It was either early in the morning or late in the night. The time of day when clubs emptied their halls and drunken visitors tried to find their way home. Birds started to sing their first songs of the day waking up the neighborhood cats. Most people were still wandering through dreamland. Most people expect for bakers ofcourse.

Vanilla was one of these early bakers. She was in the kitchen which was attached to her own bakery. She was young to own her own shop, but thanks to an heritage she could make things work. And she was grateful every day. The girl loved being surrounded by the warming smell of bread and the adorable, different pastries. Everything available in her little shop she made herself. From the bread to the cookies, the croissants and even the coffee and tea. All handmade.

The shop had a few tables to sit and enjoy all the baked goods. The young girl enjoyed the contact with her customers. All of the customers. She liked seeing the tired faces of the businessmen drinking her coffee in the early morning. Sometimes she gave away free cookies to the street kids hanging in the alley behind her bakery. Everyone from all walks of life were welcome in her shop. Maybe that was why her bakery was so popular. But not too popular. It remained just unknown enough to be a secret safe haven for those who knew of its existence.

A soft grunt rolled over her lips as she was kneading the dough for the bread. It was tough work and she knew there were machines out there which could make things a whole lot easier for her. But that felt wrong. Bread needed love and attention and she believed that with such a machine the dough wouldn't get the love it needed. It wouldn't taste the same anymore.

Finally happy with the consistency of the dough, she put the big lump in a bowl which was placed under the ovens. For a little while she wandered through the kitchen. What was next? What was next? Her eyes fell on the window and she noticed it was still raining cats and dogs. What a terrible weather. Thankfully most people were sleeping in their beds and wouldn't need to be out right now.

But most people wasn't all people.

She noticed the figure squatting down close the road. He had a notable look to him. Being bald and all dressed in black. He looked important. Vanilla wondered what a guy like him was doing out on the streets on this hour. In the pouring rain nevertheless. She stared at him for a little while trying to solve this mystery as she finally decided that he was probably waiting for someone. Maybe a taxi to take him home? It had to be something like that.

Softly humming she got back to work. Time to make macarons and little fruit pies and brownies and many more sweets. She enjoyed the tough labor of making bread, but she also liked the more gentle approach to making pastries. To be honest; Vanilla liked every aspect of her little bakery. It was her heaven. Her happy spot.

An hour and an half had passed when the pastries were placed in the oven. Once more her gaze fell on the window. It was still raining. And the figure from before was still crouched down close to the road. He had to be completely soaked. That cab was really late – how rude. And that poor guy, he had to be freezing by now.

Without thinking any further about it she walked to the front of her shop to the wardrobe and grabbed one of the umbrellas hanging there. It was a pastel pink one covered in little flowers. It didn't quite match the guy his clothes, but it had to be better than nothing right? And to be honest it would be quite fun to see a guy like that with a umbrella like this. What would be the harm in that?

With a little smile spread across her full lips she stepped outside. Within seconds the umbrella was opened and she skipped towards the mysterious man. Yeah, she was happy to do her first good deed of the day. Karma god should be proud of her. Without even thinking about it twice she walked towards the guy, only standing still a few steps next to him.

"Um, sir?" Her voice was soft and gentle. A little bit unsure because she was suddenly afraid to bother him. Her whole face was filled with this tender joy as he was so glad she to help someone in need. It made her feel useful.

As soon as she spoke his cold glare fell upon her. The two couldn't be anymore different. She looked sweet and fluffy; like cotton candy. He hard and cold; like steel. Yet she smiled at him unafraid. She was curious to find out who he was. What he was doing here in the pouring rain. He was her little mystery and how she loved mysteries. It all felt so exciting.

"Can I offer you an umbrella?" As she spoke she got a little closer to him and hold the umbrella over his head. His silence didn't scare her away. On the contrary it made him all the more intriguing. "I noticed you from my kitchen," she nodded to bakery behind her, "and thought you could use one of those."

Slowly the mystery man stood up, towering above her. Now he looked even more impressive. It was difficult not to notice that he had a good physique. It was clearly someone who trained a lot and briefly Vanilla pondered what kind of sport the guy would do. So lost in thought the girl had even noticed that a dangerous grin had spread across her mystery's face.

"Hasn't your mother taught you to be more careful around strangers?"

The sudden question brought the baker girl back to the here and now. To him. She gasped and giggled softly as she shook her head. Her long, blond curls followed her every movement.

"I was never such a good listener."

Spoken by anyone else those words could be interpreted as flirting or maybe a bit cheeky. But Vanilla was too sweet, too innocent to be flirty or rude. No, she just gave an honest answer paired with a friendly smile. She clearly had never even thought about the whole 'stranger-danger' thing.

"Were you waiting for someone, mister?" Her question followed swiftly as she was a curious girl and he was her personal mystery. She wanted to know why he intrigued her so. Why did anyone want to stand in the rain for so long? There had to be a good reason for it.

The guy laughed at her words. It was a deep and raspy laugh. A laugh which was pleasant to the ears and had Vanilla captivated the second she heard it. She could almost feel how her heart made a jump. Her mystery just got even more wonderful.

"You could put it like that." As he answered her question, the guy tilted his head slightly. His dark eyes were still fixated on her and Vanilla felt trapped by his stare. Almost immediately she realized that his answer wasn't an answer at all. Her mystery came with another mystery. How fascinating.

Without even realizing it herself she got even closer to him. Reduced the distance between them as most as she could. She wanted to breathe in his air. Study every detail of his striking face. He smelled good. Really good. Like campfire. Blown out candles. Burnt paper.

Burnt?!Oh no! Her pastries in the oven! She had completely forgotten about them.

"Oh, sorry sir! I have to go! My pastries, my oven… Aah~!" As she rattled she pushed the umbrella in his hands. "You can borrow this while you wait for that someone, sir! Don't worry about it, but I really have to go now. I hope to see you again!"

She didn't even wait for his reaction as she ran back inside. Even in the bakery she could smell that her goods in the oven would probably have a black color. Oh no! Her suspicions turned out to be right as she opened the oven and she had to see that her brownies had a far too dark color. With a sigh and big disappointment she started to clean up all the mess. By the time she was done and glanced out the window again, her mystery guy had already vanished. Together with her umbrella.