Work Text:
Monday.
Espresso, hot and still sweet, poured into the waiting shotglasses below, filling nearly to their brims as the crema formed. Hayden waited until the last drop fell before whisking the small glasses away and slowly pouring the steaming shots directly into the center of the steamed milk foam floating near the top of a Terrabrew to-go cup.
Reaching for the squeeze bottle on the counter, Hayden tossed it into his other hand with a flick of the wrist, spinning it twice in mid-air before catching it, then laid an intricate lattice of caramel sauce over the marked foam.
He laid the cup on the counter with a napkin and a lid beside, then took a moment to admire his handiwork. Hayden had to admit: he loved his job.
"I've got a caramel macchiato for Elis—"
"Oh! That's me! Right here!" A pretty ponytailed girl squeaked as she shot up from her stool and picked up the cup with a smile. "Thanks, Hayden!"
He watched the girl flit off to take the hand of a blonde woman in a red jacket.
"Yeah. Sure. No problem."
He frowned as they disappeared into the New Atlantean crowd.
"I love you."
Hayden sighed. All of the pretty faces in the city would eventually find their way to Terrabrew and they'd all know his name.
For all the good that did him.
He was just Hayden the coffee guy. Never Hayden, the devastatingly handsome dude that just happened to be New Atlantis's... No, Jemison's most eligible bachelor.
"Who am I kidding," he groaned as he picked up a rag and wiped down his espresso machine. "Devastatingly normal. At best."
Hayden lovingly tapped the machine before ducking below the counter to check his supply of milk and...
"Uh, anyone home?" A feathery voice called out.
Hayden stood, smacking his head squarely against the back of the countertop. Swearing, he blinked through the stars and balanced himself against the counter.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" The voice asked.
"Yep. I'm good." Hayden blinked away the pain, pressing a hand against the back of his head as he squinted. A flash of blonde with a streak of bright purple.
And pink.
Different. But... Familiar.
Like bubblegum? No...
"Take your time. I can wait until, you know..." The girl said, leaning in.
Definitely a girl.
"Don't worry about me," Hayden laughed, waving off the concern. "I can make anything you want blindfolded."
Pink eyes came into focus as the vignette faded to the edges of his vision.
Pink.
The girl watched Hayden stumble back a step.
"If you say so," she said.
Hayden caught himself staring and blinked again, then smiled at the girl. "I'm good. Hit me."
"Uh-huh. Well, I don't think you can handle another hit, but since you're so sure: Large quad almond milk lite foam latte, warm. And I mean 140 degrees warm. Not hot, not cold."
He watched her purple-dyed brow rise in challenge, then laughed.
"That's all? I thought you were going to give me something hard here. Coming right up... uh?"
The girl stared at him. "Did you break something in there?"
"What? No. I need your name." Hayden shook his head and held up an orange foam cup. "For the cup."
"Oh... Bree. Two E's."
Hayden scribbled on the side of the cup then got to work, starting with the milk.
"Are you on a layover?" he asked over the bubbling whistle. "I don't think I've ever seen you here before."
Bree eyed him cautiously. "You could say that."
"How long for?"
She eyed him again, tensing slightly. Hayden raised his hands in surrender. "No need to worry, just making conversation."
Her eyes didn't soften, but Bree relaxed a little.
"I haven't decided yet. Maybe a couple of days, maybe forever," she mumbled. "We'll see."
"'We'll see'. Story of my life. Sounds like you're on the run," he said, then added as she flinched. "Heaven knows I would be running too, if I had somewhere to go."
Bree's pink eyes anchored on Hayden as she watched his hands move over the espresso with an intimacy reserved for a lover.
He glanced up and caught her gaze, returning it with a smile. Bree's lip twitched into an unintended half-smile. Hayden returned his attention to the cup, pouring the steamed milk in, before she could turn away.
She nearly jumped when the soft sound of a full cup on the wood counter filled the quiet cafe.
"One perfect large quad almond milk lite foam latte, warmed to exactly 140 degrees, made just for you, Bree."
Bree took the cup and cradled it in her hands, then gave the boy another, but intentional, flicker of a smile. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me until you've tried it," he laughed. "You set a pretty high bar, and there's still a chance I didn't reach it."
Bree raised the cup to her lips.
"But, I'm pretty sure I did." Hayden winked.
She sipped, letting the warm, slightly bitter latte flood her sensations, pulling a quiet 'mmm' out of her.
