Latte Love

Chapter Two~ Regular Doesn't Mean Normal

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for reading this story! I know it doesn't have as much publicity as my other story What One Summer Can Do To You, but I'm sure this has potential! Thanks again!

~Mango

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My finger tips tingled from where Lee's brushed them. I backed into the kitchen and poured out the old coffee only to realize I had no idea what the guys order was. I shuffled back to he front desk and saw Lee gazing down at the counter, rapping his fingers quickly.

"I-I never got your o-order?" I fumbled with the words. I felt the heat creep up to my face.

He gave me a perfect smile, his perfectly sculpted lips lifting at the edges to form that gorgeous emotion.

My heart leaped into my throat as he adjusted his beanie, put both hands on the counter, and leaned forward so that he was looking into my eyes. My dark blue looking into his innocent brown. "I would like a latte with cocoa flavoring please."

I nodded, memorized, and rushed to the kitchen to prepare the perfect latte. I sprinkled cocoa powder over the frothy top of his drink in the shape of a smiley face. My eyes widened as I realized the happy face. What would he think? Oh no...I'm such an idiot!

I walked back out to him, tentatively handing him the warm drink, secretly hoping that his fingers would touch mine. As I handed it over (no finger touches this time) he grinned.

"Aw, a smiley face!" I watched intently as he stuck in a long black straw and took a sip. He looked up at me and I felt like my heart had sprouted wings and fluttered away to a Lee-free area. "This is awesome!"

"Thanks!" I smirked, regaining my voice. "I only do it every day,"

"Ha," he chuckled. It was beautiful. Such a wonderful rich satin smooth sound. "So, how long have you worked here for?"

A question. Oh god, a question. How long have I been working here...? "About 2 and a half years."

He nodded and took a long sip from the latte, morphing the smiley face. He noticed me staring and pushed the straw towards me. "Wanna sip?"

My face felt hot. "Oh, no thanks." I looked up at the old wood ceiling like it was the most I interesting thing in the world.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him snap a lid on and fix his beanie again. "Hey, I'll see you around...?" He trailed off searching for a name tag on me.

"Idonianna Johnston. But please, just call me Idony. I hate my real name." I smiled shyly and gazed up at his dark brown gentle eyes.

He held out his hand to shake and my stomach felt like it had just entered the Olympics for gymnastics. It was now back flipping over and over. I stuck out my hand and he grasped it, his hand large, warm, and comforting. It almost seemed that his hand swallowed up my tiny digits. When he let go I felt a little sad, wanting to just stand there shaking his pleasantly worn hand all day. He nodded to me, fixed his beanie, and stepped out the door whistling a tune I didn't recognize.

Then I realized he had out something in my hand. With my heart flittering, I opened up my hand to see 5 bucks and a small folded in half paper scrap. I unfolded it uncertainly and read the neat script.

"Here's a tip. Also, I'll see you again here. ;)

~Lee"

I felt my jaw drop open. He gave me 5 bucks! Wow! and also he'll see me here again? What? Would that mean I would see him every day here, like any other regular? Or did it just mean that he'd come once more...? I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched the note and the dollars in my hand. I hardly knew this guy and I got a major tip?

At least he had a cool name though. A lot of regulars had boring common names (and I won't list any cos I don't want to insult anyone), so Lee was like a little sliver of uniqueness. He was also uniquely adorable-

Wait, what?! I did not just think that! I couldn't possibly have a crush on some random dude who bumped into me on the street. Or could I...? No! I couldn't!

This was entirely too confusing. Why couldn't things be as simple as 7th grade?!

I stormed back into the kitchen after carefully placing the tip and the note in my pocket.

"Oh my God this is entirely too stressful!!" I groaned. But inside, I was walking on air. He likes me! And I like him! We can date, and kiss while watching the sunset, and live happily, and I want my daughters name to be Lorie!

Wait. What? My mind was racing. Silly mind, crushes are for kids! I needed to get back to work.

"Hey Jake? Are the cups picked up?" I called.

Jake smiled at me. "Yes mam!"

I laughed and we talked about how he watched a show about toddlers with super human strength until work was over and I could go home.

As I put on my pea coat, all I could think about was how Lee had a pea coat and how cute it was that we both had one.

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My alarm clock blared "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons as I fumbled to turn it off. My uncoordinated hand only smacked my phone off the bed table and as I tried to retrieve it from the unknown areas of under my bed, I tumbled off the bed as well landing with a grunt.

"Owie..." I grumbled as I finally reached my phone and turned off the alarm. Peace and quiet. I smiled, almost dozing off again when my psychotic chihuahua burst into my room yapping it's tiny head off.

"YAP YAP YAPPITY YAP YAP YAP!!!!" He barked loudly at me and attempted to chew off my hand.

"BENSON STOP!!!" I shouted at the creature and he paused in the mid-mauling of my hand to look at me curiously as if to say 'excuse me, I was busy. What do you want?'

"Dude, you were killing my ears and my hand. Don't look at me like I'm crazy!" I shrugged and wrapped my hands around his middle, picking him up and cradling the pup in my arms. He was a long haired chihuahua with dark brown, white, and red fur, and he was absolutely mind blowingly insane. Once I had caught him eating my bath robe and he had ingested about half by the time I took him to the vet where he then proceeded to throw it all up. Disgusting.

I cooed at the dog none of the less as I walked downstairs into the kitchen. My parents weren't ever home in the morning because they both had work so it was usually just Benson the chihuahua, Lovely, my pet turtle, and me. I sighed as I sat down to eat a giant blueberry muffin thinking about how much I'd rather magically transform into Benson that go to work.

But then I remembered.

This wasn't just any day.

It was the day I would see Lee again.

I gasped and suddenly shove the whole muffin down my throat and rushed to the bathroom to fix my hair. I needed to look my best.

I winced looking in the mirror. Having long hair was great, but making the mistake of wearing it down to bed is grave. My hair was twisted up in odd places and sticking up all over and to top it all off, it was super duper frizzy. I looked delicious. (Note the sarcasm)

So I raked a brush through my hair, removing the tangles but only adding to the frizziness. I was beginning to get mad so I just quickly put my hair in a French braid and slipped on a head band. In my room I shimmied into some dark skinny jeans and a blue hoodie and bolted towards the stairs.

But I didn't realize that Benson was sitting on the top step. So I accidentally stepped on him, got scared, missed a step, and toppled down the stairs ungracefully. Owie!

At the door, I put on my coat, slipped on some Uggs, and made sure all the animals were inside the house before closing and locking the door.

Off to work!