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“Hey, Rin-Rin,” Kisumi stopped wiping the counter for a moment and leaned against it. Rin, who had been counting how many five-pound silver bullets of espresso beans they had in the under-counter cabinets, stood up, setting his inventory sheet down.
“Yeah?” he rubbed his neck, rotating his head to give it a stretch. He was sore from bending over the clipboard all morning.
“I think today’s the day,” the pink-haired man gave a slow smile, violet eyes looking into the dining room of the small coffee shop.
“What day?” Rin smoothed down his apron, which was crumpled from bending down over and over to count every last one of their products for their monthly inventory.
“The day he finally confesses,” Kisumi answered. Rin picked his clipboard back up and started to count the bottles of flavored syrup on the counter.
“Who?” the redhead asked.
“Venti White Chocolate Mocha with an Extra Pump.”
“You really need to come up with shorter nicknames,” Rin rolled his eyes, losing count when he reached the sugar-free syrups.
“I can’t help it if I only know him by his order,” Kisumi beamed at him.
“Well, maybe if you took names like we’re supposed to-”
“I wonder if it’ll work out,” the taller man sighed and rested his elbows on the counter. Rin followed his gaze and spotted their tall, sandy-haired regular. He was fidgeting in his seat, his drink untouched, and his hands clenching and unclenching in his lap.
“He does seem nervous,” Rin mused before going back to his work.
“What do you think Just a Glass of Water, Please will say?”
“Just a Glass of Water, Please?’ Rin raised an eyebrow.
“You know the one,” Kisumi insisted. “Dark hair, blue eyes, comes in for our free Wi-Fi,” he offered.
“Oh, right,” Rin remembered him. He was a quiet guy who kept to himself. He never ordered anything unless they had pineapple cake in the pastry case.
“Speak of the devil,” Kisumi said as the door to the shop opened, the chime ringing loud enough to startle the sandy-haired man.
Their guest walked inside, not even bothering to head to the counter for his glass of water. He walked straight to the only occupied table. The other man stood up, nearly knocking over his drink in his hurry to greet him. He offered the other a chair and the dark-haired man sat down.
“Actually, I think I was wrong,” Kisumi said, tearing his eyes away from the awkward, yet adorable scene playing out in their dining room.
“Is that right?” Rin had already moved on to counting the boxes of coffee filters.
“This isn’t a confession,” he walked backwards and hopped up to sit on the counter, blocking Rin’s view of the high shelves. “It’s a first date.”
“Get down, Kisumi,” the redhead waved him off and the other man obliged, landing gracefully on his feet. Crimson eyes looked away from his work for a moment, darting over to the couple at the table. The two were talking normally, the taller making wild gestures with his hands, causing the normally serious man to smile, his blue eyes shining. “Hey, sorry,” Rin said.
“For what?” Kisumi cocked his head to the side.
“I know you sort of had a thing for White Mocha over there,” he gestured toward the table.
“Oh, that’s in the past,” the pink-haired man daintily covered his mouth as he chortled. “I knew he was a lost cause,” he admitted. “Besides,” violet eyes narrowed playfully. “I think Keep The Change is planning on asking me out.”
“And again, would it kill you to take their names with their orders?” Rin shook his head.
“But it’s more fun this way,” Kisumi winked.
“And just what are you going to say when Mr. The Change asks you to dinner?” the redhead asked.
“I’ll say ‘yes’ and then politely ask him what his name is,” he said. Rin shook his head again and went back to counting inventory. He needed to finish before the end of his shift or their manager would scold him.
“So, how come I haven’t heard about you dating anyone?” Kisumi asked.
“Because I’m not,” Rin answered simply, bending down to count their sleeves of lids.
“Well, are you interested in anyone?” the taller man was leaning against the counter again.
“Nope.”
“Really?”
Rin sighed and stood back up.
“Unlike you,” Rin poked Kisumi’s chest, “I don’t think of our customers as a never-ending line of potential mates.”
“Right,” Kisumi bit his lip. “Because you’ve got the hots for someone else…”
“Kisumi, I just said-”
“Not a customer,” he interrupted. “But maybe a hot repair man?” his violet eyes were looking behind Rin. The redhead turned around just as the front door opened again. This time a tall man with dark, dark brown hair and gorgeous cerulean eyes walked in. He was wearing khaki’s and a black polo with the words ‘Yamazaki Espresso Service’ embroidered on the left breast.
