I’ll just close my eyes and throw a mental dart, and then whatever I’m looking at when I open them is what I’ll get.
Doing so, he opened his eyes.
Well, key lime pie it is, then.
He opened his mouth to speak –
And then he saw the specials board on the counter.
Banoffee bread and butter pudding, made from our own bread and served with locally made vanilla bean ice cream!
At the exact same moment, a wave of the world’s most heavenly smell hit him as someone out the back of the bakery opened an oven door and pulled out a tray containing a row of perfect, individually sized puddings.
“I’ll have the special,” he said, his mouth outrunning his brain. “And an English breakfast tea.”
The woman behind the counter smiled. Her name tag readEmily– she hadn’t been here the last time he’d visited. Not that it would make a difference, since he knew that Sylvie wouldn’t remember him. He’d made very sure that no one would remember him, that first time he was here.
“There’s a twenty-minute wait for the pudding, since we bake it to order,” Emily said. “Is that okay?”
“Absolutely,” he said. He would be happy to wait an hour just to find out what kind of taste accompanied that divine smell.
“Oh, and I’ll have one of the warm lavender cinnamon donuts in the meantime, to keep me going,” he went on, his mouth apparently having decided that it was going to do everything without his brain’s input from now on.
No, I agree,his brain whispered.Eat the donut.
Fat lot of good you are,he shot back at himself, but there was no venom in it. He reallydidwant to try the lavender donut.
Emily’s eyes twinkled. “Good choice! The donuts are my favorite.” She passed him a table number. “There’s a table by the window that’s just come free – someone will be right over with your donut and your tea.”
Thanking her, he made his way over to the single newly free table, right next to the front window, which afforded a perfect view of the snowy streetscape outside.
The perfect place to enjoy cake and tea.
Of course, he could just namedrop himself as Aubrey Z. and get whatever he wanted – but that wasn’t how he operated. Besides the issue of having to use his powers more strongly in order to maintain anonymity, he wanted an authentic experience. Everything he reviewed, he did so as a completely normal customer. No special treatment, no free rides. Otherwise, what was the point? He wanted his readers to know whattheycould expect, not what a reviewer could expect.
“Here’s your tea and your donut, sir!” said a cheerful voice, and he looked up to see a woman whom he immediately recognized as Sylvie, both from his memory and from her name tag. She was looking a few years older and a little frazzled from how hectic everything was, but in a way that made it obvious that she was enjoying herself.
Sylvie, of course, didn’t recognize him at all – which was how he liked it.
“Thanks,” he said, as she sat the food down in front of him. He gestured at the hustle and bustle. “It looks like you’re doing well for yourself.”
“We get by,” she said with a laugh. “But no, seriously, we’re doing really well. Though this is crazy, even for us.”
“You deserve the success,” he said, before freezing up. It wasn’t like him to slip up like this.
Sylvie tilted her head curiously. “Have you been here before?”
Max thought about lying, or using a mild burst of his powers to distract her and change the topic, but decided against it. He was here simply for his own pleasure, not a media-publicized tour. There would be no reason for her to suspect.
“Once, a long time ago. It was pretty quiet back then.”
“I’ll say. I definitely didn’t have a smooth start when I first opened,” said Sylvie, with a reminiscing look in her eye that piqued Max’s curiosity, before she snapped back to attention. “Well, I’m really glad you came back. Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“No, I think two desserts are enough,” he said truthfully, hoping that she would leave before he caved in and ordered something else.
“Well, just call out if you need anything!” Sylvie said with a smile, as she headed back to the counter.
Max examined the donut sitting on the antique-looking plate before him, nestled next to a spray of decorative herbs and flowers and a small scoop of orange blossom ice cream. It was so large that a part of him regretted having ordered it on top of a second dessert.
