Page 6 of Rosé with My Fake Fiancé
Luc ordered a variety of sweets, and my stomach growls in excitement as I sink my teeth into the rich dough of the rugelach. I do my best at the pronunciation of hamantaschen, a triangular filled pastry, and sufganiyot, a jelly-filled doughnut, but it takes me longer to say them right than it does for me to eat them. Except for the babka, because I’ve had the chocolate-braided bread before, and it is much easier to pronounce.
There’s a lot of moaning and finger-licking and crumb management while we demolish the box. When I swallow the last bite of my babka, Luc asks, “Which was your favorite?”
I glance down. The box that once held eight pastries was now empty save crumbs. “The hamant...”
“Hamantaschen,” Luc supplies.
“Yes. hamantaschen. I like the—what do you call the seeds in the filling in French?”
“Graine de pavot.”
“Yes, the poppyseed filling,” I repeat, practicing my new vocabulary word.
“Good to know. Are you still hungry? I can get us something savory for lunch here or we can keep going?”
I agree that something savory would be good, so, for variety, Luc walks us a few blocks away to another bakery. I ask him to pick something out for me—I trust his culinary choices now—and sit on a bench nearby.
My phone has buzzed a few times today, so I pull it out. The group chat has new messages.
Sara
Tessa, were you able to cancel the tour?
Emma
:fingers crossed emoji:
I send them a photo I took of the bakery treats.
Tessa
I’m fine! I wasn’t able to cancel the tour, but I’m having a surprising amount of fun with my tour guide.
We just stopped for lunch. Dessert first! Look at these goodies!
Sorry, Sara. None of them are vegan! So much cheese and butter. Apparently, rugelach has cream cheese IN the dough.
We did the Rodin Museum, and Jade, you missed out on some serious eye candy.
Sara
That’s okay! I did find some vegan patisseries in Paris to try. Maybe on Sunday morning we can go to one for brunch.
Jade
I’m here! Just got out of my meeting.
So sad to have missed the sculpted asses.
Luc returns with baguette sandwiches. “Thanks. I’m just telling my friends how things are going.”
“The ones that missed out on today?”
“Yup.”
I snap a photo of my sandwich.
Tessa
