Ardor : warmth and affection associated with romantic feelings

The aroma of freshly baked goods and roasted coffee beans floated in the air making my mouth water.

The brew was a quaint little cafe tucked away in a remote corner, the interior painted a pretty pastel color.

I smiled at the woman in front of me and her very cute baby.

“Welcome to Brew ma’am, what can I get you today?” I said politely.

“Hello, dear. Can I please have a cup of flat white and a honey cake?”

“Sure ma’am. Can I get you something else?”

“That’s it,” she smiled and rummaged through her purse to pay.

After collecting the money, I asked her to take a seat and walked around the counter to give the order to Martha, the barista and also the owner.

She grinned,“Iris, honey, could you do me a favor and go make a fresh batch of the Tarta de Santiago? We’re running out of it.”

I internally winced hearing the name my family calls me.

“I’d love to but-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll ask Jess to take over the counter.”

I internally did a victory dance and went back to the kitchen.

Being an introvert meant I didn’t want to do anything with people and most of the time I wasn’t lucky enough to have polite customers as I did today. 

And the fact that I loved baking was a bonus too.

Martha had been my mothers friend so whenever she visited us I used to make her all sorts of desserts that I’d learnt from YouTube.

So when I came to Glasgow for college, she immediately contacted me to visit her cafe. And after coming here, I couldn’t help but ask her for a job here.

It helped me financially too and I’d been so proud when I spent my money and not those deposited in the bank each month from my parents and brother.

If they thought they could bribe me into talking to them then they were so damn wrong. 

Not after all they did.

Shaking myself out of the memories, I focused on the task in front of me. Forty minutes later, I placed the cakes on the tray to cool down and started looking for the stencil to decorate it.

“Melantha!” I heard Jess yell my name and not even a second later she barged into the kitchen, her curly blonde hair piled on top of her head with a bandanna and an alarmed, dazed expression on her face.

I looked at her confusedly.

She gasped for breath and raised her hand as she hunched on her knees.

“Mela! There’s someone asking for you,”

“Who? Is it Willow?” I asked her, turning my attention back to the cakes.

“No! It’s a guy. A hot guy.”

“A hot guy?” I frowned.

Oh, maybe it was Azrael picking up Willow’s favorite cake.

“Tall, blue eyes?” I asked her.

“Nope. Tall, green eyes and- I’m going to faint- hot.”

“You find most guys our age hot,” I shook my head.

“Hey! It’s not my fault that Scotland has a lot of hot guys okay? And this one is really hot. Like the hottest.”

“You have a girlfriend,” I said pointedly.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t admire the rest.” She sassed.

I laughed as I walked past her.

I immediately noticed the guy leaning against glass case, examining the pastries.

Tall.

Green eyes. 

Extremely hot.

Zephyr.

“Zephyr?” I asked, surprised.

He looked up and his lips curved into a small smile, a dimple appearing on the right side of his cheek.

Today he was clad in a black V-neck woolen sweater and black jeans and a thin platinum chain around his neck. And I noticed all the customers sitting at the tables turning behind to look at him.

I can totally relate.

I reminded myself to breath.

“What are you doing here?”

“Willow told me that I’ll get the best cakes and pastries here so I decided to check it out.”

“Really?” I raised a brow,“You didn’t know I worked here?”

“No!” He said quickly.

A little too quickly. And I bit my lip to hide my smile as the top of his ears turned a bright red.

“Are you sure?” I teased.

“Yeah,” he mumbled and ran his fingers through his hair, not meeting my eyes.

“Okay then. What would you like then, sir?”

He glared at me playfully,“What’s your favorite here?”

I thought for a second,“I mostly like everything here so i can’t really choose to be honest,”

He nodded and took another look on the menu until his eyes widened a tad bit ,“You have Tarta de Santiago?”

Oh.

Shit.

“Uh-”

Martha smiled at us as she paused to fill the rack with cakes I just made.

I wanted to slam my head against the wall.

“Can I have a slice of tarta de Santiago and an espresso?” He asked giddily as he leaned against the counter, so close to my face that I immediately froze.

“And how about you join me? Please?” He asked, flashing his dimple again.

I think i need to breath.

Yeah, oxygen is important.

“Iris, sweetheart who is this?” Martha asked me as she pulled me closer to her protectively.

“He’s a friend.” I mumbled and she immediately relaxed and smiled at Zephyr.

He charmingly smiled at her,“If it’s okay with you, can I please borrow Iris for a few minutes, ma’am?”

Iris. It sounds wonderful when he says it.

Strange.

Martha instantly beamed at him,“Ofcourse. She finished here today anyway. What’s your name honey?” 

No I hadn’t. I still had an hour to go.

“Martha-”

“Thank you do much, ma’am. And I’m Zach by the way.”

“Listen-”

“She’ll be with you within a minute, please have a seat. And call me Martha, sweetie”

He nodded and smiled at the both of us as he turned and sauntered away towards the back of the café. Note even a least bit bothered by the attention he was getting from everyone.

But then again, he must be used to all this at this point.

“Martha, I still have an hour to go!” I hissed .

“You took Jess’ shift last week.” She deadpanned as she pushed me towards the changing room.

Quickly changing back into my dress, I picked up my bag from the locker and walked towards where Zephyr was sitting.

“Hey,” I mumbled as i sat down opposite to him.

“Is Iris your real name?” He asked quickly, his eyes glinting.

“It’s my middle name, my…uh, my family calls me Iris.” I muttered.

