Regular Customer (Denbert)

Spill

It had been days since Denis had last seen that mysterious man who he now knew as Albert from the coffee shop and weirdly enough, he couldn't get the stranger out of his head. Every shift he found himself paying closer attention to the customers ordering their drinks. Even on his lunch breaks, peering up from his phone as each new person wondered through the door, yet he still hadn't seen him. After a few more days of waiting to no avail, Denis reluctantly tried forgetting about the man. He didn't even understand why this person who he had never fully met had such a tight hold on him.

Although on an extremely busy Saturday morning, as he was struggling to keep up with orders alongside his coworkers, he noticed a familiar brunette walk through the door. Chuckling to himself, he noticed Albert's extremely heavy jacket he was shrugging off to hang on the coat rack. Denis noted he must be a foreigner, not used to the Canadian cold. Although he still had a few layers of shirts and sweaters to combat the cold, he wore a very flattering set of skinny jeans, which convinced Denis he should at least try to slip him his number.

Suddenly, Denis was very aware of a burning sensation flooding his hand. Looking down, he saw that he was currently overflowing a steaming cup of coffee. "Shit!" He yelled loudly as he retracted his hand, knocking over the coffee in the process which caused even more of a commotion. "Denis! Are you alright?" His coworker abandoned the customer he was currently serving, hurriedly wetting a cloth to cover Denis' hand with. Sucking in a sharp breath as the stinging was enhanced by the sudden cold temperature. Looking up, he noticed a few people staring and murmuring, one of them being Albert. Locking eyes with him once again, he noticed a concerned look on his face, studying the chaos Denis had just created. He looked away, his face heating up in the process. Fuck this is embarrassing, he thought to himself.

"Jesus mate" Sam's obnoxious Australian accent seeping into his words, "watch what you're doing next time." he laughed.

"Yeah, got it, thanks" Denis murmured, getting back to remaking the order he had just botched after wiping down the counter. Instinctively, he looked up at Albert who had now focused all his attention towards another man standing next to him. When did he get here? The genuine smile dawning his face as he talked to the other individual caused a frown to appear on Denis' face. Peeling his eyes away from the two to avoid looking like a creep, he scratched at his moustache, they could have just been friends of course, but it still bugged him. Denis decided he didn't like the other man, not interested in getting to know him before drawing any conclusions.

As the line moved along, Albert and his 'friend' had ordered, now sitting waiting for their coffee. Whilst making their orders, he refrained from doing something petty to the other man's drink. Looking down at the cup, toying with the sharpie in his hand, he wondered if he should scrawl his number on Albert's cup. As he thought about it more, he decided he didn't want to get jumped if the two actually happened to be together. Sighing, he held up both cups of coffee as he read out Albert's name. Seeing Albert laughing along with what was probably a stupid joke the other man had said made Denis wish he had spat in the guy's drink. Once Albert heard his name, he began to walk towards Denis.

"You holding up alright?" reaching for his drinks, Albert nodded towards Denis' hand. "What?" Denis blurted out dumbly. "Your uh- your hand, you know from earlier?" A smile tugged on Albert's lips as a look of recognition crossed Denis' face along with a faint blush forming. "Oh yeah, no it's fine, I do it more than I'd like to admit." Denis chuckled. "Well that's good." Albert said awkwardly. For a few moments they just stared at each other. "Uhm, can I have my drinks?"

"Oh! Yes, of course, sorry!" Denis snatched his hands away after noticing he was in fact, still holding onto the man's drinks. With a look of confusion, Albert turned to head back to his table. Having witnessed the whole interaction, Albert's 'friend' glowered at him, making Denis feel extremely awkward. Busying himself with another order, Denis cringed after replaying the interaction in his head. "I think it's time you go on your break, mate" Sam patted Denis on the shoulder and he could not have agreed more.