Big-Shot Baker

Chapter 1: Habits

Louis Tomlinson always had a passion for baking. It was one of his best skills, and since he found himself terrible at most things this became helpful.  With the money he had been saving up for college, he bought a medium-sized shop and became the most successful baker in London. The proud owner of "28 Rogue." Every day at 5am, he would walk down the stairs of his building and into the crisp London air. He walks across the park and crosses the street, to get to the coral building with the pink hydrangeas in the vintage-looking pots. He takes the keys out of his pocket and unlocks the door glazed with frost, the door knob freezes his long nimble fingers (perfect for bread-making). Louis is greeted by the warmth of his heated bakery, and the heat of the large oven. 

Mr. Tomlinson immediately gets down to business, making sure all of his baked goods are perfected, each item is carefully crafted by him and that's how he likes it. His baristas are fantastic, and don't you mistake it, but they are also very chaotic. His morning is filled with the chaos provided to him by Rizzo, Ashlee, and Giselle. Giselle will come in at 6:30, in the middle of the baking process, thirty minutes earlier than scheduled. She will help set everything up, including the music for the bakery. Louis thought the music was strange, he had never heard of Catfish and the Bottlemen, King Princess, and someone named Harry Styles before. Her taste was refreshing though, and the customers seemed to love it. Rizzo and Ashlee would arrive thirty minutes later, yet still on time. The three girls and Louis became quite close, as being coworker nine to five, seven days a week can make any group close.

At 9 am, on the dot, Louis would unlock the door. Ashlee would turn on the white marquee sign out front. Rizzo and Giselle would start to prepare the espresso machines. Louis would continue making his cakes and cupcake orders for the week and calling his clients to pick them up. Every day, the process would repeat. Louis put his heart and soul into that bakery. Everything was average, until one fateful January day.

***

Louis' alarm went off at exactly 4:15 am. It was Wednesday, January 16th. Louis turned off his alarm and climbed out of bed. His outfit he had previously picked out the night before. White t-shirt, blue jeans, and black vans. He showered off and poured some food and water for his dog Ted. He grabbed his green Patagonia messenger bag, put his wool-lined jean jacket on, and rushed out the door. Louis glided down the stairs, and down to the first floor. Louis walked across the park as always and arrived at the frosty door.

"Five am, right on time," Louis muttered to himself. A smirk forming on his lips.

He turned the doorknob, the frost melting on his fingertips. The bell let out a gentle clang, and the door clicked shut behind him. He set his messenger bag on the granite counter and pushed the metal door to the kitchen open. He checked the list on the counter labeled: TO DO; neatly written in black ink.

"Let's see here, 1 dozen cupcakes each flavored red velvet, lemon, dulce-de-leche, and lavender. Front display. Cookies, white chocolate chip, double peanut butter, and classic chocolate chip. Frosting, um... let's do cream cheese and vanilla buttercream. " Louis spoke. Of course, no one was there. Thinking out loud can blur the silence of a bakery at 5 am.

Rather than waste the time on psychoanalyzing his loneliness, Louis got right to work. He grabbed the dry ingredients off of the blue cart Giselle had bought from Micheal's for 10 pounds. Louis grabbed all the liquid ingredients and dumped everything into the large metal mixing bowl. Before he knew it, the cupcakes were in the oven and Louis had started on the frosting. The peace and quiet was enjoyable, until exactly 6:30 am when Giselle busted into the shop squealing.

"LOUIS! LOUIS! HOLY SHIT LOUIS!" Giselle burst into the kitchen, her light brown hair falling out of its messy bun and her maroon puffy jacket slipping off her arm. Did Louis mention her two different boot socks that clearly didn't match her bright blue Doc Martens?

"What is so urgent, that you forgot to pick out matching socks?"

"HARRY FUCKING STYLES!" Giselle screamed, jumping up and down like a school girl jumping rope.

"Which one is he again? The lesbian rocker, the band, or the hot one?" Louis asked, still whisking the double peanut butter cookie dough.

