A Normal Girl Part 1: Actions Speak Louder than Words

Lesson One: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Ryan

Ryan sighs as he fills out the employment application at the back of the bakery. Near closing time, the place is empty of customers, leaving him at a quiet corner table with a pen and clipboard, detailing his availability and skills. Knowing nothing about baked goods, he writes makes toast well under Experience, hoping a little humor will reverse his lousy mood, but he ends up crossing it out.

He’s not in a humorous mood anyway. He’s tired from spending the majority of his energy at the lab all day, writing software for shit pay. It’s only an apprenticeship, and until he finishes his program, he won’t be raking in much cash. He needs something more to make rent, even if it’s something simple. He figures landing a weekend bakery job is better than fast food. As a strict vegetarian, the aroma of fresh bread appeals to him more than burgers.

“You like doughnuts?”

Ryan looks up, suddenly startled, to see one of the employees eyeing him. She’s blonde, slender, and he finds her ridiculously pretty, even in her green, flour-dusted bakery smock, which she wears with a cheeky confidence. Grinning wickedly, she squirts a load of jelly into the center of a sugarcoated doughnut and hands it to him.

Ryan clears his throat. “Yeah, thanks,” he says as he takes the proffered treat.

He can’t take his eyes off the way her smock draws tight around her delicate waist. But...