3 Cheese Rolls

Henry

Walking into the cafe, we were met with a delicious scent of baked goods. Lights were turned off yet some of the cafe's interiors were still visible. The place had raw wood fixtures and boasted retro furniture, pendant ceiling lights drooped from above at almost every square space. What greeted the entrance doors was the extended cafe counter made out of marble, able to hold various baked goods and other distillery. Behind the counter were some of the finest cafe machinery I have ever seen.

The door behind the counter opened and the scent of freshly baked bread flood out, filling the entire cafe. A slightly sweet, and warm aroma coated the corners of the establishment, it was comforting much like you were inhaling a blanket on a cold rainy day. Timothy was already giddy with anticipation as he gripped my hand tighter.

Charlie popped out of the door, her face smiling as she shouted, "FOOD!"

Bank behind us exhaled, "Finally." He scurried through us, undeniably eager to grab a bite of whatever was served on the other side of the door.

Charlie interrupted his approach as she clicked her tongue. "Not for you Bank." Her dark eyes spun to us and our belongings, "First dibs are for Timmy and his brother." She then squinted her eyes and placed a hand atop her brow as if she could somehow zoom in her vision towards us. "As I remember, both of them have five bags in total? And I see about...three bags are here." She smirked and raised her brow, "Bank, get the rest of their things at the back of my car. The rest, come inside, we've got freshly baked rolls and hot cocoa."

Bank's expression became frustrated by the minute. I couldn't let Bank retrieve the bags, we're the ones barging on their household. It isn't proper. Plus, the stuff left behind are extremely heavy. Some pots and pans and some of my old law books were there. "I'll get them - "

Charlie cut me off and insisted, her mocking tone clearly geared towards Bank. "No, no, I insist. Let Bank handle the rest of your stuff." Her smirk now ran from ear to ear.

"Don't push it Lee." Bank replied. "I'm not your -" His voice paused and his attention went straight to what Charlie was holding in her hands. A blue colored box with a cartoon themed- poster plastered on its front. Charlie waved the video game box above her, adding fuel to her teasing. I could sense Bank's anger slowly subside. His fists gradually relaxed and was released to his side, he exhaled and gathered himself one last time.

He then left the cafe at lightning speed, fully motivated to follow Charlie's orders.

Charlie chuckled, "Come in, come in. We've got the best cheese rolls in the city. Best to eat them fresh." She placed her back to the door to keep it open for us, as if welcoming us to her world. A bright new start.

Timothy was the first one to enter the room. His excitement charging his body as he sprinted towards the door. I followed and was met with a deeper scent of freshly baked pastries. What was inside of the cafe was another large space almost the size of an apartment complete with a huge state-of-the-art kitchen, a nearby comfort room, two other doors each on the opposite sides of the room and in the middle of it all was a black rectangular table able to house about six people.

Charlie was already sitting on one of the chairs, her back facing the messy kitchen as she sipped tea from her mug. Behind her was a man, cooking and fixing some of the food. Charlie beamed" Sit. Jude is busy with the food. He insisted on creating the perfect treat for you guys." She coughed, "Say something, Jude."

The man turned to us, his body almost entirely covered in flour. "Oh, right! How rude of me. My name is Jude. Jude Bechens. I'm the head baker here in Clovét Cafe. I would shake your hands but as you can see my hands are a bit...filthy." His voice was deep and had a consoling tone while his aura exuded a breathe of calm, a stark contrast from Charlie and Bank's.

I grasped Timothy's shoulders and bowed my head slightly. "Good evening, my name is Henry and here is my little brother, Timothy. Sorry for barging in like this. I'll help you with setting up."

"No need. Charlie's friends are my friends as well. Please, sit." He smiled and went back to setting up. For some reason, his presence gave me a sense of comfort and ease, while his features were -

"You're very nice looking Mr. Jude!" Timothy exclaimed. Charlie choked on her tea, followed by a joyous laugh which resounded across the room. Jude froze momentarily and turned back to us, surprised. My eyes snapped to Timothy whose eyes were still in awe as he stared at Jude. This kid really. I pinched Timothy's cheeks and bowed in apology.

I looked to Jude again and true enough. handsome couldn't even describe what Jude looked like. He looked to be around his mid-thirties, but his age only added to his appeal. He had a tanned complexion and a fit body, his long white shirt tucked into his brown pants only made the lines of his body more defined. But what made him even more attractive is perhaps his greyish-black hair which was swept to the side, accompanied by his stubble beard and distinctive light emerald eyes. A silver fox.

Charlie kept chuckling as she offered Timothy the seat next to her. I sat beside my brother which was the seat across Charlie's, placing our bags behind my seat.

She tapped Timothy's nose and passed a pack of wipes towards me. "Why do you think I hired this man in the first place? His baking skills were only a bonus." She winked to Timothy.

