Regular Customer (Denbert)

Prelogue ☕️

It was around noon when the coffee shop started to clear out, the crackling of the radio predicting a storm to roll over very soon. The sun outside had already hid itself amongst the heavy clouds. Denis finished pouring the milk into the iced cappuccino he was currently making despite the already cold weather outside. "Nick?" he read from the name written in sharpie across the plastic cup. Denis smiled at the man as he handed him his coffee before turning away, the jingle of the bell notifying Denis of the seemingly last customer's departure.

Walking around the counter, he started to clean up any left over dishes from previous customers. Although Denis believed he was alone in the coffee shop, out of the corner of his eye he saw a head of brunette hair, fixated on his laptop screen. He had dark brown eyes partially covered by wispy brown bangs, his long eyelashes brushing his pink dusted cheeks with every blink. The man's sharp jaw clenched in concentration, before his eyes drifted upwards, locking with Denis'. Denis quickly looked away, busying himself with the damp cloth in his hands, although he still felt the man's gaze on him. Feeling suddenly self conscious, he made his way to the break room, gathering his things before closing down shop. There had been a handful of nasty storms affecting Vancouver recently, so for Denis to close down shop this early in the day was becoming more and more common.

Denis flicked all the lights off in the storage room, turning off the power-points around the kitchen before closing the shutters of the windows. Turning, he saw the same man now with his head resting in the nook of his elbow against the table, his figure rising and falling softly with each quiet snore. Denis stared for a while, there was a peaceful sort of aura about this man. Denis walked up to the stranger, clearing his throat though the man didn't budge. He placed his hand on the man's shoulder, shaking him slightly. Lifting his head to look at Denis, he blinked slowly, maintaining eye contact for a few too many seconds to be passed off as normal.

"Er, sorry" the man murmured, now seeming awkward. Packing up his things he left the shop without another word. Denis looked at the empty coffee cup he had left behind, his own handwriting adorning it, spelling the name 'Albert'.