Chapter 5 | Zoe

Chapter 5

Zoe

The bakery is brewing with the sweet scent of bread mixed with coffee. It feels like I can fly enjoying the scent. I love this place. Maybe this is a job, but it's an amazing job.

I take a croissant from the tray and put it into a bag for the customer. "Here you go, have a nice day!"

The customer seems to be happy; she leaves with a nice smile. There's nothing better than seeing beings happy and brightening their days with baking goods. In the end, no one can resist great food.

I turn around and tap the buttons on the coffee machine before heading back to the counter. "Coffee will be ready in a minute, feel free to wait at the side or take a seat over there." I gesture at the tables and chairs, getting ready for the next order.

It is always busy at the store, which is amazing.

I take the finished coffee, ringing customers to collect their orders. Meanwhile, I glance at the kitchen. Stodax is still working on the dough and probably will be onto the next lot.

He is pretty handsome when he's focused on his work. Despite being a big guy who seems to be able to crush me with ease, he feels like a big softie, and that's part of the reason I hired him.

Since he started working here, he seemed to have gained weight. The first time we met, he looked like he hadn't had food for ages. While I like his sharp jawline, he looks better this way.

I pull out my phone and start the camera. Other than serving customers, whenever there's spare time, I hurry to take photos and videos of the bakery. Our usual customers are still there, but I can always use more business.

"Stodax!"

He shudders, almost dropping the dough. "Yes, boss?"

"Smile!"

He scowls instead. "Well..." But he clears his throat soon enough. He forces a smile. "Like this?"

I laugh at that. "I'm just messing with you. Hands off for a bit while I take a photo of the dough."

He has never been someone who enjoys being on camera, so I spare him. I don't think a grumpy face will help the business anyway.

Somehow, other than getting up late and having to rush here, I'm a ball of energy.

Maybe... Just maybe... His electric cock is still messing with me even though we've finished our business for a long time.

I didn't know ricods could do the spark thing until yesterday, that's pretty impressive.

No, this isn't the time to think about his cock, even though merely the thought warms me up from the inside and sends a tingle into my pussy. He's so close, just inside the kitchen. I can go inside and annoy him. Or... Give him fun, since he seemed to enjoy himself yesterday.

No...

I take another photo of the Christmas clothes I bought yesterday. It's time to give the bakery the Christmas look.

There's still a bit of time before we're closing, then we will be decorating.

Well, for Stodax, he'll be cleaning up and getting ready for tomorrow. For me, I'm hanging the decorations and getting everything ready.

I go back to the counter, counting the seconds until I can get everything ready. On my way to work, the streets were already getting ready. As the most popular shop on the street, well, probably the most popular one, we should get ready too.

"Boss."

"Yes?"

Stodax is here, wiping his hand with a piece of towel. "Yesterday, we talked about log cakes. When are we putting them on the shelves?"

"I'd want to say yesterday, but today will do."

"Okay." He doesn't seem excited at all.

I shrug. "Well, are you done with everything today?"

"Other than closing the shop, yeah. Do you have something else for me to do?"

I shake my head. "Not really. Now that we don't have customers, I have the time to ask. Do you want holidays? Vacation days?"

He shakes his head. "No, I'm fine."

"But you know you can take days off, right? Most of everyone takes two days off every week and some extra."

He watches me, seemingly confused. "I know you asked before, but do you mean it?"

I nod. "Yeah, that's obvious."

"But you never take days off."

"Well, I'm the owner, so my life is pretty much this shop. But you are an employee, so you can take days off." I know it is what it costs to start the bakery, but he doesn't have to do that. "Labor law does state that workers should get off days."

He blinks. "What's labor law?"

"Huh? Do you not have that where you used to live? Those are laws that protect workers and state their rights. Say, about official holidays, compensations, hiring and firing."

He scowls. "I thought I've been putting in good work."

"Yeah, I appreciate you a ton. You've been here helping me every single day since I ran into you."

"But you don't want me to keep working."

This is another weird thing about him. He insists on working and won't stop even though I ask him to. When he first started working here, he surprised me by showing up on his supposed-to-be day off. He doesn't seem to understand taking a break, which is confusing. I ask him about that every week, but he shows up regardless.

I clear my throat. "I'm not firing you. I just want you to take a rest when you need to so that you come back ready for work."

"But I've been doing great, right?"

I sigh. he still doesn't get it. "Well, if you insist on working all the time, I guess you can keep working. Just remember what to tell the inspectors or whoever that is."

He nods. "Yes, I remember."

Now I forgot what I set out to ask him about.

He watches me in silence, waiting for me to say something or send him off to do something else.

I fix the Santa's hat. "Ah, I remember what I meant to say. If you put out good work, there may be a prize."

He narrows his eyes. "You don't have to give me a prize for doing my job."

"You're no fun, huh?"

He blinks. "Well, I'm excited and can't wait. What's the prize?"

I wonder whether he just loves to ruin my fun. I go up to him and wink. "Something."

He sucks in an abrupt breath, seemingly caught off guard. "For a while, I thought you didn't like what happened yesterday."

"Is that the reason you've been tense the whole day?"

He nods. "I don't want to sleep on the street."

I pat his shoulder. "Come on. I told you already. Don't worry about that. If I didn't want that, I wouldn't let that happen."

He muses. "Okay."

"I'm not firing you over that."

He lets out a breath. "Okay, thank you."

