Whisky Business

Despite how much it contrasts his personality, slow days at the bakery were James’s favorite. The environment of the bakery was especially warm and sweet on these days, with the customers' attitudes usually following suit. So far James’s day has been dotted with regulars with sprinkles of conversation with the customers who he particularly enjoyed. He learned that the sweet old lady who loves the bakery’s apple fritters has finally completed the scarf she was knitting for her grandson. He chatted with a student from the local university about the new art museum in a nearby city, and he calmed a frazzled mother who needed 25 cupcakes for her daughter's birthday. All in all, it had been a good day for James. He sighed contently, licking the powdered sugar off of his mothers latest batch of doughnuts, when suddenly, the door to the bakery swung open. A man walked in, adorned in a black leather jacket and combat boots. He was, in James’s opinion, objectively cool. He shot James a smile and approached the counter. “Hey man, uh, how would I go about ordering a wedding cake?” He said.

James smiled. “I’d say to order 3-6 months before the wedding, and we do consultations for free.”

“Oh sick, yeah that's great. Uh, when are you guys free for consultation?”

“I’m good for one right now if you have time.”

The two sat down and the man proceeded to describe the cake he wanted. He excitedly detailed a three tiered lambeth cake that he wanted decorated with simple floral decorations and a dog and wolf wedding cake topper. James nodded, writing this all down. This order is definitely a unique one, but those were James’s favorite. a Anything that was fun for James to make, he was all in for. James told the man that he could most definitely do this for him, and it would be ready by the man’s wedding. The man, who James had found out was named Sirius,  let out a little whoop of excitement, and officially placed his order. “Dude, you have no idea how excited I am about this. My fiance always gushes about how much he loves your food, and he is going to be so happy when I tell him that you’re making our cake.”

James laughs. “I really appreciate your enthusiasm. Does your fiance come here often?” 

Sirius nodded. “Yeah, he’s here at least once or twice a week. I’m sure you know him, he has brown hair, is scarily tall, and has a scar across his face.”

James’s face lit up. “Oh, Remus, yeah? He’s lovely, he was just in here this morning for a brownie.”

“Sounds like him. He’s absolutely mad about chocolate.”

James smiles. “Who isn’t? It is one of God’s finest creations.”

Sirius shrugs. “I guess I'm not. I am quite partial to sour things.”

“Really? Oh well, I can tell you we make some delectable lemon squares if you would like one.”

Sirius grinned. “That sounds so good right now, I can’t even lie.”

James hops up and goes behind the counter, snatching a lemon square out of the display. He wraps it in a napkin and hands it to Sirius. “On the house.” He says with a smile.

“Really? Thanks man.” Sirius replies, and then gingerly bites the lemon square.

He immediately lets out a low groan. “This. Shit. Hits.” He says, mouth filled with the pastry. 

James laughs. “Thanks. It’s my mother’s own recipe, I’ll be sure to let her know that she did well.”

Sirius swallowed and shot him a grin. “Alrighty, I do have to go now, thanks for everything.”

He gestured with the dessert in his hand. “And I will definitely be back for more of these though.”

And Sirius was right. He popped into the bakery regularly from then on, using the establishment as sort of a safe haven from the stress of wedding planning. James would sit with him if it wasn’t too busy, and at some point, the two had drifted from discussing the wedding and other various types of small talk to discussing their lives. Sirius actually had a lot in common with James. They both adored David Bowie, watched the same shows, had the same sense of humor, and were honestly very close to clones of each other. James was fond of Sirius, and he had quickly become James’s  favorite regular. 

It was 30 minutes before closing one late Tuesday night and James was falling asleep at the counter. He was one slow blink away from drifting off when Sirius barged in, this time with a guest. “James!” Sirius cheered.

James immediately snapped to attention, but he didn’t reply. He was staring at the slightly shorter, skinnier, and dare he say prettier version of Sirius trailing behind. The Sirius double was looking back at him with a blank expression on his oh so angelic face, then broke eye contact to look at the floor. James shook his head and then smiled softly at Sirius. “Hey Sirius, sorry I’m half asleep over here. Want a lemon square?”

Sirius nodded vigorously, then turned to look at his friend. “Reg, would you like one as well? They are actually heavenly, trust me.”

“Yeah, sure.” The smaller man replied and dug into his pocket to grab his wallet.

“No, no need.” James blurted out. “It’s on the house.”

He was unsure why he was declining money from a stranger, but for some reason something inside him would rather die than inconvenience this visitor. 

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Really? You sure?”

James shrugged. “Yeah I mean, I’d have to throw them out in like 20 minutes anyway. It’s not like I'm really losing any actual money.” He said, pulling out two squares from the display. 

“Thanks!” Sirius exclaimed, taking the desserts from James’s hand. 

He then turned to hand one to the second man, then turned back to James. “Oh! James! This is Reggie by the way. He’s my little brother.”

“Regulus.” The man said softly. “Call me Regulus.”

