Chapter Text
Beep.. beep.. beep..
Owen’s eyes opened, listening to the blaring alarm that was ringing next to his ear. He grabbed his phone and pressed the bright, orange ‘Snooze’ button. Around three more minutes, thats all. He set his phone down on his bedside table and shut his eyes, allowing his mind to wander. Today marks his one year anniversary of working at the Juice Café, a local coffee and beverage shop, but people only really go for the coffee. Not only was it a monday, which is the day that everyone comes in because ‘its the start of the week’, but its also the first day of Pumpkin Spice season. Some could say, this day is the marking of purgatory for an underpaid, overworked, and sleep deprived barista. Not to mention the Café itself is understaffed.. Now, speaking of which, who else is on shift with him? Surely his boss wouldnt fuck him over and leave just him to work, right? No, surely not.
Everyday now feels the same. Wake up, go to work, get yelled at for some dumb order, occasionally get coffee thrown directly on him, rest for two minutes, eat a cup of noodles, code with his friend Apo for hours, and then fall asleep for about six hours. Sometimes that cup of noodles changes, but its always around the same time period and its always something cheap and easy to make. He cant afford much more than his appartments rent, so eating full meals can be a challenge. Hes been trying to find a better job, something that actually puts his coding diploma to work, but its been a lost cause.
Owens thoughts were interrupted as he jumped at the noise of his phone blaring alarms. He needs to find a better alarm, but hes always busy throughout the day and just quite frankly doesnt have any energy to even be bothered with changing it. Instead of snoozing, he cancelled the alarm and pulled his sheets off of him, stretching his arms out and letting out a small groan. He stood up and went to the bathroom, brushing out his hair. He grabbed a pumpkin earing and clipped it onto his left ear, along with a pumpkin scented cologne. He may as well get into character for the grand day considering there will be a lot of people looking at him. He changed out his shirt to the tangerine coloured polo and wiggled on black cargo jeans. Pleased with his appearance, he grabbed his car keys off of the kitchen table and walked out of his house, fiddling with the orange keychain he has around the keyring. He started up his car and drove to the Juice Café.
—
The morning hours flew by like a snail. Slow and unmoving. Owen nearly ran out of pumpkin spice twelve times, and just as he expected, he was the only person working. It was pointless to send a complaint to his spineless boss. She wouldnt do anything even if Owen begged her to on his knees. Sometimes he wonders if his boss enjoys seeing his desperation and sadness. The afternoon hours were way better. People didnt need their morning coffee to power through the day at 2 p.m, so it was a nice break from coffee spills. Yet, of course, the last hour is when he starts to get affected from his lack of sleep. Six hours of sleep compared to eleven hours of nonstop working can really take a toll on you.
He slowly cleaned a coffee spill that was on the front counter. Someone complained their coffee wasnt warm enough and demanded a refund. Owen kindly explained that they had already drank more than half of the coffee, which by company policy, he couldnt give a refund. The customer responded by throwing their cup on the front counter. Someone had been recording, which was going to be thrilling to see on Twitter. Owen looked up at the clock above the door, reading the time about 6:48. Twelve minutes until closing time. He felt a rush of relief overcome him as he finished cleaning up the spilt coffee. The day felt like it had last twenty hours.
Yet, of course with his luck, the bells above the door jingled as a short woman walked through, “Welcome to the Juice Café,” Owen started, “What can I get you?” He robotically finished. One of the main rules his boss had made clear was that he was to always greet the customers. Its become a muscle memory to say as soon as he hears those dreaded bells ring. The young woman walked up to the counter and stared at the menu. Owen awkwardly waited for her order, hoping it was something easy and quick to make.
“Im.. not sure. What do you recommend?” The woman spoke softly. This just had to be the best day ever. Hes now being expected to actually talk to this customer.
“Uh, well, our current specialties are Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Apple Cinnamon Frappe, and Caramel Pumpkin Lattes. Some customer favourites are Chocolate Chip Mocha, Brown Sugar Espresso, Salted Caram—“
“No, no- what do you recommend? What do you want to make?” The girl interrupted him, “Im okay with anything really. I know its near closing time, so Im not too worried if you dont wanna make anything too crazy!” She waved her hands to excuse herself, “Sorry if that sounded rude at the beginning!”
