Work Text:
Every day at the café was about the same. Same customers, maybe someone different would come in but it was the regulars they were used to. Regulars who hardly ever ordered anything other than their, well, regular. Eight to five, and six-thirty on Fridays, that was what Bilbo did.
She didn’t mind.
Besides her, it was only Primula and Drogo who worked at the café. On occasion Hamfast helped bake (when they had their busier days). That was it. They were the closest she had to family since her parents had died years ago.
Prim and Drogo were cousins from the different sides of her family, and Hamfast had been her family’s gardener since she was a little girl. He’d stayed the gardener of Bag End even after Bilbo had moved into the small apartment above Belladonna’s Café.
Her father had let her mother name the café. That was always the explanation but Bilbo saw the soft smile on her mother’s face. She knew otherwise but left her father thinking he’d gotten away with the tiny lie.
As she bustled along the kitchen, Primula sat on the counter and swung her legs. Belladonna’s was having a slow day.
Wednesdays were like that.
In fact, at this point, she could recite what would happen every Wednesday.
They opened at eight sharp. The first warm muffins were out in the display a minute after they opened. Primula would have gathered the day old pastries and put them in the basket for anyone to grab. Bilbo didn’t worry about money much. A quarter past opening, Bard would come in for a large coffee, a bagel for himself and three muffins for his children. Sometimes, but rarely, he’d ask for hot chocolates as well.
Rarer than that, one of the children would be with him.
There would be a few customers in and out quickly between then and the next regular. A few years ago it would have been Thranduil that came for morning coffee but now it was Legolas and his adopted sister, Tauriel. She’d order a black coffee while Legolas ordered possibly the most sugary coffee they had.
The lunch rush on Wednesdays didn’t exist. Primula and Drogo would go sit in the café for their lunch break. Hamfast came in with Bell and their youngest children.
Mid-afternoon met with Elrond and his daughter, who Bilbo enjoyed slipping sweets when the tall man looked at the menu. He ordered the same thing always but feigned the distraction for Arwen’s enjoyment. He always paid the right amount for the sweet and drinks.
Between that and closing, they’d see a couple more customers but it was a definite lull in the already slow day. Closing came at five, Bilbo ushered her cousins off and then went upstairs for the night.
Drogo came in at his semi-regular time (he didn’t have a certain time but it was usually after the lunch rush), looking amused.
“She’s here again.”
Bilbo raised a curious eyebrow. She hadn’t come in yesterday, visiting with an old family friend.
“Did you think I’d leave Belladonna’s without a word?”
“Not you,” said Drogo, with a laugh. He glanced at Primula. “There was this woman in here yesterday. I think she came about this time but I don’t remember. You know, it’s not significant if someone randomly stops in. When they show up again, though…”
“You think she’ll order anything?” Primula dropped off the counter.
Bilbo dusted her hands off on her apron. “She didn’t?”
“She ordered a coffee but I’m not sure if she actually drank it,” shrugged Drogo as he went for his apron. “She sat there for almost an hour and then left with her drink. We thought it was weird.”
Bilbo rolled her eyes.
“Don’t judge customers on their habits. We don’t laugh at Mr. Elrond for pretending to not know I’m giving Arwen sweets every time.”
Their discussion continued for another ten minutes before Bilbo cleared her throat and settled a warning glare on both of them.
“Prim, go out and take orders. I’ll be at the counter.”
Excluding the apparently off-setting woman in a booth towards the back of the café, the rest of the day went on as normal. Mid-afternoon came with Elrond and Arwen bounding up to the counter.
Her father walked towards the register slower, eyes up on the menu before he looked at her with a warm smile.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Baggins, how are you and Belladonna’s today?”
“The same as always, Elrond,” she smiled as she bagged a cookie for Arwen. “Perfect.”
If Bilbo had been interested, things between her and Elrond might have been different. He had an attractive face, a warming smile and was far more interesting than most people. But she’d never been interested in him. It wouldn’t matter anyway. The man sometimes had a forlorn look. He’d lost his wife years ago.
It wasn’t something he would be getting over.
Arwen took the packaged cookie eagerly and then glanced up at her father as he rattled off the same drinks they always had. Drogo brought them by a few seconds later.
“Always on time, Mr. Baggins,” replied Elrond as he took the drinks. “We’re off then, see you again.”
Like that, their last regular left with his daughter clinging to his coat.
Bilbo glanced around the café. Only a couple of people sitting at the tables. Their workload wouldn’t be too much unless someone ordered a lot. Primula should be bringing the orders back to Drogo soon.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Primula hurrying back toward the kitchen with a miffed expression.
She stopped her cousin, pulling her behind the counter before she could hide in the kitchen.
“What’s that face for? Did a customer upset you?”
“That woman who came back, she’s very rude. I’m not going back over to her,” grumbled Primula, glancing at the booth before frowning at Bilbo.
“Prim,” she sighed and then shook her head. “Then you can run the counter, I’ll take out the orders. Okay?”
Her cousin handed over the orders before switching places with Bilbo. Drogo glanced up in surprise when she came into the kitchen.
“Where’s Primula?”
“She had a bad experience with a customer, I guess. I’m letting her run the counter but she’s going to have to learn to deal with bad or rude customers.”
Drogo shrugged and started putting together the plates.
“Was the woman who came in again rude yesterday?” asked Bilbo, interrupting the sound of plates being transferred onto the serving plate.
“Not really. She didn’t try to make any conversation. Pretty sure she did the bare minimum of basic human communication,” he dropped his hands into the pocket of the apron. “And she looked pained about it. Is that who Prim had trouble with?”
“Yes,” nodded Bilbo before picking up the tray. “We’ll see how this goes.”
Drogo waved her off and turned back into the kitchen.
By the time she made it to the booth where this mystery woman sat, she had a cup of coffee (black) and a slice of their caramel apple pie. Bilbo sat them down with her warmest smile and tucked the tray under her arm.
“I hope you enjoy. They’re both piping hot, you might want to wait or if you like it hot…” She smiled slightly wider. Primula probably would’ve winked but Bilbo didn’t really wink.
That was flirting and Bilbo’s experience in flirting from the past years was low.
The woman stared at her, her brows furrowing at Bilbo. She didn’t say anything.
Bilbo offered her a smaller smile before walking back towards the counter. She dropped her voice low, elbowing Primula gently.
“She didn’t seem that rude but she also didn’t seem like she wanted to say a single word. In fact she didn’t.”
“Well, to me it wasn’t very nice. All she said was black coffee and pie!” She huffed as she took the tray from Bilbo. “I don’t know how you deal with customers like that.”
“In case you forgot, I spent a good couple of years serving Thranduil coffee in the morning, and his son is much better than him,” she leveled her cousin a look. “Trust me, I would prefer handling Legolas over his father any day.”
At some point, the woman left and by the time they closed, Primula set down an empty plate and a half-full coffee up with the rest of the dishes.
“At least she ate the pie,” said Bilbo as she pointed at the empty plate. “Not everyone finishes their coffee, too.”
“She could try and come off less stand-offish,” grumbled her cousin before shedding the apron. “I’m going home. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“As far as I know.”
Bilbo smiled and waved goodbye to both her cousins before she retired upstairs with a book and a cup of her tea.
The next morning, a minute after they opened, before even Bard would be by, the woman came in for a cup of coffee and a muffin.
She said thank you, her voice gruff and it was so soft Bilbo almost missed it.
A week later, after every day of the woman at no solid time, a phone number under the name Thorin when she paid with a card.