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Private RP between

the tango maureen
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Gidget__x
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                      Elliot had never planned for his life to turn out this way. Not really. In high school, he always tried to be involved in the arts. He was in show choir and band. At age thirteen after begging his parents for almost eight years, they finally bought him a guitar. He spent hours hunched over the instrument, strumming different notes until his back hurt. He was self taught because his parents refused to spend money on music lessons for their son. Elliot almost had his mother convinced one day but the moment his father stepped in the answer had become a firm, permanent "Absolutely not, Elliot."

                      He had been sent to the best school in the city. An all boys boarding school with polished marble floors and neatly trimmed blazers. The headmaster was a very serious firm man who would send a student home for the day if he was missing a tie or wearing the wrong colored shoes. In that school, Elliot learned to respect his elders and do what his parents asked. He never talked back and hardly ever stepped out of line. When he did, he was grounded for a few days to a week, depending on the severity of the rule breaking.

                      Elliot's friends thought his relationship with his parents, especially his father, was very strange. Almost business-like, but the boy had learned to live with it and accept it. Sometimes Elliot longed for an affectionate father. A dad, but he never really got what he wanted. So, he learned to shrug it off.

                      A few days before his high school graduation, Elliot managed to gather up his courage and inform his parents that he had been accepted into an art school in New York. He had kept his grades polished in high school and had earned many scholarships that were going to cover his tuition and dorm. He sat his parents down after dinner eyes bright and stomach twisting his nerves. When he finally let it out, his father simply stared at him.

                      His father was disappointed.

                      His father told Elliot that he was meant for better things than some "damn art school" that was going to get him "no where."

                      That was the night Elliot gave up on his dreams and followed the path that his family expected him to. The path that he had never wanted, but decided on in fear of being the black sheep of his large, wealthy family.

                      "Elliot?" a timid voice came from the door.

                      Elliot looked up from his computer screen to see his father's secretary peeking around the door frame. "Oh. Hey, Amy."

                      "Your father wants to see you. He says he's been trying to phone you for the past fifteen minutes."

                      Elliot peered over at the telephone beside his computer. It had been conveniently off the hook for the last half hour. "I'll be there in just a moment," Elliot said before returning his attention to the computer screen and heard Amy give a small sound of acknowledgement.

                      When Elliot stepped into his father's office, he was asked to closed the door behind him. Elliot sighed quietly. He knew that was never a good sign. He watched his father lean back in his seat. "Have you started working on the Saunderson case?"

                      "No. I'm still wrapping things up with--"

                      "It should have been finished days ago!" his father barked angrily.

                      "I know," Elliot said, trying his best not to lose his temper. "But it took Mr. Douglas a week to get back to m--"

                      "That's not an excuse, Elliot," said his father, tone cold.

                      "It'll be done by tonight," Elliot assured him. "I'm going out to lunch." Without another word, Elliot was walking out of the office, ignoring his father when he called out after him.

                      And somehow, fifteen minutes later Elliot wound up in a little bakery he had never noticed across the street. He slowly wandered in, the smell of freshly baked bread soothing him almost immediately. As he stood in line, he eyeballed the pastry case, every single treat and sandwich looking absolutely mouth watering. His stomach growled, a little embarrassingly loud and he lay a hand over it for a moment, giving a quick look around hoping no one heard it.


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Codger

7,800 Points
  • Object of Affection 150
  • Partygoer 500
  • Love Machine 150
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                                                  The young man’s hands steadied over his work, decorating the treats with a sort of meticulous precision that was similar to a doctor working on a patient, but this man was no doctor. He was a baker by trade, and a self proclaimed connoisseur of cupcakes. (Though that was mostly something he joked around with his friends about.) For him there was nothing better in the world that seeing the smiling face of somebody who had just tasted one of his creations. It certainly wasn’t the most lucrative business, but to him that didn’t matter, because it was his passion.

                                                  After all, one should be free to follow their heart.

                                                  Throughout his whole life he had been raised with one simple mentality. That was to do whatever he was passionate about. He supposed he could blame his rather liberal parents for that. They had always been the hands off sort, the sort that just left him to his own means more often than not. His mother had been a high school art teacher and his father had been a psychologist that had enjoyed analyzing the inner working of his kids’ brains. One of those kids ended up becoming a political activist who was currently volunteering in Africa, the other opened up a bakery.

