Chapter 1
"I would like my latte sometime today please!"
The woman standing in front of Aubrey, would have been gorgeous had it not been for the sour look on her face. She was everything Aubrey wasn't. Tall, thin, blonde, well put together, not a blemish on her perfectly smooth skin, except for the deep frown line between her eyes. Aubrey was this woman's polar opposite. She was of average height and a little on the heavy side which her black slacks, purple work shirt, and apron did nothing to hide.
"Yes ma'am, I apologize for the delay!"
She had been several minutes late today and she could feel her boss glaring at her. Jacob Furman, manager, had hired her as a favor to his girlfriend and Aubrey's cousin Cheryl, a decision he was sure to be regretting.
The line was almost out the door when she began taking orders at the counter, her coworkers pumping out foamy concoctions at a record pace.
“One grande cappuccino,” ching “two mocha frappes with peppermint,” ching, “three bran muffins and two regular coffees,” ching, on and on it went.
Finally, the line was down to one. She took a breath and after what seemed like ages she was able to look up, smiling at the next customer in line. She felt her heart stumble and her smile falter. Standing in front of her was the most sublime example of the male gender that she had ever laid eyes on.
He was blonde with wide shoulders, nearly a foot taller than her so he had to be about 6'5 or 6'6. His eyes were iciest green she had ever seen, almost a pale mint color in the center with a dark hunter green ring around the iris. His nose was slightly crooked, perhaps owing to one too many fist fights in his youth, indicating he probably had a rowdy and rebellious side. His cheeks were high and marred with slight stubble and a goatee adorned his chin.
Shaking herself out of la-la land, Aubrey forced her glazed look of amazement to retreat. She stared for another moment then shook her head and her smile returned.
"Good morning sir, how can I help you?"
He looked amused. He probably got that reaction from silly little girl's like her on a regular basis.
"Plain black coffee and a blueberry bagel, toasted."
His voice was rich and creamy to her ears, soothing the ragged nerves caused by the morning’s late start.
"Not a problem, sir. Would you like your bagel toasted?"
"I said toasted," he grumbled.
"Oh, right! I'm sorry, I missed that."
She handed him a coffee cup and pointed to the carafes on the bar against the wall. Aubrey went to the back and reached for a bagel, placing it in the toaster oven. She craned to look over the counter to see where he was sitting so she could take it out to him.
She watched, taking in all of him, as he walked over to a table. He was well dressed, black slacks with a grey silky-looking dress shirt and a maroon tie. “He would match the blondie from earlier perfectly”, thought Aubrey. She was probably exactly the type of woman this handsome man would be interested in. The sunlight was hitting his golden hair, revealing an undertone of red she hadn't seen before. It made his eyes all the more enchanting.
Aubrey was pulled out of her reverie by the smell of something burning. She yelped, realizing it was the bagel she had put in the toaster oven.
"Shit!" She exclaimed. She was so busy daydreaming about the sun soaked Adonis she had ruined his breakfast. Without thinking she reached in and grabbed the now blackened bagel from the toaster oven, singeing her hand.
"Mother F....!"
"Aubrey!"
She stopped before the rest of the phrase left her mouth, ran to the back grabbing another bagel, and was about to put it in the toaster oven when Jacob grabbed it out of her hand.
"Aubrey, you go out there, apologize to that customer and tell him it will be a few more minutes." Jacob said slowly as he put the fresh bagel into the toaster oven. Then I want you to wipe down the tables and counters in the dining room, wash the windows and display cabinets, and sweep the floors. Can you do that?"
"Yessir," she mumbled and stalked sulkily towards the man who had caused her all this trouble.
* * *
Ethan Zorne watched as the flustered young employee approached. He could see the shiny burn on her fingertips and felt a bit guilty. Only a bit, however. It annoyed him that women only took him at face value, having no idea what they were getting into when they batted their lashes at him. As she approached he could tell that she was embarrassed by the blush on her cheeks. Maybe even a little ticked off if the way she stalked over to him was any indication.
"Sir, I apologize, but it will be a few more minutes. There was a bit of a problem in the kitchen."
