please don't take my sunshine away...

Chapter Three

Spring 2010

    I walk down the narrow sidewalk in the warmer spring air down to the small bakery that I work at down the street from my small house. Mary the owner of the shop sits behind the counter when I open the twin glass doors that lead into the small vintage shop.
"Good morning Mary," I say as I hang up my coat and trade it for one of the red and white checkered aprons.
"Good morning Harry, you look very handsome today," she teases. I roll my eyes slightly and walk over to the small swinging door that leads to the kitchen behind the counter.
"Good morning Harry!" The other two women that work there say not looking up from the bread and pastries they are making.
"Good morning Suzanna and Alice," I say and walk over to the shelf of cupcakes that must be put out for display.
"I heard you have a visitor coming to visit today," Alice says, coming up behind me with a tray of croissants.
"Louis' coming at 2:00," I say proudly. "He just has an assessment for school and then he'll be on his way."

    She winks at me quite badly and walks over to the large display case where she starts putting away the freshly baked croissants from the metal tray in her hand. I delicately put away the Easter-themed cupcakes on the turning table at the front of the countertop. I smile as I look at my work.
"Very nice Harry," Mary says looking at the simple display. "Suzanna, can you open up shop?" she yells, poking her head in the kitchen.
"Sorry my hands are covered in flour!" she yells back.
"It's fine Suzanna, I'll do it," I say, placing the empty baking sheet on the counter. I walk over to the large window at the front of the shop to turn on the light-up open sign. When I see Louis looking back at me through the glass window. He makes a funny face and sticks his tongue at me.
"Louis!" I squeal and run over to open the door to get at him.

I run over to him and pull him into a tight embrace.
"I thought you weren't coming until 2:00!" I say probably breaking his eardrum with my loud voice.
"I know, I wanted to surprise you," he says back. I grab his hand and pull him into the bakery.
"Everyone meet Louis!" I yell to everyone.
"Hi Louis!" they all exclaim back. I introduce him to everyone and give him one of the extra aprons so that he can help out while he's here. I watch as he shakes hands with all of the workers and as Mary puts him straight to work teaching him how to run the cash register.

    I watch as Louis swipes his hair away from his face and tries to push the button that opens the cash drawer. I walk behind him and push the button that opens it.
"Oh. Thank you," he says quietly looking over his shoulder at me.
"It's fine. I had a hard time when I first started too," I say. I can see Alice looking at us out of the corner of my eye.
"I'll be right back," I say tapping Louis on the shoulder. He nods showing that he's alright. I walk over to Alice who is standing with her hip resting on the counter.
"Why are you looking at me like that," I say teasingly, looking at her with my hand on my hip.
"The question is why is he looking at you like that!" she says pointing at a very flustered Louis whose cheeks are bright red. She laughs.
"I remember when I was young and in love," she says with a sigh.
"We're not in love," I say.
"I'm gonna hold you to that one day," she says with a smirk and walks away.

    I hear the ring of the small bell hung at the door and look up to see a couple of the regular customers come in.
"Good Morning Mr. Roberts!" I say cheerfully while putting together his order of straight black coffee and a chocolate biscuit.
"Good morning Harry," he says and takes a seat at the bar. "Who's this?" he asks, gesturing to Louis.
"Oh, that's my friend Louis. He's visiting from Manchester," I say handing Mr. Roberts a brown paper bag and a cup of coffee.
"Well it's nice to meet you, Louis," Mr. Roberts says. "I must be on my way now," he says and walks out of the small bakery.

"Why didn't he pay?" Louis asks looking quite disappointed behind the cash register.
"He's a regular customer so he pays for all of his things at the end of the month," I say, patting his shoulder.
"Oh," Louis says.
"I'll get Mary to run the register, I want you to come with me to help out in the kitchen," I grab his hand and pull him to the wooden doors that lead to the small kitchen.
"I don't know how to cook," he exclaims as I pull him along.
"We're not cooking silly," I say. "Where baking!" He smiles and I can see him look around at the tile walls.
"We're gonna decorate some cupcakes. Nothing fancy, just simple sprinkles and frosting," I say, handing him a piping bag filled with light green icing.
"Don't be surprised if I mess this up!" he says, trying to hold the piping bag. I adjust his hold till he's holding it correctly and hand him a small chocolate cupcake.

    I show him carefully how to pipe a perfect spiral on the light and fluffy cake and watch as he listens intently. Though when it's his turn to do it on his own there is icing all over the small piece of cake.
"Close!" I say and laugh. He sticks out his tongue and smushes the cupcake in my face. I gasp and then throw one of my own at him. Soon we're both covered in cake with only a couple more cupcakes left. We're both laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt and everyone in the kitchen is looking at us like we're crazy.
"We should go get cleaned up," I say in between giggles. I walk over to the large sink and Louis follows closely behind me laughing as we go. I grab a wet washcloth and start to wipe away the frosting that's stuck to his delicate face. He stops laughing and smiles at me. He grabs a cloth himself and wipes off my face as well. I blush and watch his bright blue eyes as he focuses intently.

"Harry!" Suzanna calls from the counter. "I need your help in here!" Me and Louis quickly exit our trance and clean ourselves up.
"Coming!" I say. We walk out of the kitchen to see multiple people waiting in line to order.
"What happened to these cupcakes?" Mary says from the kitchen.
"Sorry, Mary!" Louis says. "There was a bit of an accident!" he winks at me.
I quickly take over the cashier and Louis stands quietly beside me. I take multiple orders and handle the financials while Alice grabs the bread and pastries for each customer. Louis stays by my side and charms the customers while they wait and I find it hard to not stare at him.

    After a few hours of customers and orders, my shift is finally over and me and Louis can go back to my house. We say goodbye to everyone, put on our coats, and head out the door. The spring breeze is cool but refreshing and I tell Louis all about the small town I live in while we walk home. I feel our hands brush together as we walk and then soon Louis grabs my hand in his. My bigger hand covers his perfectly and though we've held hands before this time feels different. His hand fits in mine perfectly and I just want it to last forever. I feel him squeeze my hand lightly.
"Is this okay?" he asks looking down at our conjoined hands and then back up at me.
"It's perfect," I say.

Thank you all so much for reading.
All the love.
-Lilah Sage