Bree's eyes flew open as her cheeks filled with a warmth that wasn't from the latte.
"I'll take that as 'it's perfect'."
Hayden smiled, trying not to acknowledge the blush and turned away to let the pink-eyed girl compose herself, but mostly to wash out the milk pitcher.
"Is there anything in the N.A. that you're planning on seeing while you're here?" He asked casually over his shoulder, drying the pitcher with a towel.
Hayden turned to the counter and reared back as a kind older gentleman waited patiently to place an order.
"Well, I would like a coffee before I go anywhere," he chortled, then added, "If you're looking for the girl with the purple hair, she took her coffee and bolted out of here like a caffeinated rabbit."
"Figures." Hayden deflated, then smiled at the older man. "What can I start for you, sir."
"I'll have what she had, please."
***
"You have [zero] messages."
Hayden stared down at the blocky little robot at his feet. Its little square frame angled upward on its tracks to aim its blinking green optical sensor somewhere near the vicinity of his face.
"Welcome home [Jemison's Most Interesting Man]. Would you like me to play [music]?"
Hayden sighed and stepped over the bot and into his darkened apartment. "No MiC. Turn on the lights please."
Mic spun on its tracks to follow and chirped in its chipper, vaguely feminine voice. "[Music] [playing]"
"No, MiC. Lights—"
A tinny driving synth bass line erupted from the Miniature intelligent Companion's blown speaker.
"—stop music!"
I've got one question.
Do you think you can catch a heart of gold?
Hayden turned and picked the little bot up, flipping it over as he squinted in the dark, then desperately poked at the worn mute button.
Come and get—
Silence and sanity restored, Hayden flipped the bot again and held it in front of him, grimacing into the green light. "Lights, MiC. On."
A soft, dim light filled the tiny eight by ten foot apartment.
Hayden lowered MiC to the floor then stopped and looked at the bot's green optical sensor, then shrugged.
"Mic, customization mode. Set sensor color to pink."
The green light winked out, then flashed back to life in a pale pink.
Hayden pursed his lips, then laid the bot down and took three backward steps to fall into his bed. He stared up at the Anya Novakova poster that was pinned to the ceiling, but somehow, he wished the starlet's green eyes were pink instead.
"What am I doing with my life, MiC?" He sighed, imagining those pink eyes under Anya's angular crimson bob.
"The current rates for [Tickets] to [Gagarin] are—"
"That was a rhetorical question, MiC. Turn the window on. Full width."
"Would you like an [Augmented], [Natural], or [Virtual] view?" Mic chirped, unphased by the interruption.
"Natural. No. Virtual. Sunset on Venus."
The wall to his left illuminated in holographic light, bathing Hayden's small apartment in gold and pink light of Sol cresting a rocky plateau.
Hayden folded his hands behind his head and sighed. He was doing it again and he knew it. The ponytailed girl had thrown him into a near-tailspin two months earlier.
All because she took the time to appreciate his methodology behind the espresso machine.
And now, pink.
Holly would never let him live it down. Again.
A light trill pulled Hayden's gaze away from poster to the mini bot on the floor.
"You have [call] from [Work Bestie]. Would you like to [Answer]?"
"Yes."
A short beep, then.
"Hello, Holly. How was your week off?"
"Oh, you, great for the first two days. Boring for the rest," Holly laughed dryly over MiC's tinny speaker. "I can tell that you haven't made your great escape yet, Mr. Most Interesting Man."
"Maybe I have?"
"Your mini bot says otherwise. The sound quality is crap. When are you going to put MiC out of its misery and get a slate so that I can call you like everyone else? It is 2330, after all."
Hayden craned his neck to peer at MiC over the end of the mattress to the bot's blocky frame and pink sensor tilted slightly in programmed faux curiosity. He fell back into his pillow.
"I can't get rid of MiC, she came with the apartment."
"She, now? Well, you can't run off and be rid of me either then. I came with the job. How's Little Miss Ponytail?"
"Unreachable as ever."
Hayden stared up at Anya's grinning face again, imagining just the barest flash of a smile appear and disappear in a heartbeat.
"And you, H?"
"Invisible as ever."
A sound rattled MiC's speaker, maybe a sigh.
"Her loss. Gotta run. Just wanted to make sure you weren't leaving me with a broken heart. See you tomorrow, H."
***
Tuesday.
Another squeak of delight.
