiling and turning away, letting out a small huff of disappointment at not getting to drink it. Though truthfully the tea from there was a little watery for him.
He heard Kiku clear his throat behind him. "Arthur?" the man asked, "Why is there a number on this cup?"
Arthur turned his head quickly, "What? What number?"
Kiku held the cup out, pointing to the number, "Here."
Arthur frowned, taking back the cup, "Well I'll be…" he mumbled to himself, "Uh, Kiku," he said softly, "I'll have to take this back, I need this number."
Kiku's face dropped slightly, "Oh ok… You just need the cup? Can I pour the tea into another cup?"
"Of course," Arthur said with a smile, his heart beating in his throat as the other man walked off. This couldn't be what he thought it was, the mere idea of it was…
He put the cup down, biting his lip and taking out his phone to punch the number in, quickly writing out a message.
'Hello, who is this? I found this number on my cup.'
He held his phone tight in his hand, smiling at Kiku as he took the cup to pour the tea into his own, the smaller man smiling in return and thanking him.
Arthur's heart jumped into his throat as he felt his phone buzz, letting out a small huff as he saw that the number had replied with only one word.
'Finally!'
