Chapter Text
Perfect Blend
--
It’s a Saturday evening when Toni first sees her.
The leaves are changing as September turns into October. The air is getting cooler and the coffee house Toni works at is just starting to unveil all it’s fall flavors, including the ever popular, incredibly basic (begrudgingly delicious) pumpkin spice.
There’s about an hour until closing. Toni’s staring aimlessly at the clock above the front door. Saturday evening shifts were always incredibly slow but Toni drew the short straw for this week.
As Toni wipes down the display case window for the tenth time since her shift started, the bells on the front door chime.
When Toni turns around, she lays her eyes on a blonde girl around her age. She has sunglasses on despite it being 5pm in the evening. The girl wears dark wash jeans and a beige sweater with a black vest.
If Toni wasn’t hardcore judging the fact that she was wearing sunglasses, she’d admit that the girl was kind of a knockout.
There are a few straggling customers in the sitting area either typing away at their laptops, quietly chatting with each other, or reading a book.
As the blonde takes in the coffee house for the first time, she finally notices that there is no line to order. She walks up to the till just as Toni walks to stand in front of it.
“Evening,” Toni starts. “What can I get you?”
The blonde hadn’t even spared Toni a glance, her attention on the large menu board above Toni’s head. Once the girl finally looks at Toni, the brunette notices a slight rise of her eyebrow, followed by a wide smile appearing on the blonde’s face.
“Hi there.” She says. The blonde has a strong Southern accent.
Since they’re in Massachusetts, her accent stands out.
Toni nods. “Hello.” She nods. “Do you know what you want?”
“Forgive me-” She pauses for a moment then looks at her apron. “Toni.”
Ok, she gets points for actually using her name but Toni still is judging her.
The blonde smiles. “I just got my eyes checked at the optometrist down the street- dilation drops and everything. My vision is a little blurry looking at faraway things and the fluorescent lights are kind of harsh at the moment.”
Well that explains the sunglasses. Toni sighs internally.
Toni shakes her head. “It’s all good.” Then she asks, “Did you want me to read you our fall specials?”
The blonde blushes. “If it’s not too much trouble.”
“No worries.” Toni rattles off the flavors. “We’ve got gingerbread spice, cinnamon mocha, white hot chocolate, apple cider, Harry Potter’s Pumpkin juice or Butterbeer, a rosemary limeade refresher or a pomegranate-apple refresher and of course the ever popular pumpkin spice.”
She turns to look at the girl again, a smirk on her face and adds, “Pick your poison, princess.”
The girl tilts her head, a smile on her face, but she doesn’t comment on the ‘princess’. “You’re good.” She laughs. “Didn’t even have to look, did ya?”
Toni smirks again. “Nah, I’ve been working here for a while.” She shrugs.
The blonde nods. “Fair, could I get the cinnamon mocha please?” She asks.
Toni gestures to the sizes. “Which one?”
“Medium is good.”
With a nod, Toni rings up the blonde’s order at the till and makes her drink quickly.
And if Toni watches the blonde walk away after she sends her a blinding smile, well that’s her business and her business alone.
_____
Despite believing that seeing the blonde was a once off encounter, Toni is working the morning rush the following Thursday morning when she walks in.
It’s cold and rainy that morning, so people were really jonesing for a hot cup of coffee. Toni was going back and forth between the till and the cappuccino machine.
Just as she’s making another drink, she spots a flash of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye.
Now, Toni is fully aware that blonde hair isn’t that rare, but she’d be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t hoping the girl would come back.
Blondie walks over to the till, where Toni’s coworker is taking another person’s order.
“Be right with you ma’am.” Kane says.
She nods. “No rush at all. Take your time.” She smiles and catches Toni’s gaze. “Hi Toni!”
Toni smiles back, a small blush on her face over the fact that the blonde remembered her name. "Hi princess."
Kane grabs her attention. “Good morning.” He smiles. “What can I get for you?”
The girl smiles. “I’ll take a cinnamon mocha please.” She looks at his name tag. “Kane.”
He nods and sends her a wink. “I like the way you say my name.”
“Because of my accent?” She asks, a small blush on her face.
“Sure, that’s why.” He smiles.