Hayden watched helplessly as the ponytailed girl bounced out of Terrabrew—and Hayden's life—with coffee in hand.
Again.
Hayden always looked forward to seeing her, sometimes even going so far as to prepare her caramel macchiato ahead of time as a surprise, but pink eyes and a blink-and-you-miss-it smile had filled his thoughts all morning. Hayden had been caught off guard when that squeaky ponytail bounced in.
She'd be back again. She was a regular and that typically meant it was only matter of time before she'd bounce back in. But she was an outlier. Mostly people stopped in on their way into or out of the spaceport, here and gone, just like that smile. Just a face and a name that didn't stick.
Sometimes he'd see these faces one more time during their layovers between flights. Kind of like Bree. Layovers, mostly, meant hours. Sometimes days.
Definitely not four years.
Bree would be nothing more than another pretty girl's name on a cup.
Hayden sighed and turned to wipe down the espresso machine, but stopped short as Holly watched him from the register, large round glasses sliding down her nose and chin resting on her palm as she leaned on the counter.
"Call me Captain Invisible."
She gave him a small, sad smile and stood, pushing her glasses up, then moved to lean against the refrigerator across from Hayden. Holly took her glasses off and blew a loose hair from it, then looked at him.
"You realize that there's an entire city of girls here, right? I can guarantee that there's one that knows more than just your name."
Hayden looked over at her, ready to... To what?
Agree? Disagree?
Holly had already pushed off and walked back to the register, tightening her short ponytail that seemed to have sprouted from what had been an angular bob. Hayden opened his mouth, wondering when that happened.
“Holly?" He watched the short ponytail bounce. "Have you ever seen someone with pink eyes?”
Holly skidded to a stop and looked at him with a grimace. “Ew. Why?”
“No. Not pink eye,” he corrected. “Like eyes that are pink. The color, not the infection.”
Holly peered at him through her big, round glasses, hands on hips. “No, can't say I have. Lemme guess, Ponytail and I have competition?”
Hayden chuckled, picking up a damp towel to wipe down the espresso maker. “No one can compete with my bestie.”
He smiled back at Holly, who had resumed her place at the counter, leaning on her elbow, chin in palm and glasses sliding down her nose, watching him with pursed red lips.
“Uh huh… I bet you tell that to all the girls. Spit it out, H.”
“It’s nothing, really. Just some girl that came in yesterday. Pink eyes.”
“Pink eyes. Not pink eye,” Holly repeated, sounding slightly distracted.
Hayden turned away, rinsing the towel out in the small sink beside his workstation. Holly said something, but the words were lost in the rush of water. He turned the faucet off and resumed his thought.
“Anyway, she came in and ordered a—”
"Large quad almond milk latte, lite foam, warm.”
Hayden frowned, wringing out the towel and hanging it back on its hook. “Close. How on Jemison did you guess that?”
“No, make that 140 degrees.”
Holly set a cup down on his service counter with a dull thud and an expression that he’d seen more than a few times before. Like the first time the ponytailed girl walked into Terrabrew. Holly's smile fell as she stomped back to the register.
He looked at the order label that she had stuck on the cup.
It was all there:
Large
Shots: 4
Milk: Almond
Type: Latte
Notes: Warm had been crossed off, leaving 140° in black marker in its place.
His eyes widened as they moved to the name in swoopy inked cursive.
Vittoria.
Hayden swallowed the disappointment and moved the cup to his workspace. He started with the milk, filling the stainless steel pitcher and setting it under the steaming wand and opened the valve, then pulled four quick grinds to fill the brewing baskets and locked it into the espresso machine and pressed the brewing button.
He glanced quickly around the cafe, seeing the usual crowd of nameless faces and someone in a gray hoodie standing near the counter. The whistle of steam in milk had begun to become shriller, pulling Hayden's attention back to the pitcher. Closing the valve, he poured the espresso shots into the cup, followed by the steamed milk and just the barest hint of foam. Finally, he set the cup on the counter, along with a napkin that he gently laid a lid upon.
Hayden sucked in a deep breath, then called out.
"Large quad almond milk latte, lite foam at 140 degrees for Vittoria. Two T's."
No one moved or squeaked or even looked up. Hayden sighed and sucked in another deep breath, then pink under a gray hood looked at him from around the cup.
"Bree?"
Her smile was a flicker. "Once. Maybe again later."
