Two

"So..." Timothy began.

"Weather's nice today, isn't it?," Red attempted to change the subject. By subject, she meant turning what could have been a confrontation into a means to carry on walking. If she played it off, chances are he might just forget about it.

Unfortunately, Timothy didn't have the memory of a goldfish and seeing Red almost devour the whole plate of samples made him want to try some. He entered the bakery, looking no different to how he'd looked the last time she saw him. Same eye patch and the odd due job. She assumed his natural hair colour had been black, as it surged though the bleached locks of hair which had faded a little more than they were last time. She wondered what colour he was going to try next.

But then the embarrassment of being caught trying to eat all the samples came to the forefront of her mind again.

Red wanted to cry.

"I'll feel bad asking for the free stuff without buying anything, so if you don't mind, I'll just take a look around." he was honest at least, but she didn't know if the samples would even be edible considering they'd been a millisecond away from being scarfed down.

"Knock yourself out, I guess." was all she could say.

He responded with a his usual polite smile, also regretting his actions. He didn't know which of them were in a more awkward position. The one caught eating when they shouldn't be or the one who caught them.

It was around that moment when he remembered why he'd passed by the bakery in the first place. Reaching into his pocket he brought out his phone to show Red.

"Actually, I came because a client wanted this,"

Red picked up the phone, "Cupcakes? We have them on the shelf over there,".

She pointed to the chilled shelving unit opposite herself, where there were in fact, boxed cupcakes and muffins.

"Unless your client wanted some custom made or already ordered them for collection," she suggested.

Timothy's mind went blank momentarily, "I don't think they gave that much information, so I'll call them again."

He stepped out of the shop for a couple of minutes just when her colleague came back.

"Forgot my mug," she said, "Who's that outside?"

"Oh, he was supposed to get something for a client,"

"Fair'nuff," she said, taking the mug back.

Red winced, it was getting worse.

Timothy returned with a little more confidence, "My client said they wanted a selection of 12 cupcakes,"

Red sighed a sigh of relief, happy to finally have something to do. She directed him to the servery which pretty much drew most of the customers to the bakery.

"Here we have a collection of different cupcakes, as you can see. If your client had any particular cupcakes in mind I can sort them for you, if not I'll just choose the most popular flavours,"

Timothy slid the phone over the glass counter.

Taking it, Red saw that the customer did have a selection in mind, so she slid open a separate hatch where the actual cupcakes were kept. The ones in the servery were mostly for display purposes, in fact, they'd been there for the past two months, but don't tell anyone I told you this.

As she began to take out the cupcakes, Timothy helped himself to a sample and tried to start a conversation.

"So, how've things been?"

"With me?" She asked, "Same old, I guess. School, work, that's it. What about you?"

He glanced at the bagels in the self-service area, "I guess I got a couple more clients than usual, so I was able to splash out at that burger place in the park..."

"That hipster place? [Redacted]?" she replied jokingly, selecting two cupcakes and placing them in a tray.

"Well, you know, there are no laws saying the general public can't eat there! The stuff there is good, you should try it sometime!"

"Eh, if I wanted a burger, I'd make it myself at home," Red admitted, "You can probably make 4 burgers yourself for the price of one there, and even to your own taste."

Timothy frowned, "Fair point, I'm guessing you like saving your money."

"That, and if my brother can make it, I don't really need to eat anywhere else," She said pridefully, closing the tray of cupcakes and putting the order through the till.

Timothy took his phone back and fished through his wallet for a banknote and handed it over, "He's good at cooking? I do remember you saying he wanted to make a cake for his son,"

"Yeah, but sometimes he's too good, I was thinking that with his talent, he could go far with a job here in Oakcrest, but he decided to enter the Golden Acorn Challenge."

She took Timothy's payment as he stared dumbfounded at her.

"The Golden Acorn Challenge?" he repeated, "That's perfect for him then! He'll be able to promote himself..."

He stopped for a moment in thoughtful silence, and so Red became uneasy.

"W-What are you thinking about?"

"It's a golden opportunity for promoting businesses, no?"

Eyebrows furrowed, Red looked at him in disbelief, "Yeah, but that's only if you actually can cook."

He folded his arms, "You'll see, you'll see! Timothy Burke is a man of many hats after all!"

And he walked out of the shop.

The cupcake tray was still bagged on the shop counter.

"Timothy Burke also forgot something!" she called after him.

Wordlessly, the young man came back to collect his shopping and with a sheepish nod, he ran off.

Red sighed, he was a strange one, indeed.