He simply nodded, and she turned away. He watched as she retrieved a towel from behind the bar and began to wipe down the tables and counters with a vengeance. He chuckled to himself. The little chit was being punished and she was pissed.
He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he ate his breakfast and drank the slightly bitter coffee. She had finished cleaning the tables and was moving toward the condiment area.
He needed a lid for the car ride to work and they were right in front of her. She still looked rather sullen, but he really wanted to see what kind of stuff this one was made of.
He stood up and walked towards her. He kept her in his peripheral vision but stared straight ahead at the coffee lid that was his objective. He could tell she wanted to say something to him and that she was trying to figure out what, but he just grabbed the lid and turned around, placing it on his coffee. He walked out to his car with a slight smirk playing around his lips.
As he walked in front of the shop he saw her gray eyes shooting daggers at him. He would definitely be stopping by for breakfast again tomorrow. That girl was interesting. She might make a welcome addition to his harem.
Ethan was well known among his peers for bringing vanilla women into the lifestyle and this one with her defiant eyes, he decided, would be his next challenge.
* * *
Aubrey was seething. The customer who had caused this whole mess was so imperious; nodding at her as though he was the prince of...something. She sullenly wiped down the tables with her left hand, her right was still throbbing from the burn she had sustained from that damned mans bagel. She knew deep down that her anger at the customer was irrational. She was really angry at herself for being so besotted by that smirky, gorgeous face.
She had finished wiping the tables and began cleaning the coffee bar as Prince Smirky rose from his seat and headed towards her. She watched as he approached, thinking of what to say. Should she apologize again? Before she could think of something, he strode up and without sparing her a single glance reached over her head for a lid, then turned on his heel and walked out the door.
“Well! Good riddance,” she thought to herself glaring as he walked down the sidewalk. This was the first time she had seen him in here so he was probably just in town for business or something. It would most likely be the last time as well. The thought should have cheered her up but instead she felt more irritable.
After such an eventful morning the remainder of the day seemed to drag on. She was relegated to cleaning duty for the rest of the day, which put her into an even worse mood. She couldn’t stand cleaning!
By the time she made it home she was beyond angry. Her cousin Cheryl was also her roommate. After listening to a half hour long tirade about how her boyfriend was a no good slave driver, she had to hide out in her bedroom.
Aubrey decided that she needed some "me" time to relax and unwind. She hopped on to her computer, cranked up some Metallica and proceeded to play Counter Strike, an old first person shooter PC game that she enjoyed.
Surprisingly, despite the games age there were still several local servers in the Dallas area, guaranteeing a low ping resulting in little to no lag. It was pretty much the usual players; a few of her friends were logged in. They all assumed she was a male and she did nothing to dissuade them of that notion. Being the only female in a multi-player online game often leaves you open to lewd comments and jokes about making sandwiches. She was pretty good, having been playing the game for years now.
The game started and her arch enemy, TexasMaster30 picked that moment to log-in. She usually avoided the server he was in but she was itching for a fight this evening after the crap day she'd had. She decided he would be her primary target and she began to stalk.
Three rounds later TexasMaster30 was pissed. Every time he spawned she had killed him within a few minutes.
She was laughing more than she had all day. Though he had taken her out a few times she had gotten him many more.
He began to rant and rave in the chat box. She pictured a fat old man in his mom’s basement smacking the keyboard. The image made her laugh even harder. She logged out after a bit, now in a much better mood.
* * *
Damn that GeekFury_02! Ethan was upset that his evening gaming had been hell, thanks to that annoying little shit. That guy was sneaky. Half of the time he didn't even see where the shots had come from. Trip mines placed in all the right, or in his case, wrong places. He was ramping up to get his revenge and the asshole logged out. He typed a message and waited for a response. Nothing. That prick didn't even have the decency to respond to him. He pictured a fat old man in his mom’s basement just laughing his ass off at his expense.
Monday night was his night to game. The rest of the week was spent tending to his harem, granted it was small at the moment. With only two girls to worry about, perhaps he would get another chance to face off against GeekFury_02 later in the week. He was definitely looking forward to some much needed revenge.