Despite being a big guy and pretty capable of doing his job and even getting a job elsewhere, he never stops worrying about getting fired. Maybe it's just the way he is, which I guess is what it is.

After the last customer leaves, I hurry to clean the table, doing it as quickly as I will remain polite so that the customer won't think that I can't wait to get them to leave.

Now, I can finally start decorating the bakery for Christmas.

I open the door to the storage room. The decoration items are where we left them yesterday. They are still in boxes, but they already make me happy. I go to the side and pull the ladder. Hopefully, it won't take too long to finish up.

Stodax peeks out of the kitchen. "Boss, is that safe?"

"It is." I take a breath as I move the ladder to where I need it. "Don't worry about that. I've done this for years on my own."

He stares for another second before he goes back to the baking trays and mugs.

I set up the ladder against the wall, then pull the box of decorations. It is going to be fun, and the customers are going to enjoy the display.

I put up the string of lights, sticking them onto the wall with sticky tabs that are safe for the wallpaper.

Stodax worries too much.

It's just putting things up. I check out the wall, sticking the lights at the right interval. When they are ready to go, they are going to be beautiful.

I hum a song as I go. Maybe I should have started the music on my phone before starting the decoration. Anyway, I move to pick up the rest of the lights when something tickles my feet. I turn to look, but I can't see a thing.

Huh?

Anyway, I go back to hanging things up. I pull the strand, but something shoves at me. I spin around but the ladder isn't the right place for abrupt movement.

I try to balance myself and hang onto the ladder, but that's not working. I close my eyes, waiting for my face to smash into the floor. But someone grabs me from behind. I look up to Stodax's face. He lifts an eyebrow at me as he holds me steady in his arms.

I clear my throat. "So..."

He puts me on the floor. "I told you to be careful."

"Thank you." I think the string of lights tangled with my ankle and I was too reactive about that. "Would have been ugly if I didn't manage to fall on my ass."

He watches me for another moment, eyeing me up and down as if he's trying to make sure I'm fine.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, there was an accident, but I'm fine."

He wraps his arms around me and pulls me to him, so tightly that I almost can't breathe.

What is he doing...?

But I let him hold me. His warmth is comforting anyway.

I wait for him to say something, but he doesn't. Yet, he keeps hugging me, not letting go, and doesn't seem to want to let go of me. "What's up?"

When he holds me this close, so close that our bodies are sticking against each other.... his cock twitches and I can feel that. He's getting hard down there, huh?

He lets go of me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to... I mean, I shouldn't hug you, and I—"

I lift a hand to stop him. "It's okay. We fucked each other, I'm not going to stop you from hugging me."

He lets out a breath, seemingly worried about that. I've told him more times than I can remember that he doesn't have to be that concerned about the small things.

But he grabs me into his arms again.

I pat his back and hug him back. Something has to be wrong, but I have no idea. He doesn't seem to be telling me anytime soon though. "It's okay, Stodax."

He lets out another breath but still holds me. I don't mind him at all, but I want to get decorating again.

"Stodax, what's up? Talk to me. You're making me worried."

He lets go of me and takes a step back. "I was just thinking."

"About..."

He blinks, weighing whether he's going to talk more.

I resist the urge to tap my foot and make him hurry. I've never been someone with patience. If a customer stands at the counter like this, I'd invite them to stand to the side and make up their mind before they come to order. But it feels like I should take my time with Stodax.

It takes him a whole lifetime before he says, "I could have been in another place, doing something very different. So... Thank you."

"Okay... I'm glad you're enjoying your time here."

"I mean it."

"All I've done is hire you."

"That's important."

I know he needed a job back then, but needed it this badly? "Keep up the good work then."

"I will. Promise."

Argh... Now he's thinking that I may fire him again. "Get back to washing up and let's get out of here on time. And since you didn't want a day off, get here on time tomorrow, something like that. Everything's going to be fine."

He nods and heads back to the kitchen.

There's no reason I would want to fire him, but he keeps doing that...

Anyway, I'm going to get back onto the ladder and—

Stodax is here again, and he blocks my path to the ladder. "Maybe I should help you."

"I can do that myself for sure."

"No, I'm doing it."

I guess he's not letting me climb a ladder now... If I want to get everything done without dragging it into midnight, I guess I have to let him do the lights. "Well, you can try. I'll do the washing up then."

"Deal. I don't want you getting hurt."

My cheeks heat up. Big guys tend to think that I need help anyway, I'll let him be. "Fine."

After I finish cleaning up, I can set up the Christmas tree. There's always more to look forward to.

Outside the bakery, it is almost dark. The Christmas lights are already on, reminding everyone on the street of the joyful month. I can't wait to be doing something more interesting than washing up. Speaking of which, I think that's the first thing I let Stodax do for me. He tries to do everything for me, but I won't let him. He only has to finish his part of the job.

My heart skips a beat when I rethink what happened. He caught me in time, but he was meant to be washing the utensils.

I put on my gloves and pull open the door of the washing machine. He wasn't paying attention to cleaning. Maybe he has been worried about me.

I peek out of the kitchen. He is on the ladder, gesturing his hand over the lights that I already hung. Maybe he's confused and trying to understand what to do.

He's not a bad guy and has a good cock. Yet, it feels like he has been hiding from something. His presence calms me, but himself...

I shrug and put the plates onto the sink for their final checking and rinsing before I put them away for the next day. If he doesn't want to tell me his worries, those will be his problem. If he wants to keep things to himself, it's within his right.