"Well, the lesbian is hot to me... a bisexual. Harry is the hot one to you, a gay."

"Ah, what about him?"

"HE IS IN LONDON! HERE! IN OUR AREA!" She went into the backroom and took off her coat, fixed her boots, and her hair.

"Giselle, sometimes I swear you are the absolute DUMBEST person I've ever met. HE IS BRITISH!" Louis screeched through the doorway.

"That may be, but I'm only human. And Harry is my life, I mean seriously look at my twitter." Giselle grabbed and apron and started to frost the cupcakes. "Plus he's an absolute rock legend! He sang with fucking Stevie Nicks! At the age of 18! He won the X Factor at 16! He released his first album a couple months later! Come on Lou, he's pretty spectacular."

"For someone who claims to not want to sleep with him, you seem like you'd want to sleep with him." Louis chuckled, finishing up the cookies and putting them in the oven. He walked over to Giselle and grabbed the finished cupcakes, setting each one down into the case.

"I JUST WANT TO BE HIS BEST FRIEND!" Giselle screamed, as Rizzo and Ashlee walked into the shop. Ashlee wasn't phased and immediately put her stuff in the back with Rizzo. The girls grabbed their aprons and started to prepare the shop for the customers coming in two hours.

"RIZZO!" Giselle shouted from the back room. "RIZZO GRAB MY PHONE OUT OF MY BAG AND PLUG IT INTO THE SPEAKERS!"

"ALRIGHT!" Rizzo ran to the back room and grabbed Giselle's yellow iPhone XR out of her jacket pocket, and plugged it into the speaker system. She knew exactly what playlist was going to play. The one titled "London's Finest", perfect for Louis' shop. Of course Harry Styles was the first thing to play, "Only Angel" blaring through the shop. Ashlee was imitating the choir while she wiped down the tables and set up the chairs. Giselle's head popping out to lip-sync to the "hey, HEY!" Rizzo's lips in an O-shape singing along to the "ooh ooh's." Louis humming along to the song, while the girls were going all out. He chuckled and started to sing along, taking the last of the cookies and putting them into the case. "Oh, I guess I'll be getting you stuck in between my teeth, and there's nothing she can do about it!" Louis sung out. The girls joined in shout-singing, "SHE'S AN ANGEL! MY ONLY ANGEL!" They all chuckled at their over-exagerated movements to the music.

Before they knew it, it was 8:45 am. 15 minutes before opening. Ashlee was turning on the white marquee sign that read "28 Rogue." Giselle and Louis were getting ready to run coffee, while Rizzo and Ashlee were on cooking duty.

"I have a weird feeling about today." Giselle told Louis, a confused expression falling over her face. "You know that feeling, when you wake up in the morning all excited about something? Even though there is nothing happening?"

"Giselle... how much coffee did you have this morning?"

"Three cups, but I felt this way BEFORE the caffeine. I mean maybe I'm just going crazy, ignore me."

"Whatever you say Jizz." Louis walked over to the door and checked his watch. Exactly 9 am. He unlocked the door and walked back to the counter.

"Ladies, let's get ready for our customers!"

***

It had been one hour since the bakery opened. Louis had made five coffees and Giselle had made six. There were two men in the shop, a loud and clearly fake-blonde Irish, and a muscular guy with brown hair that stuck straight up. Both seemed to be in some form of meeting, you could tell by their suits. Louis stared at the door, hoping for some entertainment besides the music Giselle had picked out. Sure, Fleetwood Mac is good but it was a bit too psychedelic for Louis at the moment.

Then, something strange happened. The ground beneath them shook, and it wasn't an earthquake. It was the footsteps of at least forty girls passing by the window, their screams of happiness could be heard from inside. After they passed by, a man wearing blue jeans and a big black jacket with the hood up walked in, the welcome bell clanging. The man took off his hood and Giselle gasped.

Giselle frantically whispering to Louis, "Oh my fucking god it's Harry Styles."

And Louis, poor Louis just knew, he had fallen for the big-shot in his bakery.