Work Text:
It was a chill summer day, the sun peeking through what few clouds were scattered throughout the sky. Many people were walking around in the city below, either running chores or enjoying themselves. Despite all of the skyscrapers and apartments though, a single shorter building stood out against them. It only had 2 floors, and wasn’t covered top to bottom with windows. That didn’t make it any less important, however…
…
Bryce found his job to be rather boring.
Sure, he interacted with customers when he could, but the rest of it was either cleaning, restocking, or waiting around to see what happened next. The people working with him were alright, but juggling what had to be done could be a hassle at times. Today had been a relatively quiet day, with no bad customers and a few regulars stopping by. Just a few more hours of this nothingness and he could go back home, back to his apartment where he could forget about working until the next day…
Ding-a-ling!
Bryce looked up from the counter as he heard the bell ringing, just in time to see a guy walk through the entrance doors. The first thing he noticed about them was a dark green color that stood out against the orange walls of the cafe. The guy seemed anxious about something, but Bryce said nothing as they walked up to the counter where he stood.
“Can I have…uh…”
Bryce noticed the guy look up at the boards behind him, hastily scanning them as if trying to avoid eye contact.
‘Seriously? You couldn’t have just checked them before you decided to try and order?’ Bryce thought to himself.
He sighed to himself, knowing that the other guy probably didn’t intend to come off as rude. He hadn’t actually seen them around before, so maybe they were new here. The other guy looked to be around his age too. He didn’t plan on asking the guy about any of this, of course.
“Take your time,” Bryce found himself saying calmly, though he hoped he didn’t come off as too deadpan.
“Thanks,” the other guy responded with a nervous smile.
It took him a few more minutes to gather himself, but eventually the guy made his decision.
“Can I get a small hot chocolate and a croissant, please?”
“Sure, I can get that for you,” Bryce replied. “Will that be all?”
“Yup!”
The guy smiled, but instead of a more anxious one, it was confident and sincere. Bryce found himself looking for a little longer than he should have.
…was the air conditioner broken or something?
“Your total is six dollars,” Bryce said after punching in some numbers on the register. “Can I get a name for the order?”
“Oh, uh…Liam,” the guy said, shortly before adding “Plecak” as a last name.
Bryce already knew Liam could see the pin on his apron that listed his name on it, but said nothing about it as he carefully took the money that was handed over to him. He watched as Liam walked over to a chair to take a seat, and was about to call him over for his change before realizing he’d handed over exactly six dollars. Bryce sighed in relief before heading to the back area, the cool air blasting his face as he entered. The other guys who were working in the back paid no attention to him, continuing to work restocking the pastries the cafe had.
Bryce grabbed a cup from a stack next to a machine and started on the hot chocolate. It was disposed from a machine instead of handmade, but it still took a while to fill. Once that was done, he made sure to write the name (or at least, write it the way he thought it was spelled) on the cup before heading over to get the second part of the order. The croissant could easily be grabbed from the display case out by the front, but for some reason, Bryce found himself taking one of the fresher ones that were on a nearby rack instead. It was still warm, and smelled absolutely amazing, even after Bryce put it into a small brown paper bag.
All in all, Liam’s order didn’t take that long to get together, but to Bryce it felt as though it took longer than it should have. He couldn’t help but think about Liam and his almost immediate change from anxious to confident when he was ordering, though a part of him supposed he could be overthinking it. After all, he didn’t even know the guy, and he doubted Liam knew him. He was a nice person though, and he had a cute smile.
…
…what was he doing again?
Oh right, the order.
As Bryce walked back out with Liam’s food and drink, he called out his name. Bryce hoped he wouldn’t have to call Liam’s name multiple times, but luckily for him, Liam heard him the first time. It was a quick exchange, with Liam walking over, thanking Bryce, and returning to his seat with a smile on his face. Bryce let out a huff of air akin to a sigh as he kept his eye on the green individual, that warmer feeling from earlier returning. Man, they really had to get the air conditioning checked out in here.
As much as Bryce wanted to stand there and watch Liam all day however, he had other customers to attend to. One customer had even entered a few minutes ago, and was currently gathering things from the “shop” area of the cafe for purchase. Bryce did his best to look away from Liam and towards the customer as they came up to him with their things. He dealt with them without a problem, and then went back to standing idly by the cash register.
It sure was a shame that this was Liam’s first time here, because if he didn’t find the place to his liking, he probably wouldn’t come back again.
‘But maybe,’ Bryce reasoned.
He’d see Liam again sometime?
…somewhere…else?