Chapter Text
When Carol got home, she threw herself on the coach and yelled into one of the pillows.
How could you forget to ask for her number?
Goose started meowing at her sounding rather annoyed.
“Oh, did I wake you?” she asked teasingly. He bumped his head against her hand. She gave his ear a scratch as she let her thoughts drift. Carol learned Natasha’s name the first week she started coming to the shop. Her green eyes had a softness to them, and her red hair was vibrant. Since the first day Carol came in, she really wanted to know what it looked like down. She sat up and pulled out her phone. She opened up her email and wrote:
Hey Nat,
Thanks again for letting me come get my notebook. I have a conference this weekend and all my notes were in there, so you’re a life saver! Also, thanks for the tea. It was the best I’ve had so far. I’d love to order it next Sunday or maybe even Saturday. I’ll see you on Monday. 😊
- Carol Danvers
Aerospace Engineering PhD student
She heard a ding a few minutes later and to her delight it was Nat.
Hi Carol,
I’m happy I was able to help! I hope you have a good time at the conference. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for my favorite regular. 😉
- Nat
Sweet Revenge owner & notebook saver
Carol felt the corner of her lips come up and knows that her teeth are showing. Nat liked to do this didn’t she? Always saying things that sounded like flirting. When she’d go up to the counter and order or ask for a refill, Nat would be there to say something sweet or witty or downright corny. Having it written down made her feel a little nervous not in an uncomfortable way but in an exciting way. But as far as Carol knows, Nat may be like this with every regular, kind and a little flirty. That thought brought her smile down a bit. She read the message again and it still pulled the corners up.
The next morning Carol woke up early to catch an hour-long train ride to the convention center. During this ride she thought of reasons to send Nat another message. None were particularly good, but she had to choose something, so she went with…
Hey Nat
You said to let you know if there was anything else you could do. Well I thought of something. There are sometimes lulls in these conferences and I’d like to know if I could message you during those lulls?
- Carol Danvers
Aerospace Engineering PhD student
About an hour later, she was sitting in a fast chain coffee shop with a coffee that didn’t leave enough room for cream, but she got an email on her phone.
Sure, no problem. You can ask me anything you’d like. I might not be able to answer right away if the shop gets busy.
- Nat
Sweet Revenge owner & lull filler
Thanks😊This place wasn’t here when I was an undergrad. When did you open it up?
- Carol Danvers
Aerospace Engineering PhD student
I opened it up almost 2 years ago now. It was a change of pace from my last career. May I ask why aerospace engineering?
- Nat
Sweet Revenge owner & former ballerina
I loved space and liked numbers, so it made sense to me. How long were you a ballerina?
- Carol Danvers
Aerospace Engineering PhD student
I was practically raised to do it. It was the only thing I knew for a long time, but a friend of mine showed me the wonders of owning a business. They left out the annoying bits, but I love it all the same.
- Nat
Sweet Revenge owner & lover
Good to hear my favorite coffee shop won’t be going anywhere. Did you enjoy dancing?
- Carol Danvers
Aerospace Engineering PhD student
I loved it, but it was intense. The training was demanding for any role you had. I did a lot of the classics.
- Nat
Sweet Revenge owner & former nutcracker
That’s incredible! I’d love to see you dance sometime
- Carol Danvers
Aerospace Engineering PhD student
Carol didn’t fully think before sending that last one. Oh it sounded like flirting didn’t it? She could feel her face heating up a bit, so she put down her phone and took a long drink of her coffee. She looked out the window and a lot of things went through her mind. Mostly it was: “fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck whythefuckwouldisaythatimnotevenintodancing fuck fuck fuck fukc fuck fukc fukc fkuc… Did I correct the order of my slides? I’ll just focus on that.”
She pulled out her laptop and notebook to work on the slides. Carol tried to blame the feeling of her heart beating against her chest to the caffeine, the damp palms were from the sun coming from the window, and the heat on her face was from both. She ignored the ding from her phone til her face cooled a bit. She turned her phone over to see the message:
I don’t dance much anymore but I’d dance with you anytime! ;D
- Nat
Sweet Revenge owner & willing dance partner
Once again, her face warmed but it was far more pleasant this time. She could feel her smile coming back and sticking. She felt bold and sent:
Maybe we can when I get back
I’m free Thursday night.
- Carol Danvers
Aerospace Engineering PhD student
Before she could get a reply, one her colleagues came by and struck up a conversation about the last presentation they saw. Periodically she would glance at her phone but no reply came. The rest of that morning Carol and her colleague looked at her presentation and made small alterations to it for her afternoon presentation. During lunch she checked her phone to see three new emails but none from Nat. She sighed and thought, who goes out on a Thursday night? The rest of the day was spent in other presentations with colleagues.