Nathan's Sweet European Vacation Part I
It is early May, and college athlete Nathan is finishing his exams and water polo practices before summer break officially begins. It’s been a long grey winter in the Midwest, and Nathan is aching for a change of scenery. For this summer, Nathan has planned a backpacking trip across a few Eastern European countries.Excited about his upcoming adventure, he daydreams of hiking in the countryside, visiting small towns, tasting local cuisines, and meeting new people. In preparation, Nathan has been training hard to build stamina and endurance for this five-week journey.Four Weeks LaterNathan is now a little more than halfway through his European adventure. So far, he has not been disappointed with the scenery, the food, and the wonderful people he has met along the way. The only thing that Nathan was not prepared for was his budget. About halfway through his trip, his funds are running low. To compensate for this miscalculation, Nathan has opted to take cheaper hostels and seek out odd jobs to earn some quick cash to keep him traveling. On this day, his journey has taken him into a small old-world town on the outskirts of a sprawling forest. The town was picturesque with its squares, cobblestone streets, and crowded shops and homes. Around two in the afternoon, the townsfolk were shopping, dining, and chatting. At 6’1 and dressed in his backpacking gear, Nathan stood out as he walked through the streets. His presence made the heads and eyes of men and women take notice. Young and in his physical prime, Nathan’s ego swelled, his cheeks blushed, and strutted from the attention. Since it’s been several weeks on the road, Nathan decided to spend a little extra money tonight to secure a private room at the hostel and go out with hopes of meeting someone.As Nathan passed the market on his way to find the town’s hostel to book a room, he began to smell the most delicious sweets. Almost hypnotized, his nose leads him down a small winding alleyway to a bakery tucked away from the main street amongst the surrounding stores and apartments. Nathan peers through the window of a small bakery. His eyes widen as he looks upon the large variety of sweets neatly organized in bins, on trays, and displayed on shelves. Nathan has never seen anything like it before. He was never one for pastries due to his training and keeping his lean physique, but he was hungry and on vacation – So why not treat himself? As Nathan entered, he noticed that the shop had a few patrons in local garb, picking loaves of bread, rolls, and sweets and placing them into their wicker baskets. Their appearance looked a bit disheveled as if they lived in the nearby forest rather than in town.Upon seeing the visitor, the patrons gathered their items quickly and made their way out of the shop. Nathan noticed that none of them paid for the items or that the shop had a vendor behind the counter.Nathan walks further into the shop and becomes fully engrossed in the sweet smells of everything around him. His mouth begins to water as he takes deep breaths in. Upon exhaling, Nathan is alerted to his undeniable hunger.Nathan is quickly snapped out of his daze, by a warm baritone male voice, asking “Can I help you?”A bit startled, Nathan turns around. He was not expecting to see a tall handsome man standing there with a tray of doughnuts. The baker smiled at the young lad and asked again if he could help him with anything. A bit lost for words, Nathan fumbled out “Hey.” “Hi, my name is Gareth.” The baker said with a smile. “Welcome to my bakery. You have come to the right place for some sweets. I have the best treats in the county.” “Hi, I’m Nathan. I was just exploring the town, and I smelled your bakery from the main street.”As Gareth welcomed Nathan with his wide grin, the baker encouraged him to look around the shop. Nathan saw many of his favorite treats from his childhood (e.g., cinnamon rolls, strudels, and doughnuts). However, the tall lean lad was taken aback by the sheer volume of never-seen-before local treats. Nathan was in awe, drool slipping out from his lip. He slowly spun around from one delicacy to another. A few moments later, Gareth, noticing how memorized by his treats, snapped his fingers a few times to get the boy’s attention. “Hello, can I help you find an item, or would you like to sample something specific?”“Ummm, Oh! Hi, yes. Sorry, your store is amazing. I have never seen anything like it. I have not been one for sweets since I was a kid, but this place is something else.” Nathan sheepishly admitted. “Thank you. The shop has been in my family for centuries, and its pastries are legendary. Once tasted, some find it hard to resist going back for seconds.” Said Gareth.“I can believe it. Everything in your shop looks delicious. I was thinking of grabbing a few items for the road. I have been on the road for a week, and these treats would keep my energy up.”At that moment, Nathan’s stomach begins to rumble again, forcing Nathan to rub both hands across his abs to settle it down. Looking down, Nathan notices his watch and that it is getting late. After this, he realizes he forgot to secure a bed at the hostel for the night.In a panic, Nathan asks the baker where the hostel is in town. “Unfortunately, our town doesn’t have one. Our town is small and rarely gets visitors. Some places may have a spare room to rent out.” Nathan, hungry and a bit panicked, asked Gareth if he knew of any rooms or accommodations nearby that might be available for a night. The handsome baker, while grinning, says, “This is his lucky day. As I have a room available, he could have it for the night in exchange for some help in the kitchen. I will even let you have the left-over bake goods that don’t sell.”“Wow, really – Thank you!” Nathan, overjoyed by this lucky turn of fortune, was excited to not only secure a place to stay for the night, but have tons of treats to load up on.Hearing Nathan’s stomach rumble again, Gareth tells him to put his gear behind the counter and motions him to follow him to the kitchen. Let us get you something to eat, and I will show you some tasks to complete by closing time. As they entered the kitchen together, Gareth's eyes were on Nathan as he was shocked by the size of the kitchen space. The kitchen must have been twice the size of the retail space. At the heart of the kitchen was a large wooden table covered in trays of pastries. There were large pipping bags full of different fillings, cooling racks of pastries waiting for filling, and loaves of bread cooling. This place is crazy, Nathan said. It is like a factory. Why do you have such a large kitchen in a small town? The proud baker reminded Nathan that they have been in business for centuries and supply the county. We ship in bulk and have many clients around the globe who enjoy my creative creations. Gareth then gestures for him to sit at the table. As he sat down, his tall broad frame was dwarfed by the towering cooling racks, making Nathan feel like he was at the kid's table at Thanksgiving. Now faced with a table full of desserts, Nathan fully realized how hungry he was... starving.“Oh man, I am so hungry. May I have some to eat while I work?” asked Nathan.Gareth, “Of Course! I need help preparing these treats for sale. As you work, feel free to eat whatever you’d like. I have my little black book of instructions on the table next to you.” Nathan then looked over at a very old, dilapidated journal. “It is all common sense really, but feel free to use it if needed.” “First, if you could fill these doughnuts with the assorted creams, decorate the cookies, glaze the cinnamon rolls, and powder the strudels. Then you can help me with the pies, bread, and chocolate croissants. I will be running some errands and will be back in about an hour. Then I will close the shop and check in on your progress.” The baker heads towards the kitchen door, stopping to take one last look at Nathan as he opens the book of instructions and pages through it, completely unaware of his current predicament. Gareth, knowing what is in store for his new guest, slowly closes the kitchen door behind him and quietly locks it.
Mungo-Grubb
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