extra stories to share. (tgwdlm//bf)

mel & zoey; summer time yearning.*

// og post date: july 20th, 2020. sfw. word count: 1,099. //

~

ah, beanie's. melissa never understood why her friends drank anything from there; from reviews online, their coffee and pastries are "shit", and from personal experience with their tea, she can say the same. how on earth did the workers mess up flavored leaf water? she did not have a clue, nor was she in much of a mood to debate with them about it.
today was her turn to leave during her lunch break and pick-up everyone's orders, which she memorized without much effort as they ordered the same drinks no matter what day, month, or season it was. that frightened her just a bit, she was more of the type to categorize things in specific times of the year, and considering they were in the middle of summer, she had to go with a nice watermelon lemonade.

upon entering the shop, melissa noticed the lack of customers, including the absence of employees behind the counter. she could've swore they were open until the last few hours of the afternoon, where is everybody? before she had a quick internal panic, someone came out of the 'employees only' door with an enthusiastic greeting.
"welcome to beanie's, love! what can i get you?" asked the brunette, as she flashed a toothy grin. well, her smile surely was intoxicating, because melissa found herself returning it.
"oh, hello, yes! i have just a few requests, if that isn't too much trouble." she walked up to the counter and twirled a piece of her hair. she was racking at her brain to try and remember which barista this was, but she had no thoughts at the moment. both blanking and zoning out while a pretty girl is asking for you to tell her what you want does not go well together.

in the middle of listing off the names of the drinks and random cup sizes, the name dawned on her; "that's all, zoey, please and thank you." she nodded to herself, proud she recalled the name the other went by, but she thought she said the wrong thing when she noticed her expression.
"huh, you know my name? ooh, tea! how did you know? you don't look like a regular, so you must've heard of us!" exclaimed zoey, as she grabbed the specific cups for each drink and quickly scribbled which liquid went in what.
"oh, well, uh- you know, you- you guys are so popular, i just thought i'd stop by and uh, try it out." she made up a pretty horrid lie on the spot, disappointing herself since she usually was set on excuses. all she wanted to do was get her stuff and go, by the time all of it was made and paid for, lunch break would be over! of course, she could always tell mister davidson what happened and ask for an extra thirty minutes.

zoey stifled a laugh when she mentioned the cafe being popular. "sis, that's cap, no one else is in here besides you. you, like, look around my age... did i know you in high school?" she asked, multitasking between making all the drinks and chatting with her. as she did that, melissa took out the money given to her to pay for all of it and set it on the counter awkwardly. she didn't respond.
"help me out here, hon! did you go to hatchetfield or sycamore high?"
"sycamore."
"fucking timberwolves! we like... hated you, you know? but obviously i wasn't for all that nasty banter, you seem like a nice girl." she let out a cheerful laugh, moving her gaze back down to what she was doing. christ, was that a compliment? she didn't know, but she knows her heart is beating at an unnecessary rate right now. from how the barista was talking, she had a feeling she wasn't into her - then again... she did call her cute.

"yeah, haha, we hated ourselves! uh, weird question to ask, but- but do you listen to girl in red?" asked melissa, as she smoothed out her skirt; in reality wiping the nervous sweat from the palms of her hands. zoey's smile twitched for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"girl in red? i've never heard of it, but i listen to lil uzi! his music slaps." she replied with a little hum, and put the lid on the few finished drinks, then went ahead with wrapping up the rest. from this response, melissa was already throwing away the possible interest in the other woman. sad day for the sapphics.
"well, that's very lovely, i bet you have quite the original music taste." she responded back after the three-second pause in between. "here's the money, by the way, the total should be around eleven dollars and some change?" she pushed the bills over then opened her wallet again, popping out a few old quarters she doesn't use unless she is at the mall. she may be an adult, though that does not stop her from getting candy from the number of coin machines skewed around the area.

zoey counted the payment, clicked some buttons on the cash register, and slipped all the money in it. "here's your change: ten cents! i hope you have a wonderful day!" she said as she handed over the cup tray and change, that usual friendly grin slapped on her face. straight or not, melissa can't deny she had a nice smile.
"right, thank you so much, you too." she nodded then turned on her heel, leaving as fast as she could. she let out an annoyed sigh after taking a few steps away from the coffee shop. why does she have to get her hopes up every time a polite lady gives her attention and mediocre compliments? this would be a fun story to tell... whoever would listen. perhaps paul will get a little chuckle from it, or even ted, but he teases her enough with the automatic assumptions everyone is just a bit gay.

brushing off the outcomes of her sharing the interaction, melissa made it back to the ccrp building with barely enough time to spare. fortunately, none of her friends made a complaint; entering the break room, they all welcomed her in and went through their drinks, paying no mind to how long it took. she supposes the few coworkers assuming beanie's had a busy schedule was better than trying to explain her culture of asking random strangers if they listen to an artist that happens to also like women.
now melissa prays she never has to confront zoey ever again on her coffee-run days.