                                                  His name was Leopold. Leopold Hawthorne.

                                                  ‘Sweet on You’ was the name of his bakery. It was a nice little place with a prime location in the center of the city. He had been lucky to buy the shop, because to him it was perfect. His ovens were in the back all separated off from the front by a simple white wall that was decorated with a rather expansive menu and some random posters that local bands and groups had asked him to put up. Though those seemed to all fade into the background when somebody would catch sight of the display case out front which was snacked with sweet treats and various breads – the display case tended to be what sold people on his goods. After all, who could resist them when they were so beautifully displayed? It was a trick that he had learned from his psychologist father.

                                                  “Leo.” The sound of his name pulled him out of his thoughts, and he looked up at the young woman who had entered the baking part of the shop. Julie was one of his two part-time employees at the bakery. She had a soft smile that customers were always remarking on, which was one of the definite plus sides to keeping her around. The other plus side was the fact that she always seemed on top of things time wise and was a master with his clunky old coffee machine – something that his other employee had failed to master. Hell, even Leopold had problems with it from time to time.

                                                  He finished the last cookie before responding to Julie. “I must have lost track of time,” he said as he gathered up the tray of cooking to bring out front. The girl just laughed from beside him and said, “you do that a lot.” Of course, that much was true. Leopold had a habit of zoning out when he was cooking up something and both of his employees knew that.

                                                  “Well, regardless we’re about to hit the lunch time rush,” Julie said as she held the door open for Leo to move past her. His other employee, Ruth, was leaning against the counter with a bored look on her face. She nodded at him and scooted out of the way as he moved to add the cookies to the display. She was a petite girl with nearly white blonde hair. She normally worked the cash register when he was back cooking up some things, though she did have a real gift for cake decorating and problem could make a name for herself doing it if given the chance.

                                                  The shop was dead for a few small moments, with only two other customers in the place both of which were on their laptops making use of his free wifi. Leopold didn’t mind as long as they bought something, and they always did. Most of the time it was college students that did that, the ones who preferred his place over the overcrowded Starbucks two blocks away…

                                                  However, the bit of calm was soon to end as more people began to trickle in. It was at that point that Leopold took over for Ruth behind the cash register and set her on getting people snacks out for them while Julie worked the drinks. All in all things seemed to work pretty well once the big crowd hit and Leo kept a bright smile on his face as he saw his usual customers flitting through the doors. All the fancy businessmen and women on their lunch breaks… It wasn’t as busy as it could be in the mornings, but it was still a steady enough flow of people that Leopold’s complete attention was dedicated to his customers.

                                                  He had just handed one of his usual customers her coffee and bagel and had wished her a “good day.” When he noticed an unfamiliar face. It seemed silly, but Leo liked to think that he knew everyone that normally stopped by his bakery, so he was a bit curious about this guy. He was clearly a businessman of some sort, probably from one of the buildings nearby that was trying something new. This meant that Leopold needed to rope him into coming back again and again.

                                                  The brunette put on his best smile and leaned forward a bit on the counter, “let me guess, is your first time here,” he said casually to the other guy.
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                      Elliot was trying to decide between the little tart with a kiwi slice on top and a chocolate croissant for desert when the person at the cash register spoke to him. He looked up, eyes lighting up as he laughed sheepishly. “Um, yeah,” he admitted as he stepped into the counter, glancing back over at the display case before silently making his decision. “That chocolate croissant looks amazing so I’m definitely having that. And a…” he paused, looking up at the menu behind the man. “latte. And your most popular sandwich, I don’t really care which one.” He grinned with a shrug, “Surprise me.”

                      Ok, so Elliot wasn’t going to lie. This guy was definitely attractive. He had a face that was pretty but somehow still masculine. And his hair was pretty much perfect.

                      Elliot was gay; there was no doubt about that. But it was something his parents didn’t talk about. They knew their son was gay. They had found out when they caught Elliot kissing a boy in their living room one hot afternoon eight years ago. That was the day Elliot realized that he was gay. It was also the day his father threatened to cut him off completely if he didn’t “get his s**t together.” After that day, the kiss was forgotten and never spoken about again.

                      However, this didn’t mean Elliot was completely “in the closet.” He had had his little flings while in college and he had definitely slept with boys. There were never any relationships though. With boys, that was. He had girlfriends—beards, actually. They were all very sweet girls, more than willing to help a friend in need. Elliot would take them to dinner parties and galas and pretend to be head over heels in love with these beautiful girls.

