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He was here again. That man who went by Jade.
Jamilah clicked her tongue.
Tall, handsome and incredibly annoying.
It wasn’t as if Jamilah was particularly scared by certain customers or anything but there were most definitely those that were more annoying than others and this dude was a prime example. Seriously, it wasn’t as if it was a rare thing that she was hit on by a stranger - because apparently that was a thing in her job - but it was rare that they were as persistent as this idiot.
Especially considering that Jamilah wasn’t even into guys in the first place.
Especially considering how she didn’t exactly hesitate to make that clear either.
After all, she had realized pretty early on that she was a lesbian and there was no place in her life for a guy who thought too highly of himself and insisted that he was the missing piece in her world and would be able to fix anything. Actually she despised nothing more than guys like that!
To be fair ‘Jade’ hadn’t said anything like that but seriously considering how he always entered the store with the widest grin on his lips, almost as if he was only there for her, it was probably not going to be long before he was insisting on this too.
Actually in the beginning, Jamilah hadn’t even minded him much. He was just another dude like everyone else and she couldn’t say that she was particularly interested in anything about him except for maybe the fact that he looked fairly similar to one of her colleagues in university. After all, despite their different majors she did share a few courses with Floyd but still she hadn’t known that that girl had a brother; and especially one who looked so similar.
Then again this too wasn’t all that fascinating in the end, right?
After all, Jade was a guy and even though Jamilah couldn’t entirely deny that she had some interest in Floyd, had always been sort of watching out for her after that basketball match in their first year, she would rather drop dead than admit that there was any real curiosity involved. No matter how much Trey was half-jokingly calling Floyd her ‘love interest’ and no matter how much Ridelle was genuinely asking her if there was anything going on between her and that girl from her courses who looked all too similar to that annoying idiot who introduced himself by yet another name as if Jamilah was stupid and didn’t remember that he had come as ‘Jade’ the first and second time.
In general, Jade had turned out just the kind of guy she hated the most. Flirtatious, unreserved, almost as if he was insisting that being with him could ‘fix’ her, and seriously if there was ever anything that she couldn’t stand at all then it was this!
It always felt as if Jade was trying to mess with her and she actually hated this so, so much - she was just trying to do her job for fuck’s sake!
Seriously, the first time it hadn’t even been that bad. He had just come in, ordered his coffee in the most polite manner ever, left her with a smile that felt as if he knew more than he should upon reading her name tag, but actually he had left without so much of a struggle on her side.
The first time at least.
Afterwards it had become worse.
Jade had asked for her interests basically every time he had come by, had even gone as far as ask for her number once and had only laughed when Jamilah had given him an evil look as if all of this was just some game to him, as if all of her resistance was only spurring him on more.
Safe to say that she couldn’t stand the guy!
~ ~ ~
Actually, Floyd had always had her eyes on Jamilah since the very beginning.
And to be fair, how could she not.
Like seriously, Jamilah was gorgeous and smart and wonderful and even if Floyd wouldn’t have been very much into women for as long as she could remember there was no way she could have resisted this particular charme. Because in the end even if they didn’t share many courses with each other in the ones they did Floyd couldn’t help but feel caught by the overbearing aura of classiness that the other girl evoked around herself.
It had been like this from the very beginning and even though Floyd hadn’t been able to gather all that much information about her crush that hadn’t kept her from falling and falling hard.
Actually, maybe it was the mystery that made things even more interesting, who could say for sure.
Floyd only knew that Jamilah studied modern dance, that she was an incredible force to be reckoned with when it came to basketball, that she was one of the smartest people Floyd had ever met besides Azul. And that Jamilah worked part time at Night Raven Coffee .
Actually, that was the most important part because it was the one part that allowed her to get close to Jamilah outside of their courses.
At first Floyd hadn’t felt all that confident about Ace’s advice. Partially because Ace was really damn bad at giving advice, especially when it came to romance, but at the same time he always had these very unique ideas that made everything really interesting and fun and quite honestly she couldn’t have wished for a better best friend than him. Not only because he had fun ideas but also because he was just the best wingman she could have ever wished for.
Actually, most people had told her that it was most definitely a losing battle whenever Floyd had expressed interest in Jamilah, had told her that the other woman was most definitely not interested in anything of the sorts, that she was even having a hard enough time keeping the few friends she had made and still Floyd hadn’t been able to stop her infatuation from getting worse and worse by the day.