"So, Vittoria today then?" He asked.
She shrugged, then shoved a purple-shocked strand of hair back under the hood. "For now. Tomorrow, who knows?"
Vittoria lifted the cup from the counter and took a sip, her eyes closing as the warmth filled her.
"I'm sorry I didn't say thank you yesterday," she said finally.
"It happens. Things to do." Hayden smiled.
"Nowhere to go." Vittoria's eyes darted to the register where Holly was leaning against the counter. She looked away as Hayden glanced at her. "Your friend doesn't look happy. I should go."
"That's not like her. I probably should," Hayden ran his hands through his short hair, then looked back at the pink-eyed girl in the hoodie. "Will you be back tomorrow?"
Vittoria looked into the foam of her latte, then into Hayden's eyes.
"Sure."
Hayden stood there silently as she picked up the lid and walked out of the cafe.
"So, that's Miss Pink Eyes?" Holly said from the service counter as she inspected her glasses. "Guess the Ponytail's done?"
***
Kurtz had just crested the M.A.S.T building, casting its silvery glow onto the streets as Holly and Hayden stepped into the night air.
Holly had been unusually quiet since Vittoria had appeared in the cafe. Hayden had tried to make her laugh with small conversations here and there, smattered with observations of the constant flow of the crowd. None yielded more than a sad twitch of her lips and an "uh huh" from her.
And still, she was there with a fresh bottle of mocha sauce or a jug of milk before he had realized he had run out.
"See you tomorrow, Hayden."
Without much more, Holly turned and walked away, pulling her light coat tight, despite the warm breeze. There was something in the quiet of her voice that bothered him, but he couldn't put a finger on it.
"Holly, wait."
Holly stopped and looked back over her shoulder, her red hair already loosened from its tie, further masking her expression.
"We haven't done anything in a while, besides work." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Wanna hit the viewport? It's Tuesday. Karaoke night."
Holly's face shifted, still masked in her hair and unreadable, save for the glint of moonlight in the round lenses of her glasses.
"I know how much you love tormenting me with Karaoke."
She turned a bit more now, struggling to suppress a smile.
"Fine. But you're going to let me sing Orbit and On and Off," she said. "And you're going to like it."
***
I said Ground Control, is my signal fading out?
I'm drifting in the dark, floating in the doubt
Am I caught in your gravity?
Or just spinning in the black?
Holly was bathed in light on the small stage in the corner of the Viewport, the mic held close as she sang with her eyes closed, glasses perched at the top of her nose.
If I cut the final tether,
Would you even pull me back?
I'm so tired of this orbit...
Just frozen in your orbit...
Hayden leaned back against the table as he watched, an untouched glass of red ale warming in his hand. She had opened her eyes now, looking at him with her dark eyes, then winked as the backing vocals drifted lazily through the song's airy melody.
Orbit's high enough...
Holly slipped her glasses off and set them down on the stool beside the mic stand as the music swirled. She smiled at Hayden and closed her eyes again.
So close, but so far
Are you still where you are?
So far, but so near
Is it just me out here?
(Orbit's not high enough...)
Hayden leaned in, mesmerized by the woman on the stage, standing where Holly had just been.
I'm stuck in your orbit
But it's not okay!
I'm freezing in it
Why won't you say it's okay?!
Even if I can't get nearer
Orbit is a lonely place to fall!
And the silence is getting clearer
Is this better than not at all?!
(Orbit's not high enough...)
***
Hayden stared up at Anya’s Cheshire grin on his ceiling, noticing the way her crimson hair framed her face. Holly’s hair, shortened just a bit, would be a mirror image.
Had she always been an amazing singer?
Of course, she was. Her singing voice was what gave him the nerve to talk to the taller red-haired girl when he had just started at Terrabrew, singing Anya’s Gold Rush to herself while he was calculating how long he would have to work before he could afford a ticket home.
Thoughts of Gagarin faded after they became friends. Then, four years became a night watching Holly sing like it was that first day again.
Hayden rolled onto his side, his eyes lingering on the crimson hair a moment longer before settling on MiC’s pink sensor.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be something.
“MiC, lights off.”
The mini bot spun toward him and chirped in programmed glee. “[Volume][Maximum]. [Playing].”
“MiC! STOP—”
***
Wednesday.
Holly hummed quietly to herself as she arranged the small pastry display case near the register, while Hayden cleaned the service counter. It had been another busy day, full of faces he'd never see again.