                      “I like surprises,” Elliot said, something playful—maybe a little flirtatious—flashing in his eyes.

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Codger

7,800 Points
  • Object of Affection 150
  • Partygoer 500
  • Love Machine 150
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                                                  New customers weren’t entirely uncommon, but Leo was always happy to see a new face. Not just for the business, but because Leopold really just liked meeting new people. It was something that made him incredibly happy. Then again a lot of things tended to make him happy, not just good looking businessmen that asked for a surprise. “Coming right up,” Leo said with a smile.

                                                  He briefly turned to look over his shoulder and said, “you got that ladies,” to which both of the girls nodded and went to get the dessert and drink ready for them. This left Leo with one of the more difficult decisions, after all, he had no clue what the other guys tastes were in food. He didn’t know if he had any obscure allergies, though surely he would have mentioned that after the ‘surprise me’ comment. Still, Leopold was blanking. Which was rather unusual for him…

                                                  It must have showed on his face, because within a second the other guy was speaking up again. Leo smirked, noticing at once the playful nature to the tone, “Oh, I’m sure you do.” While he may not have known what the customer’s tastes in sandwiches were, he had a hunch about his taste in men. At least, Leo liked to think that he wasn’t that oblivious.

                                                  And honestly, he didn’t mind a bit of playful flirting.

                                                  For a second he was trying to figure out something witty to say when a polite cough from beside him reminded him of where he was. With a small nod, Leo stepped away from the cash register for a moment and grabbed a Chicken Pesto Sandwich, since it was one of his personal favorites. With that he moved back to the counter. “Tell me if you like it, once you’re done,” he said as he returned, “now is that for here or to go?”

                                                  ooc: sorry for such a late reply D:
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                      Elliot gave the man behind the register a smile before nodding as he took it from the man’s hands. “Absolutely,” he responded as he stepped aside allowing the next customer to move up to the register. He smiled at the other male for a brief moment longer before finally breaking eye contact and walking over to the other end of the counter to wait for his drink.

                      Once Elliot gathered all of his food he made his way towards a small table near the window. He started on his meal and pulled out his phone, opening up his calendar, adding in some new appointments before opening up his e-mail and slowly going through each new message.

                      Elliot was half way through his sandwich when his phone began trilling quietly on the table. He had a new text message from his father.

                      Where the hell are you, Elliot? You should be back by now.

                      It was simple, but so cold.

                      Elliot took a few quick large bites of the sandwich before washing it down with the rest of his coffee. This time, his phone rang. He hesitated for a moment before looking at it to see his father’s office number taunting him. Elliot answered and for a moment he wondered if the couple at the table next to him could hear his father’s screaming, as he called Elliot a selfish ungrateful brat and a few other choice things.

                      “I’m on my way,” Elliot answered calmly. He knew his father had been sneaking drinks throughout the day and was probably on the verge of being drunk. It was something that was never talked about in the office, but was most definitely known. It was also something that had started only two years ago.

                      Standing from his seat Elliot tossed the plastic plate and paper cup into the trash before gathering his blazer and shrugging it on. In seconds he was out the door. He had forgotten about the cute guy behind the counter and his promise to tell him just how perfect the sandwich and coffee had been.

                      Later that night in his quiet apartment Elliot found himself suddenly thinking about the guy as he pulled opened up a bottle of beer. When he sat down on his couch to watch a bit of TV, Elliot thought about Cute Guy’s sweet smile and how badly Elliot had needed that kindness and hospitality after his terrible morning. It was between an episode of Jersey Shore and Project Runway that Elliot realized he didn’t know the guy’s name. And his last thought before falling asleep that night was, ‘I need to know his name.’

                      --

                      “Hey.” It was the first thing out of Elliot’s mouth the next morning when he walked into the bakery before work and found Cute Guy behind the counter. “So, who came up with the name ‘Sweet on You’?”

                      He was never good at small talk. Elliot was also convinced that he was a terrible flirt half of the time, especially when he was actually trying.