Jude coughed in a desperate attempt to change the subject. "Enough of that and make way for the rolls." He passed two matching sets of porcelain plates and cups towards the table, each containing one fluffy lemon-colored roll and a helping of warm cocoa. Charlie distributed the food to us.

"Jude makes the best cheese rolls in the city. Our cafe has been recognized for its pairing of rolls with cocoa. I highly recommend for you guys to take a bite to savor the taste first followed by another bite to accompany with the cocoa." Charlie said as her eyes gleamed with pride.

Timothy took the first bite and his eyes shone in wonder. Charlie gasped, "I KNOW RIGHT? Go on, take another bite, but now...drink with the cocoa." Timothy followed and was beaming from ear to ear.

Jude sat with us and took the other seat next to Charlie. He placed a plate filled with freshly cut fruits to her and joined Charlie as she looked at me. They waited for my reaction. I looked to my left and saw Timothy waiting as well. This felt like a cult of some sort. The cheese cult.

The rolls looked fluffy and decadent, shaped like a twinky and it was topped with a spread of butter and sprinkled with sugar. I yielded to the pressure and took my first bite. I could feel the eyes watching me, eagerly awaiting for my response.

.

.

.

The cheese roll was amazing.

It felt like biting into a pillow of sweet and savory flavors. The taste of soft gooey cheese melting together with the pastry's sweet and milky nature. What finished it off was the sugar topping as it created another texture against the melt-in-your-mouth roll. All I could say to them was, "It's good." A revelation is what it was.

Charlie and Jude high-fived. Her proud expression continued, almost as if her her face said "my job here is done." It was clear how much the cafe meant to her. For a young girl in her early twenties to be able to create a cafe of this magnitude and hire workers. It must have cost a fortune. Must be why she took on another job in the Brevida Commerce District.

I continued to devour my roll and observed the interactions between Charlie and Jude. The relationship between them seemed more than a typical employer-employee relationship as evidenced by Jude's carefree action of sifting through her handbag. It was more of tidying up her messy bag as it was a mishmash of various papers and folders, and at the back edge of the handbag was a silver laptop loaded with stickers at almost every space. The stickers mostly consisted of cartoon characters raising their finger up and other fun meme-able reactions.

Meanwhile, Charlie was busy with her phone as various notification sounds kept popping up one after the other. Looking closely, she was still wearing her ID, the company lace implied that she was working in ArQue Bank. The ArQue Bank. A worldwide financial conglomerate in charge of managing almost a third of the world's assets. As I remember, the bank was the financial arm of the Nollane family. One of the primö families in Brevida. Only the best of the best are qualified to work there - with only about twelve recruits every year. Charlie must be cutthroat and competitive. It was difficult to discern at first especially from her carefree and joker behavior earlier.

My observant behavior was cut short as Jude asked, "Does the roll taste bad?" His neck craned to face Timothy. His plate still contained about a quarter of the cheese roll. My brother kept his head down, fists tightly closed on top of his legs as he bit his lip. His expression was all too familiar.

Timothy was holding back his appetite.

He knows that all of these luxuries are only temporary. Sooner or later, we'll have to go back to living in tents around the city, consuming small packets of canned sardines and sharing whatever rice we could afford. It pains me to think that Timothy would have to do this.

But we can't go back. We have nowhere to go back to. No one to rely on. My heart ached at the thought.

I stood up to console my brother but it was Charlie who approached first. She knelt down to Timothy, her black slacks touching the flour-soiled hardwood floors. She wrapped her hands around my brother's. "You know, little Timmy...our cafe has a unique policy for customers. Especially for kids like you." Timothy looked back at Charlie, her gaze unwavering as if she understood the plight of having to struggle everyday in hunger. "The first three customers who come to the cafe are entitled to eat all the pastries available from the cafe. And wow look at the time, it's 12:44am. You are most definitely the earliest customer we have ever had in the history of Clovét. That means you get to have this." Charlie reached to her pockets and placed a key onto Timothy's hand.

Jude stood up and walked to the kitchen area, towards a huge vault door beside the baking equipments. Timothy's expression slowly brightened, "What's this for?" he asked. Charlie only replied with a grin and urged Timothy to stand up. My eyes followed the both of them as they approached the vault. The silver vault was huge, similar to a vending machine but taller, its two handles were black and was protected by a lock. Jude stood by the left side of the vault, grasping one of the handles and Charlie the other. Timothy looked to both of them, beaming in excitement. "Go ahead Timmy." Charlie said, her tone gentle and encouraging.

Timothy opened the vault and all at once a bouquet of smells flooded the room. The vault housed an assortment of other pastries, each neatly arranged in a silver pan for about twenty rows. From what I could discern, the collection included a mixture of croissants, cookies, donuts and cupcakes. All the items were illuminated in each row as a warm light was integrated on top of every row's interiors. To keep the pastries fresh and warm it seems. My eyes widened and my stomach growled. Loudly.

