Work Text:
Mackenzie checked his phone again for the 5th consecutive time, tapping his foot impatiently against the hardwood floor as a small frown was beginning to form upon his lips. He was currently waiting in line for his turn to order at the local coffee shop, the rustic décor, ambient jazz music, and incoherent chatter doing little to ease his unease. His phone was devoid of notifications from the dog he was expecting, so he begrudgingly put his phone back and continued tapping his foot and moved forward in line.
This anxiety wasn’t borne out of not being able to order immediately, rather, it was from having to meet up with his longtime friend Bluey and meeting her foreign friend Jean-Luc for the first time, the labrador of which he’d heard so many stories about from the heeler’s perspective but never met for real life. He was no stranger to meeting with new people – he was well-known among social circles in Uni anyway – but meeting the labrador seemed to be the exception and he couldn’t find a proper reason why. Sure, he knows he’s Bluey’s camping friend and that they recently reunited and should be considered a friend, but beyond that he didn’t know the Labrador that well, he didn’t even know what he looked like! These uncertainties swirled in his head and continued to eat at him, making him tempted to find a sense of certainty by looking at his phone again. To fight said urge, he instead decided to absorb the scenery around him.
It was a relatively well-known homegrown café that was just walking distance from Uni, their unorthodox cappuccino art their main selling point, and their conveniently affordable pricing for their beverages and pastries making it a safe haven for caffeine-addicted and sleep-deprived students such as himself. He had introduced Bluey to the place during their second year, effectively converting the blue heeler into a caffeine-addicted, sleep-deprived university student like him. This memory brought a bittersweet smile to Mackenzie’s face.
‘Maybe that’s why I feel uncomfortable with this meetup after all, I’m not too keen on sharing my special place with a dog I’ve never seen before. But then again, what are first times for right? This could be the start of a new opportunity with this Jean-Luc,’ Mackenzie exhaled with finality, congratulating himself on resolving his own internal dilemma, stepping forward to the counter to finally place his order after the previous customer left.
The barista that was currently manning the register had his back turned on the border collie, so Mackenzie took the time to idly examine the miniature blackboard containing the café’s menu, the fancy names of the beverages and pastries eloquently written in white chalk. He wasn’t too bothered at choosing what drink to get as he already knew his usual order and was just waiting for the barista to attend to him. Despite being a regular at this café, he had never seen this barista before; normally he would recognize all 13 baristas from months of constant interaction, but he didn’t recognize this one, yet he simply shrugged it off, thinking they could be a new hire, and he hadn’t been paying attention to them. When the mystery barista finally turned to face him, however, Mackenzie was left speechless and awestruck by their appearance.
The barista was a labrador with the sleekest and silkiest navy-blue fur the border collie has ever seen, his fur seemed to shine against the ambient light with how well-maintained it was. He was sporting a beige apron and a gray-colored beret as part of the café barista uniform, but what Mackenzie immediately noticed was the barista’s face that he couldn’t help but adore: the labrador wore a timid, yet confident smile complemented by a pair of soulful and eager brown eyes that he could easily get lost in. His presence immediately eased Mackenzie’s anxiety, finding himself staring at the barista a second too long before he had to wave a paw over his face to catch his attention, snapping him back to reality.
“Excuse me sir, I asked if you’re ready to order?” The barista repeated himself politely, trying to catch his customer’s attention once again. Mackenzie could only nod because as soon as he heard the barista’s voice, he was caught even more off-guard by his unique accent he had never heard before, making him fall harder for this beautiful barista that was still confused as to his customer’s silence. Forcing himself back to face reality, the border collie blinked his eyes and cleared his throat to regain his composure.
“Ah, y-yes, I’d like one large caramel m-macchiato with an extra pump of caramel, p-please,” Mackenzie tried to speak in a confident manner, but his words failed him as he stuttered a bit in front of the barista, who eagerly wrote down his order, oblivious to the border collie’s unusual nervousness. Mackenzie took a moment to close his slightly gaping mouth and tried to find a nametag on the barista’s apron, but was disappointed to find none; he made a mental note to raise the concern to his barista friends to make sure he knew the name of this cute barista serving him at the moment.
“May I ask for your name sir?” the barista suddenly turned around and caught Mackenzie off-guard once again with the sudden question, feeling his cheeks turn red.
“E-excuse me?” Mackenzie stammered, the blush on his face rapidly growing and becoming more apparent against his monochromatic fur. ‘Is the barista asking me out? Was my face too obvious that I like him?’ Mackenzie’s thoughts were popping up one after the other, and his heart rate steadily rose, a flurry of emotions threatening to overwhelm him.
“May I ask for your name sir? For when your order is ready?” the labrador clarified, smiling sheepishly as he began to notice his customer’s facial expression. “I do apologize if the question caught you off-guard, sir.”
Mackenzie let out a small sigh of relief; of course it was for his order, the barista wasn’t about to seduce a random customer such as himself! Letting out a small awkward chuckle, Mackenzie managed to regain some of his confidence back and did his best to give a cheeky response to the labrador.
“I don’t normally give out my name to baristas, but for you I’ll make an exception cause you look nice, name’s Mackenzie,” the border collie confidently said while leaning forward in front of the counter that separated him from the labrador, a smug smile forming on his face as it was now the barista’s turn to blush by his customer’s attempt at flirting, a faint shade of pink subtly hidden by his dark-colored fur. He was also amused when he noticed how the barista’s shoulders tensed upon the mention of his name, but he simply listed it off as the barista not having enough experience with flirting and how to respond to them.
