Lemon Cake
"The usual, please."
Cress looked up at the man on the other side of the counter. His cocky grin was in place and his blue eyes were teasing.
She frowned and punched the order into the register.
"One extra large black coffee, one slice of lemon cake." She called into the back.
The man leaned up against the counter. "So what's new around our favorite coffee shop?" He asked.
"Nothing since yesterday, sir." Cress responded.
He laughed and crossed the room to take his seat in his usual spot by the window.
Cress decided she hated him. She hated his stupid leather jacket and his artfully faded jeans. She hated his fancy boots and his stupid smile. She hated his stupid hair, styled to look oh-so-carefree. Why did he always have to tease her?
Scarlet tapped her shoulder. She handed Cress the tray with the coffee and the lemon cake.
"I hate him." Cress muttered.
Scarlet smiled. "Just suck it up, sweetie. He'll get bored eventually."
Cress brought him his order and ignored his attempts to flirt with her. She went back to the kitchen and started rolling out raisin bread dough. A half hour later, she heard Scarlet call for her.
"Cress, we're getting kind of busy. Can you bus tables?"
"Sure thing!"
Cress hurried out into the dining area, scooping up plates and cups as she went. When she reached the corner table by the window, she paused. The coffee cup was drained but the lemon cake sat untouched on the plate. Only the strawberry had been picked off the top. She grit her teeth. Same as every day. He drank the coffee and ate the strawberry but he always left the cake.
She stormed back into the kitchen. With the customers eating, the girls could all catch a break.
"Can you believe this?" She shouted. "Why does he do this every day? I work hard to make that cake and he just lets it go to waste!"
Scarlet nodded. "It is pretty rude of him to buy it and not even eat it."
"Exactly! Who does this guy think he is?"
Cinder pulled a slip of paper out of her apron pocket. "He signs his receipts as Captain Carswell Thorne."
Cress balked at her friend. "Cinder! You can't keep those receipts!"
The brunette just shrugged. "You're the one who wanted to know. I don't know why you care so much anyway."
"Perhaps he just likes you." Winter suggested.
Cress crossed her arms. "I'm gonna ask him myself."
"What?"
"Tomorrow I'm gonna ask him why he never eats the cake. I'm sick of him teasing me."
The next morning, when Thorne came in to order his cake and coffee, Cress was ready for him. She waited for him to take his seat, let Cinder bring out the food, and then she marched over to the corner table with her head held high.
She slapped her palms against the table and glared at him.
"I want to know why you never eat the lemon cake."
He looked at her, confusion in his blue eyes. "What?"
"I get up at five AM every morning to come to work. I make that lemon cake myself from scratch and everyone loves it. I go to school, I do my homework, I come back here. Then I go to my other job at the computer store. I want to know why my efforts aren't good enough for you."
Thorne stared at the girl. She was barely five feet tall with a mess of long blonde hair and right now her face was set in stone and her eyes were sharp. He was more than a little surprised by her words.
"I'm... sorry." He said, bewildered. "I just don't really like sweet things."
Cress felt her cheeks start to heat up and she leaned back. "Then why..."
"I come in here every day to see you."
He grabbed his jacket and left the shop.
Cress's face was a bright tomato red. She spun around and ran back to the kitchen. She sat down on a large sack of flour and buried her face in her hands. She felt like such an idiot.
The next day, he was back. Cress was still too embarrassed to face him so she had Scarlet take his order while she hid in the back. When he finally left, Cress went to clear up his table. What she found stunned her.
Every bite of lemon cake had been eaten.