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1. Impressions
There’s something about finding that one person you’ll probably spend the rest of your life fighting over the last slice of pizza in an overly crowded coffee shop.
Cliche as hell, but there’s a charm to it.
The thing is though, I absolutely hate coffee.
The moment the bitter liquid hits the tongue, I can’t help feeling like throwing up.
But being stuck in a corporate job you hate kinda forces you to get out of your comfort zone. So there I was, getting out of the cab (because I honestly can’t tell the difference between a block and a street) to get inside that stupid shop practically 500 miles away from where my office really is.
Seriously, client calls are supposed to be for the sales people. Not IT people who just want to get one year over with so they can finally say they’ve had a year of experience then pursue their dream to create the next Final Fantasy.
“Stupid sales clods who can’t understand shit on servers.” I cursed to myself, pushing the door to the cafe open.
I know you shouldn’t blame people for not knowing every IT jargon, but come on. It’s their job to know what the hell they’re selling!
Immediately, the smell of fresh brew fills my nostrils and my face grimaces. It’s funny how most people would have expected me to have a committed relationship with coffee given I have no concept of sleep, but I just can’t stand the smell.
I scanned the shop for signs of my supervisor and groaned. Of course I was the first one to arrive, because once you’re up there in rank, it’s perfectly fine not to arrive on time anymore.
“Never mind finishing this year. I’m just going to get this stupid contract over with.” I grumbled, fishing my small hand bag for my wallet. That’s another thing with working corporate. Suddenly you realise you can’t get away with bringing old college backpacks that smell like your attic to the office.
The line to the register was pretty long so I grabbed my Vita and began my distraction. The store was playing some pretty good jazz music so the wait wasn’t as taxing. Being the type of person who gets engrossed in games very easily, I didn’t notice how I’ve finally reached the barista. It took me a good 30 seconds to finally hear my name (well, “ma’am”) being called before I raised my head. I was about to turn on my sarcastic asshole mode when I made eye contact with her.
I don’t usually stare at people unless they were wearing a ridiculous clown outfit, but how could you not when eyes as blue as a kidnapped elf princess were looking back at your puke green ones.
“I- wow.”
“Ma’am, that isn’t exactly a menu item.”
And that snapped me back to a reality. The voices of the people grumbling how I was taking up the line have finally become audible to me which pushed me to start.
“Uh, oh yeah. I-I’ll get a cola.” I quickly said, stuffing my Vita in my bag. The barista’s brows furrowed.
“Well, I’d get you a cola if I could, but you do realise this is a coffee shop, right?” She said, irritation clearly in her voice.
“Oh. Of course, stupid me right?” I laughed sheepishly. I could tell she was trying her damned best not to strangle me with the tight smile she was giving me. “Uhm, okay, could you get me anything without coffee, then?"
“…Right. Well, one glass of water coming-”
“Espresso! I’ll just get an espresso.” I quipped. How awkward would it have been if I had taken 50 minutes in this line only to get one stupid glass of water I could have gotten in the table to the side, right?
She gave me a bizarre look and shook her head.
“Is that your final answer?”
“Yes, uhm…” I squinted my eyes to get a better read on her name tag. “Louis. That will be all, Louis. Thank you.”
“It’s Lapis.”
“Right. Lapis. Sorry.”
The rest of the transaction went on relatively smoothly, with Lapis punching my order, me fumbling around to pay the exact amount, grumbling businessmen making passive aggressive comments, and me quickly grabbing the receipt.
Dear God, I won’t ask anything more from you. So please kill me now. I groaned, waiting for my espresso to be finished.
Normally, I wouldn’t be this much of a ditzy clod. I’m prompt, level-headed, and damn well efficient. But shit, sometimes you just get flustered by how amazingly attractive some people could be.
I’m never going back to this coffee shop. Ever.
In less than a minute, I felt the spherical object given to me after my order vibrate and I ran straight to the counter.
“One Espresso for Wow, here you go!” Lapis announced, handing me my cup.
“…Wow? That isn’t my name.”
“Well maybe if you gave me your name after I asked for it before running off to the corner, I wouldn’t have had to call you that.” She snickered. I felt my cheeks flush.
“I-it’s Peridot.”
“Well Peri, Try not to drink it all at once. It’s pretty hot. Hope you enjoy your coffee!” She said, giving me a small pretty smile before getting back to her work.
I couldn’t help but stay in a trance.
