Chapter One
Sweet smiles and cake.
Jean smiled as he saw the bakery. He'd just moved in, all his things still in boxes, but he was already in love with this town. It was so quaint, so beautifully old world and old fashioned. Cobbled streets, not a single car in sight (only bikes and motorbikes), florist's, fruit markets, barbershops with the twirly post thingy. He laughed in delight. He had bought everything he needed except one
thing he'd been setting for last. Perhaps the greatest pleasure in food. Bread. He pushed the glass door to the bakery open, making the bell tinkle. As soon as the dark haired artist walked in the delicious smell of bread wafted over him, sending him into a world of heavenly pleasure. What to buy? It all looked warm and delicious.
Orlando was the best baker in the town and his looks weren't that bad either. His long curly blonde hair was always pulled back in a tight pony tail at work, and his bright blue eyes held the intensity of his personality. He heard the bells jingle and walked to the front wiping his hands on his apron. "How may I help you, sir?" he said, glancing up. He blushed at the sight before him.
He smiled. And the men are so cute! he added mentaly to his list, feeling something inside of him go all mushy, and it was good mushy. He looked into those blue eyes with his own honey colored ones, for a second only. "No, I don't think so" said Jean Mathews. "It's just that all looks so good..." he laughed and picked up a baguette. "I'll go plain today I guess" said he chuckling.
Orlando blinked. As the other smiled brightly. 'Such a beautifull smile.' he thought to himself, as his cheeks turned pink. "Very well. Your new to town are you not?" he said as he typed in the number for the item.
"Yeah. I just arrived last night." he said grinning broadly. Damn those eyes were so pretty. "So how much is it Mr...?"
"Just Orlando. I don't go by last names. That would be three dollars and forty two cence." he said with a smile. When he smiled and his right cheek held a dimple.
"Name's Jean, Orlando" he said as he fished for the money in his pocket. "Here, sorry that's it all in quarters... but all my cash seems to have mutated into these" he said laughing as he gave him the fourteen quarters to make three dolars fifty.
Orlando grinned, showing perfect white teeth. "No, worries. I needed change anyway." he said and put the quaters in the drawer and gave him the change.
He smiled back and pocketed the change. "Thanks for the bread!" he said as he broke off a bit of the loaf and began eating it. It was so warm and toasty and crunchy and soft. Bliss in his mouth! Happily he took a swig out of his water and smiled at the prospect of buying bread the next day.
"Well, I hope to see you again, Jean. I hope you also like my bread. If you come back tomorrow. I'll give you a peice of my vanilla buttercake and apricot tea." he said with a grin.
He turned. "I'm sold!" he said happily as he went to his house. Painting was such a hard thing. he thought as he unpacked his kitchen things. You gotta get a shtick, a muse, something. That's why he'd moved to this town. The city had proved barren to him, too noisy, too lonesome, too crowded, too much. But here, here he could see the sky, talk to people! He already knew the name of the butcher, he florist (and her rival), the names of the handlers of the three green grocers, the mayor, his neighbors, and the baker, gawsh! Above all the baker! He definitely felt he was his muse, and bread his shtick... And he had a date, albeit for tea, and likely not romantic, but still! Those blue eyes, as blue as the zenith of the sky! That hair golden like the bread he baked and teeth as white as the crumb. He melted into goey mutterings as he ate a sandwich of cheese, tomato, lettuce, and rocket.
Orlando sighed and watched as the boy left. "Did you really just tell that boy to come back and eat cake and tea with you?" said his apprentice baker. He turned to look at the man and clasp his shoulder with a hearty laugh. "Of course!" he said and went back to making pastries. Tomorrow, would surely be a wonderfull day.
He arrived in a white shirt and paint-stained jeans. Jean felt it a bit... absurd that all he owned were jeans, as if his name had mocked him into denim. But jeans were the only type of pants that looked decent with paint stains, and he painted, so... sensibility over feeling silly. He arrived at the bakery smiling. "It's a lovely day isn't it?" he asked as he brought a bouquet of daffodils. "I hear it's good manners never to apear before your host empty handed. So a small something I bring"
"It is quite a lovely day.." Orlando chuckled and took the flower's with a small nod of his head. "They are lovely. Thank you." He said and put them in some water. "If you sit down by the window over there. I will bring the tea and cakes."
