Chapter Text
Rayla glared at the clock on the wall, the ticks of it audible in the empty cafe, as if she could will time itself to go faster.
She's been working at the cafe near her college for about 2 weeks now to make some money so she doesnt die of hunger and the cold the first time without Ethari And Runaans nagging.
Her first day of college was on monday, so she had around 2 days to scramble and get all the materials and textbooks she needs for her classes.
Unfortunately, her manager didn't get the memo, cause she got stuck on the night shift.
She groaned as she looked away, flopping onto the nearest empty chair.
She had finished cleaning up and putting things away ages ago, people stopped coming by earlier then usual courtesy of the heavy amount of snow falling outside. But since the corporate world sucks, her manager refused to let her leave, saying she had to complete her shift before she could, and then procceeded to leave himself 30 minutes later.
Joy.
Her alarm jolted her out of her thoughts, bringing with it a wave of relief.
At last, the last 15 minutes of her shift had come to pass.
Just as she was about to get up and turn the sign over to closed, the bell above the entrance door jingled.
She slammed her head on the counter.
She tried to regain her receding sanity. Just one order right? She could do it, her freedom was so close she could almost taste it-
"Uhm, excuse me?" a weary voice drew her out of her hysteria
A boy - around her age, 18? - stood before her. The bags under his eyes were alarmingly dark, his brown hair was mussed roughly and slightly wet from the snow, his hoodie had a fading design patch, sporadic colorful stains decorating it. He was shivering a bit, and he was slouched so forward she was suprised he hadnt faceplanted into the floor yet.
Basically, the guy was a dead man walking. She was slightly suspicious that she might be hallucinating.
She took to deep breath to calm her fraying nerves. "How may i help you?" she asked politely.
he blinked at her slowly, before his brain seemed to proccess he was being spoken to. "right- uh- could you get me..." he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, squinting at it. " 10 cups of coffee to go?" he requested casually.
Rayla felt her eye twitch. "Of course." she gritted out, sarcasm dripping from her words.
The guy didnt seem to notice, cause he nodded and fumbled around for a chair and collapsed in it.
It took all of Rayla's willpower not to throttle him.
She considered her options. She could kick him out, they were officially closed now after all. But the guy looked like he's been having a rough week.... He probably needed the coffee.
Screw Ethari for raising her with manners.
With a heavy sigh and a lot of muttered insults, she went back into the kitchen to take out her painstakingly put away materials needed to make the coffee.
An agonzing 20 minutes later, she laid out all 10 cups on top of the counter. A quick look confirmed that the source of her agony was asleep in the chair.
"Hey! You! Uh.." She pinched her eyebrows. She forgot to ask for a name.
Just as she was contemplating throwing something at him, he face planted on the table then jerked awake. "OW- Im up! Im up.." he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.
He took in his surroundings with bleary eyes. "Sorry... is it done?
She deadpanned at him and gestured to the coffee on the table.
He stumbled out of his chair and made his way to the counter. "I am so sorry for the inconvenice, miss..." he squinted at the name tag on her apron.
"Rayla." she said, taking pity on him.
"Rayla," He repeated. he grabbed the 3 bags containing the coffee. rayla grimaced, lets hope he didnt drop those. "You see, me and my friend are working on this project-" he was cut off as he tripped over one of the chairs, the coffee spilling on the floor and soaking his clothes.
This time, rayla didnt hold back her scream of frustration.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
"-And then, he tripped and spilled all the coffee! I couldnt even be all that angry, the guy looked like he was gonna cry!" She huffed.
"No way," Nyx looked delighted and horrified at the same time as she stocked the pastries in the glass case. "Did he at least tip good?"
Nyx was the only other person she knew who was also from Xadia. She showed her the ropes her first day at the cafe and then proceeded to regale her of her many side quests in Katolis (which she suspected might be scams, but thats none of her business). She was great company, and talking to another Xadian made her feel marginally less homesick.
"Actually he didnt tip at all. He just kept apolozing before running out of the coffee shop." she rolled her eyes, conveniently leaving out the fact he didnt pay at all. She did not need Barius's lecture on top of everything, thanks. "it took me another hour to clean everything up and put it away."
Nyx had the audacity to chuckle. Luckily, Rayla was facing the entrance door. ""Oo, yeah, the manager was calling me earlier, you take their orders." She said, pointing towards the girl who consistently added modifications and argued like her life depended on it. She saw Nyx grimace.
"Rayla-" she started.
"Yeah Barius, im coming!" Rayla cut her off, all but running out of the cashier isle. Her lips pulled up into a smirk when she heard Nyx groan.
***
The day was suprisingly slow for a saturday. The snow from yesterday had long since stopped, leaving a heavy amount of snow that settled across the city in a picturesque manner.
Again they found themselves with only a few customers, so Rayla and Nyx were lazing around at the counter once again, rayla's back to it.
The entrance door bell jingled and Nyx gasped.
Rayla furrowed her eyebrows. "What is it?" she asked, turning to face the door.
The guy from last night had walked in, looking really nervous.
He was dressed nicer then last night, His sweater and jeans clearly high quality, the emblem of an unknown brand decorating the pocket of his sweater. Despite that, he still looked incredibly exhausted, but atleast he seemed more awake then last night.
With him was a girl a few inches taller then him, her dark hair tinged with purple at the end, she was dressed in dark yet cute attire, an arm hooked around the guys shoulders.
She let go of him before nudging him towards the counter, making a 'shoo' gesture when he looked back at her slightly annoyed.
He walked up to the counter while fidgeting with his fingers. "Hi, Rayla, right?" He asked with a nervous giggle. She blinked at him impassively.
"Ah yes, Mr. I-Place-Large-Orders-2-Minutes-Before-Closing?" she snarked. He winced.
"I am so, so, sorry-"
"Hey, its whatever. I think you apologized enough to last a lifetime last night." She smiled wryly. "I wouldve appreciated it if you paid for the coffee you spilled though."
His eyes widened before he facepalmed. "So thats WHAT i forgot!" He groaned, As the girl next to him pinched her eyebrows with a muttered 'idiot'.
He chewed his lip before reaching into his pocket. "I know this probably wont make up for it but-"
He shoved a handful of 100$ bills (hundred dollars???) into her hands. Her jaw dropped.
"Oh my god, i cant accept this-" she tried before he cut her off.
"Please, i insist. ImSorryPleaseDontHateThankYouSoMuch-" he rambled as he scurried out the coffee shop, rayla gaped at his retreating form.
The purple haired girl rolled her eyes fondly. "Sorry about Callum." She said, "Despite my best efforts, i cant stop him from being an out-of-touch dumbass." she snorted.
"Thanks for not punching him onsight!" She called as she turned back around to leave the coffee shop.
Rayla opened and closed her mouth, trying to process the situation, before Nyx grabbed her shoulders and shook her aggresively.
"Dude, what the hell!" She squeaked.
"I know! I cant believe a customer gave me that ridiculous of a tip-"
"This isnt about the tip!" She cut her off, before tilting her head. "Okay, yeah the tip is pretty awesome, but thats not the point!"
She looked her dead in the eye. "You just met Callum Royale, The fucking Prince of Katolis!"