“Oh, no worries.” Owen smiled, “I’m not actually a coffee person. I usually just get a cup of orange juice.”
“Orange juice is perfect!” The woman smiled brightly. Her blue eyes contrasted perfectly with her orange-red short hair. She was also wearing a green off-shoulder sweater with a black turtleneck underneath. She was breathtaking. Her hair was down and slightly curly. It looked upkept in a way that was healthy, as if she just simply doesn’t care about what others think of her.
“Sounds great,” Owen stammered, a little lost in his mind. Hes never acted like this before to a lady, whats so different about this girl? Shes just a customer, “What name do I put on the cup? What size? And do you want any whipped cream, or maybe extra flavouring..”
“Whipped cream on orange juice?” She chuckled, (Gods, even her chuckle was adorable..), “Just a small, pure orange juice is fine. My name is Luanne. Its really nice to meet you, Owen.”
“How did you..” Luanne chuckled again and pointed to Owens name card, “Oh, right. I forgot I had that on me.” His face flushed, “I- Ill get your orange juice now. To go?”
“Hm,” Launne hummed, twirling her hair around her finger. The sun blasted on her tinted hair perfectly, making the red shine over the orange. Owen couldnt help but stare, “I understand if its too late for me to stay..” She trailed, “But if its okay with you, I would like to.”
“Of course! I wouldnt have given you the option to stay if it wasnt okay! Ill be two minutes, Miss,” Owen grabbed a small cup and filled it to the brime with orange juice, grabbing an orange marker and writing “Luanne” in bold letters. He drew a small orange next to the ‘e’ and smiled, proud of his badly drawn doodle. He went back to the counter and handed her the juice, “Made with love.” He half-joked. Was he actually falling in love with this girl? He felt a lump in his throat and swallowed it down, convincing himself it was just anxiety. Luanne took the cup from Owens sweaty hands and stared at the name written. Owens shrunk slightly, insecure about the doodle, “Sorry- the doodle was just..”
“Its adorable! I love your handwriting! My name fits it perfectly!” Luanne smiled and gripped the cup. Owen let out a relieved breath and smiled.
“Im glad you like it. I love oranges—in primary school, my nickname used to be Owenge.” He said, leaning against the counter, “You can only assume what my favourite colour is.”
“Awh, thats adorable!” Luanne smiled as she took a sip of the orange juice, “That makes sense as to why the ‘O’ on your name card has a small stem coming from it. I think its the cutest thing ever.”
Everything about this lady was just perfect. Her teeth were perfect and white as well. When Owen was younger, he had braces, always envying the people with perfect teeth. Luanne is either exactly like him or the people he envied. He admired her. He feels like he could spend his life with her, and all he knows if her name. Her beauty is so—
“Oh my god, do you have a pumpkin earing?!” Luanne exclaimed. Owen flinched and nodded hesitantly, “I have the sane one!” Luanne pulled a hair tie from her lemon shaped shoulder bag and quickly contained her messy hair in a loose ponytail, “I got them from Sings’ Jewelry!”
“Thats where I got mine, as well.” Owen smiled, “I know the owners daughter, actually! I got mine discounted for that very reason. What a coincidence that we both have the same earings!” His tired eyes softened for the first time today. She was so nice and lovely. Shes not afraid to speak loud, either, which is a great sign of confidence. The feeling of a lump in his throat crept up again. He also felt a sharp pain in his lungs. Is this what love feels like? He swallowed those feelings away.
“So.. whats your favourite flower?” Luanne threw the cup of juice in a nearby can, using a napkin to wipe away any moisture that was left from the condensation of the cup. She tossed the napkins as well.
“Ah, I like white tulips. Theyre a resemblance of forgiveness. And theyre just pretty. How about you?”
“Daffodils. I never looked into flowers all that much, but I believe its something to do with rebirth. I just love how they look, really,” She smiled softly, “I should head off before you lock up. It was nice to meet you, Owen,” Luanne passed £10 to Owen, “I look foward to seeing you again!”
“Wait, orange juice is only £1.49–“
“Keep the change, then!” She waved to Owen as she left. Owen picked up the pound and smiled, that lump coming back. He swallowed again and put the ten in his pocket before closing up the shop. He cant wait to see her again.