Chapter Text
Brad heaved the tray onto the counter and started loading the donuts off it into the display. He was right on schedule, as always, to have everything freshly made just in time for opening. Most people might’ve hated the monotony—but Brad loved it. It was a nice, easy start to his day, and helped him ensure he’d be awake and aware enough to talk to customers all day.
Not that he didn’t like talking to customers, it just tended to be a universal truth that you could only spend so much time of your day holding small talk before you got a little tired, y’know? Though, some customers made that harder than others. And speaking of which—
“Uh, hello?”
Brad shook himself out of his own train of thought as someone’s voice caught his attention.
“Your store hours say you opened, but the sign on the door says closed…” The customer said, their head poking through the door.
“I was just about to flip it around, sorry about that.” Brad said, quickly making his way around to the front and flipping the sign.
And with that, Brad was quickly swept into his work for the day. Stuff usually went by in a blur—there wasn’t usually much that happened to break up the day from the usual motions of making light conversation, handing out pastries, and taking payments.
Though, today turned out to be different; As the morning rush wound down and the later hours of the day rolled in, the bakery cleared out until it was just Brad by himself—which was usual on its own, until the bell over the door rang again.
And the guy who walked in made Brad freeze in place.
Brad didn’t know who his ‘type’ was, but whatever it was, this guy fit the bill. Something about his jet black hair, pushed up and swooping to the side. Something about his eyes, which Brad could tell were green from across the room. Something about his tanned skin, his facial structure, all of it. Brad was enamored.
What really caught Brad’s attention was the customer’s body type. He was on the thin side, which wasn’t really typical for the usual people who Brad saw while working at a bakery. Most customers had at least some pudge, and that included Brad himself—he was undeniably on the large side. Whoever this guy was, he definitely hadn’t been here before.
Brad snapped out of just staring at the guy as he approached the counter.
“Welcome to Brad’s Bakery!” He said, trying to shift into his usual demeanor.
“Er, hi. Can I get a…” The customer said, beginning to look at the pastries through the glass, “Wow, there’s more options in here than I expected.”
Brad snorted a bit, “Thank you, I pride myself on my selection.”
“I’ll just get a… blueberry muffin, I think.”
“A wonderful choice!” Brad said, grabbing a piece of parchment paper and leaning over to get a blueberry muffin from off the rack before slowly standing back up straight. “Here you are. Will that be all?”
“Yup. How much do I owe you?”
“Oh! Um…” Brad stammered a bit, “It’s on the house for first time customers.”
“Really?” The customer blinked, having just gotten his wallet out of his back pocket, “You can remember everyone who’s been here before?”
Brad shrugged, “It’s a small town.” In reality, he was lying out of his ass. Although Brad did honestly think he could probably recall most of his customer base on sight, there had never been any policy for first-timers, nor could Brad really afford to be handing out free-bees that often. The truth was that he’d just been so infatuated with the stranger, it kind of just slipped out.
“Well, if you say so.” The customer took the muffin, “Have a nice day!”
“You too!” Brad replied, staring as he watched the man leave. He wanted to ask his name or something, but found himself falling silent as the door swung closed. As good as Brad was with small talk, he never had been great at being the one to initiate —usually, customers tended to do so, but that was only after they’d come back a few times.
Brad just had to hope this guy did.
Luckily, Brad only had to worry about that for a couple days; During another moment of silence in the bakery, the guy had returned.
“Welcome back!” Brad grinned as he saw him return.
“So you do remember who’s been here before.” The customer chuckled as he stepped up to the counter. “Guess I won’t get away with getting a free muffin again.”
“Unfortunately, I do need to make some money from my job.” Brad joked, “So you’ll be having another blueberry muffin, then?”
The customer nodded as Brad leaned over to get one from the display again, feeling oddly embarrassed about leaning over, despite the fact that he did this all day. He quickly stood back up straight and put the muffin out. “That’ll be 3.79.”
The man reached for his wallet, “So, is it really just you that works here?”
“Yup.” Brad said, proudly, “It’s not called Brad and Co ’s Bakery, after all.”
“So you’re Brad, then?” The customer handed Brad the cash.
“Indeed! And you’re…?”
“I’m Owen, and it’s nice to meet you, Brad.” He said before picking up the muffin, “Well, anyway, I’ve gotta go!”
“Bye! Nice to meet you as well!” Brad called out as Owen disappeared through the front door once again. Brad watched Owen briefly pass by the window, taking a bite of the muffin as he walked out of sight. Brad gave a quiet sigh before shaking himself out of it—he had to get back to work, after all.