“Good morning,” he greeted.
Rin barely heard him. He was too busy staring at the man’s exposed arms, hard and muscled. He was suddenly thankful that it was spring. Though, the taller man looked good in his long-sleeved button-up, too.
“Good morning!” Kisumi greeted, elbowing Rin in the ribs. The redhead snapped out of it and glared at his co-worker. “What brings you in today?” the pink-haired man ignored him and focused on the brunet.
“It’s time to perform the quarterly preventative maintenance service on your unit,” he held up his bag and offered a smile.
“Ah, did you hear that, Rin?” Kisumi elbowed him again. “He’s here to service your unit.”
“Kisumi!” Rin hissed under his breath.
“I’ll go restock the condiment station,” his co-worker said as he walked around the counter and into the dining room. “And I’ll let our customers know that drink service will be temporarily unavailable.” He breezed by the repair man and winked at Rin from behind his back before he went off to complete his tasks.
“So,” the brunet said, looking at Rin expectantly.
“So,” Rin repeated and then blinked. “Right, sorry,” he set his clipboard down and moved so the repairman could walk behind the counter.
“You got promoted?” he asked, setting his bag down and opening the front of the espresso machine.
“Oh,” Rin looked down at his name tag, the words ‘Assistant Manager’ were etched right below his name. “Yeah, just last month.”
“Congratulations,” he looked over his shoulder, offering a dazzling smile and then turning back to inspect the large, counter-top unit.
“Thank you, Yamazaki-san,” Rin smiled, even though the other man couldn’t see. He spotted Kisumi making kissy faces at him from the dining room and he wiped the smile off his face.
“Hey, Yamazaki-san is my father,” the brunet turned to face him again. “Just call me Sousuke.”
“O-Okay,” Rin cursed himself for stuttering. “Thank you, Sousuke.”
“So, has she been giving you any trouble?” Sousuke asked.
“She?”
“Your Mastrena,” Sousuke gestured to the espresso machine.
“Oh, her,” Rin cleared his throat. “Not really,” he rubbed the back of his neck, fingers toying with his short ponytail. “The shots are pulling a little slow.”
“Oh?” the brunet asked, head almost completely inside the machine. “Have you been calibrating it?”
“Of course,” he replied.
“Throughout the day?” Sousuke clarified. “She can be very sensitive,” he reached in and dusted some grounds off of the gears inside. “Sometimes you have to work at her a bit to get what you want.”
Rin felt his cheeks heat up.
“What about the lube?” Sousuke asked.
“What?” Now he felt like his face was on fire.
“The lubricant I left after my last visit,” the brunet said. “Have you been using it?” Rin opened his mouth, but no words came out. “You really need to slick up the piston rod or it’s going to whine every time-” Sousuke stopped talking when he looked up at Rin. “Are you all right?” he asked, cerulean eyes wide. “Your face is bright red.”
“Ah, completely fine,” Rin waved his hands in dismissal, just catching Kisumi snickering out of the corner of his eye. “We may have run out of the, uh,” he swallowed, “lube.”
“I’ll just give you some more then,” Sousuke reached into his bag and pulled out a small tube. “This one is almost used up,” he frowned slightly. “I’ll get you a fresh one from the truck.”
“Thank you,” the redhead smiled, eyes studying Sousuke’s back as the taller man returned to fiddling with the machine.
“Well,” he pulled his hands out and dusted them off. “She looks pretty good." He put everything back into place. “Let’s just do a couple test shots,” he reached for the shot glasses they stored at the top of the machine. He pressed the ‘double shot’ button and waited, folding his arms over his chest, his arm muscles flexing as he did so.
Sousuke’s eyes were on the machine, which allowed Rin to study his profile. His long nose, strong jaw, and full lips. Yes, perhaps Kisumi had been right.
“Eleven seconds exactly,” Sousuke emptied the glasses and rinsed them out. “And the crema looked perfect, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely perfect…” Rin hummed, eyelids drooping before he blinked and straightened. “Is that about it?” he asked.
