Matthew was crying.
That was an understatement, he was wailing.
The five year old was wriggling, trying to get out of Alfred's grasp, as he carried the child down the streets of Toronto. Alfred held the boy tight.
"Matthew, please, come-on, it couldn't have been that bad, surely?" he asked, the shakiness of his voice giving away his desperation. Matthew did not pick on this though, and continued wailing.
He had taken his little brother to the doctor to get a vaccination jab. It hadn't crossed his mind that Matthew would continue crying for more than a few minutes. Matthew was usually such a quietchild, he hadn't ever seen him like this. But here he was.
Note to self, Matthew does not like needles.
As he walked down the street, a few people passed and gave him sympathetic looks or glared at him for not being able to contain his child; but he wished someone would actually helphim.
Like he knew what he was doing. He was just a young man, far too smartly dressed in a business suit for someone of 21, trying to not breakdown when his brother was crying.
"H-hey Mattie, stop crying and we'll watch any disney film you want when we get back home." he said.
Matthew didn't listen, and continued crying.
Alfred couldn't help but feel those tears prick the back of his eyes. He didn't know what to do, he hadn't ever dealt with this before, he just wanted Mom back, she'd know how to cheer Matthew up-
A sign, propped up against a café wall came into his field of vision. Varities of french cakes, deserts, pastries.Matthew loved cakes, his mother always used to make him some.
"Hey Mattie, how about some cake?" he said desperately, and went inside the establishment when he received no response but more screaming. It was a small bakery and café, with luckily no-one inside to mind about Matthew's wails, apart from a blonde man behind the counter.
The man at the counter turned to him as he approached. "Uh, can I help you?" the man asked in an accented voice, glancing at Matthew with pity in his eyes. Maybe he was from Quebec, he wondered, but Alfred was never any good with accents, especially Canadian ones. Alfred looked at the man, and was slightly taken aback by how immediately he found him attractive. Blonde, shoulder length hair in a ponytail, delicate features, groomed stubble, charming smile... probably only a few years older than himself…
"Yeah, uh, anything chocolate for him, please, I'm sorry about his cries, and uh, a strong black coffee for me, please." he stated after a few moments of awkward silence. The man offered a warm smile, and Alfred melted a little.
Alfred sat down with Matthew and man brought a slice of chocolate cake. Matthew immediately perked up, his cries becoming whimpers as he began to tuck in.
"Well, all you needed is some food, isn't that funny Mattie." he said, slight amusement and relief in his voice after dealing with so much stress.
"And a coffee for you sir." The man said, and placed the coffee in front of him.
Alfred smiled gratefully. "Thanks." he smiled as best he could, and the man smiled back.
Matthew was pretty much silent as he ate the chocolate cake. He was smearing it over his face in the process. "Mattie, you have to be more careful." he chided gently, and Mattie nodded.
"Ok" he said, but his technique of eating cake didn't really change, and the cake on the fork immediately went missed his mouth and onto his cheek.
The man behind the counter chuckled, and walked around to meet them. "Ah, your son is very cute and looks just like you."
Alfred felt a little awkward. "Well, uh thanks, I mean, no thanks, uh that wasn't really a compliment was it, haha, uh, he's not my son, he's my brother." God, he was terrible today. Awful at speaking to such a nice man.
"Oh- I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed-"
"No, its fine, people often ask if he's my son." he said, trying to cut him off.
The man smiled at him, and went behind the counter, and made another drink.
Matthew had finished the cake. "Alfred, why are you talking to him." he wondered out loud. Matthew wasn't used to Alfred around strangers.
"I'm just being friendly, Mattie." he said, and stroked Matthew's hair.
The man from behind the counter sat back down with them. "Mind if I join you? Business is slow today." he said.
"Of course- I'm Alfred" he smiled, and took the man's offered hand.
"Francis." he replied, and drank his coffee.
Alfred drummed his hands on the table. "So, are you from Quebec?" he asked.
Francis chuckled to himself, as if the thought was amusing. "Oh, no, I'm from France."
Alfred flushed at the mistake. "Oh, why'd you move?" he asked.
Francis moved his shoulders. "Well, to study Biology somewhere different. But after working as a scientist for a few years, I thought I'd open a bakery buisness." Francis said. "As you can see, its going well." he said, waving his hand around the empty shop. The humour was clearly there in his voice, but Alfred could tell his face was tinged with sadness.
"Well, you clearly do nice cakes. Doesn't he, Mattie?" he said, nudging his little brother to prompt a response.
"Um, yeah." Matthew answered, but grasped his brother's arm to bury his head in shyness.
Francis looked at Matthew with glee. "Thank you, Mattieu." he said, and Matthew giggled at the pronunciation. Francis looked at Alfred, and Alfred immediately couldn't look away from those blue eyes looking back at him. He smiled slightly, and Francis smiled back.
Alfred tried not to raise his hopes up that there was a connection then.
