Piece of Cake Chapter 1

   It had been four months since I last saw him; the boy from the bakery. Each day would draw on in an agonizingly slow torture as I eyed the sliding doors of the hotel entrance. I found myself returning to the lobby more often than my own room to wait for the boy, just so that I could catch a passing glance of his beautiful smile one last time.

   Yes, I was meant to leave the hotel a few days before to head back home, but the trip was delayed as my father suddenly had urgent business to attend to. It was in no sense a unique occurrence, but there was no way of telling when we would truly be leaving, and I couldn't possibly have allowed myself to go without a final glimpse of my heart's desire.

    Sighing, I loosened my tie and leaned back against the lobby's couch, resting my head against the back in frustration. I laid my arm across my face as if to hide the fact that I might never see the boy again. It shouldn't have mattered so much, really. I was a wealthy business man's son. I was being bred to take over the business so that my father could finally retire. From what I gathered of his visits, the boy was nothing but a simple baker, perhaps not even that; perhaps he was just an errand boy.

   I had reminded myself of those facts time and time again, but there was just something about him that I couldn't escape from. For what must have been the hundredth time, I vividly recalled the first day that I saw him.

   My father and I had just arrived at the Caper Hotel. We hadn't even had a chance to retire to our rooms when the company's business associates asked us to drinks in the lobby. Of course, father agreed. For an entire hour and a half, I was bored out of my mind and reaching my wit's end, when the boy walked in.

    I glanced at the sliding doors as they opened to allow entrance to a beautiful, blonde-haired boy. My gaze was instantly drawn to him. His eyes were like open windows letting in a fresh breeze and a clear view of a gorgeous, baby blue sky. His smile lit up the room more than any chandelier ever could, and his expression was so soft that it made him seem fragile. It made me feel as if he was something precious that I needed to protect.

   He headed over to the main desk with what looked to be a cake box and left his delivery with the receptionist. As he turned to leave, his eyes met mine and I swear, it was as if time itself stopped to allow us an eternity to get to know one another. I wanted very much to approach him, but had I left my father's meeting at that time, it would have looked very bad for our family. I had no choice but to stay put.

   Realizing the same, the boy simply smiled at me and left.

   I didn't expect to see him again, but the next day, he returned with yet another cake. Again, our eyes met, but my accursed courage fled, and I retreated to my room, tail between my legs.

   "Damnit, Cole, you've got to pull yourself together! You talk in front of a bunch of judgmental old farts all the time!" I tried pleading with myself, but I didn't go back to the lobby for a few days, for fear of running into the boy again.

   Finally, I worked up the courage and slipped out to wait in the lobby. If anything, I wanted apologize for being rude on the previous occasion. I owed him that much. As I had expected, he came back for yet another delivery - someone in the hotel had a thing for sweets, it seemed.

   After he finished his business at the front desk, I intercepted his path to the exit and cleared my throat, attempting to seem more confident than I truly was.

   "I apologize for turning my back on you the other day. I had a lot on my mind and didn't mean to be rude." I threw out a lame excuse.

   He smiled, nearly flooring me with the beauty of it. "It's perfectly alright. Think nothing of it."

   We stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, blocking the door - which left us with quite a few snotty glares from some upper class nutters attempting to act like they had pressing business that we were apparently keeping them from.

   "Well..." He broke the silence. "I'd better get back to work. Boss will be upset if I take too long."

   "Right..." Disappointed, I mentally berated myself for wasting the precious few minutes that I had with him. Oh well... I thought. At least I got to hear his voice...

   "Hopefully..." He spoke again, yanking me out of my newest fantasy. "I'll see you again next time..."

   My eyes widened as his face broke out in a blush. He's so cute... "Of course." I managed to squeak out.

   After that day, we ran into each other a handful of times, managing to exchange a few words here and there, "How are you? How's work?" and other such mundane conversations. I grew more and more impatient with myself, and had finally decided that his next visit would be the day that I would find out his name. Yes...I had yet to ask for his name.

   As I had many other times, I mentally attacked myself for being so stupid, when I felt a light tap on my elbow. My heart instantly awakened and I jumped in excitement, believing it to be the one I had been waiting for.

   Unfortunately, I was in for quite a disappointment.

   "E-excuse me sir..." One of the hotel's bell boy's stammered. "Are you quite alright? It's just...it's getting late, so I wondered..."

   Sighing again, I pushed myself up to my feet, grabbed my jacket off of the back of the couch and tossed it over my shoulder. "'m fine."

   I was about to head back up to my room, when a thought suddenly occurred to me. Why hadn't I thought of this before?! "Hey, do you know who orders all of the cakes?"

   The kid seemed surprised, but thankfully, he knew the answer. "Oh, yea! That's Lady Pentatoodle on the eighth floor, room 802! Or...was it...Pentanoodle..."

   Ignoring the smoke coming from the boys ears as he tried to remember the exact name, I ran to the elevator. If anything, that woman would at least know what bakery the boy was from. If I could just find out that much...

   I ran out of the elevator the second the doors opened, and dashed down the hall, searching frantically for room 802. My heart was beating so fast that I was afraid I would collapse before I reached my destination. I wasn't sure why I was running, but the second I had found a lead to the boy, I just felt the need to hurry.

  "800...801...802!" I slid to an abrupt halt in front of the door and took a moment to catch my breath. "This is it." I whispered to myself. "I'll finally get to learn something relevant about him..." Without another moment of hesitation, I knocked on the door.