Contrary to most others Ace had just grinned and shrugged when she had told him.
“This ain’t gonna be easy”, he had said, “but when have you ever done easy.”
It was exactly why Floyd liked Ace so much more than others: He just got her.
In the end it had been his idea to pose as her brother to find out more but to be honest Floyd didn’t think of it as that bad of an idea. After all, Jade rarely ever got coffee himself so there was not much harm in ruining his reputation, they looked similar enough considering that they were twins and quite honestly this was one of the more fun plans that Floyd had ever participated in.
Especially because if she appeared as Jade there was no harm in going overboard.
Especially considering that Jamilah had rejected her once before - not that Floyd attached any weight to the whole thing. After all, it had been in their first year at college in a particularly stressful phase when she had somehow sort of maybe confessed, and even while doing so Floyd had been sure that Jamilah would probably not do too well with the whole thing.
In general she didn’t seem to do too well with anything that included feelings.
Probably one of the reasons why it was so fun to tease her and one of the reasons why it was so fun to act as Jade in front of her.
After all, this way she got to ask all the questions that even she wouldn’t dare to ask Jamilah otherwise even though usually Floyd wasn’t someone who minced her words.
It also wasn’t because of how she got “surprisingly docile” around the other girl as Ace had once put it, something that Floyd had made sure to make him regret even though she actually didn’t even mind the words that much. In the end they weren’t entirely wrong.
Well, the thing was just that of all the people she had ever met, Jamilah was the one person who Floyd didn’t want to be hated by.
As things were now she could hate Jade instead, that was something Floyd was fine with.
~ ~ ~
“You know, you’re seriously really cute when you try to look scary.”
All the guy got for that comment was an even deadlier glare and Jamilah wouldn’t be lying if she admitted to maybe thinking about poisoning his coffee the next time he came here. After all, there was definitely a point to be made that she would be doing the world a favor if that idiot couldn’t spout his nonsense anymore.
Not that her glare helped things in any way when the dude leaned closer, far over what was appropriate, basically climbing on the counter to close the distance between them as much as possible. Not that this in turn did anything to impress her. Quite the contrary.
“I’m still not interested.”
“Awww, don’t be like that!”
Jamilah knew these types all too well unfortunately. Guys who thought too highly about themself because the patriarchy told them that they were important just for being men, guys who thought too little of women because the world around them had taught them that a woman’s opinion didn’t matter. And even if she hadn’t been into men in the first place then meeting far too many of these bastards would have most definitely made that choice for her by now. Seriously, she’d rather spend the rest of her life in solitude rather than being with some bastard who didn’t respect her in the slightest even though she could probably outperform them in every possible way.
“Just one date please! I swear it’ll be worth your time!”
“Didn’t ya hear her? She already said she’s not interested so fuck off.”
Actually of all the people Jamilah hadn’t expected Jade to step in for her. Not that she would have needed anyone to step in, really. Especially not another man. She might be a woman but she could most definitely fend for herself!
“Hah? Can’t remember asking you for your opinion, why don’t you get lost instead?!”
If there was anything that she could use even less than some idiot trying to impress her and getting into her space then it was two idiots fighting for her sake right in front of her. Seriously, she was just trying to do her job!
Her “how about both of you get lost?” wasn’t acknowledged by either of them when the first man turned around, one of his fists already balled, ready to punch ‘Jade’ in the face but maybe it was not all that much of a surprise to see how quickly he pulled back when he saw the look on the other man’s face. It wasn’t something that would scare Jamilah herself because she had seen that very same expression on Floyd’s face whenever she got frustrated in a match but at the same time she also couldn’t blame anyone else for running away upon being met with that murderous gaze from mismatched eyes.
Then again it also told quite the story about how much of an ‘alpha male’ that dude actually was when it came to it.
Not that she had expected anything else.
“If you’re expecting some discount for this then you can just leave too. I could have handled this on my own.”
Jade didn’t even seem to register her words, still glaring at the door that the other had disappeared through as if he was the one hurt most by this.
“I hate these bastards so much…!”
Jamilah sighed.
“Not like you’re usually any better.”
“Yeah but not like this !”
It was surprising to see him this offended at her words when seriously he was usually going on her nerves just as much, doing his very best to flirt with her all the time even though she had rejected him at least fifteen times by now.
Then again he was right. Kind of.
Jade was annoying and intrusive and really fucking bad at giving up but at least no matter what he’d never talked to her as if he was looking down on her, as if she was just some fancy toy that he was entitled to have just because he was a man.
