Fiction logo

A Chocolatey Surprise

A Short Story

By Cody DunningtonPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
Like
A Chocolatey Surprise
Photo by daan evers on Unsplash

I live a life of routine. It's what keeps me grounded in what are otherwise chatoic days. My routine is simple: wake up, go for a run, shower, fix my hair, get dressed, go to work, come home, eat dinner, some fun activities, and then bed. Except, on Tuesdays, I switch it up just a little bit. I get up just a bit early, so I can go to my favorite cafe to do my work.

They know me there, and have a little table that they reserve for me and my Tuesday morning jaunts. I always get the same thing. A double shot of espresso over ice. Since I spend my work day there, I usually end up getting iced coffee throughout the day, with lunch from their sandwich menu. I consider Tuesday to be a little treat to myself.

However, this past Tuesday was abnormal. I'm still reeling from my break from my routine and all that it has brought me. My day started out normal. Get up and go for a run. It was a beautiful day out, which was great. The weather is the one part of my routine I cannot control, so nice weather is always appreciated. Then I took my shower, nothing crazy there. When I was done getting ready, I went to the cafe.

It started out like normal. "Hey, Arthur," the barista behind the counter said, "I've got your espresso coming up right now."

"Thanks, James," I replied. It's always James behind the counter on Tuesday mornings, and it's always me with my same order. Easy, perfect. I got my drink and went to my table that had it's cute little sign saying "reserved for Arthur on Tuesdays." The sign was literally embedded into the table now, that's how routine this all is.

After that, I got to work. A typical Tuesday so far. Work is always exciting for me, and that Tuesday was no different. I get to touch up and fix movie posters before they go to print. It's honestly so enjoyable. That particular Tuesday, I got to work on some big upcoming movies which made it better.

Then noon hit, which means it's lunch time. The one thing I switch up every week is what sandwich I get. This past Tuesday, I went with a turkey and swiss on sourdough. It was excellent. As I return to work, that's where my routine got a wrench thrown in to it.

I was sitting at my computer, puttering away on a poster. Moving some text two pixels to the left and one pixel down. Changing the color tone of the background. Typical things. When, out of the blue, James approaches my table. This is something he has never done before. I would go chat with him at the counter occasionally, but he never came and interrupted my work.

"Hey, Arthur, sorry to interrupt your work, but someone bought this piece of cake and asked me to give it to you." He set the cake in front of me.

I gave him a confused look and thanked him. I also asked who, but he said he couldn't say, which I thought was strange. Even though the shake up was definitely causing my some stress, I am not one to turn away free dessert. So I ate the slice of chocolate cake that was brought to me. It was, of course, delicious. When I went to return the plate, that's where things got worse for me.

Underneath the plate, was a note. A short simple note. Hi, I've seen you come into the cafe every Tuesday for so long now, and I just wanted to let you know that I think you're really cute. I hope you liked the cake. Now I will be the first to tell you, I don't handle things like that well. I don't find myself to be desirable. I also have a curiosity streak that will probably get me in trouble some day.

At this point, work was out of the question. I knew I wouldn't have the focus to keep going with that on my mind. So I went to James to try and get some more information out of him. He was super dodgy of my questions, and would only tell me that the customer was no longer there. I was not pleased by this, and went back to sit at my table.

I tried to get work done. I really did, but I couldn't stay on task. Eventually, I settled on watching a movie. That didn't go great either, which is unusual for me. I must have looked like a fidgety mess. Finally, I decided that I should just go home for the day. Nothing was going to get done here anyway. I began to put my stuff away, and that's when everything fell into place.

James came over to my table, no longer wearing his work apron. "Can I sit here?" He asked me. I begrudgingly said yes, and immediately felt bad for being rude to him. It wasn't his fault that all of this was happened. "So. Um. About that cake? Everything okay? You looked a little shaken up afterwards. Was it not good?"

I told him "no, it was delicious. I loved the cake. It just came with a surprise."

That's when I noticed that he was fidgeting himself. "Are you okay, James?"

"It was me!"

That's when everything clicked. James sent the cake. James thought I was cute. My head was spinning. My routine was destroyed. I was okay with it being destroyed.

Now, here I am a few days later, with my routine in shambles for today, too. Because I have a date. A date with a cute barista who has been watching me every Tuesday for a long time. I won't lie when I say that I was watching him, too. I was always just scared to approach him. I'm glad that he broke my routine for me. I'll always be glad for that slice of chocolate cake.

Short Story
Like

About the Creator

Cody Dunnington

Just a 20 something year old with big dreams and access to word processing software.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.