“Let me just check the hopper." He reached up and removed the plastic container filled with espresso beans from the top of the machine. “No jams,” he grinned and put it back. “And the steaming wand looks like it’s in good working order. Has it been giving you any problems?”
“Nope,” Rin clasped his hands behind his back.
“Well, I think that just about does it,” Sousuke put his tools back into his bag and zipped it up. “Call me if she gives you any trouble,” he said and then reached into his breast pocket. “Do you have my new card?”
“New?”
“Yeah, I’ve, uh, taken over my father’s business so…” he took out a business card and handed it to Rin. “That’s my cell if you, ya know, need anything.” Rin nodded dumbly, accepting the card. “Well, I guess I should be going.” Rin nodded again. “See you in a couple months, then,” he said and walked toward the door.
“Don’t be a stranger!” Kisumi called, waving from his spot next to the condiment bar. Sousuke waved at him and then turned to look at Rin again.
“See you around, Matsuoka-san,” his eyes softened and then he was gone.
Rin sighed and looked at the card in his hands. Yamazaki Sousuke…
“That was like watching a train wreck,” Kisumi was suddenly right next to him. “You’re really bad at flirting.”
“I wasn't flirting.”
“I know,” the pink-haired man snorted.
“He was here on business, Kisumi.”
“Yeah, lubing up your rod and all…”
“Stop,” Rin glared at him.
“So, are you going to call him?” Kisumi asked, pointing to the business card in Rin’s hand.
“If something goes wrong with the machine.”
“Wow,” violet eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head. “You are even worse at picking up on hints.”
“What?”
“He obviously wants you to call him.”
“This is his job,” Rin argued.
“But the way he looked at you, it’s like he was about to ask you out on a d-” but Kisumi was interrupted by the door chime. They turned and saw that it was Sousuke again. Rin felt his pulse quicken.
“I almost forgot,” Sousuke smiled and Rin’s stomach flip-flopped. “I wanted to-”
“Yes,” Rin said, cheeks flushed.
It was then that the redhead noticed the tube of food-safe lubricant in the other man’s hand.
Oh…
Kisumi was biting his lips to keep from laughing.
“Yes, thank you,” Rin reached for the tube. “Have a good day, Sousuke.”
“You, too,” he bowed his head and walked back toward the door. But he stopped, spinning on his heel. “I was wondering,” he scratched the back of his head as he closed the distance between them. “Would you maybe like to grab a cup of coffee or something?”
Rin looked at the bags of coffee to his left and the brewers to his right.
“Or,” Sousuke’s cheeks tinted. “Maybe dinner?”
Rin’s pulse was racing again. Was he seriously asking him out on a date?
“I-”
“He’d love to,” Kisumi answered for him. “He gets off at four. Right, Rin?”
“Yeah,” he replied and all of his nerves disappeared when Sousuke’s face broke out in a smile.
“Great,” he said. “Well, I’ll see you then, Matsuoka-san.” He turned to go, but Rin reached out and grabbed his arm, feeling the hard muscle beneath warm, tan skin. “Yes?” Sousuke faced him.
“Rin,” he whispered and then said it again a little louder. “Call me Rin.”
“Then, I’ll see you later, Rin,” he brought a large hand up to cover the redhead’s, giving it a squeeze.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Rin pulled his hand back and offered a small wave as Sousuke walked out of the shop.
“And here I was doubting your flirting skills,” Kisumi slung an arm around Rin’s shoulders. “Not how I would have done it, but it worked none the less.”
“Yes, I did it my way and now I have a date,” Rin said proudly. Then his face fell and his eyes widened. “I have a date,” he repeated, sounding much less sure of himself. “Kisumi, what am I going to do? I don’t even have a change of clothes.”
“Well, you could always-”
“I’m not going naked.”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Kisumi laughed. “This time,” he added. “Don’t worry, your lunch break is coming up soon,” he patted his shoulder. “Just text me a preview of whatever outfit you like before you buy it,” he held a finger up. “First impressions are very important.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rin rolled his eyes.
“And you’d better hurry up and finish that inventory or you won’t be able to go at all.”
The inventory! Rin had forgotten all about it.
“Shit!” he cursed and grabbed the clipboard. But as he counted the bottled water in the cooler, he allowed himself a small smile. He had a date with Sousuke.