She… smiled at me?
It was only a tiny gesture, obviously customary of everyone in the Cafe business; But before I knew it, I was already grinning ear to ear, my heart giving me the flutters (again, cliche as hell but that’s infatuation for you). I took a look at my cup then sipped.
I felt my face grimace from its quick bitterness but then the flavour mellowed and suddenly all I could taste was sweetness.
Maybe it was just the brew, or the added sugar, or the fact that Lapis was the one who handed it to me. I don’t know. But all I knew for sure was that I was going back.
2. Break
Truth be told, I knew we were never going back to that area where the coffee shop was. Besides the fact that I “accidentally” muttered that their IT department were just a bunch of stuck up clods who couldn’t tell a code from a multiplication table, the company apparently had a reputation for flaking out on deals as soon as the freebies were spent.
So I honestly have no idea what possessed me to commute for 20 minutes to this far out coffee shop when I barely had an hour for my lunch break.
Who are you kidding, of course you know why you’re here, you pebble.
“This is stupid. I should just go back.” I muttered. “I mean, it’s not like she’s even here, right?”
“Who’s here?” A bored voice asked.
I quickly turned around and of course Lapis was actually behind me this whole time.
“Seriously, you’ve been standing outside for 10 minutes, staring at the door like it murdered the last customer who came in.” She remarked, puffing out the smoke from her electronic cigarette. It smelled of cinnamon and mints.
“Well, are you going in or not?”
“I-”
“Wait. I remember you.” She closed her eyes, looking like she was racking her brains out.
She… remembers me? I internally punched myself for getting a bit too giddy.
“Patrick right? No, Petra? Persephone?”
“How did you even get to tha-”
“Peri! That’s right it was Peri.” She said, nodding her head. She seemed to have noticed the flustered look in my face and snickered. “Oh I remember you, alright. I always remember customers who hold up a long line for stupid reasons.”
“E-excuse me?” I sputtered, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Does she really get away with talking like that to her customers? (Well aren’t I one to talk.)
“Relax, it pissed me off at first but I can’t blame you for not hearing me at once.” She mused. “You look like the type to listen to Electric pop or Dubstep on your headphones with the volume up to 100.”
“No I don’t!” I retorted. “…Only up to 70.”
That got her to laugh. It sounds so nice to hear her laugh.
“Right, well that’s definitely helping your case, isn’t it?” She shoved her cigarette back inside her apron. “Well, my break’s over. You coming in? Or are you going to contemplate whether to get cola or water again.”
“That was only one time!”
“It only takes one stupid moment to create a stupid memory.” She laughed again.
“I-I’m reporting this!”
“Knock yourself out, she’s my mom.” She mused, opening the door to the cafe. “So?”
“Ugh, you’re infuriatingly rude.” In the best ways possible. “Right, I’ll go- shit, is it that time already?”
Lapis turned around and shrugged.
“It’s 10 minutes to 1. What, late for-”
I didn’t have time to finish the conversation. I saw the bus going back almost leave so I had to make a dash for it. Again I was internally punching myself because Lapis and I certainly felt that the “infuriatingly rude” title had gone to me now.
3. Wingmen
“Okay, what do you want me to do again?” The bulky athlete asked, playing some game on her android while walking with me.
“I already told you, Jasper! Just make me sound cool or interesting or something!” I said, fumbling with hands in an attempt to calm myself.
“Yeah, that’s why I wanted to run over it again, because how am I supposed to make you sound interesting?” She smirked.
“Hey, we made an agreement! Wingmen need to be wingmen to their fellow wingmen! Don’t you forget who got to convince Professor Quartz to partner you up with her Student Assistant!”
“Haha, yeah. Pearl was a riot.” She grinned. Ugh, I hated having to hear about their… escapades. “Alright, alright. It’s not like I wasn’t going to do it in the first place.”
“Good. Because we’re already here.”
It was a weekend that day and it was the only time I knew Jasper wouldn’t be busy slamming her face on the desk because how reminiscent to hell being in law school was.
“So what exactly does this girl have that your other exes don’t?” She asked, her eyes looking around for a seat.
“Haha. Very funny.” I scowled. This idiot of 10 years of friendship obviously knew that I’ve never dated my entire life.
“Relax P. Leave it all to your future attorney.” She grinned, stretching her arms. After much bickering, I eventually dragged her to the counter. Unfortunately…
“She’s… Not here?” I groaned, slapping myself on the forehead.