My heart dropped as Charlie turned to me. "Well, it's a good thing our policy states for the first three customers who enter the cafe." My body stiffened and it was embarrassing how much we have relied on Charlie and her hospitality. "Pick a row, Timmy. Anything you want, you can open this vault anytime, any day and grab anything you want. What's even interesting is that the insides of the vault changes every day. So you get to taste other goods every day." Timothy was speechless for the first time, his mouth gaping open. Jude swooped Timothy to his arms and allowed for my brother to get a glimpse of the pastries from the top rows.

"Thank you for this." my head bowed to Charlie as she went back to her seat, sipping the rest of her mug's contents.

"My, my. Finally, you seem to have relaxed." She raised her brow and her trickster behavior soon overtook. Flashbacks of how I behaved earlier soon replayed through my mind. I was very rude to her and Bank outside of the cafe and the car ride. That awkward car ride.

"I apolog-" But Charlie raised her hand and only smiled back.

"Completely alright. I know it's hard to trust a random stranger, especially one who offered her home for you guys to stay." Her eyes stretched and I could clearly see the tired lines beneath her make-up. "Gosh, now that I think about it, I seem like a child trafficker." She released a soft chuckle. "To be honest, I would have acted the same if it were me. So it's alright. Good job protecting Timothy." Before I could reply, Charlie stood to her feet and reached across the table, her hand patting my head. "Good job, Henry."

My eyes widened and my face heated. A strange mix of emotions run rampant through me. It had been a long, long time since someone said those three words.

A flash of memories brought me back to my mother as she cupped my cheek with her cold hands. 'Good job Henry, my little bambino.' Her hands, frail as it were, still managed to firmly grip my cheeks as she voiced out her last words: 'Thank you for everything.'

A loud thud of pots and pans interrupted my recollection as a sweaty Bank arrived into the apartment carrying the rest of our bags. His face was red and covered in sweat as he took a moment to breathe in. Charlie only looked to him, mouth curved, amused. Meanwhile, Jude and my brother started to take out one of the trays from the vault - a set of sticky buns.

"Come on, it wasn't THAT heavy." Charlie's tone was mischievous, poking fun at Bank's struggling physique.

Bank raised his head to her, eyes gleaming in annoyance as he now steadied himself. He looked to me and rolled his eyes. "Where's the - " His eyes snapped to Charlie's hand as she held the video game box and coyly swayed her arms to provoke Bank. Bank wasn't pleased.

But then, Charlie clicked her tongue and cocked her head towards Jude and Timothy. And as if in silent agreement, Bank yielded. Whatever Charlie had brought - the video game - both of them did not want Jude to know.

Behind them, Jude set Timothy on top of the kitchen counter as they both proceeded to divide the buns per person. The scent of cinnamon sweeping through the room bringing along the sound of laughter. This atmosphere felt hopeful and pleasant, almost nostalgic.

"Henry, this is Bank. Bank, meet Henry. Be nice." Charlie gestured towards Bank, lips still curled back in a smile. I turned to look at Bank who now stood in front of me, his right palm open for a handshake.

"Nice. To. Meet. You." He said, grinding his teeth in between words.

"L-Likewise." I put on the best smile I could make, I think. But knowing my body, my worn out look, I bet I looked ridiculous. Thankfully, Bank walked away, pushing himself behind me, through our bags and taking the seat next to mine, arms crossed and staring at Charlie. He seemed like a child being deprived of a treat, now throwing a tantrum of some sort.

"Let's eat!" Timothy shouted, his innocent voice bringing smiles to all of us - even Bank.

My brother carried with him two plates of warm sticky buns covered in cream frosting and topped with walnut crumbles. He walked towards Bank and gave him his share. To my surprise, Bank's arrogant exterior softened, revealing a charming smile as he patted my brothers head in appreciation. Timothy's smile only widened at the action and skipped back to his seat.

This is good. And for once, I wished time could stop. My brother was happy and so was I. All of us smiled as we took in the wondrous cinnamon treat. And amidst the company of generous people, inside a roofed shelter of a cozy apartment, I felt content.

In between our snacks, all of us chatted. Charlie's laughter and Bank's jokes eased the initial awkwardness. Jude only kept to himself - the mediator of the group it seemed, since he always kept the two of them from quarrelling. Throughout the conversation, I learned that the three of them were not related, and that Charlie was the one who brought them together, owned this whole complex and had established this cafe only a year ago, with Jude as her only companion. Bank served as the cafe's head barista as he had a way with coffee which was "profoundly magical" as Charlie put it.

