Lana closed up shop. She carried the trays out and went straight for the bin.

“Hey, didn’t we meet earlier today?” a man asked.

Lana turned to him, her hand ready to shove the entire batch of cookies in the trash. He was tall and handsome. “Oh…” she said, wanting to straighten her hair. Alas, she didn’t have a hand to spare. “Umm… I don’t think so? I’ve been at the shop all day.” She nodded at her humble establishment.

“I could have sworn you bumped onto me earlier today? Asked for my phone, to look something up?” the man squinted, suddenly looking less confident. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Lana shrugged and pressed her lips together. “Must have been someone else, sorry.” Then she carried on with disposing of the cookies.

“No, stop!” the handsome man said.

“What? What did I do?” Lana said, freaked out.

“I wanna try some.”

“Of these? Here.” She raised the tray to him.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He picked one up and tried it. His eyes gave it away. “Oh, wow, these are great! And you were going to just throw them away?”

Lana sighed. “Business is bad. Please, you’re a stranger, don’t let me bother you with my issues.”

“Okay, you know what? Give me all of those cookies, but in a bag please, I can’t get any more crumbs on my suit.”

She giggled. “Okay…” Why was she giggling like a teenage girl? Stop it, Lana.

“And… I’ll ask again for a coffee sometime. Please don’t think I’m only buying your cookies so you’ll go out with me. These are really good. No, I’m buying them, and, then I’m asking you out for a coffee sometime, for the second time.” He gave her a big smile and waited for her reply.

“I… Uh… Seriously?”

“Very seriously.”

“Okay… I guess I could do tomorrow. I’m so overworked, so… afternoon?”

He clapped his hands together. “Excellent! Now, can I get those cookies to go?”

Lana contained her excitement. “Sure.”