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he felt a sense of urgency wash over him. He wanted to get going now, even though there wasn't anywhere particular he needed to be. So he quickly changed his shoes into black dress slacks and took one final deep breath before stepping out onto the driveway.

He turned and headed towards the bakery, eager to pick up some of those delicious treats Claude mentioned earlier that day.

Chapter 2

It was around 8am when Dimitri arrived back at their apartment. Since he didn't have classes until midmorning, he decided to spend the entire day at work. He didn't need to worry about getting caught up on work that he missed during the day, and besides, he could hang out with his friends a bit easier without having to deal with his responsibilities. Plus, he figured Claude would appreciate the company.

He pulled into their parking spot and made his way inside. He greeted Lorenz and Ignatz before heading into the back room to prepare the dough for their croissants. After setting everything up to begin making them, Dimitri returned to the main area of the bakery where they usually worked.

Lorenz noticed his brother walk through the doors and smiled. "Welcome back!"

"Hi, Lorenz," Dimitri greeted, flashing a small smile before walking over and sitting down. "Did you finish early today?"

"Not exactly," the blonde explained, gesturing towards Ignatz.

Ignatz looked up at him and nodded, "Lorenz was here first but he left for work about ten minutes ago. We finished up our part of the morning and came to help, but he was gone so I assumed he finished early and left."

Dimitri looked back and forth between the two men as they spoke. "Is there anything unusual happening?"

"No," replied Lorenz, "we've always been like this. He doesn't come in unless it's important." He paused and thought for a moment. "Although...it does seem a bit weird. Usually we have one of us working here at all times and he's been gone for three hours already. Normally it isn't this long, but lately..."

Dimitri nodded in understanding. "I understand. You two can go ahead. I'll stay here and finish up everything."

Lorenz and Ignatz bowed in acknowledgment and thanked their boss before walking over towards the front desk. Dimitri leaned back in his chair, feeling slightly nervous about how late he was getting.

After a couple of minutes, his phone pinged and showed that he received a message from Claude, asking if he had arrived yet. He looked at the time and found that it was only about 9:30am. Maybe he did end up running a bit late. He sent a quick text saying that he'd be there in about 20 minutes before picking up another croissant and returning to work.

After completing most of his duties, Dimitri made his way through the back door of the bakery. When he entered, he was greeted by the sweet scent of baked goods wafting through the air.

As soon as he entered, he saw Claude sitting at the table next to the window with a plate of waffles and two cups of coffee; the latter one filled with sugar for himself while the former one was still mostly full. His attention focused more on the bag in his hands. It was filled with what looked to be the ingredients he was looking for. The bag contained some flour, baking powder, a bit of sugar, cream cheese, and butter. It also held various types of eggs and some vanilla extract.

Upon seeing Dimitri enter, Claude smiled, "Good Morning. Did you have a good day yesterday?"

"Very much," replied Dimitri smiling back as he moved towards the table, reaching over to grab one of the waffles. He grabbed a fork, digging into his breakfast, as Claude placed his own fork next to the plate and then picked up one of the cups of coffee.

He sipped at it slowly