Jerrie Oneshot Book

Coffee Shops and Funfairs

Summary: Perrie can't stop thinking about Jade, a very pretty, very lovely customer at the coffee shop. She always buys the same hot chocolate, and wears a rainbow flag pin on her coat. And maybe, just maybe, Jade doesn't come to the coffee shop solely for the treats.

"Oh my god, Ellie, I'm so bored," Perrie complained from her spot on one of the sofas, where she was sitting polishing cutlery. "These spoons are so reflective that a vampire wouldn't be able to see themselves in them."

Ellie snorted a laugh from behind the counter, and Perrie looked over just in time to see Ellie straightening her back out. "It's late Tuesday morning in November Perrie, what were you expecting?"

"Something a bit more fun than polishing cutlery."

Ellie propped her hands up on her hips and raised an eyebrow at her. "Would you rather be on your hands and knees cleaning the bottom shelves? Because I can definitely trade places with you if you want."

Perrie winced. "Absolutely not."

"I gave you the nice job, so quit complaining," Ellie said, throwing a balled-up napkin at Perrie. They both watched it as it landed on the ground halfway between them, and Ellie shrugged. "Well, at least it went further than your paper plane did."

"Napkin aerodynamics are a bitch."

"Tea?"

"Yes please," Perrie replied with a cheer, waving her tea towel and a spoon in the air.

Tuesday mornings were always quiet in Sweet Spot, the coffee and cake shop that she and Ellie owned and ran. Perrie always supposed that it was because Tuesdays were like less fun Mondays. Mondays sucked, but at least most people got back to their classes or offices and shared stories about what they did with their weekends. Tuesdays had none of that. When they'd worked out that it was their quietest day of the week, they'd decided to designate it a cleaning and paperwork morning.

Ellie brought her drink and a stack of paperwork, and sat opposite her to go through some invoices for cake orders. Perrie was nearly finished with the cutlery, wrapping each set in a napkin and placing it back in the basket.

She glanced outside and saw people hurrying past, bobble hats pulled down low over their ears and their hands jammed in their pockets to ward off the freezing air. It was always cold this time of year, but for the last few days it had been especially cold, and Perrie had even seen a little frost on some of the plants in the basket outside her windowsill.

Their café was located just off the university campus, in an area which seemed to cater to the students more than anyone else. There were several bookshops that sold only academic books, stationary stores, computer repair shops, coffee shops, and even a store that sold nothing but university merchandise. It was a dynamic place to work, and there was always something happening. Perrie especially loved the students who came in sometimes and sat for hours in the corner reading worn paperback textbooks and making notes in them. It was what she'd done when she'd been student, camping out for hours in her local coffeeshop with a pile of books, her laptop, and an endless supply of food and drinks. Now, working at the other end of the spectrum, she was happy to be the one providing joy to stressed students.

But today there were no stressed students, and it was so quiet that she'd actually run out of jobs to do now that she'd finished her cutlery. The piped music, the scratching of Ellie's pen on the paper, and the occasional sound of a car going past on the square were the only things she could hear. She stood up and stretched, taking her time about it, then mooched over to the counter to put the basket of super-shiny cutlery underneath the till.