Work Text:
Cody fiddled with the strings of his apron as his eyes darted from the glass doors to the clock on the wall. 12:17.
He was late. He was never late.
“Worried your boyfriend might not show today?” Heather asked, eyes glued to her phone.
“What?” Cody jumped. “No. Who?”
He looked over the empty cafe, almost terrified that he would spontaneously materialise at his coworker’s words. The cafe was half-full on its busiest days- target demographic less exhausted single mothers and techbros, and more exhausted college students from the nearby campus. Cody usually enjoyed that, taking advantage of his free time to work on song lyrics or listen to Heather complain about whatever pissed her off that week; currently though, all the emptiness did was bring more attention to the fact that he was late.
Heather rolled her eyes. “This is getting embarrassing, even for you- since when do you have a problem with talking to people?”
She was right about that, even if he would never admit it. Even on a good day Cody was love-crazy, burning through infatuations faster than was probably healthy; they were second nature to him, something to keep him busy. Maybe that was why it was so easy for him to put himself out there- because it was all just for fun, really.
Or maybe it was because none of the targets of his affection carried themselves with the flair of someone that constantly had better places to be, or were never seen without chattering into a headset and a pair of aviator glasses were you could just barely see eyes so dark they blended into the iris, or had voices so smooth it didn’t even matter how complicated their orders were, or just because none of them were-
“-any plane works at this point, I’m desperate. Yes, I know it’s hurricane season, do you think he cares?” a voice from the outdoors got increasingly clearer.
Oh god - no, no, this was good! Cody was finally going to ask him out today! He had been going over the best pick-up lines the other night, there was no way he could blow it!
He walked in looking as effortlessly cool as ever, groaning into his headset and slinging an oversized bouquet in an arm-
Wait, what?
Oh.
“Good afternoon! What can I get you today?” Cody broke into a corporate grin, because he was not going to cry in front of him- he’s already done that more than enough time in front of his other crushes. Of course he had a partner, why wouldn’t he? He was amazing, and Cody knew that just by taking his order everyday! It was fine. Totally fine.
“Just the usual,” he replied, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear; whoever had the luxury to run their fingers through that was lucky. “lactose free, nonfat, half-caffeinated-”
“What’s with the flowers?” Heather asked, looking up for the first time in her shift.
He stared at her blankly for a few seconds, seemingly not registering that the snobbish woman behind the counter was actually acknowledging his existence for once. “It’s for my boss; forgot an anniversary and he’s making it my problem.”
“He sounds like a lot.” Cody’s voice found itself before he did, squeakier than usual and greatly relieved.
Against all odds, he smirked. “You have no idea.”
“I’ll get the coffee,” Heather said, heading to the kitchen. As she left, she mouthed two words to Cody- you’re welcome.