Page 59 of Side By Side
“This is not one doughnut apiece,” she noted once they were sitting down at a table. “And where is everyone? It’s like a ghost town in here.”
“It’ll probably get busy in a minute. We just beat the rush. Come on. Try one.”
“Can we just eat quickly, please?”
“Yes, you can do that by trying one,” Belle replied and picked up the long cinnamon sugar doughnut, taking a huge bite.
“That is coated with sugar.”
“And cinnamon,” Belle added with her mouth open.
“Belle…” Chandler laughed, though, because she couldn’t not.
“Try the bacon one.”
“Absolutely not,” she said, shaking her head.
“Fine. Try the cake one, at least, or the raised one. It’s plain.”
“It has icing on it. I can see it.”
“Yes, that’s what makes the doughnut good. Eat it, Chandler. If you don’t eat one whole doughnut right now, I’ll tell Cat you ate three of them.”
“What? You wouldn’t dare,” she said.
“Oh, I would dare.”
“Fine. I’ll eat some of a whole doughnut. What if I don’t like it? I’m not going to finish the thing.”
“If you don’t like it, I’ll tell your sister that I ate a dozen doughnuts, a pound of bacon, and drank whole milk in my coffee. Deal?”
“Why are you doing this?” Chandler asked and picked up the plain raised doughnut as she now knew it was called.
“Because you need to live a little.”
“Doughnuts are living?”
“Answer that for yourself after you’ve taken a bite.”
Chandler rolled her eyes at Belle again and bit into the doughnut. She chewed and closed her eyes.
“Right?” Belle said.
“Fuck. That’s good.”
“Told you so. Sure you don’t want a bite of this one?” Belle asked of the cinnamon and sugar one she was holding out to Chandler, who had opened her eyes to see what Belle was talking about.
Chandler finished chewing her bite, licked her lips, and she could swear she saw those blue eyes across from her darken a bit as she leaned forward to take a bite of Belle’s doughnut. Belle pulled back on it after and took another bite herself.
“Doughnuts are living,” Chandler stated definitively. “No further questions, Your Honor.”
Belle laughed and opened the plastic lid to her coffee.
“Oh, this one’s yours. It’s white.”
“Shut up.” She laughed and took the cup from Belle.
Belle opened the lid on the other coffee and took a sip.