On Thursday morning, Lauren woke up with one of the worst headaches she'd had in her life. She phoned in sick, threw back some painkillers, and then tried to go back to sleep.
She woke up sometime in the afternoon, based on the light coming in through the blinds. She sat up blearily, reaching for her phone to check the time only to see she had a text from a number she didn't recognise. 'Feel better soon xx J'
She smiled. Her headache had mostly gone and the text did wonders to improve her mood, especially when she thought about the fact that Joey must have asked after her.
When she went in the next morning she was even more excited than usual to see Joey, having missed him yesterday.
He smiled warmly at her when he came in. "Hey, you okay today?"
She nodded. "It was just a headache. But thank you for checking up on me."
"No problem."
She had made his coffee moments before he had arrived, so she grabbed the cup and handed it to him. He passed over three dollars and fifty cents. She went to put the money in the till then paused, looking first down at the coins in her hand and then up at him, her eyes wide.
"How did you-"
"Jaime looked at me like I was insane when I asked her since when did my coffee cost three fifty. That's when she told me the prices went up a week ago."
Lauren bit her lip.
"You've been paying the extra, haven't you?" he asked softly.
She nodded and he gave her a devastated look.
"Lauren."
"It's fifty cents, Joey," she mumbled.
"That's like five dollars in a week!"
"It's no different to you tipping me an extra five dollars when you don't need to," she pointed out.
"I tipped you because you work hard!" he objected.
"I guess you're gonna start going to Starbucks now that your coffee's extra, huh?" she said, trying to make light of it.
He let out a laugh, but then reached across the counter to put his hand on top of hers.
"Of course I'm not. Some things are worth it."
He squeezed her hand gently and she smiled up at him.
"I'm paying for my coffee from now on," he said firmly.
She rolled her eyes at him.
"And you can let me buy you dinner to make it up to you," he continued.
"It was only five dollars!" Lauren exclaimed. Not that she didn't want to go to dinner with Joey, of course. But she didn't want him to feel like he owed her. She had just been worried that he'd stop coming after the price went up, and what was an extra fifty cents if it meant she got to talk to Joey?
"You're not getting out of this, Lauren," he said, starting to back away. "I'll text you later."
She shook her head at him fondly as he stumbled into a table, and watched him walk past the window and down the street.
Jaime was early for her shift today so Lauren ran into her on her way out, and she told her that Joey had asked her out to dinner.
"You're going on a date with him?" Jaime practically shouted.
"He's just being nice," Lauren said.
"We both know that's not true," the other girl replied.
And Lauren had to admit, taking her to dinner was a bit excessive for a five dollar debt. She smiled to herself.
As promised, Joey texted her that evening.
'You free tonight?'
'Someone's eager'
The next reply took a while to come through, and Lauren grinned at the thought of making him flustered.
'I didn't want you to have too long to change your mind'
'Yeah I'm free' she sent, wishing Joey knew how much she really did want to get dinner with him.
'Text me your address, I'll pick you up at 7'
She thought about telling him he didn't have to do that, but she knew he wouldn't give in. She spent the next hour showering, straightening her hair, putting on her makeup and deciding on an outfit to wear. She settled on a jumpsuit paired with flats, not knowing how far they might end up walking.
He knocked on her door at seven on the dot. She opened it to find him standing there with flowers, his eyes swiftly taking in her appearance, repeatedly going back to her hair. She realised this was the first time he'd seen her out of her barista attire.
"Flowers?" she said, one eyebrow raised.
His face fell. "Are they too much?"
She shook her head, a smile spreading over her face. "They're perfect."
She dropped them off in a vase then quickly rejoined him.
"So where are we headed?"
"It's a surprise," he said, and she rolled her eyes.
He walked them to his car, and once he pulled away she instantly turned the radio right up and began singing along. She kept meeting his eyes in the mirror and bursting into laughter.
"Watch the road!" she said with a giggle as she noticed him staring at her out of the corner of his eye.
At last they pulled up to a small restaurant on the edge of town that she'd frequented during her college years.
"This place has the best gluten free food in Ann Arbor," she told him happily.
"I know that."
She looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
He nudged her hip with his.
"Jaime told me you were gluten free the first day we had coffee together."
Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe he even still remembered that, it felt like forever ago. She was touched that he had made the effort to find a place with her in mind.
"Reservation for Richter," Joey said when they walked in, and the pair were led to their table. He pulled out her chair for her before she got a chance to do it herself, but the comment about how she was capable of pulling out her own chair died on her lips at the earnest look on his face.
Joey opened up the menu and pored over it. Lauren gave it a cursory glance to check that they still served her favourite pasta dish, and then watched Joey, noticing for the first time the light dusting of freckles across his nose.
They talked about Lauren's improvisation classes, Joey's family in California, Lauren's desire to get a dog, Joey's dreams to write and perform in his own show. At every turn in the conversation it seemed they found something new to connect over, and Lauren felt that she could talk to Joey for hours and never run out of things to say.
Time passed so quickly when she was with him that she was startled when he told her it was half ten and they should probably be heading home.
She hadn't realised how tired she was until she was back in the car. She felt her eyelids drooping as the streetlamps flashed past, and she tried to force herself to stay awake. But the next thing she knew Joey was gently shaking her arm.
"Lo?"
Her sleep-fogged brain barely even registered the new nickname.
"We're here."
She rubbed her eyes, smiling at him gratefully. "Thank you."
He reached out to gently tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand just barely lingering at her face. "No problem."
The look in his eye scared her at the same time as it made her want to grab the front of his shirt and find out what his lips would feel like under hers. She swallowed thickly, giving him a brief smile before she opened the door, her hand trembling.
She could feel his eyes following her to make sure she got in the door okay, but her heart was beating too fast to turn around.
