Colder Weather // Hemmings AU

santa baby

The familiar tune of Santa Baby was pulsing through the bakery as Luke leaned over the counter, holding his throbbing head in his hands. The smell of walnut pumpkin spice and gingerbread was overwhelming and the incessant Christmas songs were on his last nerve. He had been running back and forth all day long, between people coming in to pick up orders for Christmas dinners and icing cupcakes all day, and he was tired. His feet were aching (Converse weren't the best shoes to stand around in all day) and he yearned to go home and crawl in bed with a cup of hot chocolate and a good movie. 

He continued pushing the colorful M&M's into the globs of icing positioned down the gingerbread man to symbolize buttons, humming quietly to himself as he worked. When the bell chimed above the door, signaling a customer, he dropped the piping bag and wiped his hands across his apron. He pushed the hair out of his eyes as he floated over to the cash register. "Hello, how can I help you?" He looked up and met the eyes of the girl smiling at him on the other side of the counter and immediately felt himself blushing underneath her gaze. 

Her cheeks were pink, a result of the contrast of the warm bakery to the cold temperatures she had just come from and her lips were crimson. She had a beanie pulled over her orange hair and her warm eyes reminded Luke of the sea glass he used to collect from the beach when he was younger. She had mittens pulled over her hands—mittens, like real, wool mittens—and a bulky white scarf cocooned around her small neck. She had a pair of dimples in either cheek and sprinkles of freckles dusted the bridge of her nose and the bone of her cheeks. 

"Yes, I'm here to pick up the order for O'Callahan? It should be a dozen vanilla cupcakes, specially requested to be designed as little reindeers." 

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded his head. "Okay, I'll be right back." 

He flitted passed the display case and disappeared through the swinging door into the kitchen where he found the cupcakes already boxed up, complete with a little silk red ribbon tied around it and a complimentary "Merry Christmas from Hal's Bakery!" sticker pasted across the top corner. He carefully picked it up from the counter, balancing it across his forearms. He had dropped a customer's order once before, it had been a cake for a bridal shower that was due to start in twenty minutes and Luke just about got fired that day, so he always took extra precautions when carrying an order. 

He took his time returning to the front, bending his knees and leveling himself with the counter as he slid the box towards the customer. She grinned crookedly, "How much do I owe you, Luke?" 

He felt himself freeze at the sound of his name falling from her lips, his heart jumping wildly in his chest. "H-how do you know my name?" He mentally smacked himself for stuttering like an incompetent fool. Why did he always have to make an idiot out of himself in front of pretty girls? This is why he had never had a girlfriend before. 

She giggled and tapped her chest, right below her collar bone. "Name tag." 

Luke glanced down and located the small, silver plaque pinned to his apron. He felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment. "Right. I forgot we wore these things." He laughed uncomfortably, hoping she wouldn't comment on his awkward tendencies. 

Thankfully, she didn't push it, she just laughed musically and Luke found himself wanting to hear the sound again. "You never told me how much I owe you." 

"Oh yeah, it'll be $28.45," he told her—he knew the price of a dozen cupcakes by heart, plus the ten dollar personalization fee. She dug through her wallet and pulled out her debit card, handing it over to him.

"What's the occasion?" Luke asked as he swiped her card, desperate to keep up conversation. He liked to hear the sound of her voice, it was smooth and gentle and everything he needed after the long day he had just had.