He nodded, his eyes held a faraway look. As if he was remembering something of the past.

“Here you go,honey.” Martha said cheerfully as she placed two slices of Tarta de Santiago and a cup of espresso for Zeph and a glass of iced raspberry tea for me.

He smiled at her so bright that it was hard for me to hide my own smile.

I’d never seen someone so excited over pastries.

Well, him and Willow.

I looked down at my cake and took a small bite. It tasted okay but I couldn’t help but feel that I’d probably be sad if he didn’t like it.

Why was I even bothered if he’d like it or not?

I looked up just as he took a big bite of the cake. It was almost comical how his eyes widened and I was a tiny bit anxious that if it widened a bit more it’d fall right off his head.

“Fucking hell,” he groaned.

“Is it good?”

“Good? This is fucking amazing! Who made this?” He exclaimed and inhaled half the slice in another big bite.

“Uh, I made it.” I said quietly.

He paused and gave me an incredulous look,“You made it!? Fuck, really?”

“Yeah,” I muttered

“Marry me. Please, I’ll worship the ground you walk,” he said it so seriously that I was left with wide eyes and slightly red cheeks

“I’ve never tasted something so incredible, why aren’t you at one of those fancy French culinary college?” He joked

“I like baking stuff but I never wanted to choose it as a profession.” I shrugged, taking a sip of my Raspberry tea.

He nodded and wolfed down another bite,“But seriously? Where did you learn to bake like that?”

“YouTube,” I said dramatically.

“Wow,” he mumbled,“You have real talent, y’know?”

“Thank you,” I said sincerely.

He took a sip of his espresso and looked down at his empty plate and then at the glass case where more of the cake was kept. I tried to hide my shit eating grin.

“I think I’m gonna set up a tent and live here forever. Seriously, you guys need a dog? Because I’m down for it as long as you feed me,”

This time I couldn’t help the small laugh that slipped through.

He smiled at me, propping up his face on his fist.

“So, was Willow right?” I grinned.

“Ofcourse she was, best fucking pastries and cakes in the whole damn world.”

I smiled,

“What kind of desserts do you like the best?” I asked curiously.

“Tarta de Santiago always but I mostly like all kinds of sweets, I have a bit of the sweet tooth.”

“A bit?” I raised a brow,

“Ok, maybe a lot but that’s beside the point.”

How the hell does he remain in shape then?

I have a bit of a flabby body because of all the sweets I inhale but honestly I didn’t mind them one bit. It shows I’m healthy and that’s all that matters.

But how does he not have even a bit of fat on him?

“So how are you going back?” He asked.

“My car’s in the garage so I took a bus here. There one within ten minutes going back.”

“I can drop you, I have the rest of the day off.” He said looking so hopeful.

“That’d be too much trouble for you-”

“You’d never be trouble for me.” He said quietly.

Don’t. Blush.

Who was I kidding?

“Jeez, you Americans do love to flirt, don’t you?”

“Half American half Mexican actually,” he said over his cup. 

I had guessed that much.

“Semantics.” I tsked, waving a dismissive hand.

I watched as he finished his coffee,“ I’ll be right back, I forgot something.”

“Sure,” he grinned.

I quickly got up and went back into the kitchen. I eyed the slices of the cake that I made beside Martha where she was mixing eggs in a bowl.

“Martha, do you mind if I buy the rest of the Santiago cake?”

She smiled at me,“ I’m assuming Zach liked it?”

I widened my eyes,“Ofcourse not, it’s for Willow and me,”

“Really? You hate this cake.” She raised her eyebrows, folding her hands across her chest.

“Fine. It’s for him.” I groaned.

It was as if her face was going to split in a smile.

“Ofcourse you can take them. But no paying,” she said sternly.

“But-”

“No.” She repeated and thrust the packet of cake she had quickly packed into my hands and went back to mixing.

“I-”

“Melantha Iris Mikael.”

“Okay, okay. I’m leaving.” I raised my hands and backed away.

I quickly stuffed the packet into my backpack and walked to where Zephyr was sitting.

“Can we leave?” I smiled.

He grinned and stood up, tugging me gently to where his car was parked. He opened the door and nudged me in.

His car smelled like him and I took a deep, inhaling the scent of pine and wood and something else, something  spicy.

“To the dorm?” He asked, climbing onto the drivers seat.

“Yeah,”

He nodded, “How long have you worked here?” He asked me curiously.

“From the time I joined Glasgow actually, Martha is my mother’s best friend.” I mumbled.

“So do you enjoy working here?”

“I love it,” I paused and a question popped in my head,“You play the violin really well.” Finally addressing what I saw when we first met.

He stilled,“Thank you.”

“How long have you been playing.”

“As long as I can remember. My mamá always loved playing violins. It was our thing.” He said with a small smile. But there was something sad about it.

And so I changed the subject,“Have you always loved sweets too?” I teased.

He gasped and snapped his head towards me, looking outraged.

And then paused.

“Actually,yeah.” He frowned turning his eyes back to the road.

I smiled and leaned my head against the window,closing my eyes.

It scared me how much I trusted him yet I felt as if I knew him all my life.

That I could trust him blindly.

“Zephyr?” I mumbled sleepily.

“Yes, sweetheart?” He asked softly, his voice so tender that if I was more conscious it’d make me blush.

“Call me Iris,”

And then I let myself relax, the soft music lulling me to sleep

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Hey guys!

Since it's my birthday today, this is my gift to you guys for always encouraging me to keep writing.

Love,
XxAelinAsh