Still that didn’t mean that he wasn’t also insufferable.
“Not giving you my number despite that.”
“Didn’t expect you to…”
Something was most definitely off today, the grimace on Jade’s face nothing like the usual teasing that would have followed a comment like this. Somehow, even though Jamilah couldn’t stand the guy, it didn’t sit right with her.
She sighed.
“We have a new spicy frappuccino on the menu, would you like to try that one?”
It was equally as annoying to see how the light instantly returned to his eyes.
~ ~ ~
It wasn’t until three months later that the hoax was up.
Three months that Floyd thoroughly enjoyed slipping into her brother’s shoes metaphorically and into his clothes quite literally and then behaving nothing like what Jade would actually behave like. Actually even if in the end nothing came out of her complicated relationship with Jamilah then at least she had the satisfaction to know that Jade could never set another foot into this particular cafe let alone order something normal after Floyd had tested her way through the entire menu, making sure to try out even the most horrendous combinations she could possibly think of.
Actually she was just in the process of deciding on yet another combination, leaned over the counter a little closer than necessary but some time two months ago Jamilah had given up complaining about that just as she had given up on arguing with the fact that by now ‘Jade’ should most definitely know the menu by heart and that there was no way that ‘he’ was taking this long to actually read what was written on there. Not that she wasn’t right about that. After all, Floyd had had everything down from the second time she had visited but it was fun seeing her crush be this annoyed over something so miniscule.
She was just about to spend another twenty seconds just staring at the other girl when she could hear a very familiar chuckle behind her in the same moment that the expression on Jamilah’s face turned into disbelief almost as if she was almost about to grasp the truth behind everything but didn’t want to believe it.
“And here I was wondering where my shirts went all the time.”
Floyd clicked her tongue leaving her comfortable position at the counter to turn around to her brother.
“Not like your taste in fashion isn’t absolute ass anyways…”
Jade didn’t look the slightest bit hurt by that statement. Actually there was one of these absolute obnoxious little smiles on his face that he always had when he was sure that he had his sister in the palm of his hand.
“Well, as far as I’m concerned I’m not the one who stole my sibling’s clothes.”
Floyd stuck her tongue out at him.
“Wait…”
The truth most definitely seemed to dawn on Jamilah and she didn’t look happy about it. It was a funny expression and no matter what was going to happen now, Floyd was most definitely happy for having gone through with this foolery just because she could witness this very moment. Seriously, she almost wished Ace was here with her right now just so that he could see it too.
“Wait…so that annoying bastard these past months…”
“...was my cute little sister, yes.”
Jade looked terribly amused but Floyd wasn’t even mad about that actually. After all, it was funny to see that all play out, seeing Jamilah lose face for a moment even though she was usually all mysterious and controlled. Kinda made Floyd want to see more of it.
“Seriously, fuck you….both of you…”
If Floyd hadn’t been so busy laughing she could have kissed her right then and there because Jamilah when she was angry and embarrassed was a beautiful sight to behold!
~ ~ ~
“Can you imagine? She seriously thought we were a thing as if I’d ever date you.”
“Hey, you didn’t have to say it like that!”
For a second Jamilah thought about just turning on her heel and ignoring that idiot who was apparently slandering her yet again but Floyd had already seen her, the bright smile on her face somehow working its magic and Jamilah found herself at their table before she even knew.
Ace looked at her with one raised eyebrow, Floyd’s insult from minutes ago apparently forgotten considering how he looked all too much as if he was going to say something that she most definitely didn’t want to hear.
“Don’t you dare.”
He raised his hands in mock defense, the grin still plastered on his face while she was turning towards the root of all evil, the tall girl sitting next to Ace, joy evident in her mismatched eyes. The root of all evil and unfortunately also Jamilah’s girlfriend, maybe fortunately, she wasn’t entirely sure about that yet.
“I didn’t even say anything yet.”
Ace was as bad as always at keeping his mouth shut and Jamilah was about to ignore him as usual but actually maybe Floyd’s childish antics were contagious somehow or maybe it was the silly excitement rising up in her when Floyd pressed a small kiss on her lips.
“Just to be clear, I wouldn’t date you either.”
“Hey!”
The offended look on Ace’s face was accompanied by a bout of obnoxious laughter from Floyd but at the same time that very same bout of laughter was secretly maybe quite possibly Jamilah’s favourite sound in the world.