Chapter Text
The Strong Coffeehouse was by no means a large establishment. It was a small building tucked into a bustling street near the Yale campus, in the hopes that college kids would come streaming out from classes and pour through the door for a quick pick-me-up. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The bell attached to the top of the door rarely rang, save for a few regulars who had come to love the quiet little shop.
And Caleb Brewster was slightly less than content. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy working at the Coffeehouse. He was lucky to have landed a job at all. But being long-time friends with the owner does have its perks. A quick nudge to his side shook Caleb from his thoughts.
“Brewster!”
Anna Strong was staring him down, carrying an empty mug in one hand and an order pad in the other.
“You can’t just sit behind the counter eating leftover cookies and trying to take a nap. You do have to work at your job, y’know.”
“Oh, I know. I just had to save myself from the mob that’s currently pushing through our door.” Caleb pointedly looked at the two customers that sat in the mostly vacant café.
“So, it’s a slow day.”
“It’s always a slow day, Annie!”
“That doesn’t mean you’re not still on the clock. And don’t call me Annie.”
She turned and dumped the mug in the sink, walking off to the breakroom.
At that moment, the bell clanged as the door was slammed open. A blur of a blue hoodie came rushing in, skirting around a table but catching his foot on a chair, knocking it to the ground. Quickly glancing around, he spotted the counter where a dumbstruck Caleb stood staring. He rushed behind the counter, ducking down. Caleb grabbed a bottle of caramel syrup from a shelf and held it above his head like a baseball bat, poised to strike.
“Who the hell are you?!”
“I’m not here to rob you and I’m not running from the cops so if you would kindly put the bottle down,” Blue Hoodie said in a hushed tone.
He carefully took a look over the top of the counter. Caleb looked in the same direction, just in time to see a group of frat looking boys stalking down the street, stopping for a moment as if they sensed something.
“Did anyone of you see where Tallmadge went?”
The majority of the group shook their heads. “He up and vanished, Bradford.”
“He’ll have to show his face sooner or later. And when he does, we’ll be there. Let’s go.”
The group was moving again, and Caleb watched as they walked out of the sight line of the café. A quiet voice broke the silence.
“Are they gone?”
It was Blue Hoodie. He was getting to his feet, brushing himself off.
“I’m sorry about my, um, entrance. It was the first door I saw.”
Caleb was able to get a better look at him now. His lip was cut and bleeding, and his eye was beginning to swell.
Poor guy must’ve been in a fight, Caleb thought to himself.
He placed the bottle back on the shelf.
“Were they looking for you?”
Blue Hoodie nodded, wincing as he wiped some of the blood from his face.
“It’s nothing, had a bit of a misunderstanding. And I wasn’t running from them! I just… needed to regroup for a moment.”
“You work on your story, I’ll be right back,” Caleb turned and walked to the breakroom.
“I heard a crash out there, is everything all right?” asked Anna, taking her lunch break at the tiny table labelled EMPLOYEES ONLY.
“Nothing that I can’t handle,” replied Caleb, wrapping some ice cubes from the freezer in a paper towel, “You take your break.”
Anna eyed him warily as he rooted through the cabinet for the first aid kit, but continued on eating her sandwich.
Caleb walked back out into the main room, hoping Blue Hoodie hadn’t left yet. But there he was, seated at a table and holding a napkin to his lip. Caleb pulled up a chair next to him, setting down the first aid kit.
“So, what’s your name?” Caleb said while holding up the makeshift ice pack.
“Ben.”
At least there was now a name to go with the bruised face. Caleb handed over the ice, opening the first aid kit. Ben squinted at Caleb’s shirt, reading off his employee name tag.
“And you’re… Caleb?”
“Caleb Brewster, the one and only.”
Ben stifled a small laugh.
“There something funny about that?”
“No! No, it wasn’t meant to seem insulting. I just thought, you know, Brewster. Brew-ster. Since you work in a coffee shop.”
Caleb only continued to stare. He’s lucky that he’s cute.
Ben cleared his throat, turning a bit red at the outcome of his failed joke.
“Anyway, I wanted to say thank you for helping me,” Ben said, adjusting the ice pack against his eye.
“Don’t mention it, you’re the most interesting thing that’s happened here in weeks.”
Caleb took out an antiseptic wipe from the first aid kit, motioning for Ben to lean forward.
“Don’t those sting?” Ben asked hesitantly.
“Nah, you’ll be fine.” Ben shrugged, leaning forward.
The second the wipe hit his cut lip, he hissed and jerked away.
Caleb smirked. “I lied.”
Ben grumbled and leaned forward again, wincing as Caleb finished wiping away the drying blood. When Caleb was done, Ben sat back up in his chair and looked around the café.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in here before.”
Caleb shrugged as he packed up the first aid kit, “We don’t get much foot traffic.”
“I can tell. And I just want to say-,”
“Before you apologize for the third time in an hour, it’s fine.”
Ben gave a small smile, and opened his mouth to say something as the bell above the door rang.
“Duty calls.” Caleb stood, walking back behind the counter and putting on a smile.
After finishing up with the customer at the counter, Caleb looked back to the table where Ben had been sitting. But he was gone.
Caleb found himself slightly disappointed. He had only gotten a name, and a face that would probably never walk into the small café again. He hadn’t even noticed the bell on the door ring as Ben had left. Something caught his eye. The glass jar labeled TIPS that sat regularly empty at the far end of the counter had a few dollars now lying at the bottom of it. He walked over to the jar and peered in, pulling out a ripped piece of napkin. “THANK YOU” was scrawled across it in pen. Caleb tucked the small note in his pocket and smiled to himself. Who knows, maybe he will be back.