                      [ooc; no worries! i need to get my butt in gear and find a picture for elliot with a face on it XD ]

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Codger

7,800 Points
  • Object of Affection 150
  • Partygoer 500
  • Love Machine 150
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                                                  Leo had sort of hoped that once things had calmed down a bit the other guy would have come back up, at least to say if he had liked the sandwich or not, but he seemed to breeze out of there and some point when Leopold had been caught up in counting out the change for one of the customers the new customer had seemed to disappear.

                                                  He probably didn’t like the sandwich.

                                                  After that small moment, Leopold no longer dwelled on it, and instead went back to his work. The day went by just fine, with no more new faces that seemed to flirt with him. The only thing that went a bit bad was when there was a little accident in the back that involved flour flying everywhere right before closing, though that may not have been a complete accident – the jury was still out on that one.

                                                  And so concluded another ordinary day at work, and another day started up again…

                                                  Some other people may have considered Leopold’s work to be boring, since his days were pretty much the same, but he enjoyed it. He liked cooking things, he liked stocking his shop, he liked the little apartment above the bakery, and he liked his life. Sure, it wasn’t something high class with a fancy apartment on the upper end of town, but who needed that.

                                                  Not Leo that was for sure.

                                                  In all honesty, he hadn’t been expecting to see that guy again, and was sort of surprised when he was working the cash register in the morning and saw him again. It was the slower part of the morning, and he only had one of the girls working with him at the moment, which meant that Leopold was not only working the cash register, but the drinks as well.

                                                  “Morning,” Leopold said leaning on the counter. Since there was nobody else really in line for anything he had a bit of time for some conversation, and Leo was going to make it count. When he was asked about the name of the shop the brunette smiled a bit, “that would be me actually,” he said with a small nod, “owning the place entitles me to a few little perks.” For some reason he couldn’t hold off mentioning that, maybe he just wanted the other guy to know that he wasn’t just a cashier, but that seemed silly there was nothing wrong with that. Maybe he was just a bit proud of his work.

                                                  He absentmindedly adjusted the sleeves on his shirt before speaking up again. “Sorry about yesterday then,” he said a bit sheepishly, “though to be fair you did tell me to surprise you without giving me an inkling of what you actually liked.” He wasn’t sure if it had been the right point to bring that up, but Leo had felt a bit bad about that, and he just wanted to clear the air. After all, the guy had come back so there were certainly no hard feelings, right?
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                      Elliot blinked, a little surprised when the guy mentioned he was the owner of the place. He didn’t want to seem offensive with that little surprised expression on his face but he was so young. Usually shop owners were much older. “Impressive,” Elliot said with a small smile. The guy looked to be around Elliot’s age and he already owned a freaking bakery. That was incredible, to say the least.

                      “What?” The word came out slowly, a little confused as to where the apology was coming from. And then suddenly he realized what was going on. He chuckled a little. “You thought I ran out because the sandwich was terrible?” he asked, unable to keep his smile at bay. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. It was a little embarrassing knowing that this guy had definitely noticed that Elliot left yesterday without saying anything. “No. The sandwich was amazing, actually,” he admitted. “One of the best I’ve ever had.” He shifted a little. He really didn’t want to get into what had happened yesterday. “I was called back into work and had to run. I’m sorry.” The apology came out soft and earnest. “Don’t worry, the food was perfect.”

                      Elliot stepped back and peeked over at the display case. “I actually wanted to pick up a few things for my co-workers back at the office. Can I just have one of everything?” he asked looking back up at the guy.


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Codger

7,800 Points
  • Object of Affection 150
  • Partygoer 500
  • Love Machine 150
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                                                  The look of surprise was just what Leopold had expected. Maybe that was why he had wanted to brag a bit about the place. It really had been a lot of hard work, and some help from his parents, but really it was his baby. Instead of reacting or taking too much pride in it though, Leo worked to school his features and shrugged a bit.

                                                  Leo had bit unsure with his apology, but a smile easily found its way onto his features the other guy smiled at him and told him that the opposite was true. Well, that certainly was a relief. He would have felt terrible had the guy truly not liked the sandwich. Probably would have given him a new one for free to make up for it. Sure, he knew it wasn’t good for business, but Leo hated to disappoint people and smiles were always nice.

                                                  “Thank you,” Leopold said still grinning from the compliment. After all, this place was his life, and having his food complimented was a high honor. He waved his hand in a bit of a dismissive wave when he mentioned his work. “No worries,” Leo said with a nod, “I get it, big businessmen are always having to run off to work – not everyone gets to live in a bakery.” There was a small laugh at the edge of his voice that made it clear that he was teasing. He knew enough people from high up companies that stopped by here, and didn’t envy them in the slightest. Leopold like his honors and the smell of freshly baked bread. This was way better than some cubicle in a high rise, at least as far as Leo was concerned.

