Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, and followed the first chapter. I hope wherever y'all are, you're safe and well.
The next day, Bella arrived early at the bakery to find a large vase of Escrovian wildflowers nestled next to a potted basil plant on the bakery doorstep. She stopped, looking around the street as if to find where it came from. At only 5AM, she was surprised to see them there at all, let alone left here at such an early time for her to find. She unlocked the door and brought both inside. A card within the bouquet said simply "Ma belle, thank you for the kind welcome to New York."
Ma belle, she thought, my beauty.
She smiled widely, remembering her visitor from yesterday.
She arranged both above one of her workstations in the back, near a window and far from the heat and steam of the ovens.
Then, turning the radio on, she started in on the day's bakes.
The next day, Edward sighed, watching the Minister of Commerce from a small central European country expound on the price of olives. The man would not yield the floor for over thirty minutes, during which the press corp from his country delightedly took photos of their government in action. Edward's gaze scanned around everyone else in the room, who all looked like they were going to fall asleep.
Finally, the man reached his point about regional fraternity, etcetera. The audience shook itself awake and stumbled into polite applause.
Edward seized the opportunity to check his phone. It was just past three. It would be cutting it close for him to leave here, nip uptown, and try to catch his favorite Brooklyn baker. He should have gotten her number the other day. He had meetings scheduled until late tonight though, and Aro Denali, one of the senior diplomats assisting Edward on this trip, had given him an inscrutable expression when he returned from his first jaunt to Brooklyn did not make him feel comfortable leaving any other meetings yesterday.
"Do we have anything else on the schedule before the dinner with Israel?" he asked Nahuel, one of their junior assistants.
The younger boy shook his head. "Nothing until 7PM, your Majesty."
He allowed himself a small smile. "It's Prince Edward, Nahuel."
"Yes, your Majesty," he replied automatically.
Edward laughed at his stricken expression. "We'll work on it," he said. Nahuel was still new, and it always took newer people a while to relax around him. It was why he was so eager to go be around someone normal for a little bit.
He rose from his seat, nodding at Aro behind him.
"Prince Edward, will we be seeing you at dinner?" he heard Aro call behind him.
Edward turned, surprised. "Of course. It is my responsibility to represent our people, and I have never shirked my responsibility."
Aro smirked a bit. "Just checking, your majesty."
Edward's mouth tightened. "I will see you there."
Pushing open the conference room door, he met Emmett's eyes. Emmett accompanied him almost everywhere, and during boring meetings like these, he got to wait outside with the other support teams. Edward was a bit jealous, as he knew Emmett spent most of the time calling his girlfriend back home and playing games on his phones.
"Fancy a snack before dinner?" Edward asked as his friend joined him.
Emmett waggled his eyebrows. "What are you in the mood for?"
Edward shoved him lightly. "I think we have enough time to beat rush hour traffic uptown."
The cafe was almost closed when Bella looked up from her pastry dough, smiling when she saw Anthony and another tall man studying the menu with interest. They were both dressed in formal, dark suits that looked expensive and well-tailored to her untrained eyes. Anthony had dark sunglasses over his eyes that he only took off once they were inside. He looked over and caught her eye, his lips crooking up in a smile. She felt her own expression mirror his.
The guy behind Anthony started laughing and nudged him.
Bella blushed. Was she very obvious?
Anthony pushed his friend back and then left him standing in line, crossing the cafe to walk up to her counter.
"Hello again, ma belle." His accent was familiar and yet so sexy.
"Hey stranger. Oh, I'm sorry, if you're here for my grandfather he's already left for the day." She bit her lip, trying to keep her expression serious.
He laughed. "As much as I enjoyed meeting Pietro, I did not come all this way to see him."
She finished rolling her puff pastry around the walnut filling. "Oh really? What brings you to Brooklyn?"
"Free dessert, of course."
She looked up with a mock scowl and he laughed again. "I'm only joking. My friend Emmett over there ate all the pastellitos when I brought them to work yesterday and he insisted we come back."
She looked over and his large friend was now ordering from Lauren, their cashier, and from the look of the box she was filling, he was ordering the majority of their remaining treats.
Anthony caught her expression and said "He's Escrovian too, of course, and he likes to eat. The least I could do is bring in business when you were so kind the other day."
Bella smiled back at him. "Well we love newcomers here."
"Well, we love delicious food." He leaned over the glass separating them for a moment. "So what's this? Walnut pinwheels too? You do everything, Bella?"
She blushed. "Flattery will not get you more free food. But yes, we do it all." She gestured toward the now significantly-emptier display case, and Emmett, now carrying a very large bag.
