Page 58 of Mann Hunt
He gave Declan one more quick kiss, finished getting dressed and headed towards the stairs.
* * **
Charlie got up early and snuck out to avoid having to deal with the questions his parents would undoubtedly ask him. He arrived outside Gwen’s shop and tried the door.Still locked.
Charlie knocked at the window and Gwen appeared. She waved and made her way around the counter to the café door which she unlocked.
“What gets you up so early?” she asked, ushering him in and locking the door behind him.
“I have a baking emergency,” he said with enthusiasm.
“Well, we can’t have that, can we? What’ll it be?”
Charlie’s eyes scanned the display case. “I…don’t know,” he said, dejected. He turned to her. “What does Declan like best?”
“I know just what you need.” She went behind the counter and assembled a box, which she started to fill. “Twopains au chocolat—”
“What are those?” Charlie asked, pointing to little pastry balls coated in chocolate, stacked two high, with a little collar of piped cream in-between.
“Those, my hungry little friend, arereligieuses—chouxbuns filled with pastry cream, topped with a chocolateganacheand decorated with a little collar of piped whipped cream. They’re supposed to look like little nuns.”
“You had me at pastry cream. He likes them?”
“He’ll deny it, and he’ll curse you for every ounce of weight he puts on, but, yes. He’d choose them over oxygen any day.”
Charlie took his box of treats up to the office. When he entered, he noticed that Declan had not armed the security system. He might have forgotten the code. Charlie made a mental note to remind him. He left thepastries on his desk and went into the kitchenette to prepare the morning coffee. Declan would be down in a few minutes.
As he finished pressing the ground espresso beans into the portafilter, the door to Declan’s office opened. Through the partially opened kitchenette door, Charlie saw a person. It was not Declan. His first thought was that someone had broken into the office. Then, from the safety of the dimly lit kitchenette he recognised the intruder. It was Luke Fraser. He’d spent the night. Again.
Charlie’s heart hit the floor.
“Wait,” Declan called out from the inner office. “The alarm’ll be on.”
Declan ran past Charlie’s hiding place. It was the first time Charlie had caught a glimpse of Declan fully naked. He was…glorious. Charlie didn’t think his heart could fall any further, yet somehow, it did.
Declan said, “Shit, I forgot to turn this thing on. Charlie’d kill me if he found out.”
There was silence. Charlie crept to the crack in the door, and peered through. The two were kissing deeply.
After the kiss finished, Luke turned and left the office. Declan sighed loudly, walked back to his office and went up the stairs to his apartment.
Charlie stood in the dark and started to cry.Pull yourself together, Charlie. Act like a professional.
He made his way to the office washroom where he rinsed his face. In the mirror, he could see that his eyes were bloodshot. He would blame it on allergies.
Just then a large crash rang out through the office. It was leg-day for Declan.
Charlie needed to step out.
He made sure to leave a large note on his desk—one even Declan wouldn’t miss.
Gone to Gwen’s.
He locked both the office and street doors and re-entered the aromatic refuge ofLes Trois Magots.
“Back so soon?” Gwen asked.
“I guess it’s hard to stay away, and I forgot to get coffees.”