                                                  For a second he was certain that he had heard the guy wrong, but no, that was what he had said. One of everything. This time there was no chance of Leopold hiding his glee. “Of course,” the brunette said excitedly as he spun away to grab one of the big pink to-go boxes, “coming right up!” It wasn’t very often that Leopold got such big orders. They had catered a few events, but a ‘on the fly’ order just never happened around here.

                                                  Which only made Leo more and more curious…

                                                  As he placed things in the box he looked up at the other guy and spoke up, “so, if you don’t mind me asking,” he said with a small nod, “which one of these fancy buildings do you work in.” He glanced over towards the window that opened up onto the busy city streets. Technically he made a rule not to ask where people worked, since it might come off as rude, but honestly, Leopold was a bit curious. Plus he seemed like a nice guy, not the sort that would mind a bit of invasive questioning.
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                      Elliot laughed quietly at the unexpected reaction to his order. He smiled, watching as the guy gathered up a box and began filling it. Elliot supposed it wasn’t every day someone walked in and suddenly asked for one of every pastry in the display case.

                      Somehow the conversation seemed to slip back into Elliot’s job, which wasn’t a surprise. Of course, work was the last thing Elliot wanted to talk about when he wasn’t there, but he definitely didn’t blame the guy for politely asking where Elliot worked. “I don’t mind,” he said with a light shrug as he slipped his hands into his pockets and watched Cute Guy’s hands as he carefully placed each delicious-looking pastry into the pink box. “Bradley and Johnson,” he stated, “It’s the law firm a few buildings down.” He looked back up at Cute Guy’s face and smiled. “I’m not a lawyer or anything like that,” he supplied. “I’m only twenty-three. I actually work for my dad as an intern. I’m still school. Studying law…” he trailed off a little awkwardly, “But I guess that was obvious, from what I just told you,” he chuckled quietly.

                      Elliot barely knew this guy, but he liked him. He wasn’t sure what it was about him. He could tell he wasn’t just a pretty face. There was this easy going, incredibly relaxed feeling that rolled off of him in waves. “I’m taking a break for the summer though,” Elliot added.

                      It had taken weeks of convincing. His father had nearly threatened to cut Elliot off. Stop paying for his apartment and his car and his school. But Elliot managed to convince him that the hours he spent studying and working at the firm were eating away at his life. He was losing weight and was always sick. The proof was enough to convince his father but just barely.


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Codger

7,800 Points
  • Object of Affection 150
  • Partygoer 500
  • Love Machine 150
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                                                  Leopold gave a nod of understand as he listened to the other guy speak. Bradley and Johnson, yes he had definitely seen the building before and new it to be a law firm, since a few of his other customers also worked there. However, none of them held such a prestigious position as the guy in front of him must have. “So are you a Bradley or a Johnson then,” Leo said with a slight tease to his voice. It didn’t really matter either way, but at least it would sort of help put a name to a face, which was always nice.

                                                  “Now law school, that’s pretty impressive,” Leo said with a smile. He had never once considered getting a higher education than what was required of him, unless you counted culinary school, but he had always seemed to appreciate the work that those people had to put in to get so far. Hours on hours of studying were not something that Leopold ever would have wanted, but he supposed for some people that was what they wanted out of life. It just wasn’t the thing for Leo.

                                                  He tried not to make a jealous face when the other guy mentioned that he was taking the summer off. That was the downside of running a bakery, if he wanted to stay in business he could never just take time off, and the rare days when he just let the girls run the shop while he took a break always made him incredibly nervous. Leopold was just the sort of person that always had to be hands on when it came to his work, he didn’t want anything to go wrong.

                                                  Still, this was about making small talk with a customer who seemed really nice, not confessing his own insecurities. “So are you going to go travel the world or something,” Leopold said with a carefree smile and a shrug. He had always wanted to do something like that, or at least to travel around the world and try the food, but that was just Leo and his food addiction coming through. “I’ve always wanted to do something like that, but I’ve never had the time,” he said with a small save around him as he finished up packaging the sweets.