The ponytailed girl squeakily bounced in and out as she always did. Flitting back to the blonde woman’s side as always. But today, Hayden’s smile didn't fade.
There was something about Holly’s cheerful mood that made the cafe feel lighter somehow.
Hayden picked up his cup and swallowed the last of the cappuccino that he had made during the quiet moment. One for Holly, one for himself; just to stay energized. He tossed the empty cup into the recycler then picked up Holly’s pink lipstick-stained cup.
“Are you still drinking this?” He asked the short ponytail that was bobbing on the other side of the counter.
“Yep,” the ponytail replied without looking up. “Just set it by my glasses next to the register, H.”
Hayden laid the cup down, then leaned over the counter to watch Holly.
“You’re in a good mood today,” Hayden said.
“What makes you think that I'm in a good mood?” She gave him the side eye, then stuck her tongue out.
“You’re humming again,” he continued. “I don't think I've heard you do that in a while.”
Holly stopped, then turned. “Well, it's not everyday that Jemison’s most eligible bachelor invites a girl like me to a night of fun. You know, instead of plotting his escape back to Gagarin."
"I could still go home, you know?"
Holly's brow rose in mock alarm. "Oh, H. You wouldn't break my heart like that! Besides, if you wanted to leave, you would have done that years ago."
Hayden nodded, he could have left weeks after his short trip changed from 'layover' to 'stranded'. He looked at Holly and pursed his lips.
He didn't know why he hadn't left. But, he was glad he stayed. Even if he was invisible.
Holly ruffled his hair as she walked behind the counter and sipped from her cappuccino. "You'd better not change your mind just because you have to work alone tonight."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Good," Holly laughed as she slid her glasses into place and collected her bag. "You owe me at least three more karaoke nights. I intend to collect."
Hayden narrowed his eyes at her from the countertop. "Three? I only consented to last night."
She passed by, ruffling his hair again, and spun before pushing through the door. "It was implied. I don't make the rules, H. Just comes with the job."
Hayden watched the door close, taking the day’s music with it.
Just like every other pretty face had...
"Holly. I..."
Hayden dropped his head to the counter with a soft thud.
***
Another busy night had come and gone, leaving only another hour left for the late night flyers seeking caffeinated refuge to find their way to the cafe. And through it all, Hayden couldn't get that song out of his head.
Not that he had been trying terribly hard to evict it.
Orbit is high enough...
But, was it?
The more Hayden thought about it, the more he felt like a satellite orbiting some heavenly body. One that he couldn't quite see the shape of. And the more he thought about it, the deeper the song entrenched itself into his mind.
Orbit isn't high enough...
The more he thought about it.
...for me.
Hayden tossed his damp towel into the service counter sink and surveyed the lobby. An older couple sat by a window, sipping tea and watching people pass by. A man, dressed in a Ship Services jumpsuit, sat at one of the armchairs, thoroughly invested in some book on his slate between snoring fits.
Stepping around the counter, he peered down the side of the lobby where a short-haired girl in a brightly-colored athletic outfit sat at the far table, lost in something she was listening to through large over-the-ear headphones.
Even if I can't get nearer
Orbit is close enough to fall...
Hayden shook his head and walked back to the counter, considering an espresso solo lungo to carry him through the rest of the night. Maybe a doppio.
A familiar feathery voice fluttered across the short expanse of the service counter. "Hi."
Pink eyes smiled at him from behind a shock of purple and blonde.
"I would've come earlier," she said. "But, I didn't want your friend to be mad."
"Mad?" Hayden blinked. "Why would Holly be mad?"
She shrugged. "I'm still here."
"Was that a statement? Or an answer?"
She shrugged again. "Can I get my usual, please? Running takes a lot out of you."
Hayden nodded, picked up a cup and the marker.
"Vittoria, again?"
She shook her head. "Truth."
Then.
"Verity."
Hayden scribbled her name, then looked at Verity as he got to work.
"What are you running from, Verity?"
"The usual. Existential dread. Cosmic horrors. Connecting flights. Thursday."
"Those connecting flights will get you every time. But, why Thursday?"
"Tuesday's overused."
Hayden laughed, harder than he intended. Verity smiled in more than a flicker. Somehow, the shape of it felt familiar to him.
"It's been a while since someone laughed at my jokes," Verity said softly.
He looked at Verity again, taking in the gentle slope of her nose and the near glow of her eyes in the cafe lighting. "How long?"
