Shattered Love

Chapter 13: The Time Stops And Stare

The bakery was packed with customers be it from teenagers to elderly, everyone wanted a piece of delicious pastry with thirst-quenching beverages. Rae had her hands full on serving the seated customers while Alexandra was more efficient in dealing with the customers lined up at the counter.

It was five in the evening that the bakery was no longer packed like before. With that, Alexandra had Tera working by the cashier while she entered and exited the kitchen section repeatedly to serve all the baked goods in the display case. After a while, she stopped serving and stood by the corner to watch the surrounding in her bakery.

By the door were seated a couple maybe in their late twenties talking and flirting with each other judging by the flirty gestures the lady was throwing at the guy. While on the other side of the bakery was a man dressed in his fancy leisure suit, typing and working on something on his laptop.

It has been four days since the bakery was first opened and since then the bakery had received a warm welcome. Everything worked out the way she had planned.

Kring kring!

The bell at the door rung as the customer entered the bakery. He slowly took a seat at the corner by the door, just opposite of the couple. Alexandra who was free at the moment approached him and smiled.

"Hello, welcome to Sugar. What can I get for you?" She voiced out in one go.

The man looked up immediately as his eyes widened and his mouth gaped.

"Alexandra?"

***

He frustratingly ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair. A tired sigh escaped from his lips as he leaned back into the leather chair. The lead his men had found only led him to a dead end. Everything his men had found, everything led to nothing. Rosie must have covered up her tracks real good for him to find a dead end everytime.

His eyes was closed, but shot opened a few seconds later as he zoned in his eyes towards the muscular man in his smart casual attire. The man stood confidently in front of his desk, clasping his hands together at the back. He stood proudly like a soldier, no doubt the man was a highly trained SEAL back in his days before he moved to England to pursue a security job.

"I'm sorry, sir. We'll try to find another clue for you as soon as possible." His man said, bowing his head a second after he excused himself.

Letting out a breath of air, he once again groaned tiredly, full of frustration that until now he has not even made a progress out of all the clues. He then leaned back into the leather chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. His eyes took in the mahogany-walled office before stopping at a picture frame on top of his desk.

A picture of him smiling widely with Alexandra.

He remembered the night the picture was taken. It was at her engagement party. No one could beat her, looking so pretty and beautiful in her soft chiffon pink dress.

Two years had passed, and still he couldn't move on without knowing where she had gone to. The worries struck him hard and he couldn't sleep peacefully for days, since. Bad scenarios often made a scene in his head, taking his worries to an extreme level.

Has she been well out there?

Has she been living under a roof?

Or is it, has she been taken care of by someone who loves her truly?

He sighed despondently. He couldn't lose hope. It had been two years since he started this, and he had no intention of giving up now. There's too much to lose and he was not going to risk it. Whatever it takes, he was determined to find it out.

Slowly, he got up from his seat and put on his trench coat. His fine oxford shoes clicked against the wooden floor as he made his way to the foyer of the house. The house was no longer a peaceful and cheerful sanctuary like it used to be. All just seemed so... dull.

Walking down a block while having his mind drifted away, he had noticed that it had been half an hour when he took a glance at his watch. He stopped midway, looking around in hoping he would get some clue of where he was at the moment. His eyes caught a small blackboard sign with a phrase 'Just Opened!' writtened on it before his eyes moved to the sign above the shop.

Sugar.

It didn't come to his knowledge on why had he approached the bakery, but all he knew was that his heart brought him there, and he knew all too well that his heart was never wrong.

The bell by the door rung as he entered. Without wasting another minute, he slowly took a seat, just opposite of the couple who was most probably on their date. He smiled painfully, as a bittersweet memory surpassed his mind. The young couple in front of him reminded of him of Alexandra - of how sweet she was like almost the bakery was named after her.

As sweet as a sugar.

He fiddled with his fingers, taking off his burgundy leather gloves. The bakery was warm, a nice and comforting feeling surrounding the whole bakery contrary to the outside air - whistling breeze of cold air brushing through his hair. A feeling he needed, just what he needed. Nice and warm.

Not long after, a woman approached his table to take his order. Maybe, just maybe, a nice warm hot chocolate could bring him the peace - the peace his Alexandra always brought for him. Once again, the corner of his lips tugged upwards, not with despair but with lots of warm love he used to receive.

"Hello, welcome to Sugar. What can I get for you?" A sweet saccharine voice filled out the canal of his ears.

That voice! Her voice!

He looked up immediately. His mouth was gaping while his eyes were widened as his gaze met the young lady brown ones.

"Alexandra?" he asked.

Note: Short? Yes. Don't worry. I'll update a bit earlier this week.

Psst! Upcoming update is on Wednesday OR Thursday.