                                                  By then he had finished and he closed the box with all the treats placing it on the counter as he prepared to ring the other guy up. He had to admit that he was a bit sad that he would probably be leaving now that he had his treats – Leopold had been beginning to like his company.
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                      Elliot chuckled as he responded, “Bradley.” He resisted the urge to add, ‘Unfortunately’ at the end of that sentence because that would mean he would have to explain himself and, really, he didn’t have the time or energy for something like that. His conversation with this guy was so pleasant and he wanted to keep in that way.

                      Elliot shrugged sheepishly at the law school comment. He didn’t really think it was that impressive, mainly because of the fact that it was never what he wanted to do. It was something he didn’t spend years dreaming about when he grew up. As a child when grown-ups asked him “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Elliot never wanted to answer, “A lawyer.”

                      But he did.

                      Because that’s what Father wanted.

                      “Travel the world?” Elliot asked as he finally slipped his hands out of his pockets. “That sounds amazing but…No, probably not. I think I’m too exhausted to do something like that.” It wasn’t like money was in issue. Elliot definitely had the money to do something like that, but the past year or so of his life had been nothing but working at the law firm and school. “I feel like I’ve been drained of my youth,” he chuckled, “I think I just need to use those two months to feel like a twenty-something year old, not a fifty year old man.”

                      Elliot took the box from Cute Guy, setting it aside as he pulled out his wallet. “You should try it some time,” he said. “You seem like you work really hard keeping this place afloat.” He pulled out his credit card and handed it to the guy. “I’m sure you deserve it.” He realized he had sort of contradicted himself just then. Stating that he was too tired to travel when in reality traveling was supposed to be relaxing. Maybe it was an excuse. Maybe he felt like he didn’t deserve it.

                      “So, I think I deserve to know your name,” Elliot said with a small smile as he took back his card and slipped it back into his wallet. “I do believe we have reached acquaintance status.”

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  • Object of Affection 150
  • Partygoer 500
  • Love Machine 150
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                                                  He made a small humming noise as the other guy made some statement about being too tired to travel, it seemed to be a bit of a contradiction, but Leopold wasn’t the type to point that sort of thing out. Instead he just gave a silly smile and said, “well, trust me you don’t look like a fifty year old.” Leo wasn’t the type to laugh at his own jokes, but that one made him want to. Instead he was just going to have to be content with the silly smile on his face as he checked the other guy out. At the comment about taking him off, he shrugged, “Ah maybe another time.”

                                                  Leopold took the credit card from his hands, and couldn’t resist looking down at the name was the typed into it. Elliot Bradley – well, he would certainly be filing that one away for later, and now he didn’t have to do the awkward thing when he actually asked for his name, plus he could still keep it professional.

                                                  However, the Elliot didn’t seem to have a problem with that at all, and sprang the question on his as soon as he had handed the card back to him, which made him worry that Elliot had caught him looking at the credit card for the name. Still, he tried not to make any sort of thoughts obvious. “Leo,” he said with a smile, “well, technically its Leopold, but you can call me Leo.” It wasn’t really sure if that was too much, but well, nobody called him Leopold unless they were his parents or one of the girls when they were teasing him.

                                                  “It was nice talking with you, Mr. Bradley, come back again sometime,” he said with a wave as the other guy left. It was not a second later that Ruth popped out from the back room where she apparently had been listening, if he smirk was anything to go by. “Do you always spend your mornings flirting with cute customers,” she said from where she leaned against the door frame. “Last time I checked I didn’t pay you to tease me,” he said with a laugh giving her an annoyed look. “Ah yes, because you pay me so much to begin with.”
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                      “Leo,” Elliot repeated back through a smile. He noticed Leo sneaking a peek at the name on Elliot’s credit card, but he decided to let other male know his name. It was out of courtesy and politeness. One of the few positive things that came out of being his parents’ son, Elliot hardly ever faltered when it came to be a gentleman.

                      After Elliot stepped out of the bakery with a wave over his shoulder, he didn’t return for another week. Things at the firm became more hectic and stressful. He pulled late nights followed by painfully early mornings. His father, however, was proud. It was at the end of the week that Elliot’s father pulled his son into his office for a private discussion. He told Elliot that his help at the firm would be absolutely crucial and he couldn’t take the summer off like he had asked. Elliot bit his tongue. He had been looking forward to weeks of relaxation, maybe a few parties here and there. He wasn’t expecting this, even from his father. The man almost looked sorry as he explained to Elliot what was expected of him within the next few weeks. The conversation was finished with a “Yes, of course,” from Elliot. For a moment, he thought his father would at least apologize for pulling something like this on him, but he didn’t. Of course he didn’t.