There were others Jude said. Other tenants and workers who visit the cafe and reside within this place. The "complex" as they called it was a two-story building consisting of three apartment-sized spaces in each floor. The bottom floor, which was occupied by the cafe and utilized two room sizes; while the top room in the furthest end of the complex, just above the cafe space was Charlie's room. There was only one room available for rent since the other two had already been occupied. As for the identities of these occupants, I was told that we would meet them eventually.

Thankfully, all of them didn't ask any information from us. It was Charlie who kept Bank's queries at bay as she always shot him a look of warning every time the topic came to being. Jude smoothened the conversation as he blended in notable baking trivias and tricks, though his greatest challenge was, ironically, his inability to cook food, or in this case, meals. His forte solely focused on baking sweets and treats, it was Charlie who usually prepares the food - if she had the time to do so.

Charlie talked about her work. Indeed, she worked as an analyst at ArQue Bank in its investment banking division - the most cutthroat division. Nevertheless, she still kept her jovial composure, smiling widely, much like sunshine after the rain. Despite her naughty nature, I could feel an aura of respect being manifested from both Jude and Bank. And as I looked to her again, she did not look like the quintessential twenty year old who's world was filled with parties, vacations and shopping splurges, but before me stood a woman who took on a massive responsibility of providing welfare for Jude, Bank and more in spite of her age. Maybe this was why respect came to her naturally. Even so, I felt something beneath those pecan shaded eyes. An inkling of torment and conflict, a familiar feeling I thought.

It was almost 3 in the morning when all of us decided to get some rest. Bank and Jude continued to share their experiences with café customers. How Bank delights in crafting his special café concoctions and the enigma that surrounds Jude's pastries. Charlie chuckled as she highlighted the fact that every time Jude enters the café premises, with tons of pastries in hand, customers - female customers - hastily make their way to the counter to purchase the goods, and of course, get a glimpse of Jude as a bonus. Jude only sneered. Everybody laughed, with Bank clapping Jude by the shoulder across the table. "Take it easy." he chuckled. Then -

The sharp tone of the café telephone pierced through our joyous laughter. And there it was, the familiar expression of fear and panic, masked under an expression of deep fury. Charlie stood up, her face now forcing a smile as she hid her hand within one of her pockets. It was clear as day, how her hand was trembling uncontrollably.

"I-I'll get it." Her tone was high, too high. The rest of us began to clean the table, with Bank and my brother gathering the dishes to the kitchen sink while Jude and I stayed seated.

The telephone kept ringing.

Charlie pushed back her chair, but Jude grabbed her hand to stop her. His eyes locked to her, expression filled with concern. "I'll go with you." But Charlie dismissed him, wriggling her hand out of his grasp.

She turned to me, smiling flatly. "You guys must be tired. Jude will show you and your brother to your room." She never looked back to Jude as she bolted to the cafe area, making sure that the door behind her was tightly shut. Then, the ringing stopped, and the cafe radio began to play in the background, masking whatever conversation Charlie had undertaken.

"Let's go." Timothy yawned as he tugged the hem of my shirt. I was too engrossed with Charlie's behavioral change that I didn't sense Timothy as he walked towards me from the kitchen.

Bank was still in the kitchen area, putting back the plates and cutlery back to their places. It was Jude who carried our stuff - the ones which Bank had a hard time carrying - and gestured for us to follow. It was clear from Jude's expression that he too was troubled by whatever Charlie was facing beyond the door. His calm demeanor slowly faded, as he swiftly showed us to our room located just on the right-side corner of the kitchen.

The room housed two queen-sized beds and from the looks of it, we were sharing the space with Bank. His side of the room was covered in posters ranging from cartoon characters, video game backgrounds and even movie posters which were framed and placed around the head of his bed frame. Each side of the room had its own desk and drawers, reminiscent of a typical dorm room set-up, but cleaner.

Jude let out a sigh, "Don't mind the mess." He motioned his hands to Bank's side of the room. "I kept telling him to clean his room. I even hid his consoles for good measure." He ran his hands through his hair, stressed. "But that kid never learns. And Charlie, she - never mind." His gaze darkened. "Have a good night." He knelt to Timmy, placed a candy between his palms, ruffled his hair and darted to the door in one swift movement. He must be rushing to Charlie's side by now. Despite my curiosity regarding Charlie's demeanor, it still wasn't my place to ask. Yet, it still bothered me, how in one moment, her lively eyes changed to utter dread.

A heavy yawn slipped out from me, I groaned as my muscles gradually stiffened and my eyes started to give up from exhaustion. I looked to Timmy who was now laying comfortably between the warm sheets, his hand still gripping the candy from earlier. My legs unconsciously sauntered towards the bed. The pillowy soft mattress serving as a considerable contrast from our usual cold damp soil of a bed just hours before.

Tonight, we sleep.

And as I settled in the room, on top of a comfy bed beside my already asleep brother, I heard a loud bang of metal. The sound of a phone handset being knocked back to its body. Followed by muddled sounds of glass shattering across the café floors.