“Sorry ma’am, she’s currently out and about. Are you a friend of hers?” The barista asked.
“Uh, n-”
“Yeah she is. Close friend in fact. You couldn’t even keep them apart!” Jasper interrupted, suddenly hogging all of the space in the counter. “One time in 6th grade, Lapis almost drowned and guess who was the one to save her? This runt did!”
It was a mixture of wanting to murder or hi-5 the big lug, but my pride got in the way. I straightened my back and gave a modest smile.
However by the way the barista was raising his eyebrow, I’m guessing he wasn’t.
“…Right, I’m guessing being an early athlete scholar at the age of 7 means nothing to the murky depths of a 4 feet kiddie pool, hmm?” He said in a bored voice. My face and Jasper’s paled. “Ma’am, just so you know. We don’t really give away discounts unless stipulated by the manager or Lapis herself.”
“Haha… Right. Just-”
And Jasper grabbed me right there and then, making a dash for the door.
We found a nice little cafe 2 blocks away from the street. We talked about my job, her school, and the notion if Pearl would be up for dating again.
Nobody mentioned what happened in the coffee shop.
4. Coffee
“Man dude, you have the worst luck.” Amethyst laughed, putting her coffee down on the table
You may have thought we were talking about the coffee shop fiasco, but au contraire, we were talking about how I had just found myself unemployed.
“How was I supposed to know my now former-boss was a drug dealer?” I complained, tapping wildly at my laptop as I scoured the job-hunting sites.
“True, true. Hey, how's it going with that coffee shop girl?”
I made a face.
“Amethyst, you know I’ve told you I’ve already given that up.”
“Huh. Seems like a waste though. You haven’t even… You know.” She snickered.
Amethyst was a close roommate I had back in college. Even though I was pretty much used to her behaviour for all those 5 years I’ve lived in the same room with her, she could still get kind of insufferable.
“Look, she just happened to be the barista for that day and I found her attractive. Everybody has those moments where they fall in infatuation for a good few seconds because of somebody meeting their aesthetic requirements!” I clenched, my typing getting a little bit more furious. “Besides, even if I did see her again, she must think I’m a total tool!”
“Aw P-Dot. You’re not that much of a tool!” She snickered, slapping my back. I immediately glared at her.
“I mean, you’ve got your quirks and all and I think it’s totally cool of your, you know. Character!”
I sighed.
“P, just talk to her, man. I’m sure you’ll all just have a good laugh about it, maybe a bit of some awkward silences in between because that’s like, your signature style. Before you know it, you’ll be calling each other up and watching the movies, walking your dogs, walking your cats, all that jazz!”
I stopped typing at this point.
“Look, I can obviously see what you’re trying to do and I appreciate it. Really, I do. But I think it’s more important that I can find a job soon before having to resort to calling my mom to pay for my rent next month.” I grumbled.
“You can crash with me if you want. There’s a lot of space!”
“Amethyst, we both know that with the amount of stuff you have in your apartment, you could become the next star of Hoarders.”
“Hey, better than having to call Mama Diamond.”
We didn’t exchange words for a while after that. I had my mind concentrated on finding a new job, and Amethyst was busy illustrating some concepts for her agency.
I felt my eyes droop .
Ugh, why’d we have to meet in a coffee shop of all places.
One more thing I hated about coffee shops. They make insanely comfy chairs which make it impossible to stay awake and be productive, unless you’re consuming coffee. Which I hate.
Without taking my eyes of my computer, I searched blindly for my Apple Mint tea, missing the refreshing sweet flavour on my tongue. Touching the handle, I grabbed my cup and drank the contents before gagging.
“Ugh, gross, I got your mug!” I complained, drowning the sharp flavour of black coffee with my tea. It was of no use however, as the strength of her brew was too much.
“That’s what you get for not looking, Dots.”
“Seriously, who even likes this coffee stuff? It’s gross, smells too strong, tastes too bitter-”
“Almost just like you!”
The sudden comment startled me, making me look to my side.
Do I even have to tell you who was actually at my back?
Her bored eyes look back at mine, covering her mouth to yawn. It’s amazing how no matter how disheveled she looked in just her tank top and ripped jeans, she still looked strikingly attractive.
The romantic (you can sense the sarcasm, right?) gaze we shared was shortly cut off with Amethyst’s boisterous laughter.
