The day was like no other Arthur Morgan had grown quite accustomed to his new life as a barista, he seemed to enjoy the casual mundane side of life. But lately, he found things to be different. The usual cocky and nonchalant Arthur seemed to vanish at certain times, leaving him an unguarded mess. For what reason none other than a new regular. Usually Arthur felt indifferent towards customers whether they were regulars or not, but with her, something was off. Whenever he took her order he seemed to forget his words or speak more quietly than he'd wish. And this would happen for the whole duration of her stay, as she liked to complete her coursework for computer science. Which Arthur had found out after some awkward small talk they would indulge in while they waited for her card payment to go through. She was a naturally pretty girl and in Arthur's eyes that image only seemed to shine more brightly. Her beautiful two toned hair slowly dropping off the side of her shoulder. Her perky lips as she pursued them contemplating what to order this time. Her slender, delicate hands as she finally made her decision and pointed to what she had chosen for the day. He took notice of it all. Not to mention her glistening blue eyes that he adored, despite only shyly making split second contact with them rarely. Arthur always felt his fingertips tingle a little whenever he wrote or typed out her name, olivia~. He couldn't think of a more suiting name for her, it stuck like butter on toast.
She had been dropping by at least 5 times a week for a little over a month but Arthur still had no confidence to fire up any development, even after pondering over it for the past few days. He never knew he could act so shy and it shocked him to think he ever had such a side to himself.
It was the day after, and Arthur saw the familiar silhouette of his crush through the shop's tinted windows. After sleeping on it he had decided if he didnt make a move now, then he was never gonna be able to take the initiative. But he had to be smart about it, he was well aware that trying to spark something through normal means wouldn't get him anywhere with his newfound persona. So instead, he opted for a different, more discreet means of communication. That of which was talking through notes. He may not be a cowboy anymore, but he was now ready to take the reins. Throughout his new found reality, while living an honest life as a regular citizen, he had found it hard to merge with modern day civilization. But he had found comfort through a new talent he had picked up, called late art. Arthur became obsessed with the art, practising it daily to perfect it, leading him to apply for a job at a place where he could show off his skills. He had done some for Olivia once, on their first meeting and she had taken a picture of it. Judging by her character Arthur could tell she was a bright girl, so any old late art wouldn't do for her smart brain. He knew she would prefer a challenge and given she was a computer science major he finally landed on morse code, to day by day spell out his utmost, truest feelings to her, live. So that's what he did. Days went by and late’s were made to lead up to a bigger picture, were rolled out. Arthur looked forward to her visits more and more often and only prayed that with every picture she took, she would eventually see a chain of letters. He had also vowed to try and be more vocal and proper towards her, even shamefully practising conversations in his bathroom mirror morning and night. He liked to think that his efforts were somewhat paying off little by little as he engaged in a more than acquaintances type of talk with Olivia.Time passed and one day she came back up to the counter after finishing her work.
“N-Need anything?” Arthur forced out, he felt his heart rate start to creep up. It wasn't very often she came up to the front after initially making her order, and due to Arthurs plan it made him more worried.
“Oh no nothing much, just wanted to you know..Talk a little, ask some questions.” Olivia said with a grin and leaning over the desk a little.
Arthur felt his face blush a little but he wasn't going to act like it, “Well go ahead.” He tried to say as cool as he could while wiping a cup dry.
“Well if you insist, I'll jump straight into it.” Olivia replied, bending over a bit more to rest her head on her hands which caused Arthur to back up a little. “Your late art is really impressive, I'm glad you started doing it again.To be honest, when I came here for the first time and was given my drink, I was in awe of the artwork you presented. It was utterly beautiful, a talent worth commending! Especially due to those fine intricate lines you had placed with care. So I came back the next day excited to witness what you'd conjure up for me this time, but you never did.So naturally I became determined to keep coming until you gave me it again. Im glad you took it up again.”
Arthur was stunned, his mouth was agape he couldn't find any words. For someone to speak so highly of his work gave him a lot of serotonin, but for Olivia specifically. He was scared he would forget how to breathe. He felt his face warm up but the acknowledgment of it was pushed to the back of his brain in favour of other thoughts and feelings.
“I-I-...thank you….. s-so much.” He said shyly. “It means alot.” Giving her a warm smile which seemed to stun Olivia somewhat as her eyes widened before returning the gesture.
“Also.” She said, pushing herself off the counter, “You need to be more discreet with your notes Arthur” Then cracking the cheekiest of grins at him.
Her comment made Arthur audibly gasp and shrink back, only stammering out an “I-...” or “Er…”
Thankfully Olivia seemed to now have a gauge of Arthur's personality, and took the initiative to slip him a piece of paper with a number on it, “My phone number, be sure to give me a call when you get off work pretty boy.”
Arthur was practically jumping with joy “Y-Yes!”
