[Flour Power] abandon your toys [myf]

It wasn't to say that Caleb had been waiting days for that afternoon.  He hadn't been tapping pens at the auction house, thinking about what he would do when this time finally arrived.  His stomach hadn't been growling for a croissant, a loaf of bread, or even a cupcake for the whole week he had avoided Flour Power.  He had, after all, told Miss Myf Rosser that he would be back 'at the same time next week'.  And those things were important to ladies.  The details always counted, right?

Nonetheless, Caleb was still early.  Five hours early.  He had told his girl at the office that he wasn't coming in.  Needed to clear his head.  He hadn't been sleeping.  He felt under the weather, with Myf-shaped rain clouds in his head.  He hadn't mentioned the part about the stunning baker.  In fact, he was pretty sure that his secretary did most of his job on any given day anyways.  These were the kind of thoughts that comforted the heir to the Carlisle estate.  These were the very same thoughts that let Caleb feel like just about anybody could drop whatever they were doing and have a sick day.  Even Myf.

The bell chimed over the door to the bakery, and he resisted the urge to join the line along the baked goods.  Oh how good a cookie would feel right now.  But there were sweeter things where he was headed.  He walked along the line of bread lovers, a few of them casting an askance look at him, daring him malevolently to cut them in line.  But he was not there for the baked goods, but rather the baker.  He slipped by the register, winking at the casheir as she slipped sickles into the till, the sort of wink that let her know that all was well, that he was just saying hello to Myf, that he was a friend, and that he was allowed in the back.  Walking back to the kitchen, he didn't hear someone trying to stop him, whether they did or not.

He only heard the clattering of pans, smelled the melting butter, felt the heat of ovens left running.  Stopped in the doorway to the bakery's kitchen, he spotted the girl he had been looking for, the baker, hard at work, head down, and in the middle of something.  But that was alright.  Caleb imagined that whatever it was could wait.

"Well hello there, Miss Myf Rosser."  Caleb smirked fiendishly, leaning against the wall, a hand in his jacket pocket.  "What are you doing over there?"

The charm oozed, perhaps more than he had intended.  But that was a necessary thing, when trying to steal a baker from her bakery.

This day was nuttier than the batch of Nutter Your Beeswax she whipped up earlier in the form of a breakfast cake for the day's special. The shoppe smelled fantastic! The honey roasted nut mix all crushed and sprinkled atop a honey and cider battered loaf of breakfast case was nothing short of brilliant. Mmmm! And entirely right for the day's occasion! Especially when Skye wouldn't stop pestering her about why she looked so happy and why she was all dolled up and why she was more bouncy than usual... all to which Myf responded with a vague shoulder shrug and a skip in her step. One thing lead to another lead to the birth of the day's special! Funny how all that stuff worked out in the end.

But with the good, fluffy feelings of expectations for the end of the day in the form of one Caleb Carlisle, came this insane crowd! And it wasn't relenting! Not that the petite woman minded, though her poor hair might have a mind to start protesting. See, Skye didn't seem to be able to leave the decorating counter and Hadley couldn't leave the register as well as a new hire that Myf was pretty sure Hadley had brought in from the street. Literally this morning. When it got busy. And Hadley's hips were about to give out. A recipe for disaster. A slow and steady kerplunk! if things didn't sort themselves out soon. Myfanwy shook her head and let out a huff as she set the fresh batch on the wooden table to cool before sliding in the next tray to the stone oven. She padded her hands against her apron, leaving a small tray of flour and a sticky line of honey behind.

Myf turned her back to the tray and crossed her arms in a moment of relaxation. She couldn't be upset with the business they were getting as of late, but she was seriously going to have to talk to Skye later tonight and see about hiring some new people. Two? Myf's head fell to the side and she played out a day in her head. Two would work. And that would mean that Myf could have more time to herself! And then she could look halfway decent all the time and not just when she woke up hours before her shift to attempt to tame her frazzled hair and make herself look far more awake than she was with a hint of eyeliner and light pink eyeshadow!