"Bella, I am not one for undue flattery. And I don't drive across Manhattan during rush hour for sugar." His voice was low and serious.
She looked up and met his gaze.
"Bella, I'm about set here if you want to finish up and head out," Angela called from the back. She poked her head out. "I was thinking for tomorrow we could - oh, I didn't realize we had customers still."
Angela was her cousin, her business partner, and her best friend. Her gaze wandered curiously between Bella and the tall Escrovian. Bella realized that they were standing pretty closely together, even with the counter separating them, and she fought back a blush.
"That's ok, Ang. I can close up if you want to get going," Bella said.
"If you're done here I can buy you a coffee somewhere," Anthony offered quietly. "I owe you for the pastellitos."
"Perfect!" Angela said. "Lauren and I will close up so you can get coffee." She winked at Bella.
Bella rolled her eyes. "Alright, give me ten minutes to finish these," she said.
Emmett wandered over. "Did someone say coffee?" He had opened his package already and was happily munching on a scone. His eyes seemed to flick meaningfully over to Bella before returning to Anthony.
"Yes, I'm going to stop for coffee after this. With Bella. Bella, this is my friend Emmett."
Bella nodded over the counter at the bigger man.
"Nice to meet you!" Emmett was enthusiastic, barely pausing in eating. "I'll meet you later then, man? Don't forget."
Anthony nodded and Emmett ambled off. "Don't eat all of those before I get back!" Anthony shouted after him.
Bella focused back in on her pinwheels, carefully wrapping the walnut-filled logs in circles and ticking slits into the sides. She grabbed a quarter sheet pan from the rack behind her, quickly covering it with parchment paper and transferring the pastries.
"How long have you been doing this?" Anthony asked, watching her well-practiced manners.
"My whole life," she said, easily stacking two pans onto her arm. She pivoted and opened the fridge behind her, sliding both pans onto empty shelves to chill overnight before being baked tomorrow morning.
She sighed in satisfaction and took off her apron. "I'll be right back," she called to Anthony, running in back to wash up. She scrubbed a bit of butter and flour off her arms and her cheek.
Angela walked by. "So who's Flirty McFlirtface out front?"
"His name is Anthony, not McFlirtface."
"Is he the one that sent you the flowers?" Angela had hounded her about them when she saw them yesterday. "How long has this been happening?"
"He stopped in two days ago after we closed. He's Escrovian, obviously. Papi came in afterward and gave him the whole welcome speech." They both rolled their eyes, having heard the speech many times.
"Good, you need to go out and have some fun," Ang said.
Bella nodded, acknowledging what her cousin wasn't saying. "Thanks, I owe you."
"No you don't, you work too much as it is!" Angela pushed Bella back through the swinging door into the front of the cafe.
Anthony stood from where he'd been leaning against one of the stools. Her gaze caught on his trim, clean outfit. She looked down at her snug jeans and the t shirt, which was flecked with flour.
"You look great," he said, correctly guessing what she was thinking "I came from work so I'm overdressed."
"Thank you." She led him out of the bakery and toward the Russian teahouse down the street, which she knew was open late. "What do you do?"
He immediately covered his eyes with the sunglasses again. He kept glancing around as they walked down the sidewalk. She shrugged it off, having seen many tourists gawk at the skyscrapers.
"I work in international trade," Anthony said finally. "Oh, this is lovely," he said as they came up to the teahouse. "I love how New York has so many cultures just jammed up on each other like this. Amazing."
"It's a teahouse but they make a mean espresso. And I didn't take you for a Starbucks type," she explained, leading him inside.
They ordered and then settled onto the couch. Since it was late afternoon, the cafe was almost empty except for one other table of a couple men in suits that came in right after them.
"I am not a Starbucks type, so this was a good choice. And what of you, ma belle? What do you do when you're not feeding the neighborhood dessert?"
Bella shrugged. "I read a lot. We have a lot of amazing museums here. I spend a lot of time with my family. But the bakery keeps me busy." She paused to sip at her latte.
She should be nervous. This was her first date since she broke up with her ex. She barely knew the guy she was here with, which was something her parents would have warned her against. And to top it off, she felt like Anthony was the most attractive guy she had ever met, and somehow he was sitting here with her, while she was still in her work clothes. But somehow, she felt weirdly comfortable with him.
"How long have you worked there?"
She smiled. "Forever." She caught his expression. "I mean, I pulled a couple shifts here when I was younger. We all did, and do, all of the cousins. Bussing tables, running the registry, scrubbing pans. Getting into mischief."
