The Bakery

One

      It was a nice summer morning sure the sun was boiling but there was a nice breeze. Phil wiped his sweaty forehead lifting up the black fringe sticking to his temples. He knew if it was this hot in the morning it would be worse in the afternoon.

      Phil sighed fiddling the keys to the bakery door finally finding the right key, he twists around the key and sighs pushing open the door. The cold hits Phil's face as he smiles in satisfaction. He enjoyed walking to the bakery but not on summer mornings so to get the cold bakery air on his skin was a reward.

     He flicked on the lights, going behind the counter turning on the coffee machines, and walked into the back getting the bread dough thawed. Phil yawned as he rubbed his eyes putting on gloves and his apron. After setting up shop he walked over and flipped the hanging closed sign to open. He checked on the bread and sweets in the display to make sure they were still edible.

     The bell chimed as Phil said without really turning around "Hi! Welcome to London's Finest! Please have a look at-" he stopped seeing who it was "Hey Mr. Pj." He smiled handing his apron to him "Hey Philly boy." Pj was his boss and had been for a couple of years "It's hot out there isn't it." He chuckled wiping his forehead with a cold rag. Phil nodded in response as Pj handed him a broom. "You got cleaning duty today and it's only us. Thanks for opening up shop." Phil groaned in aggravation as he hung his head grabbing the broom slugging to the middle of the room "and this is the thanks I get." Pj smiled.

    An hour passed and Phil watched the streets of London begin to get busier by time passed. Work that day was a bit slow but, Phil wasn't complaining he liked it like this because, he could relax and read in his corner by the window. His head pressed against the glass and his eyes focused on the words that flowed on the page.

    The bell dinged as He stood up stretching " Hi welcome to London's Finest! Please feel free to look around and have a cup of our coffee it's on sale today." Phil looked at him and tried to be as enthusiastic as he could be. But he knew the young man was used to it because, he was a regular. The boy was wearing all black all the time and would wear sweaters, even when it was blazing but today he didn't his eyes looked down at his wrists thin lines covered his forearm they weren't fresh but they sure were at least a few months old.

    Phil's eyes suddenly jumped off his arms when he mumbled: "Can I please have one of those cinnamon rolls and black coffee please." Phil smiled widely and nodded  "Yeah! That'll be 5 pounds." He reached in his pocket and sighed "Never mind I forgot my wallet at home." Phil frowned and looked back at Pj who was cooking rolls of bread not paying attention "Here just take the roll and I'll have the coffee right out to you, I'll pay for it."

     The boy looked flabbergasted as he shook his head, his cheeks bright red "No, no please don't do that." He resisted as Phil grabbed his hands "My treat for being a regular." Phil stared into the boy's eyes. They were a rare shade of brown that had specks of yellow tinted in. The boy nodded and smiled softly thanking him as Phil quickly let go "S-Sorry" he mumbled looking down as Phil bent away and grabbed the boy a cinnamon roll on a plate with a napkin handing it to him with a smile.

    Phil prepared the coffee putting a light creme in it. He stopped and watched the boy who was staring out the window. He looked handsome to him he had slight undereye bags, a light white complexion, and he looked good in black. It brought out his jawline and chizzled chin. He sighed and mustered up the courage to walk up to him with the coffee "Hi, I'm Phil." The sloutched boy with the brown curls nodded and smiled "Hello Phil, I'm Dan." Dan looked up at him and took the coffee. "Do you might know if they're any job offers here." Dan shyly asked as Phil nodded "Yeah we need workers obviously." They both chuckled "I'll give you an application." Phil motioned and Dan nodded. At that moment everything started to change.