Lupa

Chapter 1

☾ Chapter 1

Lucienne was always one to overachieve. Sometimes this was a blessing, other times it was a curse.

On this particular night, it was the latter.

The night was dark, stormy. The clouds in the sky were heavy and the smell of rain lingered in the dense, fog coated air. To put it plainly, that night would fit perfectly in a horror movie. Of course, this was the night Lucienne had decided to work the late shift at the local bakery.

She could always use the extra money. Besides, nobody comes to a bakery at night. Even when they do, they come in small numbers. A few moms picking up a last minute cupcake order, occasionally a few college kids stopping by for a late night coffee. The late-shift was mostly just payed alone time where Lucienne would get to catch up on reading her latest novel.

This dark night was just as empty as usual. People walked by outside the shop, the city streets busy as usual, but nobody felt compelled to come inside the little bakery.

Until someone did.

Lucienne was reading at the counter. She was waiting for some cupcakes to bake so that they could be frosted and ready to buy for the next morning. She didn't expect anyone to stop by, especially on a night that foreshadowed a heavy rain.

She glanced at her watch constantly, not being able to get very into her book. It was a good book, of course, she was just too worried about having to possibly walk home in the rain to care. She counted the minutes to closing time and glanced at the window, mentally praying she'd be done before the downpour.

She had a late date that night at a club with a friend's friend. She was excited and didn't want to arrive soaking wet from a downpour.

One hour left, she thought.

43 minutes.

22 minutes..

The sound of the bell at the door startled Lucienne from her worries.

When her eyes landed on the young man at the door, she was momentarily speechless. He was beyond attractive. Incredibly alluring.

Lucienne blatantly stared at him, taking in every inch. Her eyes roamed from the heavy, dark brown work boots all the way up to a pair of mysterious, sharp eyes. Somewhere between, her eyes lingered on strong arms and a muscular chest under a thin grey t-shirt and a dark leather jacket. His skin was tanned to golden perfection and he had a black mess of curls covering most of his forehead.

He walked towards her but she didn't seem to notice. Her book, long forgotten, rested limply in her hands, her mind too overcome by the character in front of her to even picture the one in her book. Who, ironically enough, she pictured quite similarly to the man before her. Dark, mysterious, and quite frankly, rocking the whole "bad boy" vibe.

Before she knew it, he was right in front of her, clearing his throat and watching her like she was socially impaired which at that moment, she was.

She snapped out of it as soon as she saw him turn to walk back out.

"I-I'm sorry." She suddenly stuttered, trying to calm herself. She blinked rapidly to focus and sighed before trying to speak again. "How may I help you?"

Now that only a counter separated the two, Lucienne was able to see those dark eyes up close. They were a beautiful deep brown, seeming to hold a world of mystery and wisdom. A dusting of freckles scattered his cheeks and nose, adding an almost childish feature to an otherwise mature face. However, the tan of his skin made this hidden feature hard to make out if not examined closely.