Arlen's sweets

Arlen got out of bed and stretched before turning on the light. The clock on the wall, a housewarming gift from his father, read 7:30 AM.

His room was small, just how he liked it. Everything was neatly organized against the white walls, with only the essentials. On his nightstand sat a framed photo of himself, Nick, and their father at the opening of his café, one of the few pictures of the mayor he kept on display.

He walked over to the mirror to check his messy appearance.

He spent several hours yesterday, reflecting on the conversation he had with others, shivering at the memory. Justin had pushed him to go to the party, even though Arlen didn’t want to attend. Besides feeling uneasy around so many strangers who were too loud for his taste, he knew Cade would be there, and he wanted to avoid that.

Arlen couldn’t recall when or why the tension between him and Cade started; he only knew it existed. It hung in the air whenever they were together, something uncomfortable that they couldn't escape. Cade’s blank expression didn’t make things any easier. At least with Brennon, he could exchange a few words to fill the silence.

But with Cade, it was different. Cade's blank expression and vibe seemed to invite the awkward silence. He struggled to find a way to start a conversation or approach him. It wasn't that he wanted anything deep with Cade; he just wished they could get along. Unfortunately, that never happened.

Thankfully, they rarely saw each other outside their shared friend group. Arlen wasn't even sure he could call Cade a friend. He'd only joined the group because Justin wanted him to meet more people, only to discover that most of them were his brother's friends.

Justin.

A smile touched Arlen's lips.

He couldn't pinpoint when his feelings for Justin began. He simply enjoyed how easy it was to talk to him and how their friendship developed and remained strong. He liked being around Justin a lot and often chatted about him with his assistant at the café. But he was uncertain if Justin felt the same way about him.

Sometimes, it's easy for friendly feelings to be confused with romantic ones.

That was the reason Arlen never confessed his feelings for Justin. He feared that if he was wrong and Justin didn't feel the same way, it would ruin their friendship, which was the last thing Arlen wanted. Although he had other friends, none meant as much to him as Justin did.

He still remembered that random Tuesday when Justin invited him to meet at a bar downtown. Arlen dressed just right; not too fancy but not too casual either, thinking they would simply have drinks and chat like they often did. However, walking into the bar and finding Justin drunk led to an unexpected moment: he asked Arlen to be his boyfriend.

While Arlen wasn't thrilled about how and where it happened, he couldn't deny his excitement. At first, he thought it might be a joke and worried that once Justin sobered up in the morning, he'd take it back.

But that didn’t happen. Justin really had asked him out. Now, he was dating his crush, and he felt incredibly lucky.

Arlen smiled at his reflection. Two weeks had passed, and everything was going well. Though they hadn’t crossed certain boundaries yet, only sharing a few kisses, but none of them felt very passionate. They hadn’t even had sex yet, but Arlen wasn’t upset; they had just begun their relationship, and there was plenty of time for that.

What he really wanted was for them to kiss more deeply just once. Whenever Arlen tried to take it deeper, Justin always pulled back.

A slight frown appeared on his forehead. “I need to stop overthinking this; we’ll get there soon,” he whispered to himself in his quiet room. “Time to get ready.” The smile returned as he prepared to face the day.

Fifteen minutes later, Arlen left his cozy one-bedroom apartment. His father had bought it for him when he moved out years ago, and its location made it convenient for both the family estate and his café.

After finishing his breakfast, he was about to leave when he sent a good morning text to Justin. This was his routine every morning; he always texted first. He understood that Justin often got busy and forgot to message, so he didn’t mind doing it.

Traffic was light, and he soon arrived at his café.

Arlen's Sweets stood as a large blue-and-pink two-story building. Arlen paused outside for a moment, pride swelling in his chest. Becoming a pastry chef had been his dream ever since he learned the profession existed. After culinary school, his father helped him open his first café, and eventually, Arlen saved enough to buy this one himself.

Inside, the familiar aroma of freshly baked pastries greeted him. His assistant had already opened up, and the employees were busy serving customers.

Max, his assistant and friend, was a twenty-three-year-old college student nearing graduation. Arlen had met him during his final month of culinary school, and their friendship had grown from there.

“Morning, Arlen!” Max called cheerfully.

Arlen smiled. “Morning, Max. How are you?”

“Healthy as can be. You?”

“I'm fine,” Arlen replied. This was how they greeted formally before moving into deeper conversations.

Max looked up from his computer and flashed a big smile at Arlen. "So, how was the party last night? Did you have fun with your boyfriend?" he teased.

When Arlen told Max that he had begun dating Justin, Max felt even happier for Arlen than Arlen himself did, if that's even possible.

"What's with that smile? Nothing wild or romantic happened, okay?"

He remembered Cade's attitude and sighed.

"Actually, quite the opposite," he mumbled quietly to himself, but Max didn’t hear him.

"Nothing romantic? You went out with Justin, right?"

"Yeah, but there were other people around. We just had some drinks and looked around."

"That still sounds romantic to me," Max replied, shifting his gaze back to the computer screen.

Arlen rolled his eyes. "You find romance in everything. Anyway, I'm going up to my office.”

Arlen headed upstairs, dropped off his bag, and tied on his apron before returning downstairs. As he stepped back into the café, his mind briefly returned to Justin.

Two weeks into their relationship, Arlen still felt incredibly lucky.

He just hoped Justin felt the same way.