The Musician 2

    The small coffee shop they had chosen was quiet, the few customers scattered over the small tables and intimate booths. Many had laptops, books, or school work, keeping to themselves and not noticing the two men who entered, smiling at some private joke, uttered previous to entering the building. The counter was clean, polished to a shine by a tired but content looking waitress. She smiled and nodded at them as they entered. "Good afternoon! I'll take you up here when you're ready!", She waved toward the well-stocked glass enclosed shelves offering a variety of pastries, tarts, cakes, sandwiches and a multitude of brightly colored sweets.

    "Some of the desserts are a bit.. sweet but the cakes and tarts are rather good." Tom nodded and motioned toward a plate holding several flavours of miniature cakes, "What would you like to try?". "I'm not sure, I definitely like sweets! But there are so many to choose from! What would you suggest?", Chris stared wide-eyed in amazement at the assortment of confections with a grin. "We could never try them all today!", Chris said excitedly hoping that Tom would take the hint that he very much wanted to see him again, often. "Then we'll have to come back as many times as it takes for you to have tried every single one.", Tom smiled indulgently and pushed Chris toward the end closest to the cash register,"Start here. This lemon cake has delicious cream cheese icing. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.". "Alright!", Chris said turning toward the cashier. "One of those lemon cakes please.", He pointed at the display of yellow and cream colored cakes with small lemon slice shaped jubes on top. "Anything to drink with that hunn?", The cashier laughed lightheartedly and pointed at the drink menu hanging on the wall over her head.

    Staring at the many drink options Chris cocked his head curiously. "A... large... hot chocolate? Yeah, that sounds pretty good. I very much like chocolate!", He nodded to himself and smiled politely at the cashier, handing her the appropriate amount of cash for his treats and moving aside to allow Tom to order.

    "A large Cafe Americano please, and a strawberry mousse cake. Thank you.", Tom smiled and nodded politely, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Chris closed his hand over Toms and smiled, sliding enough cash over the counter for Toms refreshments. "You didn't have to do that!", Tom protested, staring defiantly up at him, "I can afford my own food, thank you! very much". Holding his hands up in a supplicating gesture Chris frowned, "I didn't mean to offend you Tom! I just wanted to do something nice after having startled you earlier.". Chris took Tom's hand and squeezed it gently, holding it to his cheek. "Please don't be upset, You have such a bright smile!", Chris pouted and looked down at Tom apologetically.

    Sighing Tom rolled his eyes and looked up at Chris' puppy face. "It's alright, let's sit down.". "You're not mad at me?!", Chris continued looking at Tom with what he hoped was adorable puppy eyes and not a desperate lonely stare. "No! Now stop with the kicked puppy face!!", Tom grabbed ahold of Chris' arm and dragged him to an unoccupied booth, pushing him into one side and sliding gracefully onto the other bench. They both looked up and grinned as they heard the cashier burst into a fit of giggles behind the counter.

    "You forgot your cakes!", She called from across the cafe, Picking them up and winding through the tables to set them down in front of the two men. "Thank you very much!", Tom and Chris beamed in unison, flushing slightly at having forgotten what they came for. "Of course! It's my pleasure!", She waved pleasantly and strolled back to the counter as a few more patrons filed in, allowing the handful who had finished their work to slip out.

    Feeling slightly uncomfortable in the sudden silence Chris picked up his fork and pulled a small piece off of his cake, slipping it past his lips and chewing it thoughtfully. Tom watched him curiously, sighing as Chris grazed his lip with his fork. Realising he had been staring at the others lips for far too long Tom watched as Chris' face lit up and he looked up at Tom delightedly exclaiming with his fork still in hand, "This is AMAZING! Mmmmmmmmmmmm~". Tom smiled contentedly as he chewed the first bite of his mousse cake, "The strawberry mousse is good too.". He plucked another morsel from the small pink cake and held it toward Chris. Chris grinned and opened his mouth, winking and motioning for Tom to put the cake inside. "Honestly!", Tom sighed and rolled his eyes, gently pushing the end of the fork with the sweet treat on it into Chris' mouth, trying in vain to hide his delight. Chris closed his lips around the fork, sighing in bliss as he got the first taste of fresh strawberries, sugar, and cream. Again eyeing Chris' lips Tom also sighed and asked softly, "Is it as good as your lemon cake?". "Better.", Chris nodded and swallowed. Meeting his eyes Tom nodded happily, "I'm glad.".