                      Elliot was on a morning run early on Saturday when he decided to make a minor detour and run past Sweet on You. After properly introducing himself to Leo, Elliot hadn’t returned to the bakery and part of him felt guilty. The other part missed Leo’s smiling face. That part screamed at him every time Elliot found himself smiling to himself at the thought of Leo. He was just a really cute guy that was nice to look at, Elliot reminded himself. He couldn’t let himself fall for this guy. At the same time, Elliot couldn’t stay away from.

                      That’s why Elliot found himself stepping into the bakery, panting a bit and a little tired from his long run, but so hungry. And so not hoping Leo was working today. Because he so did not need to see that smiling face he had grown far too fond of.

                      And then it became a small routine. Elliot would visit the bakery a few times each week, when he wasn't too tied up with work. He would visit each and every Saturday because he learned that Leo was there on Saturdays, but not Sundays. Every Saturday morning, Elliot would order a cappuccino and a croissant with a side of cream cheese. And every Saturday morning, Leo would have it ready for him the moment Elliot reached the register.

                      It was the first day of August, a warm morning, when Elliot finally made a decision on his morning run. He was going to ask Leo if he would like to go out for coffee on Sunday. They had met over a month ago and Elliot decided it wouldn't be too creepy. What they had was considered a friendship, wasn't it? It wasn't like Elliot was asking Leo out on this extravagant date. Just meeting up for coffee like a couple of friends did.

                      Elliot's heart was hammering at his chest when he finally stepped up to the register, smiling down at his cappuccino and croissant before looking up at Leo. "Morning," he said as he handed Leo his credit card. It was pretty slow this morning and there weren't many customers around so Elliot took the opportunity to ask Leo now. "So, I was thinking on my way here," he said as he took back his card and pocketed it. "That we should meet up for coffee tomorrow morning, if you're not busy. There's this really cool coffee place a few blocks down that a friend of mine's been raving about and I'd love to check it out."


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Codger

7,800 Points
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                                                  After that day things had gone pretty smoothly, he had seen Elliot stop by again and again and eventually they worked out a sort of routine. Leo would see him a few times of the week stopping by whenever he wasn’t too busy, and of course Leopold didn’t mind.

                                                  Certainly there was a bit more shameless flirting on his part, and a bit more teasing from the girls the second they realized what he was doing. Though he would try and try to deny it every time one of them brought it up. The thing was, he wasn’t bad looking, and he seemed nice enough though sometimes a bit discouraged when he walked through the door, and Leo had been making sure to great him with a smile and a cappuccino every day. Sometimes he got lucky and even got a smile or two shot back at him, and that was how he knew he was doing his job right. Watching somebody walk in with a frown and walk out with a smile was something that he prided himself on. It didn’t help that Elliot was certainly good looking enough for Leopold to want to get him to smile again and again.

                                                  It had just been another one of those usual Saturdays that had become part of their routine. He had already gotten the usual ready and was leaning against the counter with a sort of bored look on his face. He had been waiting for Elliot to arrive, maybe a bit too eagerly, but well his days tended to be the same, and who could blame him for picking favorite customers.

                                                  He had chirped back his usual greeting and had slid the credit card through handing Elliot his receipt and morning snacks as usual. However, the next words out of the other guy’s mouth caught him off guard. For a stupidly long second Leo just stood there giving him the most confused look of the century. Then it dawned on him exactly what had just happened – his favorite customer had just asked him out on a date.

                                                  “Yes,” Leopold said quickly when his brain finally caught up with the rest of them an all too eager smile slipped naturally onto his features and the young baker was more than pleased. Never mind the fact that he had been asked out for coffee even though he made coffee and maybe he was a bit worried about Elliot finding a place that he liked better. Though he supposed it didn’t hurt to check out the competition. “I mean,” Leopold paused for a second trying to tone down his smile a bit so his excitement wasn’t too obvious, “that sounds great, I don’t have anything going on tomorrow and yeah…”

                                                  Well, other than apparently suddenly not being able to make sentences that made any sense. He really needed to work on that.

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