Coffee Shop Napkins ~ Scarlett Johansson

Caffeine

A/N Welcome to my new book!

Y/N POV

"May I have an large iced coffee with vanilla sweetener?" My customer asks and I nod as I fake a smile.

"Coming right up. Name?" I ask and write it down before passing the cup off. Just another day at the coffee shop. Don't get me wrong, I love my little shop and I'm doing well, but sometimes it can get repetitive. I own a shop in the Upper West Side that competes with Starbucks of course, but I have a great location and my customers seem to love the atmosphere I've created. I sit as Lucy, one of my workers, takes care of the last customer of the morning rush.

"Here you go!" She says cheerfully before joining me near the register. "It's almost time boss." She reminds me and I blush.

"Leave me alone." I complain to the teenager. Every day around 11 am we have a special customer come to the shop and I might have a slight crush on her. And by slight, I mean huge. Who doesn't have a crush on Scarlett Johansson?

I grab a napkin and ignore Lucy as she teases me about the woman that makes my day brighter every single time she walks in. She barely notices me and probably doesn't even know my name but she still manages to make me swoon. I doodle on the tan napkin for the next couple minutes as the shop calms down, a few regulars sit at their usual tables as they read or get some work done. I decide on some flowers and a quote from one of my favorite poetry books.

Love does know hope. - j. iron word, live loud love loud pg. 1

I jump slightly when the bell rings and stand up quickly. I move to the register and wait as she walks closer, my heart beating in my throat. She looks adorable in her big sweater and she smiles softly before speaking. "Can I get a medium americano with almond milk please?" She asks sweetly and I nod. God that raspy voice is too much.

"Coming right up." I pick up the cup and make her coffee for her quickly. I grab the napkin I was doodling on and wrap it around her cup before handing it over. "Have a great day." I offer and her lips curl into a small smile before she turns to make her way out. I sigh and slump back down onto my seat.

"Wow. She doesn't even know you exist." Lucy comments and I glare at her before getting back up.

"Have a great rest of your day!" I tease and leave the store. I like owning my own store so I don't have to be there all the time. I trust my workers and I have other shit to do. I head to the gym nearby for my daily work out, even though I'd rather just go home and binge watch something on Netflix. Just as I'm about to open to door to the gym it swings open and hits me square in the forehead.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" The voice startles me as my head rings. The voice sends shivers down my spine that thankfully make my throbbing forehead bearable.

"Uh, it's all good. My fault." I offer awkwardly and try to step around her but she ends up stepping in front of me.

"Oh uh sorry. Are you sure you're okay?" She asks and I nod.

"Yes Miss Johansson. I'm okay." I reply as my cheeks flush. She quirks an eyebrow at the name drop and I shuffle awkwardly. I make her coffee every day of course I know her name and she's literally famous. By her reaction though, she doesn't even know who I am. "Um, excuse me." I say quietly as I try to make my way into the gym again. She steps aside and allows me to enter and I practically sprint to the locker room. Why the fuck was she here? I'm at this gym every day and I've never seen her here. Once I'm ready, I head back out to get my work out done and thankfully no other mishaps happen. My head is pounding but whatever.

I make my way home to do some work for the coffee shop. I like to book artists that aren't well known for a weekly performance on Thursdays. It brings more customers in and keeps the shop busy. I also host a few book clubs throughout the week which is helpful too, so I have to connect with musical artists and different organizations to book months in advance. It's nice that I can work from home and have a bit of freedom most of the time. Sometimes I have to go in more for the busier shifts but it's doable. The pandemic has been a struggle but I can finally operate semi-normally.

My phone chimes and I sigh when I see it's my best friend Sam for her daily check in about my favorite customer.

Sam: Hey lover girl!

Me: Leave me alone

Sam: I don't understand why you don't just talk to her

Me: She comes for coffee then leaves. There really isn't room for a conversation. She's also way out of my league.

Sam: You write her love notes. And who says?

Me: She probably doesn't even notice them...or she ignores them

Sam: How could she not see it?

Me: I don't know, but get this. I got hit in the face with but the door to the gym and she was the one coming out of it.

Sam: Oh my god it's fate!

Me: Shut up. She didn't even know who I was.

Sam: Maybe she'll start going there and you'll see her more.

Me: I hope not, I can't function when she's around

The conversation goes on from there about how Sam thinks I should try to get Scarlett's attention but she's unattainable and married for god sakes. Once I'm done with my work for the day, I take my shower and cook some dinner for myself. I sit on my couch and eat my chicken Alfredo as I continue my binge watch of Friends. Have I seen it already? Yes. But who fucking cares.

The next morning, I get up bright and early to open up the shop. On my way there, I stop by the local florist to pick up some flowers to put on the tables. Lucy comes in about 10 minutes after me to get ready for the morning rush as well. At this point, we have it down to a science since it's the same thing every fucking day. We deal with the cranky early risers headed to work and once they are gone I slump in my chair behind the counter. I have a raging headache, so I'm way too focused on massaging my temples to doodle on a napkin today.

I completely forget about the napkin until her voice rings through the shop. "Uh excuse me?" She ask and I shoot up from my seat.

"Uh sorry. The usual?" I ask and she nods as she checks something on her phone. I notice she's in work out clothes today which is a change. I get to work on the coffee and hand it over with a clean napkin. I watch as she walks out but she stops just in front of the door. I'm not really sure why she stopped, but she continues walking again and I sigh when she's gone.

"No doodle today?" Lucy asks and I shrug.

"It's not like she even notices or cares." I decide and take off my apron. "You good until Jack comes?" I ask  and she nods.

"Have a great day boss!"

"Oh, the book club is coming around 5 today, can you remind Jack?" I ask her as I pause in the doorway.

"Got it!" She confirms and tends to the dirty tables as a few customers linger in the shop.

Like every day, I head to the gym and get ready in the locker room before heading over to the dumbbells. I have to do a double take when I see Scarlett with a trainer literally feet away from me. I try to ignore the woman as I go on with my own workout and once I'm done I don't see her anymore. I head back to the locker room to get back in normal clothes and start to walk out. I stop though when I notice a new addition to the bulletin board outside in the hallway.

Pinned up onto the board is a napkin from my coffee shop, with a doodle of a coffee cup on it. It says Sorry for bruising your forehead -SJ. Wait...what?

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A/N Hello lovely people! Here is the first chapter of my Scarlett Series. Trying out something a little different and chapters will probably be shorter since I now have 2 stories to work on. I also kind of want a different pacing in this book, we will see how it goes. In this story Scar and Colina are married but have not had a kid together, she does have Rose though. Let me know what you think!

If you've read the A New York City Dream series you know I'm not the best editor and make a lot of typos sometimes so I am deeply sorry.