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“His name is Obi-Wan Kenobi and I think about him constantly. He’s a post-doctoral fellow and a professor at Westside. He likes to read old and new books. His family lives far away, he told me. He orders a medium coffee, black. Sometimes iced if it’s warm outside.”
Anakin could feel his face going red talking about his favorite customer to his coworkers before the start of his shift. He usually came twice, sometimes three times a week, early in the morning and wearing some variation of a suit before his classes at the local University. Anakin made a point to learn something new about him every time he made his coffee, though they could barely move past the coffee hand-off before breaking out into a full-on conversation.
“I promise you’ve seen him. You can’t miss him.”
One of his coworkers, Poe, put on a green baseball cap and his fingers to his chin. “Blonde? Smiley? Gorgeous? Tips like crazy?” He asked.
Anakin felt his heart drop to his stomach. The past few times he’d taken Obi-Wan’s order, he’d thought, maybe the older man had been flirting with him. But if he’d been tipping Poe, then Obi-Wan was just a friendly guy.
“That’s him,” Anakin said glumly, putting on a red cap to compliment Poe’s in honor of a company-wide Christmas theme, his hair poking out at the bottom. He slipped off the countertop to go unlock the doors of the café.
“Maybe he likes you Ani, you never know,” said Padmé, pretty and quiet like a bird. Anakin knew she was just being nice to him. A cold sliver of air came in before Anakin could quickly close the door back shut. He didn’t mind Christmas but hated the cold. He felt a full-body shiver go through him and his apron while Padmé clicked on the Christmas soundtrack. Anakin wished for something to kick across the store.
I don’t want a lot for Christmas…
…there is just one thing I need
-
Anakin’s morning proceeded how he expected it to. The café was filled to the brim with customers who were anxious to get their coffee and Christmas shop. From loud groups of teens to angry moms who demanded free coffees, Anakin thought there was no way to redeem the day. After a few hours of holiday madness, the café had come to a slow and he was nearing his break.
“Next customer,” he said, loud and annoyed.
“Good morning Anakin,” said a voice he could undoubtedly recognize. He ripped his head up from the cash register.
“Good morning-“ he managed to echo out, face to face with Obi-Wan. The young professor wore a grey scarf and a tight, black coat. Anakin thought, perhaps, nobody should be allowed to wear it except for him. “What can I get for you today?” He asked, after a few seconds of staring at the customer, mouth likely wide open. Obi-Wan smiled back at him, it made his skin go warm.
“Just a-“ Obi-Wan started.
“Medium black coffee?” Anakin answered, reveling in his attempt to flirt, even if he failed. He reached for one of the red and green paper cups to his left.
“Yes, but,” Obi-Wan started, “for here,” he replied, eyebrow raised and smile cocked to the side. Anakin felt his stomach churn and he wondered if Padmé was watching. He set the paper cup back down and quickly looked down at the register to try and calm the blushing.
“I’ll make sure to bring that to your table,” Anakin said, tendering the change and handing it back to Obi-Wan with a light smile, doing his best to cover how heavily he was breathing. Obi-Wan smiled at the accidental brushing of their fingertips.
“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said, before walking away and sitting down. Anakin quickly checked to see if there were any customers in line before turning around to his coworkers.
“I’ll work the register. Go on break. Are you kidding me right now?” Poe asked, elbowing Anakin in the stomach.
Anakin picked out the mug he’d been saving for Obi-Wan, a white one with royal blue trim on the edges. Not that he’d been imagining of the day that Obi-Wan would finally get a coffee “for here” instead of “to go”, but that he’d absolutely been imagining it. He brushed spare crumbs and grounds off his apron before pouring his coffee.
… I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know…
He tried not to imagine Padmé and Poe’s eyes glued to him as he made his way to Obi-Wan’s table, a tiny one tucked away in the corner of the café. One of Anakin’s favorite spots.
“One medium black coffee for Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Anakin said, setting the mug down on the table in front of Obi-Wan, blown away that he had not spilled it yet.
“Thank you, actually,” he paused, “would you like to sit?” Obi-Wan asked.
Anakin could hear his ears ringing loudly like somebody had fired a gun near him, Obi-Wan took a big sip of his coffee.
“Yes, of course,” he stuttered out, wishing he wasn’t wearing a dirty apron and a Christmas baseball cap. He mentally punched himself for not taking them off before his break.
“You know every time you come in it’s the highlight of my shift,” Anakin admitted, figuring there was no better time, to be honest than before his days off.
“Now that you say that,” Obi-Wan started. Anakin was sure he was about to shoot him down, disagree, or remind him how young he was. “Every time I come here; I result to thinking of one thing during my lectures.” Obi-Wan smiled brightly before bringing the coffee back to his lips, a place Anakin couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of.
Anakin looked down at the table and quietly laughed, “your students?”
“You.” Obi-Wan replied, so cool it burned.
The barista felt his face go completely red as he slid it into his palm. The pair must have interacted one hundred times. One hundred fifty times. They’d talked about everything from careers to families to dreams, all in few minute interactions over passes of paper cups and credit cards. Anakin grew to know Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan him over a collection of rose-tinted vignettes, each short-movie warmer than the last.
“If I think about you all day and you do the same, then is this our first or second date?” Anakin asked, no longer feeling the sinking nervousness in his stomach and instead, leaning closer to Obi-Wan over the table, eyes still focused on his lips.
“Not the first, I hope,” Obi-Wan, replied, setting down his coffee with a sense of finality.
“Why’s that?” Anakin asked, Obi-Wan eyed around the room before he slipped a few fingers underneath the top of Anakin’s apron, pulled him in close, and kissed him.
Anakin could feel himself melt into Obi-Wan, the smell of his skin, how soft his lips were. The barista, more eager than he anticipated, gripped tightly to Obi-Wan’s coat and kissed him harder, anchoring himself to the feeling of being close to him. Had it not been for Obi-Wan slyly pulling away, Anakin didn’t know if he would have been able to stop.
“So I could kiss you,” Obi-Wan replied, smiling.
“I wish you’d do it again,” Anakin replied, still unsure if he was existing in his real-life or not.
“I will if you’d like to go on a date with me, outside of here. Not that there’s anything wrong with coffee.” Obi-Wan said.
Padmé turned up the volume of the café speakers so Christmas music boomed through the shop, Anakin still thought he could hear his heart chiming in his ears. Anakin smiled, thinking about how Obi-Wan foolishly thought that would be the last time he’d be kissing him before the end of his break.
…Make my wish come true…
“I’d go anywhere with you,” Anakin replied, wishing this part of the movie would never have to end.
…All I want for Christmas is you…