Work Text:
For the first time in 24 years, Mel had woken up to the smell of fresh cookies. No sign of life in their apartment since Becca was still asleep. Cartoonishly, Mel followed the scent to her living room window that faced the street full of joggers and high-brow corporate types. So Mel put on her sweater before rushing downstairs.
The café under her new apartment—Abigail's Brewery—was a dream come true, so much so that Mel assumed she still was asleep. Chic and oddly nostalgic, she turned her head to catch every detail of the place.
“You alright?”
Mel’s gaze snapped to the person addressing her—a lithe, blue-eyed guy with floppy hair and eyebrows almost like hers.
“Of course,” she nodded, “just new to the city.”
“Don't let the name scare you, we only serve caffeine.”
“Oh, I don't drink that either.”
He chuckled and dropped his head. “Let me whip something up for you then.”
The offer seemed decent and sweet, like him, so she accepted and waited by the counter while he stirred around behind the steel machines. Oddly, he wasn’t in a uniform like the other baristas (who were unmoved by his presence).
“Took a chance on the blueberry, but figured you’d like it.”
Mel spun to see him push a rainbow sprinkled blondie and a blueberry lavender matcha. It looked and tasted like springtime in a mug. She told him so and delighted in how her compliment landed.
His eyes scanned her attire—her pyjama bottoms and her Michigan State sweatshirt—from bottom to the top of her bedhead. “You live ‘round here?” When she stopped mid sip to point at the ceiling, he nodded. “Ah, the new tenants. My wife handles the business end, probably why we haven’t met yet. I’m Frank.”
“Mel—and thank you for this!”
That last sip left a foamy residue over lips he graciously wiped away with a thumb. Something in her tummy fluttered when he licked the foam (and her Aquaphor lip balm) as if he had done it a hundred times.
“Anytime, sweetheart.”
Whoa.
The next morning, Mel woke up to a to-go mug and a batch of those blondies on her doorstep with a note.
Welcome to the neighbourhood! Extra confetti blondies for an extra sweet blondie :)