Chapter Text
Gabriel POV
Gabriel slid the key in the lock and turned it, unlocking the coffee shop. It was raining heavily, so he went inside as fast as he could. When he left his house before it hadn’t been raining, so he didn’t bring a rain jacket or a spare change of dry clothes to get into. This was going to be a fun day: he didn’t even get home until four thirty.
He began preparing the shop for the inevitable stream of customers wanting early pick-me-ups and warm pastries that would come in half an hour. The person who made the pastries had just delivered them, and Gabriel was placing them on the display. Once he was done he made himself a coffee and waited for the customers anxiously.
Every day he was anxious for the first customers to arrive. Gabriel had pretty severe anxiety, which made it hard to talk to people. But he needed money as much as the next person, and this was the only job available to him. His cousin got arrested for murder and sexual assault, and passed the shop onto him. If he had a chance he would get a different job. Preferable one where he didn’t have to interact with people on a daily basis.
“Good morning.” Gabriel forced out as his first customer arrived. “What can I get you?”
“Just a latte please. Splash of milk.” The customer stood off to the side and waited for their drink as Gabriel started making it.
“Here you go.” He gave the customer their drink and they paid, before leaving.
That was how the rest of the day went, until around eleven o’clock. This was his busiest time of the day, and his anxiety levels were getting higher. So was his irritability. People were demanding at him, unnecessarily snapping at him and being overall rude. His most used words today were either, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” or “I can fix this. Just give me a second.”
After the rush, there was now only four customers in there. An old couple with a young child, presumably a grandchild, and a man on his laptop, probably early twenties. Then, Gabriel realised he hadn't taken an order from him. Gabriel rushed over to the strange man.
"Hello, sir. Can I get you anything?" He asked nervously. The man looked at him, and Gabriel saw how pretty he was. His eyes seemed to change with the light, and his hair was golden brown, and almost bob length.
"Um, okay. I'll get a red eye, please. And, I suppose I should eat something too. I'll get a croissant, as well, thanks."
Oh no. "Oh, I'm so sorry." Gabriel apologised. "We don't have any croissants left. Please don't get mad. Is there anything else you'd want?"
"Hey, I'm not gonna get mad. It's okay. It's just a croissant. Do you have any pies?"
"They're all out too." Gabriel whispered fearfully. "There's supposed to be a new load coming in soon, but you won't be able to get that right now."
"That's okay." The man smiled. "What do you have?"
"Um. Blueberry muffins."
His face dropped for a split second before answering. It was almost unnoticeable, unless you had Gabriel's level of anxiety and overthinking. "My favourite. Can I have one of those, please?"
"Of course. I'll be right back with your stuff." He left, giving the man a tight smile. "Here you go." Gabriel placed the blueberry muffin next to the man's laptop, and was about to place the coffee next to the muffin when he dropped it, the hot liquid going all down the man's front. "Oh my god. Shit. Fuck. I'm so fucking sorry. Please, let me pay you. That might fix-"
"Hey. Gabriel, right? It's okay. It's just a spill. It's not going to hurt anyone, alright?" The man said instantly, trying to calm Gabriel down. "My name's Sam."
"Hi, Sam." Gabriel said breathlessly. He was trying to stop himself from hyperventilating any more.
"It'll be okay, Gabriel. Do you hear me? Everything's okay. Coffee comes out from clothing." Sam was doing a decent job at calming Gabriel down, better than any therapist had done in years.
"Okay." The shop owner nodded, although it was clear he was still upset. "But still, here's my number. For when you decide to hate me." Gabriel scribbled down his phone number onto a spare napkin and slid it towards Sam.
"Why would I decide to hate you?" Sam asked, concerned. He could tell that Gabriel clearly had some self esteem issues or something.
"Why wouldn't you?" He asked bitterly. "They all do."
Sam was about to say something else, but then Gabriel noticed some new customers enter the shop.
"I have to tend to these customers. Have a good day, sir."
The rest of his day went by as usual. Customers pushing him to the brink of breaking. Sam had left a little while after, and when Gabriel came to clear up his plate and mug, he noticed the half eaten muffin that was still there. That made Gabriel start overthinking again. Did he not like it? He must not have; what other explanation was there? He must've left still feeling hungry, since he didn't get anything else that a coffee. No wait, I dropped that on him. He's probably going to sue this place and me, and I'll be jobless again. I can't have that. That might happen again. Oh gods.
"Hello?" A familiar customer snapped him out of his overthinking brain. "Are you okay?" Sam asked.
"Oh. Yes. You again." Did that sound too rude? I should clarify that I wasn't meaning to be rude- "Sorry. That sounded rude. How can I help you?" He's going to want a coffee, you idiot. Or a pastry. The voice in his head snapped at him.
"It's alright. Can I have another red eye? Gotta pull another all nighter for a project. Law school, it's quite hard." He laughed slightly.
"Heh. I had a friend who went to law school...." Dammit. Why did I bring that up? Kali's gone. Thinking about that's the type of thing my therapist told me not to think about....
"Oh, yeah? Was it hard for them?"
"Quite. But Kali was strong. Resilient. She didn't complain to me much, but I was her best friend, so I just knew."
"Was?"
"Um. Yeah. Look, I don't want to talk about it. I'll get your drink ready." It was then that Gabriel noticed Sam had changed out of his wet coffee soaked clothes. Of course he did you idiot. What, did you think he would've spent the past few hours standing around in wet clothes? Smelling of coffee? What is wrong with you?
"Alright. And hey, I'm sorry for asking anything about your friend. I know what it's like to lose close people."
Gabriel just nodded. He needed to get out of here, go home. Luckily, Sam was his last customer for today, so all he needed to do was the dishes and restock the coffee beans, then he was done. Finally. Today had been a lot longer than it should've been. "Here's your drink. If you don't mind, I should close the shop now."
"Oh, okay. See you another time, then. Tomorrow, most likely." Sam paid for his drink and took it out of the shop. Gabriel followed him to the door just to flip the sign to closed, and then did everything he would normally do - dishes, wiping the tables and benches, and putting the chairs up - before taking off his apron, grabbing his stuff, and leaving as fast as he can.