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If he’s being honest, Caleb loved the rain. It reminded him of the many rainy afternoons in Blumenthal when his mother would make cocoa and he’d read by the fireplace. As much as he liked the rain, he liked it even more when the sun would peek out and he would play outside with his friends or help his father with the sheep. Caleb missed home.
But, Caleb also enjoyed the way his shop sort of glowed in the afternoon sun. It came out just as rarely in this city, and he always spent bright days curled around a book and the shop cat, Frumpkin, near the large window in front. The little shop that Caleb and Nott owned together was on a long block of brick buildings that had all sorts of shops on it. 9th Avenue was always bustling with people despite the usual buckets of rain, but there was never more than a trickle of customers frequenting his shop, and that’s the way he liked it. While Caleb missed the life he had, the old two level apartment he shared with Nott above the bookshop had become his new home.
People rarely purchased books as of late. Occasionally, they’d pick up a title and skim through before putting it back and waving goodbye. Caleb never minded when people read his books but never purchased them; knowledge is meant for sharing, after all. He and Nott made enough revenue to keep the shop going through is little friend’s handmade buttons and bookmarks and plush toys, and it was more than worth it to be surrounded by his favorite things.
-
Today was a sunny day; it was about two in the afternoon, and the morning clouds had all but disappeared. The chime at the door tinkled with the promise of a new customer, and he shuffled over to the front desk, giving Frumpkin a habitual little scritch behind the ear.
“Hello!” The bright voice startled him. He turned around and froze minutely as he took in the big ruffles and blue hair and flour-and-freckle dusted face. The girl was wearing a pale purple apron over a lacy, frilled, knee-length pink dress. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and Caleb grinned a little, almost subconsciously.
“Yes, hello. How can I help you today?” While he managed to say his usual greeting without stuttering, he was finding it unusually difficult to do so.
“I’m Jester! I own the little bakery next to your shop, but I’ve never come in to say hi,” she said with a bit of a pout, “But, I thought because it was so pretty outside I’d come and say hi now!” The grin returned to her face full force.
“Well, er. Hello,” Caleb really was at a loss with this girl.
“Oh, right! Here!” She lifted a white box Caleb hadn’t noticed before. “I didn’t know which flavor you’d like, so I brought one of each!”
She opened the box to reveal 12 carefully and colorfully iced cupcakes.
“There’s your usual chocolate and vanilla, this one is coffee, there’s strawberry and a raspberry over here, and then I just started making matcha, and then there’s a rum raisin though they aren’t my favorite, and there’s also lemon and orange and blueberry and cherry and the cinnamon sugar is the BEST!” She rushed out the entire sentence like she was too excited to pause for breath.
“O-Oh, OK then. Danke,” Caleb was rather overwhelmed. He hesitantly reached for the blueberry cupcake, and looked up quickly to Jester for confirmation before taking a small bite. The icing wasn’t too dense, and the blueberry filling was the perfect balance of sweet and tart; it was delicious. He sighed happily before he could stop himself, and then flushed pink with embarrassment.
“It’s good, it’s, it’s very good. Thank you again,” Caleb said, muffled a little by another bite of cupcake. Jester giggled and nodded happily.
“Well just know, you can come over any time and have a cupcake on me!” Jester shut the box with a flourish, and placed it gently on the desk beside him. She noticed Frumpkin suddenly, narrowly avoiding smushing his tail with the box before making a sharp high-pitched noise and picking him up.
“Ah, that is my cat, Frumpkin. He likes scratches behind the ear, here,” He waited patiently for her to put his cat down before showing her where to pet. Frumpkin purred loudly, and Jester made another noise of surprise, wide-eyed.
“What’s that noise?”
“Oh, he makes that noise when he’s happy,” Caleb said with another small grin. Has she never seen a cat?
Jester nodded in understanding, then looked back Frumpkin very seriously. She made sure to get Frumpkin’s full attention, before blowing air between her lips in an attempt to purr back at him. Caleb let out an abrupt laugh before reigning himself in. Instead of being offended like he expects, though, Jester just laughed with him. After a couple of minutes purring at and petting Frumpkin, Jester got up begrudgingly.
“I have to go back to the bakery, my break is almost over. I’ll see you soon though, right?” She said hopefully with another small pout. Caleb couldn’t help but smile.
“Sure, ja. That was a very good cupcake,” He hesitated, before pushing on. “It was good to meet you, Jester.”
“You too! I never did get your name though,” Jester said with an amused smile. Caleb startled a little, and realized she was right.
“Sorry, ah, hello, my name is Caleb.” Jester’s smile becomes a full grin.
“Caleb! I like it. Caaaaay-leeb,” She tested his name out repeatedly. He decided that he liked this bubbly, energetic girl.
“Thank you, again, for the cupcake. I’ll come over for another maybe tomorrow, ja?”
“I’ll leave those other cupcakes here though, yeah?” She didn’t wait for an answer before skipping to the door and turning for one last dazzling white smile, before rushing back to her bakery. Caleb heard a chuckle from the back corner, near the spiral staircase.
“What just happened?” He turned to Nott with wide eyes.
“I have no idea, but you have icing on the corner of your mouth,” she laughed, before scurrying the rest of the way down the staircase and making a beeline to the cupcakes.
-
When he’s closing up that night and sees that the shop sign that used to say, “Blumenthal Books and Nott’s Knick Knacks”, now says, “ Blumenthal Boobs and Nott’s Knicker Snacks”, he remembers a certain pair of mischievous eyes and laughs. He goes inside and sits back at his window with a smile. He’ll fix it tomorrow.