When the blonde holds out a $10 bill, Kane shakes his hand. “On me sunshine. I just hope you come back real soon.”
The blonde shakes her head. “I couldn’t-”
“Nonsense.” Kane smiles easily again. “I insist.”
“Well thank you for your kindness.” The girl says. She looks over her shoulder. “I don’t want to hold up the line.” Looking back at Kane, she says, “Thank you again Kane.”
When Toni makes the blonde’s coffee, the blonde smiles at her and says, “Thank you, Toni” before sending both her and Kane another smile and walking out.
Once the rush dies down, Kane is wiping off the counter while Toni is sweeping the floor.
Kane whistles to break the silence. “I cannot get my mind off that beautiful blonde that came in this morning.” He looks at Toni. “You remember who I’m talking about?”
Toni shakes her head. “Keep it in your pants, Fitz,” She stops sweeping for a moment. “Your flirt game could use some work; you’re aggressive as fuck.”
Kane shrugs. “She seemed to like it.”
“Debatable.” Toni says, rolling her eyes. “Also, I met her the other day. She’s just friendly like that with everyone.”
“No way,” Kane says. “There was something there.”
Toni scoffs. “Yeah ok, good luck with that dude.” She shakes her head. “But you’re totally out of your league here.”
Kane flips her off. “Shut up Shalifoe, at least I could actually get her number.”
“You don’t know that I can't.” Toni rebuffs. “She could be bi.”
Toni actually has no idea but Kane is starting to get on her nerves with his ego.
“Wanna bet, Shalifoe?” Kane crosses his arms and leans back against the counter.
Toni rolls her eyes. “What are you? Paul Walker and Freddie Prinze Jr in She's All That?” She shakes her head. “Are we in some cheesy 90s romcom?” She dramatically looks around the coffee shop. “Are we on hidden camera?”
Kane just shakes his head. “You’re an ass, you know that?”
“Proud of it.” Toni smirks. “But seriously, you had it coming, asking ‘wanna bet’, come on Kane.”
“Fine, fine,” Kane holds his hands up. “I am serious though.”
Toni raises an eyebrow. “Seriously annoying?”
Kane chooses to ignore that comment. “I am serious about getting the blonde’s number.” He raises an eyebrow. “Are you?”
“Why would I care about some blonde’s number?” Toni tries to play it off.
“Don’t act all high and mighty Toni.” He tilts his head. “I saw the way you looked at her.”
Toni holds her hands up. “Dude, she’s hot. I’m not blind.”
“You’re full of shit Toni.” Kane rebuffs. “Are you just scared that I have better game than you?”
Toni rolls her eyes. “If you stop using incredibly cliche, 90s insults that may intimidate middle schoolers but not me then fine. If anything, it’ll make this job a little more interesting.”
Kane nods. “I’m good with that.” He smirks. “So what will I get when I get her number?”
Toni scoffs, folding her arms over her chest. “What did I just say?”
He holds his hands up, laughing. “Sorry, it’s too easy.” He laughs. “But fine, should the wager be our tip jar?” He shrugs. “Instead of splitting it, the winner gets the whole jar to themselves.”
The brunette shakes her head. “Fuck no, I’m not betting actual money, Kane. I’m broke already.”
Kane puts out another, more reasonable wager. “Loser has to take the early morning shift for two weeks?” He holds out his hand.
Everyone at the coffee house hates opening up the place. 4am should never be seen.
Toni nods. “Deal.” She shakes his hand.
“It’s on Shalifoe.”
Toni rolls her eyes. “Oh shut up.”
____
So, because of their (dumb) bet, Toni saw herself try to put herself out there a little more whenever she saw the blonde come into the shop.
The next day, on Friday, Toni was on shift with Cate. Her coworker told Toni she would do inventory since the place was pretty much empty in the middle of the afternoon.
A few minutes after Cate went downstairs, the blonde walked in. She was busy on her phone as she walked up to the till.
“I’m so sorry about that.” The blonde says tucking her phone in her back pocket. “Terribly rude of me but it was work.”
Toni shakes her head. “It’s all good.” She tilts her head. “Busy?”
The blonde lets out a small laugh. “Yeah you could say that.” She shrugs. “I’m only part time at this agency because of classes but they give me a lot of responsibilities.”
