Vincent didn't understand it. He had tried one about the third time he had bought one for Nathan. Nathan just kept insisting that they were the best thing ever and Vincent didn't get it. They weren't all that good in his opinion.
“They are not that good. I'm starting to think that there's something else going on here and I want to know what it is.”
Nathan shrugged. “If you don't want a get them, just say so. You don't have to make a big thing about it. It’s just a quick run.”
“I'm not saying that I don't want to, I just want a know why the hell you're eating donuts like a cop all of a sudden? I feel like something is going on that you haven’t told me about.”
Nathan just shrugged his shoulders upward and said that he didn't know why. It wasn't an answer, but it was the best that Vincent was going to get. He agreed that he would go get the donuts, but he had no idea why. It didn’t really matter, though. He was already getting used to having a little bit more free time. The drive to the donut shop gave him time to think and plan.
The next day, he was sent out a little bit earlier than he usually was. It seemed like Nathan was getting a hankering earlier and earlier in the day. Vincent got out of the vehicle and didn't think anything about what he was doing there. Or who he was going to see. But then, when he looked up and saw who was running the cash register, he saw a familiar face that he hadn't seen in a very long time. It was the face of the woman that he had been looking for. She was right there, right in front of him, and he couldn't believe it.
Vincent's heart fell out of his chest for a minute and there was no way that he could put it back. Vincent couldn't believe his eyes. There she was, the woman that he had been looking for months. All of a sudden, she was just standing there in front of him, with only a very short distance currently between them.
She was talking to somebody else that he had seen on occasion while he was there. It was easy to see that they were friends, because she was close to him and she was actually touching the guy’s arm. Vincent hadn’t seen her in years, but he still felt a very real sense of jealousy run through him. He did not want anyone touching her. No one was allowed to.
He just stood there for several minutes, staring at her through the glass. Vincent could not imagine his good luck. Here he was, picking up donuts for Nathan, and he had found everything that he was looking for. How that was even possible, Vincent didn’t quite know.
If he hadn’t been sent for those damn pastries, then Vincent never would have found her. He knew that he would have to find her himself, he just never dreamed that it would be in that way. He didn’t think it would all be chance like it was. How could she have been right in London the whole time and nobody could find her?
He started to make his way to the bakery and Vincent didn't even want to blink. He was afraid that she was a mirage or something, and he was so starved for her that he was now making it up in his head. Unfortunately, that was his luck.
When he got inside, the little bell on the door rang and she looked over, meeting his eyes. There was a look of immediate alarm in hers and Vincent was almost ashamed of it. He remembered how he had treated her, what he had said to her. All because she was Balthazar’s intended. She had destroyed her whole life to get away from him, and it bothered Vincent so much back then that he had held it against her.
After their night together, they told each other that they would not see each other again. Both had known the trouble that it might have caused people if they found out. He just hadn't realized that he would miss her so desperately. She had been all he could think about for so long. It was quite amazing how thoroughly she had taken over his mind.
She started to walk to the back and he stopped her by saying her name.
“Are you really going to run away and pretend like you don't see me?”
Their eyes met and she shrugged. “I was really hoping I would be able to.”
“Ouch. That hurts.”
“No, it doesn't. What can I do for you, Vincent?”
He could feel a little hostility or something else. What was it that had her so upset? What had he done? Was she not even a little happy to see him?
It certainly didn't look like it.
“I don't know, I didn't realize you were going to be here. Maybe we could get a cup of coffee or something? You know, catch up?”
Mallory looked at him like he was crazy.
“Why in the world would I want to do that?”
“You act like you don't remember what happened the last time we were together.”
“I remember. I remember that we made a mistake and realized it almost immediately. We told each other that we wouldn't see each other again, remember?”
“That was years ago. You know, I still think about you every once and a while.”
Mallory didn't say anything to that, and he was a little disheartened by it. Of course, he had wanted her to say the same thing. It would have felt better to know that he wasn’t the only one that had felt something.
“Have you thought about me at all through the years, Mallory?”
“I can't say that I have. It was a long time ago. Like you said.”
He pressed his lips together and was not happy with her answer. Instead of saying anything else, he ordered a couple of apple fritters and asked her one last time before he left, if she would at least consider it.
