The afternoon had soon arrived and the customers had trickled down to a manageable number as was the case during teatime.

As I was placing a cup in front of a customer, I thought I saw a familiar figure walk past me, going straight to the counter to wait in-line.

I glanced over my shoulder and who did I happen to see but my favourite person in the whole world: Zachary (note the sarcasm).

Thankfully, he hadn't seen me yet, so I took the opportunity to check him out.

He seemed to be glaring down at his phone. Obviously, he must have received some bad news or, as I suspected, that may have been his normal expression. I felt sorry for him.

But I had to remind myself that they guy was the son of a billionaire, so what had he to be miserable about?

I headed towards the counter where Jonny was dealing with the customers. He was in a particularly cheerful mood today, perhaps because we were going out on a dinner date later. I noticed that he was telling me more jokes than usual.

I didn't know what was going to happen this evening, but I thought that I'd let events progress at their own pace and see what happened.

'One hot chocolate with whipped cream, Pooh bear,' Jonny said to me, as soon as he'd finished speaking to a customer.

I flashed him a smile to show that I'd heard while Jonny gave me a wink.

My dad had decided to try out some local produce from a nearby farm that had been recommended to him by one of his chef mates.

Apparently, the eggs the farmer sold were excellent, so my dad wanted to see if they made any difference to the taste of his pastries.

His second in command Marge was managing us this afternoon, but she usually popped in every hour or so at the most while the majority of her time was spent in the office, reading trashy romance novels.

Although, she was no pushover, just someone who was used to making people fall into line with minimal effort and fuss.

I hummed a little as I made the drink. Soon, I could hear the familiar deep, displeased tones of Zachary Malone.

Jonny's lips thinned as he listened to him. When he tried to speak, Zachary cut him off. I sighed.

What did he want now?

Zachary was pointing to me and I raised my eyebrows at Jonny, puzzled as to what he wanted. I couldn't quite hear over the music playing in the background.

Running a hand through his hair, Jonny came over to me, giving me a crooked smile. He glanced back at Zachary. 'Weird request, but the guy wants you to serve him. Stubborn bastard.'

I stared at Zachary who was leaning against the counter, tapping his fingers impatiently against the surface.

Who did he even think he was? I wasn't his personal slave - that was probably the only reason why he bothered to come into our bakery. To annoy me.

'Tell him I'm busy, Jonny.' I nodded down at my cup, not really wanting to spoil my mood by serving him.

'I told him that.' Jonny narrowed his eyes at Zachary, who was now pouring himself a glass of water, as was his habit, while he waited for me to prepare his order.

There was the sound of a wolf-whistle which made me almost overfill the cup. 'Why did you stop dancing, Candice? I was enjoying the booty shake."

I didn't know whether to shake him or not. A blush was spreading on my cheeks and I rubbed my palms against my cheek nervously. Jonny surprised me by wrapping his arm around my waist, almost as though... he was claiming me as his property.

It was actually funny to see Zachary's face darken as he watched my friend whisper something in my ear.

'Is that the moody guy who came in a few weeks ago? Do you want me to kick him out because I can...' His head was tilted to one side as he studied me.

'Jonny, you can't do that to a customer!' I gave him a shocked look and he tugged at my long plait, cackling wickedly, which in turn made me laugh as well.

Meanwhile, Zachary had grabbed a pile of napkins and was now aiming a few of them at us. What a weirdo. When I stepped away from Jonny, he stopped his childish behaviour, going back to glancing at a free newspaper someone had left behind at a table near him.

I gave Jonny the cup to give to the teenage girl who'd requested the hot chocolate; she was gazing at Zachary with an interested look as though she would have minded purchasing him as well.

Good luck to her.

Despite Jonny's protests, I headed over towards Zachary and gave him a tight smile.

He didn't immediately look up from the newspaper, so I had to snatch it away from him, making him grimace at me.

'What will it be today, baby?' I said in a soft, motherly tone.

He was staring at my dress, and I watched as his lips twitched as he took in the Pooh sketch around my breast area. 'You're in no position to judge my behaviour, girl. Isn't it a bit late for Halloween?'

I shrugged, choosing to ignore his comment. So what if he didn't like my style? I could live with that.

'Did you just come here to badger me or what?'

Grabbing the menu, his other hand reached across towards my chest area and slid out a pen from my pocket, making my eyes grow wide as saucers.

His palm brushed against my left breast, rather quickly, making me all flustered.

