Free Fic: Double Chocolate Java Pistachio

Someone had left bags of cookies in the break room. Again.

Ross walked past the cookies, trying to convince himself he did not want them. The labels on the bags of cookies lured him in.

They were from one of his favorite local bakeries. The three bags were all different. Chocolate Chip, the classic cookie and adored by many. Oatmeal Raisin, another feel-good cookie reminiscent of home and preferred by those who loved chewier textures. Double Chocolate Java Pistachio.

Ross felt his strength waver. His absolute favorite.

It was a chocolate cookie, flavored with a hint of coffee, that held chunks of chocolate and bits of pistachio.

Ross walked to the door of the break room, intending to get away, and looked back. His will broke. He went back to the table and reached out a finger to touch the bag. It wasn’t air tight and with the small motion a waft of delicious chocolate cookie scent reached his nose. The cookies were still warm. They smelled heavenly.

He undid the clasp. He reached in and grasped a cookie. Indeed, he could feel the warmth of it in his hand. More cookie scent wavered into the air. He took a bite of the cookie. The chocolate bits were still soft from the oven. The cookie practically melted in his mouth.

He groaned, quite against his will, and glanced guiltily to the door of the break room. He would be ribbed mercilessly if his co-workers caught him moaning over cookies. But no one was there. He was safe.

Ross chewed the cookie, standing there and not moving away. He couldn’t spare the effort to move away. He already knew he would eat another cookie.

He finished the first and dived in for the second. It filled his mouth with continued chocolate delight and the slight salty crunch of pistachio. Another moan escaped his throat and this time he didn’t care who heard him.

He stayed away from this bakery for just this reason. He had no control whatsoever for this particular cookie.

Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Sugar, Molasses, Peanut Butter, Ginger Snap, Lemon, Butter, or anything else, he could appreciate, nibble on sometimes, but ultimately leave alone. He could go days, weeks, months, even years without eating any. Without craving them. But not Double Chocolate Java Pistachio.

Ross finished the second cookie and felt the easement of desire. He could control himself now. He’d fed the demon beast in his gut that demanded cookies and received what it craved.

There were still plenty of cookies in the bag and he hadn’t touched any of the others. He only felt a slight twinge of guilt as he took a third cookie and wrapped it in a napkin. He would save one for later. Perhaps after lunch, or with a cup of late afternoon coffee.

He paused. Now that his mind was clearer, having already scarfed the cookies down, and not fogged by the inescapable drive to gobble the cookies, he wondered who had brought the tempting baked goods. And why they had chosen the Double Chocolate Java Pistachio.

He knew this bakery. They didn’t make Double Chocolate Java Pistachio very often. He’d chatted with the bakery owner, Elise. She said the pistachios were a pain in the butt. She didn’t think the available commercial pistachio bits were quite right, so she bought her own and went through an extra process to salt and roast them herself.

The chocolate chunks in the cookie were also often not available, since the source was a specialty shop that was so bohemian they only made what they ‘felt like’. Elise didn’t like to switch out the chocolate bits with something else since her customers were accustomed to a specific taste. So she only made these cookies infrequently. When she did make them, the bakery usually sold them individually and not bagged.

Yet, here the cookies were. Freshly baked and in a bag. As if someone knew his ultimate weakness.

Ross shook his head. He couldn’t think of any of his co-workers who liked him enough to do this. It had to be a moment of universal serendipity. He left the break room, still thinking, and passed one of the interns walking in the hallway.

“Hey,” Ross said. “There are cookies in the break room.”

“Oh?” the intern said. Ross thought his name was Jon. “That’s great. Thanks.”

Ross continued to his office, Double Chocolate Java Pistachio in his hand like a treasure.

~~~

Lester frowned. “Are you coming down with something? You look all sweaty and flushed.”

“No, no, I’m fine.” Jon shrugged and pushed away from the wall. He’d spent a minute too long in the hallway and Lester had come along. Jon tried to stay away from Lester. The man thought he needed to be involved in everyone’s business.

“If you’re sick, you need to go home. Nobody wants to catch a cold from you.” Lester kept frowning and staring at Jon.

“I’m going to get some water,” Jon said. He made a point of heading to the water cooler. He did need some water.

He’d been lurking in the hallway while Ross had eaten the cookies. Jon had wanted to do something nice for the man, especially since Jon had developed a terrible crush on him. It was hard to ignore the man’s friendly smile, his handsome face, and square cut jaw. Ross was good at his job, willing to lend a hand, remembered to invite Jon to meetings and explained things without Jon even needing to ask. Jon appreciated being treated like a member of the team rather than a disposable intern. Ross was older than Jon, by something more than five but fewer than ten years, although Jon didn’t know exactly.

As an intern just trying to get into the job market, Jon liked the openness and the respect. He also appreciated that Ross was attractive.

When Ross had offhandedly mentioned he liked cookies from this bakery and that he liked “the chocolate ones”, it had seemed a perfect opportunity to do something low-key and nice.

But Jon had never imagined he’d hear such wanton moaning. It had gone straight through him, like a shock of electricity. He'd leaned against the hallway wall, closed his eyes, and his throat had gone dry at the low rumble of ecstatic sound. He'd barely been able to act normally when Ross exited the break room and spoken to him, since Jon already felt like his insides had been reduced to jelly.

Jon finished his drink of water and left the hallway, still under the reproachful eye of Lester.

He had a month left in this internship. It was entirely appropriate to try to have a relationship with a co-worker. Even if Jon wasn’t technically a co-worker since he wasn’t being paid. But in four weeks, he was going to ask Ross out on a date. If the man moaned like that over a cookie, there would have to be complete and utter abandon in the bedroom.

Jon only had to survive thirty more days.