“I get that.” Toni smiles. “Do you want another cinnamon mocha? On the house to ease your tension.”
“Wow, y’all are so sweet.” The blonde says with a wide smile. “First Kane, now you Toni?” She moves her attention to the menu.
Ok, the blonde remembers both of their names, which is kind of a good sign.
Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, Toni looks to see if the blonde has any obvious tells to let Toni know if she’d be interested in her.
There’s nothing outwardly showing but Toni hears a throat clearing and looks to find the blonde looking at her with an amused smirk on her face.
“See anything you like?” The blonde tilts her head, a smirk on her face.
Toni blushes but isn’t one to be one upped. “Isn’t that my line, princess?”
The blonde laughs. “With how much work I’ve got, I definitely need some caffeine. Instead of the mocha, could I get an Americano with an extra shot of espresso?”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” Toni winks as she moves to work on the drink.
The blonde laughs again and Toni receives a boost of confidence.
“I also insist on paying Toni.” She smiles. “I don’t want to put you out or risk you losing any of your hard earned money.”
Toni nods. She doesn’t miss the fact that the blonde let Kane pay for her drink and not her. The brunette isn't sure whether or not that's a good sign for her.
Not that she cares about the ‘bet’ or whatever Kane is calling it. She doesn’t care.
Not at all.
___
The light back and forth continues with the blonde during Toni’s next several shifts.
The girl would usually come in during the quieter hours of the day, giving Toni a chance to get to know her more.
Through these short, but always incredibly nice, interactions, Toni has learned that the blonde is working to get her real estate license while taking business and marketing classes at the local community college.
In response, Toni tells the blonde about her goal to become an electrician and that she’s taking a few physics and finance classes online at night.
The blonde also told Toni small snippets of her life. Like the fact that she moved out here with one friend from high school after a falling out with her parents. She never said what the falling out was and Toni didn’t press.
With the girl sharing something more personal about herself, Toni bent a little and opened up as well. She talked about what it was like to age out of the foster system and how she was determined not to end up like the stereotypes of foster kids.
During those more intimate conversations, Toni thought she may have a chance. A chance at spending more time with the girl, time somewhere besides the coffee house.
But, then Kane would text Toni updates about his interactions with the blonde.
For one instance, he told her how he found out the blonde used to compete in beauty pageants and how she shared the same faith he did.
Toni second guessed herself when she heard that news but before she could really focus on those facts, Kane sent a follow up text to boast about his massive flirt game. Reading that made Toni roll her eyes.
Sometimes she really wonders how she hasn’t punched Kane in the face yet.
___
“She comes to the coffee house twice a day, Marty!” Toni huffs out, falling back onto the couch. “I don’t get it. It’s like I go one step forward, five steps back with her. She’s giving me mixed signals!”
Toni just finished her morning shift at the coffee house and promptly walked back to the apartment she shares with her best friend.
Martha sighs. She looks up from where she’s sitting at their countertop in the kitchen. “I don’t know if these are mixed signals, T. Maybe she just really likes coffee.” She tilts her head. “What does Kane say?”
Toni rolls her eyes and looks at her phone. “He thinks the blonde is coming in twice to see him. He’s not helpful in the slightest.”
Just then, Toni’s phone buzzes. She looks at her screen and rolls her eyes. “He just texted me- and I quote- “green eyes and I shared a moment over how we both love bowling and pumpkin spice lattes.” She scoffs. “I hate every part of that sentence.”
Martha laughs. “Green eyes?”
“That’s your take away from that sentence?” Toni has a deadpan expression on her face, completely unamused by Kane.
Martha just shrugs. Toni thinks she’s half enjoying her annoyance.
Toni sighs. “She has such fucking green eyes Marty- they’re unbelievable.” Toni says in one breath.
Sometimes she doesn't believe they’re real but then the blonde will lean over the counter, letting Toni be able to count the gold flecks in her green irises.
Martha smiles. “Well I’m jealous.” She tilts her head. “What’s her name?” Martha prods.
Toni looks at Martha sheepishly. “Well you see-”
“Oh my gosh- you don’t know her name!” Martha shouts incredulously. “You’re fawning over a girl and you have no idea what her name is! That’s like the first thing you ask!”
