Joey walked to the coffee shop early on Saturday morning. There was hardly anyone about since most of the students that would usually be on their way to class were still in bed. The only reason he was up was to get to the coffee shop for the same time he had done during the week.
As he opened the door, he told himself that the same barista who'd served him might not even be working today. But to his relief, he spotted her as soon as he - slowly, this time - opened the door.
She looked up as he walked in, which was unsurprising seeing as the shop was silent and he was the only customer besides an old man reading a newspaper in the far corner. But as soon as she registered him she looked back down, busying herself with unloading mugs from the dishwasher.
He approached the counter and stood there patiently, wringing his hands together behind his back. He wanted to say something, but he knew it was best to wait after the way he'd acted the day before.
Just as he was beginning to think she might never look up at him, she shut the dishwasher with a bang and stood up to her full height, folding her arms across her chest. Joey noted that she was still a good foot shorter than him, but the intimidating stare she was giving him more than made up for her small size.
"Hi," he said.
She didn't reply, just glared steadily at him.
"Listen, I know I was an asshole the other day, and I just wanted to say I'm really sorry," he continued, refusing to be perturbed.
Her glare relaxed slightly and she let her arms drop to her sides, but she still didn't say anything.
"I guess I was wondering if I could maybe buy you a cup of coffee to make it up to you?"
"I'm working," she said, and Joey sighed. She wasn't going to make this easy for him, which he supposed he deserved.
"Sometime when you're not working?"
"Did you just come in here to grovel or are you actually going to buy something?" she asked, avoiding his eyes.
He smiled. He knew he wasn't off the hook just yet, but he could tell her resolve was weakening. It made him glad. He thought that he'd like to get to know her better, now that he wasn't in such a rush.
"A black coffee. And one of those cakes to eat in, please."
She shot him another glare, telling him that she'd clocked exactly what he was up to, but he kept smiling at her passively.
"So, is your friend not here today?" Joey asked, trying to make small talk as he stood at the counter waiting for her to make the drink.
"She doesn't get in for another half hour."
He nodded, filing that information away.
She slid the coffee and the cake across the counter.
"Five dollars."
He handed over the money, dropping an extra two dollar bills into the tip jar. She gave him a small smile but then disappeared into the back room, making it clear the conversation was over.
He took a seat at a table at the edge of the room. Until now he'd always stuck to the familiarity of the Starbucks, but this was a nice place and he told himself that he would definitely visit here from now on. The cute barista that worked here had nothing to do with that decision.
After a while she came back out to the counter, shortly followed by her friend, who started rearranging the displays.
He watched the shorter brunette as she worked. Her hair was piled on top of her hair in a bun, but it was curling at the edges from the steam. She laughed at something her friend said, the sound carrying across the room and making Joey smile.
They'd only had two other customers in since he had arrived, both of which had ordered to go, and the old man was gone, so he had no qualms about hanging around, taking his time drinking his coffee. Fortunately, neither of the girls looked his way, maybe not realising he was still there, so he didn't have to worry about being caught staring.
His barista disappeared into the back room and didn't reappear. Joey was just considering getting up to head home when she came back out, round the counter, and made her way directly across the room towards him.
She pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down, putting her legs up on the chair beside her. She was still in her uniform, minus the apron, and Joey couldn't help but admire her legs stretched out in front of him.
She saw his gaze and smirked, drawing his eyes back to her face.
"That's why they put us in shorts," she said.
"Huh?" he asked, blinking.
She rolled her eyes. "So the customers can stare at our legs."
He laughed nervously. "Not such a great idea in Michigan, huh?"
She smiled at him approvingly, and he stared down into his almost empty coffee cup.
"So are you going to buy me a drink or what?" she asked after a moment, and his head snapped up.
"Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, what do you want?"
"Hot chocolate. With almond milk."
He got up and went to the counter, which the other barista was leaning on. If Joey had to guess, he'd say she was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Can I have a hot chocolate with almond milk and another black coffee, please."
The girl nodded and grabbed two mugs to make the drinks.
"She's dairy free. And gluten free, for that matter," she said out of nowhere as she pushed the drinks towards him.
"What?"
"Lauren. She's dairy and gluten free. Just in case you ever needed to know."
Joey frowned suspiciously at her, but he did make a mental note of that, as well as her name, as he handed over the money and carried the drinks back to their table.
He set Lauren's down in front of her, and she muttered a thank you as she raised the mug to her lips, taking a long drink. He took a sip from his own mug, then leaned back in his chair, trying to figure out where he stood with this girl.
"I'm Lauren, by the way," she said, meeting his eyes.
"Joey," he replied.
"Nice of you not to run out on me today."
He sighed. He should have known she wouldn't let that drop so quickly.
"I really am sorry. I started up swimming again, and I haven't quite adjusted to the new routine yet so I was running late for class."
"You swim?" she asked, leaning across the table towards him, her mouth slightly open as she listened to him attentively.
He nodded. "Used to competitively, but I gave it up when I decided I wanted to be an actor. It's still a good stress reliever though."
Her eyes had lit up. "Are you studying acting?"
"Yeah, at U of M."
"I majored in acting there! Graduated two years ago."
He smiled at the newfound connection between them. "It's my last year."
Just then the door opened and a large group of young girls came in, talking loudly. Lauren looked over her shoulder at them and sighed.
"I guess I better go help Jaime out with these. It was nice talking to you, though," she said, smiling at him as she stood.
"You too." He felt relieved that he'd managed to set things right between them, and from the way she briefly lingered at the table he could tell she felt the same way. He found it so easy to talk to her, and he hoped that this might be the beginning of a friendship forming.
He watched her walk away, and tried to shake the thought from his mind that her legs weren't the only thing those shorts did a good job of showing off.
