Chapter Text
March watched the pot of coffee boil, in defiance of proverbs.
Snowflakes tumbled outside in sparkling whirls. Large windows surrounded the wooden tables and pink fluffy chairs. Soft pop played at a low volume. There was always the sugary smell of frosting wafting through the place because the glass display was full of cupcakes in every color of the rainbow; strawberry, orange, lemon, pistachio, blueberry, raspberry.
Her photography was printed in wide format, hanging on the wall framed in bright pink and blue – landscapes, bunnies on a trail, lumpy mushrooms with dewdrops. Plushies sat on the counter, a teddy bear holding a bunny in its chubby little arms. The shop’s owner had given her complete liberty in decorating the place, and she’d used it to the fullest.
The bell rang when their first ever customer walked in at 10 AM on that fateful Saturday morning they opened. A pale-looking girl with long silver hair and a scar on her cheek walked up to the counter. Her gray skirt had green winged insect patterns on it, and she wore a gray crop top.
March’s jumped to attention. Her voice cracked as she squeaked “Welcome,” then she cleared her throat, put her hands on her hips, and tried again: “Welcome to Cafe Stellar Jade! How can I help you?”
“It’d be helpful if you gave me a kiss, cutie~” She smiled, then added “Just kidding! Large mocha latte, please.”
Face heating up, “Whuh?”
Loudly, “Mocha Latte, please!”
“Yeah, uh, gotcha. Credit card?” March tapped the wrong button on the screen three times, awkwardly and frantically smacking her index finger at the computer for an uncomfortably long instant before the machine finally beeped.
Firefly commented “Those photographs are gorgeous, who took them?”
Blushing further, March responded bashfully “Uh...I did.”
“Really?! I thought’d they’d been bought from a professional, or something.”
“Oh I’m just an amateur.”
“A talented amateur. These are almost as beautiful as your pretty face.”
Ears hot, March said "Th-thanks."
"My name is Firefly, what's yours?"
“Name's March. Gotta grab something from storage. Once sec!”
March opened a door, knocking an Employees Only sign on the way, and rushed inside. Sneakily, Firefly followed.
March whipped out her cell phone and tapped Stelle’s number. After five rings, there was an answer; “Wassup, babe?”
“Babe it’s an emergency! A really cute girl walked in to the cafe.”
“Take her order, stoopid.” Her way or pronouncing stupid always audibly emphasized the two ‘o’s.
“I did! B-b-but she flirted with me.”
“Are you dumb? Flirt back, obviously.”
“How?! What do I do?”
“That’s easy, she’s already interested. What’s her name.”
“It’s Firefly.”
“Cute. What are her interests? Her favorite season? Her dream vacation? Hobbies.”
Her fingers counting up to three, “Interests, favorite season, dream vacay. Okay. Okay. I can do this. Eek!” March looked into Firefly’s eyes. “G-g-gotta go!”
“If you fumble her I’ll spank your a-” Beep.
Firefly began quietly “Sorry, I’m nosy.”
“Get out of here! This area is employees only. If my boss sees I let you back here I’m toast.”
“Alright.”
They both returned to the counter. March added the chocolate flavored syrup to the cup. The milk frother loudly buzzed to life, overpowering the background music. Hastily pulling it away, it slipped from March’s grip, and the frothed milk dripped over the side as the cup landed sideways, splashing her apron.
Firefly timidly began “Um, I wanted to say something.”
March slouched and looked at the spilled drink. “Sorry, I’m going to remake your drink.”
“I’m not angry, because I’m not in a hurry. Anyway, I wanted to apologize.”
“What?”
“Well I think I made you uncomfortable. Also, I overheard you say ‘babe’ so I guess you’re taken. I’ll back off.”
“Actually, we...um...are open. We talked about polyamory.”
“Oh.” Bashfully, she clasped her hands together. “Well, anyway, I didn’t make a good first impression, since you’re at work, and it’s rude of me to bother someone on the job.”
“Yeah...it kind of is...”
“I’ll leave you alone.”
“Wait...after work I’m free.”
Firefly’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Alright.”
“I’ll...take your number?”
“That’d be amazing!”
After her new crush left, the rest of March's shift crawled by painfully slowly. She barely paid attention to what the other customers said because all she could think about was her upcoming date! She made the wrong order twice. She muttered "Oopsie... Silly me."