He chuckled as he sat by the window. "It's a lovely town" Jean said almost absently.
Orlando walked over with the tea and small peices of cake. "Well, lovely is one way of putting it." Orlando said as he poured the tea.
He smiled as he looked into the china cups. "What is another?" he asked to Orlando.
Orlando sat down across from Jean. "A place where love blooms and people forget what decade it is." he said and laughed. "
He laughed. "That was beautiful!" he said smiling, knowing that was the title of his next painting. he lifted the cup to sip at it. "So Orlando, how long have you lived here?"
"Ah. My whole life actually. My father owned this store and before that his father and so on." he said with a smile.
He chuckled. "Family buisness then?" he said grinning as he took a bite of the cake. "It is heavenly! It really is Orlando!"
Orlando chuckled. "Good. It's one of my favorite cakes." he said and looked down at the peice in front of him. "It was my mother's favorite, too."
"And my favorite now too!" he said grinning. "Anyway thanks for inviting me here. It really removed my worries on breakfast."
Orlando took a sip of his apricot tea. "Oh? Well, you are always welcome to have breakfast here. We have all kinds of assortments on breakfast items and since you just moved in. It will be free. A kind of house warming gift from the bakery to you."
He laughed. "Orlando. Thank you. It's most generous of you to extend that offer." he smirked. "And I'm quite willing to take it, for a while. I can't abuse such a nice person's hospitality."
Orlando closed his eyes and took another sip of tea to hide his blush. "Of Course." he said, nonchantly trying to hide his giddy feeling. He was glad he would be seeing Jean for a few more weeks or so.
He looked out the window. "I moved here to get inspired you know" he said as he ate his cake. "The city's not really that good for art. City art tends to be... opresive, dark,gloomy. Art that makes one feel good, enlightened, happy... it really isn't being made much any more. So I moved here, to capture atmospheres like this. Having tea with a friend, eating bits of heaven, while Norah waters the planters outside her shop."
Orlando smiled and looked out the window. "It sounds lovely. A painter you say? May I ask you a question?"
He smiled at Orlando. "Of course" he said, brushing some hair out of his eyes.
He smiled. "What do you think of the interior of the bakery? Do you think it has a comfortable atmosphere?"
"Extremely so" he said. "It's the Ideal of a bakery. It has an undeniable Bakery-ness to it. The feel of the comfort you feel when you eat freshly baked bread." said Jean chuckling. "Why?"
Orlando's cheeks grew darker and darker as Jean talked. "Thank you. I was wondering if it seemed too gloomy or to plain."
"It's warm and welcoming Orlando. Don't change a thing. Except the straw baskets on occasion, so they look in good state."
Orlando smiled. "Good." he heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm glad at it's warm and welcoming. I wanted it to portray the people who work here."
He grinned. He felt like adding -and it's also a bit hot- but he felt that the comentary would be uncalled and might ruin the budding friendship. "You know Orlando. My place is a mess now, but in a few days you're welcome to drop by. I'm no baker but I do make killer gnocci"
"Gnocchi? Really?" he said, placing his chin on his hand. "I wouldn't miss coming over and having someone cook for me, for once."
He smiled. "I'll have the ground floor decent by saturday. And there's so many fresh herbs here I am aching to cook, really. So it's a date?" asked Jean with a honest trusting smile.
Orlando nodded with a grin. "Yes, a date and what a wonderfull date it will be..." Orlando said, and stood up as a customer walked in. "I'm sorry to cut this short but I must go and help this lady." He gave Jean a bow and ran behind the counter.
He nodded. "And I have to go home and start cleaning if I want the ground floor by sunday" he said laughing. "Thanks Orlando you're an angel!"
Orlando gave a pleased smile. "And you're sweet, Jean!" he called out before the other left.