Around the corner

Chapter 1

She heard a bell ring but didn't bother to pay it any attention when all of a sudden she heard her name.

"Mitzi! If the bloody cream puffs get burned one more time I swear you won't be stepping in here tomorrow!"

Mitzi rolled her eyes before turning around to run back to the kitchen to save her pastries. It smelled wondrous as if Christmas was right around the corner.

"Ouch!" She did it again. She burned her hand on the bottom of the pastry pan. The cream puffs were baked to perfection but she checked the bottom of each one just to make sure. She looked around to see if anyone was nearby and then took a bite out of one of them.

Delicious. This is exactly why I wanted to work here. She thought.

Mandeville bakery was always busy, especially on weekend mornings. But it was especially empty on mondays. The display of cakes and cookies wasn't going to fill itself so Mitzi quickly refilled each empty tray.

"Excuse me."

Mitzi was too busy to notice the customer waiting in front.

"Excuse me, miss." Said a young brunette man as he crouched down catching Mitzi's eye through the display glass.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. What can I get for you today?" She responded as she wiped her hands on her apron.

"Um, 4 apricot twirls please." The man replied. 

"Sorry uh we don't have that here."

"Oh really? I guess it's been quite sometime since I last visited. Shame. Those were my favourite." Mitzi stood there about to say something but then he continued.

"I used to work here you see. About 4 years ago." He leaned in closer to the counter and whispered "I used to make extra apricot twirls and take them home."

Mitzi smiled back. "Oh. Yeah, sadly we don't make them anymore. But we do have peach pies. They're really good."

"Okay - Mitzi is it? - I'll have a few of those."

"Would you like anything else?"

"No, that'll be all."

"Okay. Can I have your name please?"

"Yes, you may. My name is Harry."

Mitzi immediately fixed the young man's order and avoided looking him in the eyes. She was too busy thinking about the errands she had to run that day.

Harry didn't move but just stood there and watched her. There was no one standing behind him so he didn't seem to be bothered.

"That'll be 5 euros and 75 cents."

"Blimey, they really marked up the prices. Mitzi, do you know if there are any ex employee discounts?"

She knew there wasn't and thought of just giving him a little discount but then she remembered her boss yelling at her that morning and wasn't going to risk it.

"Sorry. There isn't."

"Aww. I'm kind of on a budget." Harry made a puppy face thinking it would sway her decision.

"It's really not up to me. I kind of want to keep my job."

"Well, your job you must keep." He handed her the exact amount and took his peach pies to a table next to the window of the little bakery.

A man and a woman alongside what looked like a teenage girl, walked in 3 minutes later.

"Can I speak to the owner?" Said the man dressed in uniform.

This caught Mitzi off guard. "Um- Yes, sir."

She went to the back to see where Mr. Andrews was. It was rather strange that the police would come in at this hour. Sometimes they would come in for a cup of coffee but this didn't seem like a coffee-stop kind of occasion.

Mr. Andrews came out and welcomed the coppers. "What may I do you for?"

"Are you the owner?"

"Yes, Andrews you can call me. For about 20 years now." He chuckled. The police didn't seem as amused at the statement. The police woman behind him handed him an evidence bag with a pastry wrapper inside.

"Is this from your bakery, Mr Andrews?"

The old man examined the contents inside of the plastic bag. His eyebrows furrowed a bit perplexed at the fact that the wrapper was indeed from his bakery.

"Yes. This is from my shop. Where did you find it?"

"At a crime scene."

Mitzi and her fellow workmate Tom stood not far away listening intently. They gave each other a puzzled look.

"We'll need to ask your employees a few questions. We'll have to ask you a few things as well."

"Of course."

The police accompanied Mr. Andrews to the back for further questioning.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Tom whispered to Mitzi. 

"I have no idea. Gosh, why are you so red all of a sudden?" She responded while giggling.

"I am?!" Tom looked into the glass frantically. "Well, you know I don't have a clean record with the coppers." 

"What? You're a saint!" Mitzi said sarcastically and received a punch to the shoulder. "Ow!"

"Well, you're a terrible criminal. Nothing even happened and you've already turned bright red, plus this looks more serious than some petty crime."

"How would you know. They have a cinnamon roll wrapper as evidence. That doesn't seem very serious to me."

"Maybe you're right. They might be here for you then. Better make a run for it"

The silly banter ended abruptly when the cop came out and called for Mitzi.