Eating Cookies and Avoiding Confrontation (ebs/open)

I need to be stopped >> (click)



Fifteen minutes... It had only been fifteen minutes since Noa had been left alone in the bakery since taking the job, and she was already freaking out. Not that she had much to worry about, the shop was small and quaint; and it was 4:15 on a Tuesday, a promising sign there would be very few, if any, customers. Yet she still couldn't help but dread the moment where she would have to interact with people, and she worked at a bakery, an interaction was inevitable... why had she taken this job again?

Ding!

Noa jumped to her feet, startled by the small egg timer she had set earlier; she had completely forgotten about the batch of muffins she had set out to cool. With one last nervous glance at the door, the petite girl slid to the back of the bakery where the blueberry masterpieces rested. The tray was heavy, much too heavy for most girls her size, but she managed, somehow lifting the tray off the counter and carrying them back to the front of the shop with ease.

Ding!

Again? The girl turned around towards the timer, she didn't remember setting it again, but then again maybe she ha- Noa froze, suddenly realizing the noise was coming from the door and not the timer. Much like a deer in the headlights, she held her spot for a few seconds. You can do this. You can do this. She turned towards the customer and gave them a small smile, her eyes quickly reverting down towards the baked goods she had just set out. This was it, she had to say something. "Hi- uh- heh-- Welcome!" It was all she could muster, but if the person hadn't been paying attention, they might not have noticed it at all.

He'd been on the tour of the town, mentally searching out and noting every place worth wild. So much, he had seemed to be disappointed. The young man had always expected the school to be a little more ... exciting. It was a school of magical gifted people, for crying out loud. You'd think they would have more to offer than old libraries and tiny mom and pop shops. Alas, here he was, the most interesting thing found so far being a small bakery on the side of a worn down street. Admittedly, it had some key things that caught his attention, the enticing aroma for one that immediately caused his stomach to let out an almost unnaturally loud growl. The other was the sweet looking girl behind the counter.

Oliver attempted to put on his best smile then, swinging on up to the counter top. She was avoiding his gaze, and from what he could tell at a glance she seemed pretty plain looking, but her demeanor had a cute charm to it. For a mere moment he paused, not entirely sure if she said something or not, but decided to think little of it and moved on. The initiate leaned up against the counter, watching her lazily.

"I see I've beaten the evening rush?" He mused, his blue eyes shooting a quick glance around the quiet room. It was just the two of them it seemed. As confident as he thought he was, Olive felt the pressure begin to come on. Something cool to say... What would be cool... A joke, perhaps? Something really impressive to break the ice between him and this girl. "You don't seem to be up to muffin." His grin grew cheesy.

Perfect.

... Right?

He was so close. Did he realize how close he was? Noa sucked in a sharp breath, her cheeks flushing instinctively. "Huh?" She took a sweeping look around the bakery, there was no one else there except for the two of them. She already knew this fact, but somehow his proximity had allowed simple facts to evade her mind. "Oh-- heh- yeah..."

She took a step back from the counter, and slowly looked up at him. He towered over her by nearly half a foot, but his face was young and boyish, leaving her to believe he was somewhere around her age. Not to mention he was cute, far too cute to have shown such an interest in her. He's probably just bored. She decided promptly, but she couldn't help but feel extremely uncomfortable, the only thing keeping her calm was the realization that soon he would buy something and leave. Noa was only a quick stop in his day. She could do this.

"You can sit anywhere you'd like and I'll- oh-" Noa stopped mid sentence as he spoke again, this time with a joke. She looked at him curiously and blinked a few times. Feeling forced into showing amusement, Noa let out a quick, awkward laugh. "Heheh, yeah..." She looked around the shop, desperately hoping someone else would show up and put her out of her misery. After a minute of desperately trying to will someone else into coming into the shop and having little success, she glanced back up at the boy, and attempted to hold his eye contact. "But uh- yeah, um... you can sit anywhere that you'd like... And I'll-- I'll be right over when you want to, uh, order." Her voice was soft but kind, despite the awkwardness she exuded. "Or if you want- if you wanted to maybe, well I don't know- but if you wanted to order here that's fine too... I can also.. uh- help you here too... if you wanted to do that, I didn't know..."



that joke was super clever, 5 points to gryffindor

Oliver's face almost fell as flat as his joke as she stumbled over her own words, not exactly seemingly to know what to make of his total genius. He had to hold back a huff, wondering what this girl was thinking to not have caught onto his good joke. Oh well, it didn't matter much. It wasn't as if he didn't have more up his sleeve, probably. "I don't know, mate. You're the baking expertise here, aren't you?" He dropped both elbows to the counter, shooting her a wink. "I'm new around town and wouldn't know the first thing about what's yummy here. I don't think I can sit in good faith until you can help me form some sort of plan. I don't want to be lost and alone in this sweet journey."

Alright, maybe he was being slightly over-dramatic, but he was determined to get the best of this girl's attention. What sort of name could he make for himself if the first girl he'd tried to sweep away just ended up letting him down. He had to stay strong. In it to win it.