Zachary didn't seem to notice that he'd invaded my space because he was too busy pointing out what toppings he wanted on his buttermilk pancakes. I guessed he was either a touchy-feely guy or completely oblivious to social norms.

However, Jonny didn't seem so forgiving and he intervened just as I was collecting his menu.

'That's not on. You can't just grope Candy up like that.'

Zachary slowly raised his head, eyes glinting with malice as he stared at Jonny.

'What are you talking about?' he demanded.

His fingers were drumming against the counter, irate.

I stared at the both of them, unsure of what to do in that situation. I'd never had two guys fighting over me before.

Even though I didn't want to be the cause of conflict, it was quite flattering.

Jonny wasn't bothered by Zachary. In fact, he seemed even angrier as though he found Zachary as annoying as I did.

'You heard me. She may work here, but it doesn't give you the right to treat her like your property.'

Zachary laughed contemptuously. Internally I was cringing yet kind of flattered that Jonny was defending my honour, even though I probably would have mentioned if it had bothered me.

Whatever Zachary may have been, he didn't seem like a pervert.

His jaw clenched as he studied Jonny, and I could tell that he wasn't best pleased with Jonny's insinuation regarding his conduct towards me.

'Who says that she's your property?' he shot back.

Jonny's face had been tense up until then. When he heard those words, he looked ready to jump over the counter and sock Zachary one.

Then he seemed to remember that we were going on a date as he glanced at me and flashed me a small smile, which I returned bashfully.

Zachary who was studying us with interest.

'Oh, I understand now,' he smiled knowingly. 'So this guy here is your boyfriend?'

'It's none of your business,' I replied quickly. It really wasn't, although I couldn't help wondering why he was so interested.

Unless he wanted to go out with me? Probably he'd get bored of me and move onto someone else once the novelty of slumming it wore off. He was a player; I wasn't looking for someone like that, no matter how attractive he was.

Besides, he had a shitty personality.

Sure, he may have got me a bunch of expensive flowers from a high-end florist in Kensington (I googled the company name) but apart from that, it was the only kind gesture he'd performed on me.

Jonny wasn't budging from his position and was trying to force Zachary to apologise. I was lucky there were no other customers waiting in line while the billionaire's son was saying that he wouldn't apologise for something that obviously hadn't offended me.

'-Besides, I've had plenty of experiences where I've placed my order and guess what?' Zachary leaned forward towards me, now ignoring a fuming Jonny.

I was enjoying the display of machismo. Internally, I was actually giggling.

Zachary was a twit, but he had his funny moments.

'What?' I said.

Neither my dad or Marge had chosen to make an appearance at this moment. We would have been scolded for talking to a customer for so long, but as he was becoming a regular, it could be excused to some extent.

I hoped Zachary would bring some of the other rich kids in tow someday. Word of mouth was always good for an independent business and it didn't hurt to make it a hot spot for celebrities.

A theatre was opposite us, so a crowd of actors frequented our shop. A very famous veteran actor in a Marvel reboot superhero series was a regular customer and a nice guy as well. Not at all stuck up or demanding.

Unlike a certain guy who was now opposite me, offering my pen, which I accepted, tucking it back into my breast pocket. 'They didn't follow my instructions. What can I say? I'm very particular,' he finished off.

Zachary pressed his palm below his chin and grinned boyishly at me, making me want to jump into a cold bath, just to cool my rising temperature.

He seemed to enjoy my discomfort, especially now that there was another guy in the picture.

Did anything bother him? He wasn't winning whatever stupid game he was playing with me. This guy seemed to think he was someone special because he could wriggle his way out of difficult situations without having to resort to using his fists.

'Right,' I exhaled and glanced at Jonny, who still didn't look convinced.

Both of them had their egos to protect so there was no other option, but for me to step in and be the peacemaker.

'Jonny, It's fine,' I soothed, glancing at Zachary, who was watching us like he was lounging in front of the TV catching up on his favourite drama.

I decided to change tack. Kill him with kindness. 'The gentleman here was trying to make sure I understood his order. No harm meant. Now, please take a seat, sir. Your pancakes will be with you in fifteen minutes.'

Satisfied, Zachary straightened up and downed the rest of his water, before wiping his wet lips with the back of his hand. Jonny shook his head and walked away muttering something about the guy not being remotely anything like a gentleman while I set to work making a his espresso.

'Don't skimp out on the honey, Pooh bear,' I heard Zachary say as he walked away, chuckling softly.

I winced. Now he'd resorted to mocking my date. Jonny was right about him not being a gentleman.

Zachary had a childish sense of humour, but he was an interesting character, I guess.