Francis twirled his fingers in his hair. "Well, I must ask, you don't sound like you're from Canada either."
"Oh, born and raised in Texas. Mom was Canadian though, and after my dad left us she moved with us back to Canada a year ago."
Francis tilted his head, as if understanding. "Was... so it's just you..."
"Just me and Mattie now. Mom got sick." he said, trying not to make his voice crack with sadness.
Francis offered a sympathetic smile. "I am very sorry. How long ago did she pass?"
"3 months ago." Alfred replied. Long enough ago so he was used to the routine of being the primary care-giver in Matthew's life, but short enough ago to still feel overwhelmed.
Francis placed a hand on his shoulder, which surprised Alfred with the forwardness of it, but he didn't not appreciate it. "Ah, I'm so sorry, you're so young." he paused, as if trying to figure out how to comfort him properly.
"Thanks man, I appreciate it." he responded, flashing a toothy grin to try and hide any sadness that might be lingering.
Francis didn't seem that convinced however, but let the subject drop. "So, you're in a business suit, somewhere fancy you work?" he asked,
Alfred shrugged. "It's not fancy. I work with a company that assesses for businesses and individuals if any of their investments are going well."
"That sounds... interesting"
"No, it's as dull as it sounds." he laughed. "But it pays for Matthew's childcare costs, so hey."
Francis smiled. "I wish this place would cover my rent." he said, then his face twisted in regret. "Oh no, that's depressing."
"Is this place really not doing that well?" Alfred asked. This place was so sweet! The décor could use a spruce up, and the outside was pretty plain, but the food was nice and so was the service, so why wasn't it booming?
Francis shook his head. "I have my regulars, who seem to like it, but this café just isn't reaching many people"
"Ah man, I'm sorry." He looked around. "It just needs a little publicity." he looked around. "Um, what's this place called?" Alfred asked in embarrassment. He hadn't even bothered to look at the name of the place before he walked in.
"Francis' Café."
"You need to make it sound fancier. Call it patisserie or something."
Francis shook his head. "It's not a patisserie, though. It would be lying."
"Well you need a more noticeable title. Francis's café will just get buried in the crowd."
Francis nodded, and took out a notebook from his pocket, and scribbled it down. He looked at Alfred expectantly.
Alfred flushed a little. Francis wanted advice. Someone was personally wanting actual businessadvice from him "Well, um, then you have to make sure you know your niche. Yours is French food, right? Sell that shit, make the insides of this café look French, put French names onto your cakes."
Francis looked a little sad. "I have no money left, I'd love to refurbish this place. And I did adapt the menu to include more non-french items, like chocolate cake."
Alfred was annoyed at himself. He wasn't giving very good advice. "Then, for now, just try and get a Toronto newspaper to visit you. Get good buzz."
Francis sighed. "I sent emails to all the newspapers offering free samples, but no-one came."
Alfred looked at him in pity. "Well, because I work for a decently large business, the business has contacts, and I'm sure one is a newspaper. I might be able to send someone your way. People love local-hidden-gem independent business shit and all that."
Francis's eyes lit up. "W-well, that's a lot of trouble-"
"It shouldn't be trouble, but I'm not sure if it'll definitely happen. I'll try though." he offered.
Francis smiled at him warmly. "Well, thank you for your advice. I'll try and keep it in mind."
Alfred smiled. He looked at his watch. 3pm. "Hey, I should probably go back home, because I have a business meeting on skype in the evening, and I promised I'd watch a movie with Mattie so we better do it soon." he smiled, apologetically. It was a shame. He would've loved to stay and chat some more with Francis, talk about his business, what he did in his spare time, whether or not he liked men... romantically...
Francis smiled. "Of course, it was very nice meeting you Alfred." They both stood up, and Alfred beckoned Matthew to walk to the door. Francis then tapped him on the shoulder.
"Alfred, I know this has been all business talk and all, but I have enjoyed talking to you. I don't suppose you would like to meet me for a glass of wine and a meal at some point...? To get to know each-other other more. As a date" he added.
Alfred's face flushed. He was immediately grateful that Francis took the plunge and not him. "Of course, I would love to."
Francis looked relieved. "Oh brilliant, give me your number and I'll ring you when I look at my calendar after work." he smiled.
Alfred did so, and turned to leave the café. As he left, he shot back a glance to the Frenchman, and gave a smile, and Francis smiled back, softly.
His heart was a fluttering mess as he walked out of the door.
Alfred took Mattie by the hand and walked down the street.
Matthew seemed to notice Alfred's cheerful demeanour. "He was nice, wasn't he Alfred?" he said, looking up at Alfred.
"Ah, yes, very nice." he hummed back in agreement. Very nice indeed.
"Can we go back? I liked the cake." Matthew asked.
"I'm sure we will, Mattie. And hopefully very soon." he said, and picked up the five year old to carry him the rest of the way home.
Things felt good for a change.