A jingle brought Myf back to the present and the woman made her way back towards the oven, "You ready in there?" She said softly, peaking in through the small worn window of the stone oven. "Hmm..." she needed a better look. Tucking her hand around her apron to avoid being burned. Satisfied with the appearance, she exchanged trays once more and set this new one next to the previously cooling tray. Next step was the toppings! Easy enough, just... where did she put those crushed nuts... "There you are!" She said with relief, reaching across the table and snatching up the bowl of glazed yumminess! Settling back onto her heels her train of thought had suddenly hit a wall -- "Huh?" Was the first thing that flew out of her mouth. Her brow arched upwards as she distinctly remembered no male being brought in to work today, and yet the voice sounded happily familiar.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion then; the turning around to see the culprit, the realization in the form of eyes widening, cheeks rouging, a quick gasp, and the grip she had on the bowl becoming nonexistent and gravity taking over.

He was here... already.

Myf gulped hard, the bowl still falling slowly as her rush of thoughts skittered through her mind. And she looked like this; hair tied up and tousled, flour streaks on her face, apron covered in Merlin knew what, complete with sad looking shoes that were solely meant for working in the back. The outfit she intended to wear was splayed out across her bed upstairs; her sheer light pink blouse paired with a white, lace camisole underneath, a pair of flared beige slacks with these to-die-for leopard print heels and matching necklace and bracelet. Instead she got caught in her baking attire. Her mouth opened and all she could muster was a pathetic, "Baking?" Blink. Blink.

Bend and snatch! The bowl was back in her hands, minus a few nervous nuts. She straightened up, set the bowl down, and furrowed her brow accusingly at Caleb, "You're early, Mister Carlisle." She attempted her best accusatory voice but couldn't help but melt at his whole being in the doorway. It was lax and... dare she admit charming? She let slip a small smile of her own and her features softened. Myfanwy closed the distance a bit between them as she locked on to the taller man's eyes once more. "Did you lose track of time or did you really miss me that much?" Her eyes narrowed playfully, her lips parting into a toothy grin and her heart fluttering wildly at her boldness.

Myf's look made Caleb feel everything he craved feeling around other women.  The barely noticeable eye-widening, the electric lines running between two pairs of eyes, and that one moment where everything around them blended into one big 'surrounding'.  Anything could happen in that millisecond, and in Caleb's head, all of it did.

And then the moment passed, and Caleb was left to take the rest of her in, as he already had been.  He found the specks of flour on her cheeks adorable on the backdrop of her rosy cheeks.  There was strength in her baker's bun, and her apron, while messier than Caleb's would have been at home, conveyed a sense of hardwork and constant business.  She definitely did more work in a day that Caleb did, perhaps even more than he did in a week.  All he did was sit around drinking scotch with wealthy art dealers, arguing about the price of a red canvas.  There was something endearing about a woman doing what she wanted.

He chuckled at the simple one word response.  "Well I can see that."  She was moving in closer.  His skin tingled at the mere thought that they might graze each other.  The hairs at the back of his neck settled as he stifled any visible excitement he may have had.  This was just the first date.  He couldn't act too goofy, right?

She just had to call him Mister, didn't she?  He couldn't fight his smile back, but he could keep his lips sealed, biting his tongue.  The way she said Carlisle was sweeter than any cookie he could have gotten in line.  Since when was he such a romantic?  Oh that's right.  He always had been.

"Oh my timepiece broke a long time ago.  And don't they say the early bird catches all the worms?" Caleb closed the distance to Myf, keeping the worktable where the honeycakes sat between them.  "I didn't want another one of your suitors coming by and stealing my time with you."  He watched Myf's face as he made the comment about other men.  She was beautiful, after all.  But it didn't matter if there were other men, not that there were.  He was the only one there now, and that was all that mattered to a guy like Caleb.

