Chapter Text
As the empty employee parking lot came into view, Luz frowned. She was running behind today, and the girl she was scheduled to work with was one that was always a stickler for being exactly on time. But her parking spot was empty, her green car nowhere to be seen.
Maybe she’s just a little late today too? Or she got a ride here, please tell me she got a ride here this morning.
Parking her car, Luz hopped out and sped walked to get into the cafe and set up for when the store actually opened to customers. Calling it a cafe was generous; it was actually more of a coffee shop than anything. They did sell an assortment of weird pastries, though, albeit a small selection. And a selection sold in packages or heated up, nothing fresh baked. But the owner insisted it be called a cafe, and would hiss anytime someone called it otherwise.
Customers included.
The front door was locked–not unusual when it came to this employee getting there first, but all the lights were off. She was definitely not there, the hopes that she’d not taken her car just this once were shattered. On the bright side, the closer last night had done an immaculate job. Everything was spotless, perfectly in place, as if it was all brand new. It definitely helped make her mornings easier (particularly when she was running late). Who had closed last night, again? Luz had to thank them.
After a few minutes with still no sign of her other opener, Luz began to panic slightly. As eccentric as the owner was and as strange as the place itself was, it was actually quite popular, especially on weekday mornings. And taking the fact they had recently started doing mobile orders into account, there was absolutely no way Luz would be able to keep up.
Maybe I should cal-
She screamed, stumbling back and falling onto the floor. Just as she reached for the garish, raven shaped phone to call and politely inquire about where the hell her coworker was, said phone began to ring. Or caw, as this cursed telephone did.
It rang for a few more seconds before she realized that she should probably answer it. Granted, they weren’t open yet, but it could be important. Like her missing opener. Hauling herself up on her feet, Luz took the phone, too shaken up from her scare to bother with the proper greeting.
“Hello?” she asked meekly. Her elbow stung from whacking it against the side of a counter.
“Luz!”
Bingo.
“Willow? Where the hell are you, we open in ten minutes!”
“Listen, I-“ the phone was abruptly pulled back and she could hear coughing in the background, “I woke up sick this morning. I tried calling your cell, but you didn’t answer.”
Well, that solved the mystery of where she was. Luz pulled out her phone, checking her call log. Yep, four missed calls. “God, I’m so sorry, I must’ve forgotten to turn my phone off silent after I woke up. So,” she shuffled the device into her other hand and leaned against a counter, “I take it your aren’t coming in today?”
“Sadly, no. But I did call around and find someone who was willing to take my shift!”
The store only had so many employees, and Luz had a bad feeling about who the replacement was going to be. “Willow, who did you find to-“
A chiming from the bell at the front door cut her off. There, walking up to where she was, was the very last person Luz wanted to work with.
Lucky for her, the girl had to drop her stuff off in the break room before clocking in, giving Luz just a little longer to absolutely chew her friend out.
“What. The. Fuck. Why is she here?” she hissed into the phone. She was careful to keep her voice low enough so it couldn’t be heard from the other room. “You know I can’t stand working with her!”
“Look, Luz, she was the only one that was able to cover for me. Is working with her for a few hours worse than being alone to handle everything?”
Before she could give her obvious answer of yes, the other girl walked out behind the counter. Luz grimaced and simply hung up the phone. Willow deserved it, for not opening with ‘hey just so you know you’re gonna be in close proximity to a girl you despise until noon’.
Gritting her teeth, she laid her eyes on the other employee: Amity Blight. A tall girl her age, who had absolutely no business being that attractive. Her hair was kept up in a half ponytail, the two toned green something you’d expect to clash horribly with the red of their uniform. Or at the very least, make her look like some ugly Christmas decoration.
But of course, Amity managed to pull it off and look absolutely stunning. It didn’t make sense. Red and green just didn’t go together! So why did this girl get to defy all logic and look like she was fresh off a runway at all times? Some sort of retail uniform runway?
Maybe despise was a strong word. Dislike, for sure. Amity was very good at her job, quick with her hands and incredible at making orders look just like they did on the menu. Leagues above what Luz—or really any other employee—could do. Luz had to admire her for that, it was tiring to always clean up spills and remake orders with the other workers.
Most of the time they were her fault (it was a miracle Eda hadn’t fired her, to be honest), but Amity was one less person to make a mess.
It was just the girl in general that set Luz off. Her height—not quite as tall as Eda, but more than enough to tower over Luz’s short ass, her unfair attractiveness, her always perfect winged eyeliner, but more notably the way she always seemed to be glaring. Specifically at her.
She didn’t know what she had done to piss her coworker off, if she had spilled a drink too many times or had unknowingly made a mess with coffee grounds, but if she was getting that kind of energy, Luz would just give it right back. Who was going to stop her from being a little snarky, a little snappy?
“Sorry I’m late, I got stuck behind a train on the way here. Did you start brewing the coffee yet?”
Apparently actually having to talk to her was. Or it was hearing her very, very pretty voice. Just as pleasing on the ears and her appearance is on the eyes. “No, I got here just a couple minutes before you did,” she answered. “I was running a little late this morning.”
Luz braced herself to be chastised for her tardiness, but it didn’t come.
“That’s alright. I made sure to proportion the coffee when it was slow before closing last night, so that’ll save us enough time to open on time.”
She blinked. “You’re the one that closed last night?”
“I usually do,” was her reply, given with a slight shrug. “I like when it’s quiet. Why?”
