Chapter Text
Reagen sighed as she walked into the cafe that she had seen all over Instagram from the people she had gone to high school with, feeling the old rage and shame every time she saw their 'perfect' lives all over her social media, unable to help herself from comparing the shitty, stressed life she lived in comparison. Nevertheless, she was trying to do something good for herself.
Get out of the house.
Go for a walk.
Drink a ridiculously overpriced coffee at an 'artsy' cafe and stare at the wall for 30 minutes.
As she stared at the chalkboard over the counter, her eyes scanned over every price, trying to find something under $5 as the ginger man opposite her waited patiently. They stayed that way for several long moments before he chuckled, asking in an unsettlingly happy voice, "Is there something I can help you with miss? A recommendation?"
Reagen stared at him with silent suspicion for another couple seconds, the man not even remotely intimidated as he kept staring at her, smiling brightly as Reagen's face curled up slightly, his eyes were literally shining, she always thought that was a figure of speech before she saw this man for the first time. The silence was getting increasingly awkward for Reagan but again, this strange man was smiling at her like she had told the funniest joke ever.
Maybe she was the joke.
Reagen shook off the self-deprecating thought before eventually coughing out, "Do you sell something...cheap?" before her cheeks flushed slightly, embarrassed as how rough and scratchy her voice sounded and the embarrassment of coming to a shop like this and then trying to find something cheap.
The man didn't seem even the remotest bit fazed as he turns to look behind her, reading the board quicker than she would have expected from a guy that looks like a male bimbo, thinking before he said in a happy tone, "Well we don't sell anything under $6 so, I would recommend the Pumpkin Spiced Hot Chocolate. You can add a shot of Espresso for an extra $2 dollars if you want."
Reagen thought for a couple of seconds, Pumpkin Spiced, Pumpkin Spiced, almost disgusted at the idea and not afraid to display on her face until she remembered why she was there.
The perfectly curated Instagram posts of her former classmates.
She sighed, nodding her head once as she quietly said, "Okay then...How much is that...?" The man's smile got even wider as he pushed a couple of buttons on his till, saying after a couple of seconds, "That'll be $8.50. Tip?" asking the second half of his question while pushing the card machine at Reagen who sighed even louder and thought 'Fuck it' pushing 30% tip, trying to be nice to a man that must have issues if he was this happy all the time, to make her total $11.05.
The man smiled at her once again, saying "It'll be ready in just a moment", turning back to begin making the coffee, the pair the only two in the shop at the minute. His movements gave Reagen an excuse to sit down for a moment, sinking softly into one of the plush chairs by a large window spilling light into the rustic shop, which was obviously decorated the way it was so that people like Reagan's former classmates would come in, buy an overprices coffee and post on Instagram to show off just how perfect and expensive and put together their lives were, she thought bitterly.
She pushed herself out of her train of thought after a couple more seconds, not wanting to bitterly reminisce on the memories of her high school to pull her laptop out, intent on getting some of her PHD work done while she was sat in the cafe, grateful that her father wasn't standing behind her to criticise her and put pressure on her every time he happened to walk past her sat at the desk, which was more often than could be chance from him just moving about the house. The woman typed away at her laptop for several minutes before she heard the man at the counter call for her, realising she hadn't even given her name as she stood up to grab the pumpkin spiced hot chocolate with a shot of espresso, she almost grimaced at the thought before remembering she had promised herself to try and be less judgemental and more open minded for her news year's resolution, something at which she had failed at almost every day since then.
The two of them made eye contact for a couple of seconds when she went to grab her drink before Reagen dropped her gaze, saying awkwardly, "Thanks...Thank you I mean- My...erm I'm called Reagen by the way- Reagen Ridley" already cursing herself for her awkwardness and lack of social skills before the man just chuckled and said, "Well Reagen- Reagen Ridley, I'm Brett- Brett Hand." the man not even blinking from her awkward introduction as he continued, "I'll remember you if you come into the shop again" something which Reagen couldn't tell if it was creepy or sweet as she just nodded once and mumbled, "I'll remember you too" even if she probably wouldn't despite the fact he seemed to be the only other person in the cafe, just taking the cup from him as she spoke and went to sit back down, hoping he wouldn't kick her out for being on her laptop, even if he seemed like too much of a people pleaser to ever do that.
The two of them stayed in comfortable silence for around an hour, Reagen having ordered another of the Pumpkin Spiced Espresso Hot Chocolate, having begrudgingly admitted to herself that it was a surprisingly delicious drink, even if she was slightly surprised they were offering the flavour in the new years, having always imagined Pumpkin Spice to be an autumnal flavour. Nevertheless, she drank the two drinks slowly as she worked away at her PHD, having set a deadline for herself to finish that specific section by the first week of February, a deadline that was fast approaching.
No-one else entered the shop for the duration of the time that Reagen was in there, something she found surprising when she noticed it as she was closing her laptop down and packing away but not noticing the way Brett's eyes followed the movements of her body as she quietly put her laptop in her case and her case in her bag, thinking to herself about whether she would come back to the shop. She left the cafe without much thought, walking back to the carpark she had left her car in, sighing as she saw her Dad sitting inside the passenger seat, not even questioning how he got in as she silently got into the driver seat, grateful he hadn't attempted to drive drunk again, something which had put the fear of God in her every time he had done it previously.
She could tell (and smell) that he had been drinking again and braced herself for the onslaught of insults and the way he seemed to derive sadistic pleasure from trying to tear her down to be the worst version of herself as possible. Her hands gripped the wheel of her old, beaten down black Sandero as she pulled out of the car park, not even noticing the tension in her shoulders until she heard the familiar loud snoring of her drunken father. She groaned, mumbling under her breath about the loop earplugs she desperately hoped had arrived by the time she got home.