Work Text:
She had practiced this exactly three hundred times. She was going to go into the coffee shop, and order at the register herself , not have Neji or Hanabi order for her, and she wasn't going to do a mobile pick up. Except, the closer Hinata had gotten to the front of the line, the more she realized that this task was a lot more daunting than it seemed. All she had to do was order one Iced Americano with sugar free vanilla. It wasn't even her preferred drink. Wait, because it was her preferred drink, maybe she should change it? Wouldn't it be better if she--
"Next guest!" The voice calling out to her had her snapping her head up, because oh hell, that was her . Hinata was the next guest and her mouth felt a bit dry, but she swallowed deeply, she could do this, she could do this.
"Hey, how's it going today? What can I get started for you?" The blonde barista had too bright of a smile on his face for someone who was working at a coffee shop too close to a college campus. A beat passed, and apparently, that was a beat too long for him.
"Uhh…hello?" He furrowed his brow as he looked at Hinata, because she wasn't ordering, and even if they weren't in a rush right now, they were going to be in one soon and--
And she just turned and walked out of the line. Today was not the day, not for this. Maybe she'd come back later with Neji.
Except, when she got out of the line and made her way over to the door, she knew she had to do this. Hinata had practiced this hundreds of times, gone over it thousands of times in her mind, and in her room, and she knew she could do this. It wasn't that hard, it couldn't be, it was just ordering coffee. She had seen her friends and family do it all the time (except for Hiashi, he always had french pressed coffee at home , he always gave a funny look when they went to Starbucks or something, and one of his employees even gave him a Starbucks gift card for Christmas one year, and he was almost insulted .)
So she got back in line. Standing there, Hinata slowly moved forward with each step, until she was standing in front of the Barista again.
"You came back!" Oh, he remembered her. Of course he remembered her, she immediately walked away from him when she reached the register. Twice. Like a weirdo. Of course he probably thought the she was weird, and he was going to tell his coworkers about it when she left--
No. No. Kurenai had told her to try and think positive thoughts. She could do this.
"Do you need another minute?" He asked, and there was that furrow of his brow again. Hinata's eyes briefly met his, and then they averted. Anywhere, anywhere but his eyes.
Her eyes landed on his name tag. That was good enough for her.
"N-naruto…" When she caught herself saying it outloud, she realized she was doubly screwed. She had said his name and now she had to commit to this. Great.
This wasn't the first time that the two of them had done this. They had been doing this for the past two weeks -- first she had been coming with Neji, where she couldn't even get up to the register. Letting her cousin coolly order the drinks for them. Then it had evolved to her ordering through their app, which she wasn't sure if it was a step back or a step forward. Two days ago, she had tried to do this, and had completely failed to do so. Today wasn't going to be like that though.
"Iced Ci-cinammon…" Okay, she was going for the Cinnamon Dolce Latte. She could do this. "…A-americano." Okay. No she couldn't.
"You want an Americano with… cinnamon syrup or cinnamon powder?" The barista seemed confused as he looked up from the screen in front of him, confused as to what he should input. Hinata, only nodded her head at his question, and another moment passed before he just nodded his head. "Right. And what size? Your name?"
Shit. She had actually forgotten about this. God, if there was a hole that Hinata could bury herself in, she would do it right here, but she had to do it.
"M-medium. H-hinata." There. She did it. She watched as he wrote her name down, carefully on the plastic cup, and passed it off to the cold bar.
"Your total is $3.75." He had such a bright smile, even at Hinata's awkwardness, and she was thankful that she had a folio case for her phone, so she could easily just slip him her credit card. He didn't seem bothered, at all, by the heavy metal quality of it like so many people felt the need to comment on. There wasn't much talking left in their interaction, either from his lack of what to say or Hinata's inability, and so she took her card and hurried off to the side, waiting for her -- probably gross -- drink to be finished.
She did it though. She ordered this drink, and had paid for it on her own.
"Medium Iced Americano with… cinnamon syrup and cinnamon powder?" The bored voice of whoever was working the cold bar called out, and Hinata was reminded that that drink was for her. It was probably going to taste gross. When she went to retrieve her drink, she noticed the barista, some guy with black hair that reminded her of a bird, raising an eyebrow at her. She had no idea what that was about, and it made her heart pound a bit.
"T-thanks." She mumbled before taking her drink off of the bar. She took a sip of the drink, and it was, as she expected really gross. One of the worst ones she had had in awhile.
' You did great today ^-^!' Was scrawled out on the cup, right underneath her name.
The drink was barely potable, and burned her mouth every few sips. The after taste was sweet though.
Tomorrow.
Okay. Maybe not tomorrow, because today was so much already, but maybe the day after tomorrow. She'll look him in the eyes. And she'll order an Iced Cinnamon Dolce Latte. And he'll tell her that she did a great job again.