Smile *He doesn't have to hurt you*

~1~

God, it was cold. My hands rubbed together vigorously in attempt to at least generate a fair amount of warmth back into my fingers as I strode down the street with almost opaque puffs of Co₂ leaving my mouth and trailing behind me, then vanishing from optical view. Okay, I knew Ireland was cold, but -16 degrees Celsius (3.2 °F) was a bit much, however it was after 8pm. I had been here for a project for work. Photography was much more difficult than one would perceive, but getting a free trip to The Emerald Isle took some of the stress away for now. I was there for a few months, so I had to get a job unfortunately. My boss told me I had to stay there to get "The absolute best photos for top of the line buyers." Buyers who want to put my photos on books or to hang in their ornate homes and even request to place them in magazines for tourist attractions. Lucky for me, I happened to be accepted at a part time job waiting tables at a café. So it wasn't too bad. As for now I pushed open the door into the café known as "A Maidin Mhaith", which meant "A Good Morning", and was instantaneously blasted with the smell of coffee and, most importantly, heat. Along with the chime of the welcoming bell. I took off my coat and continued to walk towards the back room. The employee lounge, some would say. I swung open the wooden door and greeted Dainéal, my co-worker and becoming a good friend. I always liked to mess with him so slapped on my actually decent Irish accent over my natural American one and jovially said,

"Aey, what's the craic? Are ya stayin' late this evenin'? I will ye!"

"Oh, whell aren't you the dog's ballocks? Haaah, no, seriously, I'm headen home 'erly tonight. Accordin' to that, seems you'll be runnin' the place in a few 'ours."

Well, that's fantastic. I had planned a relaxing night in my hotel suite. I wanted to enjoy every ounce of having a five star luxury suite, but staying in a little cafè with soothing jazz strumming along in the background was okay too, I suppose. I heaved a sigh and threw on my uniform which was just a mahogany t-shirt with the logo on the sleeve. I looked to Dainèal and rolled my eyes,

"I suppose you just have so much to do that you can't stay?"

"Exactly, (Y/N), you know me. Never enough work to do." He said with that piercing sarcasm. "Ya know what else? While you were pradin' in 'ere like a damn moron, the bell rang."

I tossed one shoulder up and let it fall in a half shrug. "Let Ráichéal or Adam handle them. I have to hang up my coat."

I raised my arm with my trench slung over it and flashed a small smile. He just stared at me with those space eyes and lifted his eyebrows to his forehead. The longer he looked at me, the more guilty I felt. Each passing moment, the customer probably wan't accommodated. I threw my coat at him and peeled a smirk.

"You could get away with murder with those looks you give." I said as he tore my coat off his face and proceeded to hang it up for me as I walked outside of the back room to find a guy standing at the pay. A shorter one, not too short, but not nearing six feet (2m) either. He was wearing a winter themed white beanie with red and black patterns and a little ball hanging off the back. He had a redish black duffle coat on and his hands tucked in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels, looking at the windows along the wall, showing the perpetual dark sky. I walked up to the pay and grabbed one menu for him and showed the peppiest smile I could and plastered on my accent,

"Dia Duit! Conas tá tú? (Hello! How are you?)" Dan had taught me some good ol' Gaelic. He threw his head to meet mine and he smiled at me and exhaled through his nose in a laughing manner. His ocean eyes caught mine and he walked closer to the counter.

"Tá mé go hiontach! Go raibh maith agat! (I'm great! thank you very much!) Hafen't heard that in a while!"

My accent slipped back to normal as I swung around the pay with his menu, gesturing him to follow me.

"Ah, well good to see I kicked your memory. I'm so sorry if you were waiting for a while." I said this as he sat down at the booth by the window. It had started to snow slightly. He pulled out his phone and set it on the table as I set the menu down at his arms.

"Oh no, not at all! I walked in like three seconds before ya came out. It's all fine!"

"You and I both know it was five seconds, you don't have to lie." I said with a small smirk and a chuckle.

He laughed abruptly and shook his head. "You said it not me. I'll be turnin' ya in a day's time!"

I laughed once more and flipped out my notepad, ready to write. "Anyway, what can I start you off with?"

He furrowed his brow and slid his lips to the side in ponder as his eyes scanned the menu at the table.

"Right, okay. Whell..Oh. I 'tink I'll start off with a Chestnut Mocha. I'm in the mood for peppermint, but not too much to the point where it's the whole drink, and let's face it: nuts are fantastic!"

I started to scribble it down and halted, tilting my head, I glanced down at him.

"Coffee at 8:15?"

"More like coffee at any time?"

"Touchè."

"Absolument!" He clicked his tongue at me as he spoke in French.

I wrote something else back down on my notepad and spoke mockingly, "We're in Ireland, not France, good sir."

"Ya got my name wrong."

I paused, looking over from my notepad and over to this green haired man.

"I'm sorry?"

He leaned back and threw me a smile.

"Call me Seán."