Ninth Encounter

“Did you bring me back any treats from your test run?” Sarah asked the moment he walked out the lift.

Flynn guessed that she had been eagerly awaiting her snacks and produced a bag of chocolate from his laptop case. Sarah squealed at the sight and he smiled.

She was always so enthusiastic about sweet things and pretty much everything else. His work life at the company would be much harder if she wasn’t there to liven the mood and support him.

“I knew you wouldn’t disappoint me,” she said happily and took the bag from his hand. “Did you get everything ironed out with the chocolate menu?”

“Mostly,” he confirmed and continued along the corridor to his office. “The patisserie menu will be done tomorrow.”

Sarah fell into step next to him. She clearly had something to say to him.

“It feels strange to think that after all these months of planning, it’s almost ready to open. I was so happy even when it managed to get past the board of directors so I will probably be in tears on the opening day.”

It had been a challenge to present the combined patisserie and chocolaterie to the board of directors even as the CEO. Sarah had supported him and he had been given approval very quickly.

His desire to open a chocolaterie and patisserie had come to him one morning after he had just woken up from a dream he couldn't recall. The thought had stuck in his mind like a spark and he had written it down to return to later.

Market research had been the next stage and he had realised that the idea did make a lot of sense and had a lot of potential to make money. Sarah had given her approval and the project had started from there.

Now he was close to opening the place and falling in love with the chocolatier.

Who would have seen that twist coming?

Lucas was everything he had been looking for and all the pieces of the project were coming together.

He just had to keep himself together for a short time.

Once the patisserie had opened he didn’t need to be there regularly and could leave the manager in charge. Sales were something he could check from the office.

“Lucas is very friendly,” Sarah commented. “He’s like your opposite.”

Flynn frowned at her. He felt she had misjudged him.

“I can be friendly when I feel like it.”

“You don’t feel like it most of the time,” she retorted. “I think it would be nice for you to have a friend like him.”

Flynn opened the door of his office and stepped inside.

“I don’t have time for a friend,” he replied and closed the door.

Sarah would be annoyed with him for dismissing her like that and he knew she meant well, but he just wasn’t comfortable with interference like that.

Lucas was someone on a much higher level than him and was completely unattainable for someone like him. Lucas deserved someone better than him.

***

The next morning started the same as the day before. Lucas was aleady waiting outside the patisserie and offered his scarf for the second time. The difference this time was that Lucas leaned down towards him a moment later and squinted at his face.

“Did you get any sleep last night?”

Flynn frowned at Lucas. The answer to that question was a negative. His mind had been trying to make sense of everything Lucas had said to him.

Was Lucas really flirting with him?

Did Lucas know he was gay?

Was Lucas actually gay?

After a night of debating those questions he still didn’t have the answers.

“I got some,” he said vaguely and tried to suppress a yawn.

He pulled out the keys and unlocked the door. Hopefully that would tell Lucas he didn't want to continue on the subject of his insomnia. Lucas led the way across the patisserie and pulled out an armchair for him. Flynn stared at him for a minute and sat down.

“You sit there and I will bring you cakes soon,” Lucas said and ruffled his hair.

That sounded like a nice plan, the only problem was that he had work to do. He took out his laptop and opened up his email software. His job meant that he could never stay still and constant even with Sarah doing all the public relations.

He got stuck into the financial reports and was well into making spreadsheets when Lucas emerged from the kitchen with the smell of freshly made cake.

Flynn looked over at what his patissier was carrying and spotted a selection of cake. He immediately moved his laptop aside. This amount of cake needed his full attention.

“What I have here is just plain cake, I wanted your opinion on the base. There’s only so much frosting and icing can hide.”

That was a very good point. Heavily decorated cakes were often hiding an inferior base. By now Flynn considered himself an expert in all things cake related.

Lucas laid the tray on the table in front of him and handed him a fork.

“Is the first one a plain one?” Flynn asked with his expert powers of cake observation.

“Yes, it only has vanilla flavouring in,” Lucas confirmed.

The cakes were all delicious as he had been expecting. Lucas didn’t seem to have any weak points in terms of his cooking skills so far.

“I think we should have the common base cakes and have weekly special ones,” Flynn informed him. “Some special seasonal ones as well.”

Lucas nodded and put the empty places back on the tray.

“I’m going to start on the decorating, but I won’t do anything that takes a long time,” he said. “I can’t leave you waiting on cake for too long.”

Flynn smiled once Lucas was out of sight. He had hired someone that was certainly devoted to giving him his favourite food.

His phone started buzzing and he saw Sarah was calling him. She probably wanted some cake again.

***

Lucas zipped around the kitchen at an efficient speed. He had to make everything perfect for Flynn and he couldn’t leave him waiting too long.

He loved showing his creations to Flynn because he could tell that he loved everything he made even though he never said much. By now he could read his reactions and expressions very well.

Flynn definitely liked him, he could tell that one.

There were also signs he was opening up to him which was very promising.

It was clear that there was a lot to unpick before Flynn could become more comfortable with himself. 

He did want to be the person to do it, but he knew it was going to be hard. Flynn had lived for a while in his current state and getting him to change would have a lot of difficulties.

His plan was to start off simply with compliments and a little flirting. When it became clear that Flynn was comfortable with him, he would move on a little further.

His phone started to ring and he picked it up off the work table with the hand that didn’t have flour on. The number was Sarah Chadwick-Brook’s.

Presumably she wanted to tell him something about her cousin.

“Hello,” he said and dusted off his flour coated hand. “I’m in the middle of making something for your cousin.”

That was perfectly true. His cakes were cooling in the fridge waiting for the frosting so he was making scones in the meantime.

His next plan was to make some scones so they could have a cream tea together. Then he would suggest having lunch at a normal time and they could go somewhere else. Hopefully Flynn would agree and it would have a date-like atmosphere.

That was his plan.

“Of course you are,” Sarah replied. “I think you’re making progress. He’s getting quite used to the close attention and contact. I just thought I would give you some encouragement. I don’t want you to give up.”

Lucas grinned when he heard that. He really was doing well.

“Thank you for telling me. I will happily continue. He’s sort of easy to read, but hard at the same time.”

“I find him the same way,” she agreed. “What I can tell is that he doesn’t mind you which is a very high compliment from you. He trusts you as well- that’s even better.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he replied.

“I just thought you would appreciate some encouragement,” Sarah said. “Until next time. Bye.”

She ended the call and Lucas put the phone back down. He still wasn’t convinced that Sarah liked him, but her report had been something he had needed.

Whilst he had picked up a lot of information about Flynn in the past few days, there was still a lot he didn’t know yet. Sarah would hopefully become a little more open in the future about information involving her cousin- he had a feeling she was keeping a lot back from him.

With that optimism in mind, he flew through making the scones and was setting up a tray to take to Flynn. The fridge had been well stocked enough to have clotted cream and strawberry jam. He had also discovered an impressive amount of tea in some of the cupboards.

He picked out the same tea he had made all those years ago and prepared two cups. All the china cups were in boxes at the back of the kitchen so there was still presumably a lot of work to do before the patisserie opened.

After surveying the tray, he knew he was ready to take it out to Flynn. 

The love of his life didn’t find the sight of him approaching strange and simply moved his laptop out of the way. That was an encouraging sign.

He placed the teacup and plates of scones in front of him.

“We’re going to have a cream tea for elevenses today,” he said.

“The tea smells familiar for some reason…” Flynn said. “I think it reminds me of something.”