"I don't know. Feels like lifetimes ago."
"Well, that would be a longer layover than I had." Hayden smiled as he opened the steam wand valve. Finally, the steam valve closed, letting the comfortable silence fall over the cafe again.
"You said that you'd run too?"
Hayden looked at her again, a bit puzzled, then nodded. "Right. But where would I go? That's kind of what brought me here. I just wanted off of Gagarin for a bit, you know?"
Verity nodded, watching the espresso, then the milk go into the orange cup.
"Then I came here, expecting to catch a connecting flight to Neon. But the flight was canceled. Then the next one. And the next."
"And the next?" She asked.
"Yep. Next thing you know, I've spent most of my money on a hotel and the only way to anywhere was a ticket that I couldn't afford."
Hayden placed the cup, along with a lid on a napkin, onto the service counter.
"For you, Miss Truth."
Verity studied Hayden's face for a long moment then picked up the cup and sipped with closed eyes. The flutter of her eyelids were enough. She set the cup down, then looked up at him again.
"Why haven't you left?"
Hayden shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel like I'm stuck in orbit. Circling something that I can't see, and it can't see me either."
"You are being seen. You just can't see it for yourself."
Hayden's brow furrowed. "What?"
Verity shook her head. "I knew you. Well, someone like you, once. Feels like a lifetime ago."
"What happened?"
The pink eyes looked away, then back at his. "Thursday."
The word landed without a laugh.
Verity shrugged, but forced a smile anyway. "He laughed at my stupid jokes. Made perfect coffee like this. That's how I knew that I found..."
Hayden leaned against the counter.
"If you had somewhere to go, with someone that sees the entirety of you, would you leave?" She asked. "With someone that sees you more than anyone on Jemison ever could? Would you leave?"
"What? I guess. Yes? Why?"
Verity looked at her latte and dabbed at the corner of her eye with a sleeve, then looked at him again with a tight-lipped smile.
"It's nothing. Forget I said anything." She capped the cup and rushed out through the door and disappeared into the night.
***
Hayden stared up at the crimson hair and the green eyes with a sigh. All he wanted to do was sleep.
Pink. For a second time, running out the door.
But he couldn't get Verity to run out of his thoughts.
...someone that sees you more than anyone on Jemison ever could.
Did Verity mean herself?
Anya's green eyes watched him in a shade of pink.
No. That didn't look right. Did it?
...would you leave?
Pink.
Like lipstick on a plastic lid.
...Orbit's not high enough for me.
Hayden pulled the pillow over his face.
A happy chirp made him peek out from under the pillow.
"You have [one] [new] [message] from [Work Bestie]. Would you like to [listen to] it?"
Hayden sat up and rubbed his face before looking at MiC's pink sensor.
"Play it, MiC. But, if I hear music, I'm tossing you into the recycler."
The mini bot squealed once, then Holly's tinny, tired, beautiful voice filled the small space.
"Hey, H. You're probably asleep and I have no idea why I'm calling. I... I don't know... Just... was thinking. About you. God, I must sound stupid. Or drunk. Much... But, I'm not... See you in the morning."
Hayden blinked, then flopped back into his pillow.
"...I've always seen you, H. I just wish you'd see me. For real. Frak! What am I doing?! MiC, delete thi—"
MiC's sensor flashed twice. "[Message] [Deleted]."
He looked back up at Anya, imagining her green eyes were brown and the bob was longer and slightly shaggier.
Suddenly, the image on the poster had never looked as perfect as it did now.
***
Thursday.
Holly held out a full bottle of mocha sauce with a wink, just as the bottle in Hayden's hand emptied with a sputter. He set it down and took the new bottle, feeling just the slightest tingle of something electric when his finger brushed hers.
For a heartbeat, neither moved, surrounded by the sound of steaming milk and a cafe's worth of chatter slowed to half-speed.
Four years.
Then espresso filled shot glasses and mocha sauce drizzled across foam tops.
Names were called, drinks were taken and a long ponytail bounced squeakily into the sunny morning.
Not that Hayden noticed.
Holly had been wearing her hair down. Glasses off—she didn't really need them anyway, he remembered —and singing loudly, much to the crowd's sheer enjoyment.
And the way she smiled.
Hayden noticed. Like he had every day when she was around and, somehow, chose not to.