“Ha ha! She got you good right there, P-Dots!” Amethyst snickered, patting me hard on the back. The glare I gave her obviously wasn’t enough to shut her up so I elbowed her.
“I did, didn’t I?” Lapis smirked before sitting herself next to us.
“So Ms. Wow, if you hate coffee so much, why do you even come here?” She mused, crossing her legs.
I would have been screaming in my head at the fact that Lapis was actually sitting next to me had it not been for the thought that’s been bothering me for 2 weeks.
“I’m-sorry-I-pretended-to-know-you-and-acting-like-a-total-idiot.”
“What?”
“I mean…I’m… Uh..”
“She said she’s sorry she’s such a gigantic nerd who pretended to know you when she didn’t and that’s why you never saw her again after 58 years.” Amethyst finished for me.
I felt myself internally smacking.
“Oh. Yeah, Lars told me all about it.”
My face paled.
“Look, I really didn’t mean to make up something as bizarre as that. It’s just… Jasper made up a big-”
“Relax. It’s all cool.” She said, stopping me mid-sentence like all my other friends have been doing since the start of my stupid love story. “A lot of my teammates have just been asking for discounts and freebies and my mum has been all up in my case about it for about a month.”
“O-oh no, it’s really not that. We didn’t mean to ask for any discount!”
“Huh?” Her brows furrowed in confusing. “Then why have you been coming to our cafes if you don’t even like coffee?”
“Coffee shops? I’ve only gone to that one in Fluorite Street!”
“We own this one too. And that other one you went to 2 weeks ago.”
“You own this one t- Wait. How’d you even know I went to that cafe 2 weeks ago?” I squinted at her.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I was doing my routine check for my mum, like what I’m doing right now.”
“Oh.”
“You sure like ranting about strangers you meet in coffee shops, huh?” She smirked.
“You have no idea.” Amethyst interrupted, elbowing at me. Lapis smiled.
“I’m guessing this one was tolerable enough for you, huh?” Lapis said, gesturing to Amethyst.
“Oh hell no. You’re thinking of the wrong person here, sister.” She laughed. “Maybe point that finger at yourself and you’ve got a bingo.”
“Me?”
“Amethyst!”
“Oh.” Amethyst noticed how my face paled and sheepishly smiled. “Hey, better now than never right?”
Lapis looked at Amethyst then back to me and raised a brow. An amused smile traced her lips.
“Wait. You’re telling me that you’ve been going to our coffee shops. Because you’re stalking me?”
“Hey, hold on a minute, I am not-”
“Pretty much, yeah.” Amethyst nodded in agreement.
In my head, I was strangling Amethyst with my mouse cord. I wanted to run away so badly until I heard Lapis laugh at loud.
“Oh man, that’s what this is all about?” She laughed, tears almost spilling from her eyes. “You went to our coffee shop almost every noon, you ran away every time I popped my head to look out, and on top of that, practically embarrassed yourself every time we met, all because you wanted to hang out with me?”
“I- yes…” I lowered my head in shame. What could I do, it was hands up.
“Well why didn’t you say so?”
“I know, I’m a gross bitter person and I respect you want to- wait, what?” I looked at her, my eyes widening.
“Yeah. You could have just asked.” She said, fumbling her pockets for something.
“I- I’m sorry. I know I should have but it was just difficult given I was so ru-”
“Save it for the weekend.” She said, grabbing my hand and placing a card on it.
It was her calling card.
“Next Saturday, 3 pm. The Coffee Shop at Fluorite Street. Call me!”
And with that, she stood up, nodded at the staff then back to me and went out the door.
“Well what do you know.” Amethyst whistled.
I punched her after before calling Jasper and yelling at her ear.
5. After Hours
“So what do you think?” Lapis asked, looking at me with expectant eyes.
I tried my best not to make a face.
“It’s…good! Really good!” I said, doing my best not to spit the brew back into the cup
“Really?”
“Yeah, really! It’s the best!”
“Peri, you’re a shit liar. You know that right?”
“…Yeah…”
Then she laughed. She sounds so, so goddamned nice when she laughs.
“No pressure. I know you hate coffee.”
“I do.”
“Next Saturday again, then?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright. This time, I’ll come up with a brew you’ll finally like!”
“I hope you do.”
She gave me a quick hug before giving me a small peck to the cheek. My whole face turned rouge and she laughed.
Sigh.
Some people can just really make you do things you hate.
Like drinking coffee.