coffee // joshler

37

tyler's point of view

work goes by slowly.

the usuals come and go, a few strays stop in. but when a woman with a nice skirt and matching blazer walks in and i stiffen. her presence intimidates me for some reason and i clear my throat to try and steady myself before i speak.

"hi, welcome to lemondrop. how may i help you?"

"do you cater? or do wedding cakes at least?" the woman seems to be in her early thirties, and she's glancing around like she's never been inside the cafe before.

"we can do both of those things," i smile a little wider at the prospect of a big order. catering has always been an option, just never one ive had requested. my nervousness fades the longer she stands in front of me.

"great," the woman sighs, relieved, "im a wedding planner, and my client said she loved this place. she asked if i would stop by and ask about it."

"its no problem," i reach under the counter and pull out the catering book, which includes prices, menu options, and all of the necessities. "i can go ahead and give you this, and if you'd like to sample anything, youre welcome to."

"i can take this?" she starts to flip through the small booklet and i nod.

"of course. once you and your clients have made a decision, just stop by or give me a call and we can talk details. whens the date?" i glance down at the page she's on, and i find myself excited about the possibilites. i haven't baked a wedding cake in forever.

"new years day. thank you so much for this. whats your name again?" she holds her hand out for me to shake.

"tyler joseph. if you need anything or have any questions, our phone number, address, and email are all on the back of that," i shake her hand and she tucks the booklet under her arm.

"thank you so much," she says, turning to leave after i reply with a 'youre welcome,' and a wave.

"i didnt know we catered," jenna looks at me then, her head cocked to the side.

"yeah. it doesnt happen very often, but we do," i shrug and then look around. "theres not much to do now. you should take your lunch break before the brunch rush starts. ill see how ryans doing."

"will you check my cookies when the timer goes off?" she's already untying her apron when she asks, knowing ill say yes.

"of course. go ahead."

the brunch rush comes and goes, as does the lunch rush after that, and the day goes much quicker than i anticipated.

josh is working late tonight, so i let ryan give me a ride home after we close, and i make dinner for myself, leaving my leftover cheese rice in a container in the fridge.

i decide i should wait up for josh. he wouldn't just go to sleep if i had to stay late at work.

i sit on the couch and turn the tv on. i let myself slip into littlespace, and jim keeps me company.

i hear my phone ring and see joshs name on the screen. i answer with a huge smile. "daddy!"

"hi, baby boy. how are you?" his voice comes through the small speaker of my phone and i squirm in happiness.

"im good," i giggle, "i was a good boy all day today."

"aw, im proud of you, pumpkin. im just calling to tell you ill be home in an hour or so. are you okay by yourself?" he asks, concern obvious in his voice.

"im okay. miss you though," i sigh and lean my head onto jim's stomach.

"i miss you too, little one. ill be home as soon as i can, okay?"

"love you," i mumble, feeling my eyelids droop.

"i love you too. you should get some rest, hun," he says, his voice soft.

"nooo, wanna wait for you," i yawn and rub my eye with a small fist.

"okay then, sweetheart. ill be there soon."

"okay. bye bye," i hang up and then sit up straight to stretch.

i was determined to stay awake for him at first, but i ended up drifting off to sleep on the couch with jim beside me instead of josh.

i wake up when the door opens though, sitting up slowly and rubbing my eyes. i left the light on before i fell asleep apperantly.

"josh?" my voice is soft and scratchy and jim is already jumping at his legs.

"hey, tyler. did i wake you up?" he turns the light off for me and steps out of his shoes, walking towards me.

i nod and he kisses my cheek.

"im sorry, babydoll. why dont we go to bed, yeah?" he runs a hand through my hair and i nod again, still less than half awake.

he leads me to the bed and then lays down next to me with jim at the foot of the bed. this time, i dont wake up until the next morning.

when my alarm goes off again, i groan, rolling over to hide in josh's side. he stays asleep and snores quietly.

when my snooze button expires and the alarm goes off again, we both wake up.

"good morning, love," joshs morning voice greets my ears and i hum. "you working today?"

"unfortunately," i sit up and look down at him. "do you?"

"i have a meeting at noon and then i can come back home," he answers, rubbing his eyes.

i stand up and stretch. "lucky."

"i am. because i get to wake up next to you."

(an: this is a filler lowkey so sorry its a bit boring)