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“Dan!”. I snapped back into reality with the sudden call of my co-worker. She shifted her weight onto her other foot and suggestively glanced at my apron, shaking her head. I followed her gaze and groaned. “I just cleaned this!!” I whined, almost stomping my foot like a toddler. “I look over, and you’re drooling like an idiot and pouring coffee on yourself. I never even thought it was possible to fall asleep standing up, but Dan manages to accomplish the impossible yet again”. Though her tone was condescending, I could see a twinkle of laughter in the older woman’s eyes. I smiled awkwardly and yawned, “I’m sorry Marcie… I’m just really tired for some reason” I stretched my arms above my head. She smiled and rolled her eyes, “Nevermind, how about you work the register and I’ll be the one actually making the coffee. Just to prevent any more..” she glanced at my apron again, “incidents”. “Shut up” I snapped at her, earning a cheeky giggle in response.
I sighed and made my way over to the money box we had bought for our little coffee shop, which Marcie had probably ordered off of eBay. I sighed and greeted the next customer with a cheerful “Hello! What can I get for you today?”. Once the small line that was once in front of the register was gone, I pulled out the small wooden stool I kept under the counter and practically collapsed. “When is this day going to be over” I thought warily, glancing at the clock and growling in frustration. “5 ½ more hours???” I plopped my chin onto the counter in front of me and stared through the window as it began to rain, another line accumulating at the register. “I’ll just have to make the best of it”. With that, I slowly stood up and forced a smile, trying to look as enthusiastic as possible. The day went by excruciatingly slowly. I had no idea how much time had passed since the accident with my apron, though I was sure it was more than an hour.. until I checked the clock again. "IT'S ONLY BEEN 15 MINUTES?!?" I groaned mentally and finished scribbling another order onto a piece of paper, about to turn around and greet the next customer.
“Hi! What can I get for you… f-for.. y.. uhm.. hello”. The beautiful stranger that stood before me had not seemed to notice my stutter and looked at the board of today’s specials, causing me to sigh in relief. The (very very attractive) boy had a perfect fringe swept to the right side of his face, the jet black contrasting his pale skin. His eyes were a gorgeous icy blue, So piercing and frigid, yet so warm and welcoming. He raised his eyes from the menu and smiled timidly, sending a wave of chills up my back. I was already in love. “W-what would you like sir?” I managed to squeak, trying my best to discretely neaten my hair. He giggled and a light blush danced on his cheeks, making me shiver once more. “I’ve never been here before, what would you recommend?”. I stared at him for a second, lost in his eyes, then shook myself back to reality. “Wh-What I would recommend? Well.. I-I really like you- THE CARAMEL MACCHIATOS.. yeah, those are my fav-favorite!!” I smiled and giggled awkwardly, trying to control the deepening red on my cheeks. “Those are typically my favorite too” He laughed his musical laugh once more, making my heart tense up. “So one caramel macc-macchiato for….. what’s your name?” I mentally slapped myself “you dumbass”. His smile became even wider, “I’m Phil”. “Thank you” I piped, writing his order as neatly as possible. “It’ll be right up”.
I clumsily shuffled to the back of the kitchen and stuffed the small piece of paper into Marcie's hand. "See something you fancy?" she wiggled her eyebrows and smirked. "N-No!! It's not... W-well.. I-I mean uhm.. crap." I felt my entire face heating up again as she snickered in amusement.
"Don't worry, I got you" she whispered.
"No, No, Marcie don't ple-"
"Well of COURSE you can leave early, dearest Dan!" she began, making sure the entire cafe could hear her-including Phil. I smacked a hand against my forehead as Phil looked towards us. "And I am SO SORRY that you biked here, don't you live something like 10 MILES FROM HERE? Gee that is SUCH A SHAME that you'll have to BIKE that distance in the POURING RAIN. Maybe someone KIND and CONSIDERATE would GIVE YOU A RIDE??" I saw her glance at Phil. "WELL! There is nothing I can do about it, so you'll just have to ask SOMEONE ELSE. BYE DAN!" She briskly untied my apron and pulled it off, pushing me out of the kitchen towards Phil. He got up and started walking in my direction, my thoughts beginning to race. "Oh god oh god what do I do what if I forget to breathe what if he hates me and is here to tell me i'm dumb what if-"
"Hey, I heard you need a ride? I could give you one if you want"
"I-Yeah, that would be great! Only if it's not any trouble though..." I looked down and fiddled with my hands nervously. "It's not any trouble at all" Phil smiled and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I looked back up at him as the corners of my lips twitched upwards in gratitude. "Let's go" he crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, making me smile and easing my tension.
I helped Phil load my bicycle into the back of his car, the muddy tires squeaking against his leather car seats. "I am so so so so sorry about my bike.. I-I could just leave it or something maybe?" I was so embarrassed I almost wanted to run away. "Don't. Worry." Phil assured me, "I needed to get a car wash anyways. You," he playfully tapped my nose, my face instantly turning into a bright shade of red, "just need to relax. I don't bite". I beamed at Phil, my shyness slowly ebbing away. "Here" Phil handed me his phone, "could you please type in your address?". "Sure thing" I quickly tapped in what I hoped was the right address and returned Phil's phone. "Thanks" he smiled and tapped something on the screen, initiating an automated voice that directed him to my apartment.
Our time was quickly passed in effortless conversation (on his end at least). Him asking about the coffee shop, about my hobbies, and my stuttery, barely adequate answers. Before I knew it, Phil was turning the corner onto my street. I'm sure he saw the clear disappointment written all over my face, for he laughed heartily, quickly trying to disguise his amusement with a cough. "Hey!" I pouted at him and got out of his car, only causing him to laugh harder. "I'm sorry, Dan" Hearing Phil say my name turned the mild butterflies in my stomach into rampaging dragons. "It's okay" I murmured, opening the trunk of Phil's car and attempting to yank my bike free. "Do you need help?" I made a mental note to rack through every activity I had even somewhat taken part in to see what I did to deserve this man. "No, no, no, I'm alright" I tried to stutter out, but he was already getting out of his car. "Okay. On three okay?" I nodded in agreement. "One, two, three!" with a sharp tug from both of us, my bike finally squeaked past the metal hinges on Phil's car door. "Victorious!" we shouted in unison, Phil laughing and playfully shoving me-once again causing my cheeks to flare up. "W-Well, I really hope I see you around sometime.." I smiled timidly at Phil, who portrayed a sense of amusement. "Well of course we'll meet again" He playfully pushed my shoulder. "I'll make sure of it" . I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just nodded in agreement. "See ya" he waved and got into his car. "S-see ya!" I waved at him, watching his car disappear around a corner, smiling like an idiot. Well, I was an idiot. An idiot that was madly in love.