"Did you always want to be a baker?"
She laughed and shook her head. "Not at all." He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. This isn't a Cinderella trapped by her stepmother type of story. I just wasn't planning on being here forever. My parents don't work here; this was always my grandparents' operation. My grandmother got sick while I was in college and I started working more between classes to pick up the slack. She passed away before I graduated, and I just naturally took over. My grandfather was devastated, and I don't know what he would have done without us. Angela, who was there today, she's my cousin and she runs the front of the house."
Anthony was still studying her intently. "That was pretty selfless of you to step in."
She shook her head. "No, no, don't read too much into that. I went to school because that was what was expected of me, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after graduation. I majored in math because I like precision and order and certainty and that's what baking is all about. The more time I spent in classrooms and hunched over my laptop, the more I appreciated being able to be here and knead bread and work with my hands and use numbers in the real world instead of on a spreadsheet." She shrugged. "I didn't have a plan for after I graduated, but I loved being here. I may not be here forever, but for now…" She blushed. "Sorry, what a long-winded answer."
He reached out and gently lifted her chin. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to hear the answer." She stared up at him, realizing how close they were. She wondered if he would kiss her. His eyes darted down to her lips for a moment, as if considering it, before he moved back finally.
She took a breath, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She somehow missed the heat of his body as he leaned back against the couch.
"Well, now you know my whole life story. Tell me about you. What did you want to be when you were younger?" Bella asked finally, striving to keep her voice level and cool.
Anthony smirked. "You have to promise not to make fun of me." He waited for her agreement before continuing. "So in Escrovia, there are horse drawn carriages that go along the main street. For tourists and traditional ceremonies and such. I always thought that looked like so much fun. Some of them dress up in old-fashioned outfits, and some of them are wearing tennis shoes and jumpers." She laughed at how he phrased that, but waved him on. "And I always wanted a pet growing up, so having a horse would be like having an awesome pet. I could give tours or just act as a wingman when men try to impress their dates."
"That does sound fun. I bet you would be a good wingman."
"Yeah I would know the romantic spots to bring them to make the girls all impressed, you know." He looked down at his coffee, almost bashfully.
"Do you take all the girls back home on carriage rides?" Bella struggled to make her voice impartial, or teasing.
Anthony met her gaze, and she was worried he would call her bluff. Instead, he said, "No, but I would take you."
She struggled mightily to contain her blush and how happy that made her.
His phone rang and he sighed, pulling out of his pocket. "I'm sorry, just a moment," he apologized as he answered. His voice, when he was speaking on the phone, was quiet and curt and not at all how he was when he was speaking to her. He held a short, tense conversation in Escrovian that was too fast for her to follow. He ended the call and looked back at her, his jaw tense. "I'm sorry, but I have a few things to go handle at work." His green eyes were full of regret.
"That's too bad, it's awfully late for a work emergency." Bella tried to not let her disappointment show on her face. This was not even their first date, but she had been having a good time flirting.
She caught Anthony looking over to the other table in the teahouse, to the men in suits. "Let me walk you back to the bakery. You live nearby?"
Bella smiled at his chivalry. "I do. I'll be fine."
"Please let me anyway. I'd rather know you're safe." He stood and offered her his arm.
She smiled. Jake, her ex, had accused her of being too old fashioned. Anthony was his complete opposite. Maybe this is just what she needed.
As they started walking back, Anthony leaned close to speak with her. "I want to tell you that this never happens, but my work can be very demanding. It can be stressful and high pressure and I keep crazy hours."
Bella listened, wondering where he was going with this.
"It's important that you know that if you want to go further. Because I think you're brilliant and I want to know you better."
Her face split into a beam. "Are you asking me for my phone number?"
He nodded. "Can I call you?"
"Of course!" They reached the bakery, and he drew her out of the foot traffic of the sidewalk to huddle in the bakery doorway. It was closed and locked, giving them a bit of privacy. He passed her his phone but had to show her how to add his phone number. "You promise to call?" she asked in a teasing voice.
"Do you promise to answer?" Gently, he tilted her head up he quickly kissed her on the cheek.
"I'll answer," she said, trying to keep her cool.
"Good, because I'll call. Until then, ma belle."
He drew away and slid into a black SUV that was illegally parked on the side of the street nearby. When the door opened, she caught sight of Emmett from the driver's seat giving her a cheerful wave.
How long had he been there? she wondered. She waited for the car to drive away before touching her cheek where Anthony had kissed her, feeling a bit giddy.