Hot Keys : A KarlNap Story

Part 1

"Karl! I need a grande Double Chocolate Chip Frappe for a Stacey!"

I glanced up at the counter, making eye contact with my buddy Alex who was taking orders as fast as he could. Every Monday morning was like this. Countless office workers and sleep deprived college kids stopping in for any type of caffeine they could get. Although it was good for business, it was exhausting for me. I quickly grabbed the coffee grounds and began to measure out the correct measurements for the drink. I pushed my round glasses up my nose as they began to slide, pouring milk into the machine and letting the scent of fresh coffee fill the air around me.

"Karl!" I held back my eye roll as I looked up once more. "Iced vanilla latte! Add white mocha! Tall!" I whipped my head around to look at the time. It was nearing eight A.M. which meant it would slow down soon. I spun around and grabbed a thin plastic cup, mentally cursing under my breath as I knew this cup would end up in the trash sooner or later. Luckily we had just started selling reusable cups and they seemed to be doing really well. It was a working progress.

"Stacey!" I called, sliding the cup on the pick up counter before finishing the latte. I ran my hands down my navy blue apron and took a deep breath as I watched the last customer walk out the door. Alex turned his head, running a hand up his tattooed arm with a gentle smile.
"I hate Monday mornings."  he mumbled, turning his back to the front counter to lean on it and face me. He raised his arms and pulled his beanie back down to cover his ears.
"Can't complain about the money though, not everyone can do what we do." I said optimistically, watching him shake his head.
"Not everyone can do what you do Karl. I mean, you get those orders out almost as fast as girls come knocking on my door." He smirked, pushing his longer hair from his eyes. I only laughed.
"We both know you have nothing coming to your door, Alex. I'm going on break." I smirked, tossing in my towel for the next fifteen minutes.

I turned and walked into the back, grabbing a can of Monster from the community fridge before finding an empty table by the outer window of the shop. You could see the street out front, cars racing up and down. But that wasn't what I was watching. I glanced at the clock once more. It was 8 on the dot, and there he was. Right on time.

I watched the brown haired boy walk into his dark dance studio across the street. He got there every morning around eight and practiced his dancing until closing. Sometimes he had other people in with him. I had come to find out that he taught a class every Tuesday night. He was absolutely amazing. I had first caught sight of him about the third week that I had started working here. It was the first time he raised the blinds on his big side windows. The first time we could see him do his thing. He hadn't closed them since and this was my fifth month working here.

"Why don't you ask him out already?"
I jumped, quickly covering the lid of my coffee in fear. "What?! N-No! I can't just ask him out." I spoke, looking at Alex in disbelief as he stared across the street as well, a sly smile on his face. "You should at-least talk to him at some point instead of staring at him. It's a little creepy." I glanced back to the window, the boy standing in front of his mirror as he began to do stretches. I stood up and walked back behind the work counter.
"He's a good dancer, it's fun to watch talent like that. That's all there is to it." I stated, sipping my coffee.

"Sure it is," He sneered, bumping into my shoulder in a joking manner. "Heads up, someone's coming in. "

~~~

"Alright, I'm heading out. I'll see you tomorrow morning," Alex said, coming out from the back storage closet and hanging his apron up on the hook on the back of the door. "Lock up when you're done. Make sure to turn the lights off this time." He winked, walking towards the exit. I fake laughed, throwing my middle finger his way. He quickly put a hand to his chest, his eyebrows furrowing upwards.
"Little Karl? Being mean? You're growing up," he cooed.
"I'm older than you Alex..." I groaned, turning my back to him as I grabbed the materials to clean the counter.

I hummed gently to the faint music playing over the speakers around the café but was pulled from my peace when the bell above the door chimed.
"Are you guys closed? " The boy asked, a white towel draped over his shoulders. "I've got to stay and practice a bit more and wanted a little jump before you guys called it a day." I felt my throat begin to close, causing me to clear it and stumble my way to the front counter.
"We're open. W-What can I get you?" I asked quietly, looking up into his dark brown eyes.

"I'll take a grande caramel macchiato. Iced please," he said gently "I really appreciate it Karl." I couldn't help but feel my cheeks heat up, knowing they were a hint of pink at this point. " How did you-"
"Your name tag. And the names Nick." He smiled, glancing at the cups in front of me with the permanent marker sitting beside them. I glanced at my name tag and chuckled nervously, turning to begin making his drink.

"So, do you like it? " He asked, causing me to glance up from the coffee machine in front of me.
"Like what? " I grabbed the handle and began to make his coffee.
"The dance I've been working on. I've seen you watching." I felt my stomach twist in a knot. Someone might as well have punched me as I saw the smirk that had fallen onto his lips.
I took a breath and grabbed a sharpie, grabbing a plastic cup, only to be stopped. "I brought my reusable one." He held his hand up, handing me the cup he had been holding in the opposite hand.
"If you had this cup, why did you tell me your name?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him since I wouldn't need to write on it. He chuckled.

"I can't tell a cute boy my name?"

I froze, taking my bottom lip between my teeth before pouring his drink into his cup. I grabbed a dry erase marker we had for the schedule board and decided to make a bold move and write my name and number on it at the bottom. I put the lid on it and slide it onto the pick up counter.
"Here you are Nick." I smiled, leaning against the counter on my forearms.
"And yes, I do like your dance. You're really good." I complimented, studying the boy from his dark brown hair, to his striking brown eyes and stubble down to his warn tennis shoes.

He took the cup, taking a sip and smiling right after. "It was finally nice to meet you " I nodded at him, watching him turn on his heels and walk towards the front door. Before he got out he stopped and eyed his cup. " What's this?" He asked, holding it up and pointing to the number I had written, a cheeky look in his eye.

" What? Can't I give a cute boy my number? "

~~~

A sigh escaped my lips as I finally stumbled into my apartment, pushing the curly light brown hair from my eyes and sliding the glasses I didn't even need to wear from my face. The way the gaming chair felt on my back after a long day of work was one of my favorite feelings in the world. Although I wanted to change into a pair of sweatpants and head to bed, I knew I needed to stream tonight. I changed into a collared shirt before sliding a navy blue crewneck over my head, pushing my hair to the side when my phone vibrated beside me. I rolled over in my chair and grabbed my phone, opening it to the new message I had just received.

"Wakey Wakey. It's Nick" I felt the edges of my lips pulling up in a smile I couldn't control. I covered my face and rolled back over to my computer, laughing gently to myself at the way I was feeling over a complete stranger.
"Do you usually text people in the middle of the night? " I sent back, throwing my phone across the room to my bed, not wanting to watch my phone until he replied. I started up Twitch, turning on my microphone and checking my camera before my eyes glanced at the time.

10:35 pm

All I had was an hour before I would force myself to go to bed. Streaming and working a full time job wasn't an easy thing to do. I was about to start my stream when the urge to check my phone grew too much for me to bear. I pushed myself back in my chair and wheeled over to my bed, grabbing my phone again and opening it to our text messages.

"Only the people I want to talk to."

My stomach was twisting like never before and I didn't understand it. "Well I need to sleep, and you probably should get some too :)" I typed. As much as I wanted to stay up and talk to him like we were teenagers, I had priorities and couldn't just tell him I was a Twitch streamer, some people didn't think that kind of thing was cool. I plugged my phone into my charger and set it aside, moving back to my monitor before starting my stream, playing the waiting music for the first ten minutes.

"Chat! Tonight's going to be a fun one! We'll start in a sec."