Sweet afternoons

Chapter two

My sudden urge to dress up was in no way influenced by the prospect of meeting a handsome Greek man who happened to have just moved in next door to the bakery. Of course not! It was just a good morning. No matter how many times I told myself that, I knew it was a lie, but still I refused to admit it.

I was...excited? Was that the right word? Although I didn't expect anything to happen if I did see him, I still let myself fall victim to the schoolgirl feeling of being able to talk to my crush. It was silly; I'd never even met the man before! I didn't even know his name and yet I was so fixated on him. It sounded a lot like love at first sight...but I didn't believe in that kind of thing.

It had been a while since I'd even thought about love or romance; I hadn't been very lucky with that sort of thing in the past.

Honestly, it was about time I started dating again. It had been years since I'd been on a proper date. I knew full well that I wouldn't be going on a date with the handsome stranger; he was way out of my league.

Still, I hoped I could meet a kind man who would be interested in me at some point. Maybe they could take my mind off of the new mystery man.

Once again, it was warm and sunny outside and it almost saddened me, as the bakery came into view, that I would be stuck inside all day.

"Lena! You're looking great, dressing up for me?" Nathan's deep voice called out to me as I stood adjacent to the bakery, my head tilted to the warmth of the sunlight.

"Be quiet you!" I joked looking over to see Nate clearing the outside tables of the bakery. He was wearing his usual black apron and hairband and looked just as dashing as he always did. "It's such a nice day out, can I have another five minutes?" I asked cheekily, not wanting to be inside away from the lovely sunshine.

"Take your time, things aren't too busy at the moment anyway," Nathan said, carrying an armful of empty plates inside the bakery.

I leant casually against the front of the light purple building. My eyes shut automatically as I let the sun rain down on me. My breaths were shallow as I relaxed into the cold wall. As much as I loved this bakery, I sometimes felt like I never took my mind off of the place. I didn't go out a lot or have many friends to spend time with so my life often became swallowed up by work.

I'm not sure how long I stood there, basking in the warmth the sun was emitting, but soon enough a ruckus of noises broke through my tranquillity.

"Hurry it up, Andy!" There was loud almost unanimous laughter coming from my left and as curiosity got the better of me, I opened my eyes to find a small group of men walking my way.

Not taking a second glance I retreated towards the bakery doors, not ready to face a bunch of intimidating and very possibly judgemental men. However, before my hand touched the metal of the handle a voice called out to me.

"Lena! Hey Lena!"

Turning towards the voice I saw one of the men sprinting towards me. It was Lukas, Alex's boyfriend. I suddenly felt bad for thinking they could be intimidating judgemental men. Lukas was anything but those things.

"Lukas, Alex doesn't start work for another hour, what are you doing here?"

His youthful blue eyes had me falling victim to his childish charms and as he looked at me, his eyes on a similar level to my own, I saw nothing but innocence swimming in his baby blues.

"Oh I know, I've been helping my cousin move in, didn't Alex mention him to you?"

There was an eerie silence...it made a lot of sense that Lukas would be helping his cousin move in yet I hadn't even thought about that. Clearly, my mind had been focused on only one person.

"She's mentioned him a few times,"

Then I saw it, the mischievous look in Lukas' seemingly innocent eyes. He was Alex's boyfriend, after all, they had to share some characteristics otherwise they wouldn't make such a good couple.

Knowing what was running around in his mind, I decided to make my escape. Backing away, my hand found the cold, silver, steel door handle and I secretly began opening the door.

"Well it was nice to see you again Lukas, but you know how things are, bakeries won't just run themselves," I let out a long, dry, humourless laugh and tried to hide my fear of the maniacal boy in front of me "Give my cousin your regards, would you?"

He was still smirking and I knew that my escape wasn't going to be as swift and subtle as I had originally hoped. I couldn't just leave, that would be rude. But that meant that there was nothing I could do.

"Why don't you tell him yourself?" Lukas said it with such conviction and confidence that I knew I'd lost. There was no chance of me getting away now.

"Andres!"

He shouted over his shoulder, his Greek accent thickened ever so slightly. I had always enjoyed listening to Lukas talk, especially when he spoke in Greek (a language he spoke fluently) and I found myself wondering if his cousin had the same charm to his voice.

"Lukas, you cannot just leave me alone, I am unfamiliar to this town," a warm, velvety voice filled my ears and I immediately looked towards the source.

There he was, in all his handsome glory. Andres...He had such a nice name too. I was in no way prepared to meet him. I didn't know what to say or how to act around him. Flirtatious? That would be too forward. I thought about playing hard to get then realised that hard to get wouldn't work if he didn't already want me.

I really didn't want to make a bad first impression or embarrass myself. "And who is this lovely lady? Lukas, why would you hide such beauty from me?"

I swooned at his words, barely catching myself on the partially open door as my knees buckled. I'd never heard such complimentary words about me before and from such a handsome voice as well.

"Andres, this is Lena. She owns the bakery," he motioned between me and the bakery with his hands and I couldn't help but notice Andres' eyes were looking right at me with an unwavering gaze.

All I could do was stare back and it took all I had to hold in the blush brewing in my cheeks. The smile on his face was a masterpiece of handsomeness, I wondered whether he'd ever modelled before because he definitely fit the part.

It wasn't just his good looks that drew me in; he practically emitted niceness. Like it was in his aura or something...not that I even knew what an aura was.

As I was lost in my thoughts, I barely saw Andres place his hand in front of me. I assumed he was asking for a handshake, so I shakily placed my hand in his.

However, my assumptions were proved incorrect because as I placed my hand in his, I was propelled forwards. Falling quickly I landed on his firm chest. My heart began rapidly beating and I could feel the constant drumming in my throat. I felt the instant heating of my cheeks and closed my eyes in embarrassment. Andres' head moved to my pink-tinted ears and he whispered to me softly.

"The pleasure is all mine, my love."