“It’s too late now Marty; we’re too far gone.” Toni says. “If I ask now, I’m going to look like an idiot-”
“You are an idiot.” Martha shakes her head. “Does he know her name?”
Toni shrugs. “I don’t know. Kane has never said it.”
“Oh my gosh.” Martha sighs. “This just proves that if it weren’t for me, you’d be a Josie Geller.”
“Who the fuck is that?” Toni asks.
Martha groans. “Toni, I showed you Never been Kissed.”
Toni shakes her head. “That movie is so white, so hetero and so bad, Marty. I think I pretended those 100 minutes of my life never happened.”
Martha shakes her head for the umpteenth time during this conversation. “You’re unbelievable.”
“No, what’s unbelievable is, I don’t know if she’s flirting with me or she’s flirting with him. Or is it both? It could be both.” Toni shrugs. “I don’t fucking know.”
“Well, have you two been on shift together since you made this stupid bet?” Martha asks.
Toni holds her hands up. “I told you I just did it to make him stop talking like an absolute douche.” Then she adds, “And no, we haven’t been on a shift together since. I’ve been taking mornings since I started that night class.”
Martha nods. “Well, try to get a shift together to see how she interacts with you both.” She shrugs. “I don’t really condone this but I am curious now.”
Toni agrees. “I know right!” She sighs. “And because I don’t know, I’m trying to hold myself back. I don’t want to get invested and find out she’s straight or she prefers Kane.” She adds. “Honestly, I don’t know which one would be worse to hear.”
Martha sends her a sad smile. Toni knows what that sad smile means. It’s the smile Marty gives her before giving her bad news or telling her she’s in the wrong.
“I hate to break it to you, T.” Martha starts. “But you’re already invested.”
Toni sighs. “Fuck I know.”
___
It’s not until 3 weeks after Toni starts seeing this blonde in the coffee house that she finally does get a resolution to her ever blossoming feelings and immense confusion over the girl.
It’s the Saturday right before Halloween. The coffee house owner decided to put a few more people on shift for the weekend since there was going to be a trunk or treat downtown. This meant there would be a lot of foot traffic.
And there was.
Kane and Toni were in charge of making the iced drinks while Cate and Maddie made the hot drinks. Fatin was at the till with Luke.
“Two more Harry Potter specialty's Shalifoe!” Fatin shouts as she slides over the two medium cups.
Luke is writing on two more cups, taking the last customer’s order. “Cate, two cinnamon maple lattes with half and half.”
Toni is mixing the shop’s frappe flavor of the week: Harry Potter butterbeer. It’s the tenth one that was ordered since they opened and Toni was already sick of smelling the butterscotch syrup.
The brunette is in her own head when she hears a familiar voice cheer out a ‘hi Fatin’.
Hearing the southern twang has both Kane and Toni stop what they’re doing.
“Hey!” They both get out at the same time.
Fatin looks at both of them, an eyebrow raised and a small smirk already appearing on her face.
The blonde sends them an easy going smile.
“Hi Kane. Hi Toni.” She says. “It’s nice to see you both. Nice costumes!”
Since it’s the day before Halloween, their uniform was slightly different today. Their boss strongly encouraged wearing costumes to bring in more customers. Plus, more customers equals a bigger possibility for more tips.
Toni and Kane, who both didn’t care about Halloween, decided to do the bare minimum for their costumes.
Kane dug out a plaid flannel, worn out jeans and a cowboy hat to be a cowboy.
Toni wore a plain white t-shirt, black jeans and a leather jacket she had laying around to be a biker.
When they both walked into the coffee house, Fatin sent them an unimpressed look and shook her head. She had gone all out, wearing the outfit Beyoncé wore in THE CARTERS music video, APESHIT.
The blonde looks back at Fatin. “I love your costume too Fatin! Can I get a cinnamon mocha?”
Fatin writes down her order and passes the cup to Cate.
The blonde smiles. “How are you doing, Fatin?”
Fatin shakes her head. “Not important.” She tilts her head. “You know tweedle dum and tweedle dumber?”
The blonde laughs. “Yes I know them both.” She says at the same time Kane asks “Which one am I?”
Toni just rolls her eyes.