“Alright Regulus,” James said. “Let me know what you think of the lemon square.”

He shot Regulus a soft smile, and felt a little pang in his heart when it was returned by a hard stare. 

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Jeez Reggie. It wouldn’t kill you to be nice to people, you know that right?”

Regulus shrugged, saying nothing. Sirius turned to James. “Sorry about him. He’s constantly got a stick up his ass for zero reason. Hell, it took me about two weeks of pestering him to get him to be a part of my wedding.”

“I don’t know anyone there, Sirius. In what world would that be enjoyable for me?” Regulus muttered. 

Sirius opens his mouth to reply but he is quickly cut off. “You seriously were going to skip your own brother’s wedding because you don’t have a plus one?” James blurts out incredulously. 

Regulus stared at James with something that could only be described as pure hatred swirling in his eyes, while Sirius was almost on the floor laughing. “N-no.” Sirius gasped. “It’s a small, intimate wedding with only really my close friends. Not a plus one issue.”

He wiped a tear from his eye. “Although Reggie, if you would like to bring a plus one it would be my pleasure.”

Regulus scowled. “Sirius, je le jure devant Dieu, je te ferai tellement de mal que tu souhaiterais ne jamais être né.”

James almost choked. Something about French leaving Regulus’s mouth had short circuited something in his brain. Sirius’s brain, on the other hand, was working quite well and he quickly shot back. “Reggie, notre mère y est déjà parvenue à plusieurs reprises. Rien auquel je ne suis pas habitué.”

This caused the corners of Regulus’s mouth to turn up in what could be, if you looked very hard, a smile. Sirius grinned triumphantly at this achievement then turned to James. “Thanks for the lemon squares, and for dealing with Regulus. I’ll see you tomorrow mate.”

“See you tomorrow.” James said, and with that the two brothers left the bakery.

James rested his head on the counter. His chest hurt with a feeling he had never felt before. It felt like a mix of what felt like disgust, joy and something indistinguishable. James wondered why it felt so close to lust, yet so different. He shook the thought out of his head. Who would he even be feeling that for? It was just Sirius and his brother around recently, zero women for at least an hour. He was, to say the least, confused.

–

The door to the bakery was a struggle to unlock. James had been fiddling with it for quite a bit now, unable to hear the satisfying click of the latch. He sighed. He had gotten a grand total of 2 hours of sporadic sleep the night before, and was far too tired to be up and at work at 5am. To his luck, the door unlocked and opened, and to his bad luck, a very disappointed Euphemia Potter was standing in the door. “James.” 

“Hi Ammi.” He said sheepishly. 

“It’s 6:07! You’re supposed to be here at 5 to start.” She chided.

“I know Ammi, I know, I’m sorry. I hardly got any sleep last night.” James said as he walked into the bakery and set his things down in the back. 

“Why Beta? Is everything okay? Are you feeling well?” Effie said, a tone of worry creeping into her voice. 

“I’m fine Ammi, truly. No need to worry.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Effie said as she reached up to cup James’s face in her hands. 

James knew he was lucky to have Euphemia Potter as a mother. While she did in fact fit the overbearing Desi immigrant mother stereotype, she was truly the most loving, caring woman in the world and James knew that it was an honor to be her son. Her soft hands pressed against his forehead, then she let out a relieved sigh. “You aren’t running hot, so no fever.”

“Yeah, I think it was just one of those nights. I’m good, sorry for being late.”

Effie shoots him a warm smile. “It’s okay beta. We opened-” 

She pauses to look at her watch. “-nine minutes ago. Go on, get behind the counter!”

James laughs as he finishes tying his apron. “Ay, ay captain.” He says and salutes Effie, who rolls her eyes as she disappears into the back.  

James stares out the window at the rising sun. The warmth of dawn cast the bakery in a soft pink light, a color that seemed semi familiar to James but he couldn’t quite put his finger on. It was quite a nice color, James decided. 

The rest of the morning went by in a haze. The breakfast rush was a big one, as per usual for a Wednesday, ending with a middle aged woman screaming at James because she found a long, blonde, hair in her food.

 “Ma’am in the best way possible, are you absolutely sure that's not yours?” James sighed. 

The woman’s brow furrowed in anger. “Are you calling me unhygienic? I ought to sue the roof off this place for health code violations! However, like I said, I will refrain if you would offer me even a sliver of respect and give me a refund.”

“Miss, you ate the entire croissant! I can’t refund you if you finished the pastry.” James said, exasperatedly. 

James could. James just did not feel like it. Suddenly, like an angel sent from heaven, a pale hand $2.50 slid across the counter to the woman. She grinned devilishly, scooped up the money, and left without a word. “You’re my savior,” James thanked, turning to look up at the person who helped rid him of the feral woman, only to see no one there. He heard the soft woosh of the door closing, and his heart stopped for a second as he watched a man with curly black hair cross the street through the window. If he hadn’t known better, he’d think it was Regulus. Odd, he never expected one of his regular’s little brothers to stick in his head.