You woke me up, Jon...

I giggled as I pressed the send button, waiting for his response.

Jonny's response was instant.

Did I, baby? So sorry to disrupt your beauty sleep.... ;( but you and I both know, that someone's telling a porkie...

I rolled around on my bed, laughing my head off. Tangled up in my covers, I was close to rolling off my bed.

You know me too well. So, what can I do for you?

Keep me company ;) My lecturer cancelled my seminar tomorrow, so do me a huge favour by letting me treat you to a meal in Chinatown after our shift ends.

I grinned a little, my mind drifting back to the times when he'd invited me to eat out with him and a few of his mates. My friends had been so jealous that I was hanging out with university students, but they were pretty much the same as sixth formers, still trying to find their place in the world and utterly clueless, but Jonny's friends had been such a laugh.

His roommate Alex got a bit too drunk, so Jonny had had to stop him from stripping off and throwing himself into a fountain in one of the square's we'd passed. That had been one hell of a night.

Sure, I'd love to. I literally haven't had a meal out in yonks.

Great, see you tomorrow, Candy. Wear that teddy bear dress that you wore last week. Cute.

When I read this my mouth gaped a little. Still, I kind of felt flattered that he had a soft spot for it.

He had teased me mercilessly for wearing a dress with such a cutesy print on my chest, but I thought it was adorable so I couldn't resist purchasing it because Winnie the Pooh is an icon of the bear world. How could I pass up on the opportunity?

Ok, sir, will remember to wear pooh dress. ;)

Looking forward to it, Winnie. Christopher Robin x

I chuckled at his humour and switched my phone and allowed myself to drift off to sleep.

* * *

After icing the eclairs, I was particularly cheerful. Finally, the weather was getting warmer after a frosty winter. As well as being bright and promising, Friday was one of my favourite days because of the busy pace. Many of our regulars came to get their usual orders, which I knew by heart, since I'd been serving customers like Mr Donaldson (a tax inspector) and Anita (a seventy year old widow) since I was thirteen when my dad had allowed me to handle the till.

I glanced at my watch and wondered where Jonny was. Usually, he would arrive no later than five minutes and it was now approaching ten past. On Fridays, I had one English Literature lesson in the morning then I had the whole day to myself. Another reason why it was my favourite day.

I was glad Dorothy was having a day off. Not that she would have minded if he had come in late. Jonny was very charming and persuasive when it came to getting himself out of tricky situations.

I had the feeling that if she didn't have a boyfriend, she would have set her sights on Jonny, because I could feel the resentment coming off her whenever she happened to catch our flirty banter...

As I rushed to open the door for a elderly man, who looked like a gust of wind was going to blow him away if I didn't step in to help him, I was greeted by the sight of Jonny Pollack jogging towards me, a book tucked underneath his arm.

The old man paused to thank me, throwing a comment about the weather, and I laughed at his joke without really taking in as I stared at Jonny.

He looked yum. Very smart and put-together as though he'd prepared for a date and I wondered if I maybe he'd met up with a girl earlier.

When he spotted me, he waved at me with a huge grin. I'd never seen him look so exuberant as though he'd won the jackpot. The old man was watching the scene with me. 'What a happy guy! Bound to be a girl whose made his day, eh?' he remarked.

I returned the old man's knowing smile. 'I think so.'

I was intrigued as to who Jonny's new girlfriend was.

Once arriving at the shop door, Jonny paused to gather his breath, and gave me his attention.

'Sorry I'm late, Candy. Had to make a second trip back home because I forgot to take this with me.'

He held the book out to me, which I accepted.

'That's okay, Usain Bolt.'

I grinned as I watched Jonny make Usain's trademark posture, the lightning bolt.

'Still got a way to go, son.' The old man patted him on the shoulder and Jonny laughed in agreement.

As I glanced at the book's title, I almost dropped it in shock and excitement as I screamed in happiness to get the latest book in a fantasy series that Jonny had introduced me to.

It was full of sex, goblins, court intrigue and a strong hero who was a fierce, darkly handsome, promiscuous swordsman, who I was currently fangirling over.

'Oh Jonny!' I was fanning myself, hardly able to form words, while he was watching me with an amused look, obviously pleased at my excitement.

This was the latest book in the popular Swordsman in the Tower series by the famed fantasy author E. R. R. Drummond, a guy who only ever published a new book once every five years. It had taken me three weeks to read the six huge novels in the series. There was news that SitT was going to be turned into a TV series!

'Breathe, Candy. Breathe,' Jonny said, squeezing my shoulder and bent down to my level, his eyes flicking between my widened ones.

'Jeremy's going to have a fit if I have to call an ambulance for his pooh bear,' he continued, with a look of mock concern. 'I don't want to have to tell him that it was down to me...'

I was relieved the old man had left us alone. My coworker Sophia was now dealing with him. It would have looked bad on me if I'd pinched Jonny's nose in front of him.

'Ouch!' Jonny rubbed his nose and chuckled at my action. 'What the hell Candy? Be careful with my face. These cakes need my dashing good looks to attract new customers...'

'Why didn't you tell me that the latest book was out, Numpty?' I scowled at him.

Jonny held out his arms in mock surrender and scanned my body, smiling as he studied my dress.

'Because...' he murmured, 'you only had to look online to see when the release date was, Pooh bear.'

Jonny slung his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.

'Okay, well, thanks for bringing me your copy.' I softened towards him. I hadn't really looked online regarding information about the book and had assumed that maybe it was going to take forever for Drummond to publish the next book because his publishers had a history of pushing back the date.

'Who's the girl you've been seeing?' I said casually as we headed towards the kitchen.

'What?' He was surprised.

'You look really smart like you've been on a hot date or something,' I said, watching as he tied an apron round his waist and washed his hands at the sink, before snapping some gloves on.

'Thanks,' he said, grinning easily, as he looked over his shoulder at me, 'I'm glad you approve, Candy, because I can't wait to dig into your honeypot this evening...'

It was then I realised, with nervous anticipation, who his date was — me! Instead of eating out with his friends like previous times, that meant that it was going to be just us this evening in the restaurant.