She watches as Fatin shifts her gaze from the blonde, to Kane, to herself and then back to the blonde. Then the brunette laughs.
“Holy shit!” Fatin says as she claps her hands together. “Holy shit.”
“What is happening?” The blonde asks.
Toni shrugs. “I have no idea and I’m so sorry.”
Kane has no idea what’s going on either but he’ll take any opportunity to talk to the blonde. He smiles. “Where’s your costume?”
The blonde laughs. “I’ve been at the office since last night.”
Fatin smirks. “Oh get some blondie, yes!”
“What no!” The girl looks at Toni then Kane. “I- no- I was busy with my boss because we were dealing with a contract for a client. Nothing like that.”
Toni shakes her head. “Ignore Fatin, she’s the worst.”
She laughs. “Right, I should be used to her teasing by now.”
“So, what are you going to be for tomorrow?” Kane asks.
The blonde shrugs. “My friend wants to do a group costume for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” She smiles. “We picked out of a hat and I chose Violet Beauregarde so I’ll be dressing up as her.”
“I bet you'd pull off the costume.”
Kane winks but before the blonde can say anything else, Fatin is laughing obnoxiously. They all watch as Fatin has a laughing fit.
The brunette takes a deep breath, wiping away her tears before looking at the blonde. “You are either cruel or incredibly oblivious. Either way, I love it.”
The girl tilts her head then looks at Toni. “Again, what is happening?”
“I still have no idea.” Toni looks at Kane who is just as lost.
Fatin scrutinizes the three of them before throwing her head back and groaning. “Ok never mind, you’re all clueless and this is more sad than fun.”
The blonde looks helplessly at the other two. “Fatin, please be blunt, I have no idea what’s going on.”
Fatin sends her a soft smile, which is not something Toni is used to seeing on her friend.
“I don’t know how long the pining and flirting has been going but just write your phone number down on a napkin and put everyone out of their misery.”
The blonde’s face turns bright red. “Fatin!” She pauses. “Everyone?”
Fatin nods to Kane and Toni. “They’re both into you, you are so oblivious.”
The blonde eyes widened. “Oh.”
Kane smiles easily at her but Toni is resolutely looking at the ground.
Looking around the coffee house, the blonde sees there aren’t many customers hanging around. Cate and Maddie are trying not to be obvious but they’re definitely eavesdropping.
Not caring about the audience, the blonde shakes her head and looks at Kane. “I am incredibly flattered and I had no idea you were flirting with me. I thought you were just being nice.”
Fatin laughs again. “Being nice, you’re cute.”
Ignoring Fatin, the blonde doesn’t reply. “Anyhow Kane, you seem like a sweet guy but you are not my type.”
Kane raises an eyebrow. “I’m not? But we have so much in common.”
The blonde smiles. “Yes we do,” She looks quickly at Toni before looking back at Kane. “Including our attraction to women.”
“Oh shit!” Maddie and Cate say at the same time.
Kane sputters. “You’re gay?”
The blonde nods. “Yes I am.” She looks at Toni. “I thought I was being obvious. I’ve been flirting with you since I first came in.”
“You have?” are the only two words Toni can get out.
The girl smiles. “Yes, I have.”
“Oh.”
“Can I give you my number or is that overstepping?” The blonde asks, a knowing smile on her face.
Toni nods. “Yeah I- yes please, yes.”
The brunette honestly can’t believe what’s happening. She’s waiting to wake up in her own bed, this all being a dream.
Soon the blonde is passing her a napkin with her number on it while Fatin gives Toni the blonde’s drink.
Toni looks at the cup and sees ‘Shelby’ written in Fatin’s loopy handwriting. “Here you go, Shelby.”
Shelby smiles. “Thanks Toni.” She winks at her before sending the others a wide smile and walking out the door.
“What just happened?” Kane asks, eyes never leaving the spot Shelby was just standing.
Fatin just laughs in response while Toni smiles down at the phone number.
Then the brunette looks at her coworker, who still looks stunned by what just happened.
She smirks. "I got the girl and you got morning shifts for the next two weeks! That's what happened Kane."
Toni sends a wink at him as he groans and lays his head on the counter. Fatin is still laughing. Toni looks back at the door, a small smile still on her face. She can't wait for what happens next with Shelby.