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I'd Rather Fall in Chocolate (4a/?)

[anonymous]

Erik really wasn't expecting to run into Charles anywhere but in the candy shop, so when he went into the only bar in town and saw Charles happily conversing with the bartender, he was slightly taken aback. Charles saw him and patted the barstool next to him with a smile.

"Take a seat, my friend," Charles said. "I promise not to regale you with stories about chocolate. What are you drinking?"

"Jack & Coke," the bartender--Angie?--announced, setting it in front of him with a smug smile. "You were in here last week, baby."

"Does everyone in this town dedicate themselves to memorizing their customers?" Erik demanded grumpily.

Charles laughed, "What's so wrong with customer service? Besides, you're famous, at least I think that's you. You bought the old Drummond house, right? 181 Taber Drive?"

"Yes. How does that make me famous?"

"The Drummond house is the house that never sells. It's been on the market since I moved here as a child."

"Let me guess, it's haunted?"

"I'm afraid so, although I've always suspected that it's just in such a state of disrepair that no one wanted it. Mrs. Drummond was apparently a bit of a legend. She apparently refused to let anyone help her take care of it."

"It's not so bad. I like having projects to do around the house."

"I'd beg you to be my flatmate if you didn't have children. My roof leaks something terrible." Charles turned to the bartender, "Excuse me, Angel? Can I get another, please, love?"

"Sure thing, baby." She gave him another drink before going back to stand at the other end of the bar to converse with a blonde woman and two men who looked like they should have been bouncers in a club somewhere.

"So what do you do, exactly?" Charles asked once he had another drink.

"I'm an author. I write murder mysteries."

"Oh, I love a good murder mystery. Especially Max Eisenhardt, he's my guilty pleasure."

What were you supposed to say when someone inadvertently told you that you were his guilty pleasure? Did you say 'thank you' or let it slide?

At Erik's hesitation, Charles quickly added, "That's not to say that you're not good. I just haven't read any of yours. I mean... I'm sure they're excellent, I just... The local library really only stocks bestsellers and I'm going to stop talking now."

"It's fine. I write under a pseudonym."

"Ah. So maybe I have read some of yours. Good." Charles didn't press for more information and Erik relaxed a little.

"When do you find time to read, Charles? You make all of that candy by yourself, don't you?"

"Oh, no. We outsource a little. We only make about seventy per cent of our stock."

"Only?"

"Well, yes, all right it's a bit difficult to keep up sometimes, but I genuinely enjoy it. I'd rather sell nothing but chocolate, to be honest, but the store is a historic landmark and I couldn't change it so drastically. Not when Raven and I have such fond memories of it as it was when we were young."

"Is it a family business?"

"No, actually. I just took a job working the till there the summer I turned fifteen and that was that. Mr. Goody didn't have any children, you see, and he doted on Raven and me. I always meant to go to a major university and get away from small town life, but instead I went to the community college, majored in business, and took over the shop when Mr. Goody retired. I was quite the disappointment to my parents."

"Why? You're a successful businessman, aren't you? That's something to be proud of."

"Not when I was supposed to follow in my parents' footsteps and be a genius with a Ph.D. in one of the sciences." Charles was still smiling, but his eyes had stopped dancing with laughter about the time Erik said 'family business'.

"Why does everyone think of this as a small town?" Erik knew it would be obvious that he was changing the subject, but this seemed dangerously close to a 'feelings' talk for two people who didn't really know each other.