"Anyways, I don't know what time it is where we're going, but if we want to be safe, we should probably get going.  Can I help get you out of here by eating one of those cakes for you?"  He really hadn't been able to shake the wonderful smell since he had walked back there.  His eyes glazed over at the look of the cakes cooling.  People always told him he had to let things like bread and cake rest, but he never had been able to.  Perhaps that was why Myf was the one doing the baking.  He nearly grabbed a corner of a cake, but instead he glimpsed the bowl of nuts he had ignored.  They looked good.  "Oooh what are those?"

He didn't wait to hear about it.  She had teased him about not being able to wait.  He would have to do something playful too.  So he reached across quickly and grabbed an almond and popped it into his mouth.  He caught Myf's eyes as he did so, raising his eyes with a tease and winking as he crunched down on the nut.  Glory glory, nutty-lujah.  "Oooh, those are good.  Can you bring some of those with us?"

Touche, Mister Carlisle, touche.

And to that, Myf shook her head with a smile on her lips. Though it was hard to not have a smile plastered on her face, especially when her company consisted of Caleb and Caleb alone. As that was presently the case, well, so a permanent smile for the time being it was! Until his next comment which made Myfanwy rouge even moreso than before and she fought back her immediate reaction to scoff. Suitors. Please. She coaxed her thumping heart back to normal speed and welcomed the dissipation of her frequently colouring cheeks. Perhaps the constant flushing was good for her skin? Kept it alive in a sense? Sure? That seemed to be some kind of a happy conclusion, a positive outcome of all her split second embarassment for the past not even ten minutes.

Funny effect he had on her. Hmm. "Get going?" She asked, perplexed, as she wiped her hands idly in her apron. She knew something was likely planned for the two of them but with Caleb it seemed there would be one surprise and then another. The woman fought back her natural urge to smile and allowed for only a small bit of evidence in the form of a smirk.

"Whisking me away to our own Wonderland, how positively chivalrous of you, Caleb." Myf said in a sing-song voice before her attention was brought back to the hopefully cooled cakes. Oh shoot. She frowned then. It would seem even in all her building up excitement and the effect Caleb seemed to have on her... well, work was still in existence. Ho-hum.

"Tell you what..." Myf began bargaining, one hand propping itself on her hip and the other brushing aimlessly at her flour-powdered cheek, "We can take a tray of whole nuts if you sprinkle those on the cakes after I glaze them?" A small act for Caleb, but one that would perhaps help in her case to leave early for the day. Not that Skye was likely to object since she was the one that started this whole meeting of sorts in the first place by informing Caleb of her birthday not too long ago. It was only fair! Right? Right! Myf justified it and then acted on it. Taking her wand she magicked the two pourers filled with thickened honey glaze and guided them over the cakes, easing them into a drizzling angle.

Now, where were the whole nuts...she couldn't help but smile once again as she thought of Caleb's reaction. Such a man. Thinking with the stomach, not necessarily the mind. Finding the sheet of dried glazed nuts, she funneled them into a bag and spying that Caleb was finishing up, Myf felt her heart begin to flutter a little more sporadically. "Here!" She balanced one tray in each of Caleb's hands and stole the moment she had to use it to her benefit as either a means of distraction or else disaster, "Don't drop them!" Fair warning alert! "Just set them on the counter behind the register and let them know they're all set, I'm going to just change really quickly, they'll understand!"

3... 2... 1... peck.

"Go!" She urged, slinking past him and hustling up the stairs through the hallway until she managed to twist herself comfortably into her chosen outfit in record time. And time was of the essence! At least that was what Caleb had portrayed! Myf skipped back down the stairs, closing the door on her furry friends who chased her with a series of low barks and paw scratches against her flat's door. Giving a quick brush of her cheek in hopes of clearing away the flour remnants, Myf gave a small shake and straightening out of her body before declaring a simple, "Okay! All ready!" She was smiling again, the distance she managed to keep between them ever closing.

"Ohh, wait." She plucked a clip from her hair and let it fall down her back before pinning up just one side. "Now I'm ready." For what? Who knew what was up Caleb's sleeves. But lucky for him Myf was more than willing to find out.