“U-uh okay, M-mackenzie,” the barista swiftly scribbled the name onto the cup and tapped at the register. “That’ll be 4 dollars sir,” the look in the labrador’s once eager eyes was replaced with a look of shyness, looking at anything but the customer in front of him. Mackenzie chuckled as he brought out his wallet and gave him a 5-dollar bill, with the barista swiftly handing him a gold 1-dollar coin for change.
In that small interaction, the tips of their paws touched slightly, and Mackenzie felt a small electric jolt between the two of them as white paws contrasted against navy blue, and for a minute he was tempted to just grab the other’s paw in his and call him his own. Mackenzie shook his head and stuffed the coin back into his wallet, moving out the way for the next customer to order.
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“I have a large caramel macchiato for Mackenzie!”
It didn’t take long for the border collie’s upright ear to perk up at the sound of that unmistakable accent calling his name, causing his heart to flutter if just for a bit. ‘You can call me anytime you want with that ridiculously hot accent of yours,’ Mackenzie silently thought as he stood up from his seat and approached the counter. The same barista from earlier was waiting for him, a small smile on his face as he watched while Mackenzie grabbed his drink and returned back to his seat.
As Mackenzie began to sip his macchiato, a sudden vibration from his phone nearly made him choke on his drink, hurriedly grabbing it as he accepted the call from Bluey.
“Bluey, where the hell have you been? It’s been nearly 20 minutes and you’re not yet here!” Mackenzie hissed, making sure to control his voice as he was in a public space and didn’t want to make a scene.
“Hey Kenz, sorry I can’t be there, I’ve caught a stomach flu and I haven’t had a proper sleep all night,” Bluey sounded terrible on the other end of the call, and Mackenzie felt immediately bad for reprimanding his friend.
“Oh, that’s okay, guess I’ll leave now, it’s also a shame I couldn’t meet this Jean-Luc you were so eager for me to meet with,” Mackenzie’s tone softened, stealing a glimpse or two at the same barista who was occupied taking other dogs’ orders.
“What do you mean? He’s in the coffee shop already! You can’t miss him, he’s the dark blue labrador who’s been manning the register and making coffee since the café opened, it’s his first day on the job, that’s why I asked to meet with you in this particular café,” the blue heeler explained to Mackenzie, who visibly paled as he began to connect the dots and identified the name of the barista he was being cheeky with earlier.
“O-oh, I already met him, he took my order actually,” Mackenzie stammered as he tried to respond to Bluey, immediately looking away from the barista counter as he realized his mistake; he should not be flirting with his friend’s mutual friend without getting to know much about them, let alone know if she’s dating him!
“So, what do you think? He’s pretty cute right? Seems like your type if I’m being honest,” Mackenzie could just imagine a mischievous grin forming in the heeler’s lips as the border collie now realized what she was doing with setting him up with the labrador barista now known as Jean-Luc.
“Did you really set me up for this Bluey?” Mackenzie clarified, trying to make sense of what Bluey was saying from her previous statement, failing to notice how his tail was visibly swaying from side to side at the excitement he was trying hard to contain.
“Yes and no, I wanted to be there to personally introduce the both of you, but it seems like you met him for yourself, so my job here is done,” Bluey snickered a bit before the border collie heard her gag a bit.
“Kenzie, I gotta go, my stomach is acting up again. Have fun with Jean-Luc and tell him I said hi!” before Mackenzie could respond, Bluey quickly hung up the call, prompting Mackenzie to put away his phone and contemplate on what his friend had just told him.
‘So this was a meetup for me and this Jean-Luc huh, well-played Bluey, well-played,’ Mackenzie silently thought as he returned his gaze at the counter, where he found the labrador finally taking a seat after having finished the latest customer’s order. He stood up and approached the counter. The labrador now known as Jean-Luc also stood up as he saw the border collie approach him.
“Anything I can help you with sir?” the barista asked politely.
“Yes, indeed you can help me. You can start by explaining why you didn’t introduce yourself to me earlier, Jean-Luc.” Mackenzie cheekily responded, a smug look forming on his face. “You should’ve said you’re Bluey’s mutual friend. She can’t make it by the way, she’s got a stomach flu,” Jean-Luc’s face turned into one of concern upon hearing about their mutual friend.
“Ah, yes! My apologies, I admit your name sounded familiar when I asked for it, but I got too busy with work that it slipped my mind to introduce myself, let alone remember I was supposed to meet with you, although I’m glad we still met here, Mackenzie, and I do hope Bluey feels better,” Jean-Luc’s face beamed a bit but also remained concerned at the mention of Bluey. The two shared a comfortable silence just gazing into each other’s eyes, momentarily forgetting the busyness of the world until a bell ring interrupted their moment. Jean-Luc blinked and turned at the direction of the counter before turning back to face Mackenzie.
“Sorry, I have to get back to work, but it was nice meeting you Mackenzie!” The labrador hurried off, leaving the border collie alone. Undeterred, Mackenzie grabbed a napkin from the counter and pulled out a pen that he always carried with him, and scribbled something onto it. Satisfied with what he wrote, he spotted the barista’s phone and used it as a paperweight for the napkin and left the café in a better mood than when he entered it.
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After having finished making the last customer’s order and being relieved by his other colleague, Jean-Luc went to the counter to grab his phone, and noticed the napkin underneath it. Curious, he read the note scribbled on it.
“You’re cute Jean-Luc, but I want to get to know more about you. Call me if you’re free?
+61-6-2253-6943
-Mackenzie”
Jean-Luc visibly blushed, stuffed the napkin in his phone case’s pocket, and timed out for the day, collecting his belongings in the employees’ locker and leaving the café. He took a breath of fresh air that for once didn’t smell of coffee and smiled, he had a cute dog to talk to later, not bad for a first day at work.