“Huh.” Luz usually did the morning and mid day to afternoon shifts, because she never had energy to work after classes. It definitely explained why they didn’t seem to work together a whole lot. “You always clean really well.”
Amity was already working on getting the coffee grounded to be brewed. She stilled her movements for a moment. “Um, thank you.” Her voice had an unidentifiable tone to it, but the shorter girl was given no time to dwell on it. “Can you restock the condiment stand while I do this?”
“Yeppers.”
Luz froze and mentality slapped herself. Where the hell had that come from? Was there literally anything more embarrassing she could have said? She glanced at Amity, convinced that was just going to be more fuel to the hate she felt, but the girl didn’t seem to notice. Letting herself relax slightly, she bent down and pulled out a box of coffee lids out of a cabinet.
The signature glare hadn’t been there, Luz noticed. She did look tired, but not angry. And she didn’t say anything mean, it was all just… normal opening stuff that Willow would’ve asked her. And then the sudden loudness of the grinder scared her, and she dropped a few brand new stirrers on the ground.
“Fuck,” she muttered, unable to hear her own voice over the noise. They were discarded, and clean ones were placed on the stand instead. That was going to be the first of many mistakes, she just knew. Just because Amity didn’t seem like she hated her guts right now didn’t mean she could lower her guard. She probably just hadn’t fully woken up yet.
The noise soon stopped and the gentle hum of brewing coffee took over instead.
“Hey,” Luz flinched as the voice came from right beside her, “do you usually drink coffee before we open to customers?”
Even though they were literally behind the counter together and were going to be working side by side for hours, Luz felt herself blush. The way she literally had to tilt her head up to make eye contact didn’t help. “I- uh, yeah.” Eda let them have coffee for free on shifts, and like hell Luz was going to let that go to waste.
“What kind? I can make it for you.” The reply was almost instant, taking the shorter girl aback. So did the offer of getting her usual morning drink made for her? By Amity?!
“Latte,” she found herself saying, even though she usually just made mochas. She liked the chocolate part.
Amity nodded. “Iced or hot?”
“Hot.”
Again, not what she usually made. She liked iced drinks, warm ones this early just made her sleepy. But her brain was on autopilot and said the first thing it could think of. Hot, because that’s what Amity was.
When her back was turned, Luz physically slapped herself. Not hard enough to leave a mark, but enough for Amity to whip around with a startled expression. Luz just smiled awkwardly and waved, pretending like her cheek wasn’t stinging.
Goddamnit, Luz, this is no time to be gay! She’s your rival!
But you’re a sucker for the enemies or rivals to lovers trope, another voice told her.
So she slapped herself again.
Amity’s brow was knit with concern this time, after hearing two slaps when there was only one other person in the room.
“I, uh, there was a mosquito on my face.”
Her pretty brown eyes widened and she looked around the room. “Did you get it?”
Luz wasn’t expecting the panic over a mosquito and she suddenly felt bad for using that as an excuse. “Y-Yeah, it’s dead. I’ll wash my hands. Because of bug guts and all.” Even though there wasn’t actually any, she wasn’t about to admit she lied. Or slapped herself for being gay.
Amity wrinkled her nose at the imagery and returned to working on the coffee. Meanwhile, Luz did turn the water in the sink on, but let her gaze linger on the taller girl’s hands for a few seconds, at the way those pretty manicured fingers handled the ingredients and equipment. She looked at her own hand, flexing the digits under the water. They were large for her height and Amity’s seemed on the smaller side, yet she could tell they were still bigger.
I wonder what it’d be like to hold the-
She squashed the thought before it could even finish forming. Her hands were wet. She did, however, let herself think about why Amity had offered to make a drink for her. Maybe, just maybe, she was trying to become friends?
“Here you go.”
Her finished latte was set down on the counter, in one of the purple coffee cups that always looked like they were melting. Which coincidentally happened to be one of her favorites. Luz hurried to dry her hands.
Before she grabbed it, though, she remembered she’d forgotten to request a milk substitute. She’d feel bad if it went to waste, and Amity would most certainly yell at her for wasting her time. But she also didn’t want to get sick during the busiest time of day because she put lactose in her body. Her coworker must’ve sensed her hesitation, however, because she spoke up first. “Don’t worry, it’s oat milk.”
Luz blinked up at her. “How did you…”
Amity was looking off to the side, arms crossed, that glare back. Her cheeks were flushed, probably from the fact Luz dare questioned her. “You mentioned it once before.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line, heart dropping at the return of her attitude. See, this was why she knew better than to let her guard down. Maybe she could still salvage how surprisingly well the morning had been going. She reached for the cup, careful not to spill any as she picked it up, and then proceeded to nearly drop it.
On the top was foam art. Not just any foam art, but a giant heart. Her own heart skipped a beat. Was this intentional? Was this flirting? No one had ever flirted with her before, but the foam art here was supposed to be vaguely owl shaped, and, well, this was a heart.
She dared a glance up towards the artist. Who, no surprise, was glaring at her. Intensely, too, like she was trying to bore a hole into her head.
A sour feeling spread through her chest. Of course this wouldn’t be like those coffee shop AU’s she read about all the time. Life didn’t work like that, and she had just established why it was good that she didn’t get her hopes up. Amity was messing with her, because she hated her.
Irate, Luz grabbed a wooden stirrer and completely destroyed the foam art, directly in front of her coworker.