Eclairs
"If you're in the mood for something sweet, I've got eclairs...cookies, brownies.. marzapan... Cinnamon buns....."
"Eclairs... I'd prefer those to the sugary sweetness of marzipan," he nodded. "But cinnamon makes me sneeze." His pale eyes twinkled with merriment.
Her lovely lips quirked upwards. "Well, are you in the mood to sneeze, or to eat?"
"I'm far more in the mood for something both soft and firm, rich and light, filled with creme and drenched in a dark glaze." He sounded wistful and whispered. "The Eclair..."
He was impressed that she kept her gaze steady. "Just one, sir?"
"For me, one is usually a good ... beginning.." He managed to just avoid winking at her. "Won't you have one with me? I'll pay for it, of course." He watched her slide her hand to the wax paper and manage to hold her hand steady above the treats as two faint patches of pink formed on her cheeks. He moved his own hand to the inside left breast of his long coat and whispered, "And if you like your own sweets.. I'll be happy to offer another.."
"Well," she answered, miraculously keeping her hand steady, he thought. "It’s not customary to share desserts with patrons. However..." she continued as she glanced at the clock. "it's been a slow day. And I *never* turn down an eclair."
He laughed softly. "Never? I chose well then.." He watched her place one of her delicate creations on a white porcelain dish.
"Eclairs are one of my favorites. That’s why I make so many of them." Her smile surprised him with it’s bright width. "What would you like to drink with that, sir?" She quickly placed another eclair on a separate dish, then tossed the wax paper into the trash: Then she wiped her hands on her apron in a moved that seemed borne out of reflex.
"What would you recommend other than cold white milk?"
"Well, there is always coffee or tea, depending on your tastes. "
He followed the arch of her silvery-blonde eyebrow. Then he pulled his wallet from his pocket and passed over a few bills of the local currency. "I don't suppose you have champagne?"
She seemed surprised because she blinked. She shrugged, then said, "I have a few small bottles that I use for catering..... But if that's what you want."
"Yes! I think that would be perfect."
"I'll be right back then."
She turned swiftly on her heel and walked through the steel swinging door. He noticed as she moved how the tightly wrapped apron accentuated her swaying hips. He made a small noise that resembled a soft whimper as he watched her vanish through the doors, but was sure it was swallowed up by the sound of a hermetically sealed door opening and closing in the kitchen.
Ethan poked his finger into the eclair, broke the delicate flesh of the confection and gathered a bit of the sweet filling on his finger. The proprietoress returned with a single-serving size bottle of champagne in one hand and a fluted crystal glass in the other. Ethan watched her back out of the kitchen, enjoying the view immensely. She was a very attractive woman and he had a ‘feeling’ about her. Something more than met the eye.
Slowly, he licked the eclair creme off his finger as she set the glass and bottle on the glass topped counter. Her blue eyes moved across his plate and up to his face. "You couldn't wait to try it, 'eh?"
He liked the smile that moved across her lips. "I'm notoriously impulsive."
"Well, being impulsive can be good... So, what do you think?"
"I think it's perfectly marvelous."
She slid the bills off the counter and tallied them into the till. "What do I owe you for the champagne?" He asked, licking a bit more of the thick creme from his finger as he regarding the bottle.
"Do you have another 6 dollars?" She smiled at him.
"I do indeed."
"Aye, well, six dollars should cover it."