"What's with the face, Captain Invisible?" She joked, catching Hayden's expression between customers. "You handled Ponytail pretty well today."
Hayden shook his head, not bothering to hide the sudden fluster.
"You know, Holly," he said quietly as he stared at the mocha bottle, then looked up at her. "I've never said it before, but your hair is pretty like that. When you wear it loose, that is."
Holly opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. He smiled at her apologetically. "I'm sorry for not telling you that every day."
Holly fell back against the counter, mouth open as she tried to find something, anything, to say. "I... You don't have to..."
"No, I do. And should have from the very start," Hayden continued, not letting the tremble of his voice stop the truth. "I owe you as many karaoke nights as you want."
Holly stepped back and fumbled with her glasses on the counter
"But, you hate it when I sing..."
Hayden took her hand, then gently pulled her glasses away and set them back on the counter. "That's not true. I just hated that it made me feel something I couldn't believe was for me."
Holly touched his cheek and searched his eyes as another wave of customers washed into the cafe.
"You and I," she said breathlessly. "We have a lot to talk about once things settle down."
"We do. Cups."
Holly pulled her hand back in surprise. "Why?"
Hayden nodded toward the register. "You only have one left. I'll get more for you."
Holly laughed. "Fine. But you aren't off the hook. After. Go get the cups, worm."
"The worm is squirming." Hayden made a face then ducked into the store room. He tucked two sleeves of medium and large cups under an arm, then pulled a sleeve of small cups and pushed through the door.
Holly stared at him wide-eyed from the register, the smile she wore just moments ago withdrawn into a thin line.
"What's wrong, Holly?"
She didn't speak, nodding at the cup on the service counter instead.
Hayden set the sleeves down and picked up the cup to read the label.
Large
Shots: 4
Milk: Almond
Type: Latte
Notes: Warm had been crossed off, leaving 140° in black marker in its place.
Hayden's eyes fell on the name, written in Holly's swoopy cursive.
Thursday.
He scanned the lobby for the gray hoodie and the pink eyes, then got to work, fumbling with the grinder and spilling grounds onto the counter.
Holly looked fragile, he thought as he forcefully slowed his movements to let his hands go through the motions.
The cafe door opened, then closed, but Hayden looked up too late from the frothing milk to see who had just left. Then Holly was moving toward a table near the entrance.
Hayden laid a napkin and a lid on the service counter, then sucked in a long, deep breath.
"Large quad almond milk lite foam latte, warmed to 140 degrees. For Thursday."
Holly stood motionless beside the table.
"Thursday," he called out again, unable to pull his eyes away...
Holly turned to look at him, her face awash with sadness and something else that Hayden couldn't name.
"She's gone," she whispered, then pointed at a long box on the table. A folded piece of white paper was tucked under a corner. "She left this for you."
Hayden frowned and walked unsteadily around the counter to the table. Holly sat in the opposite chair, trying to hide the tremble in her hands. Setting the cup down, he lifted the top of the box off.
A strange curved piece of metal lay within, shining in the lights of the cafe, yet appearing immensely ancient. He shot a curious glance at Holly, who regarded him with wide doe eyes and shrugged.
Hayden picked up the note and unfolded it.
Hayden,
I'm sorry that I left without a word, but it's Thursday and my layover is done. It's time for me to go before things happen that I can't undo. I really never should have been here in the first place, but when I found you...
There's so much that I wanted to tell you and that means something. Something completely unexpected, especially when you've been searching for a stable orbit for as long as I have.
I know that none of this makes sense, and it probably never will, but the latte. That's how I knew that I found you. Again
I asked you to leave for me. You have a reason to stay and I hope you know that too. She's radiant, by the way. But, she won't stop me from asking. Not today, or any Thursday to come.
I need to know if you meant it? About running away with me? I know you, Hayden McKenzie. All of you. And right now, all you know of me is my real name. But, if you'll let me, I'll show you who I am, because I want to be the one you see until there are no more Thursdays.
Eternity would be nicer if you were there with me.
If you really meant what you said, find me.
Bring this back to me.
If not. You have someone that needs you as much as I do. Be with her and just remember me as another name on another to go cup.
I hope that I'm more than that.
Verity
P.S. Don't touch the thing in the box unless you've decided that orbit isn't enough.
Hayden plopped onto the empty seat and looked at the silvery crescent, absently sipping from Verity's coffee with a sigh.
He met Holly's brown eyes, then...