Hey everyone! Thanks for reading and commenting! I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
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Josh wasn't sure how his sister in laws cafe became the hottest hang out around for NYU students. Maybe it was because he loved to come here out of support and just happened to tell everyone about it, or maybe it was because Topanga had the best coffee in town and that was where NYU students came to get their fix.
Whatever the reason was, he knew that walking through the door there wasn't a place to sit down. It was crowded, and he either knew or knew of almost everyone in the room from school.
"Busy much?" He said as he came to stand at the bar area where Katy was filling up the muffin bowl.
"It's been like this all week. We've had to order extra coffee grounds." Katy told him. Josh smiled.
"Makes sense. Finals are this week." He told her. Katy nodded her head.
"Maya's coming in to help. She should be here in a few minutes." Katy told him. Josh raised an eyebrow.
"Maya works here?" He asked.
"No. Not really. But I'm slammed and Topanga is stuck at the office until later. So Maya's coming in to help for a couple of hours." She explained. "And you are not to distract her." Katy stated as she pointed a finger in his face. Josh threw his hands up in surrender.
"Hey, I'm just here for a muffin." He told her. Katy hummed at him as he stole one from the pile in the bowl and placed two bucks down on the counter beside her.
"If I see her over here talking to you instead of taking orders, I'm kicking you out." Katy said in warning. Josh Grinned at her as he leaned against the counter and Katy grabbed her pen and paper to go take more orders.
Josh observed the people that were here. Some had earbuds in their ears while doing homework, others were hanging out and laughing obnoxiously with each other. He nodded his head at some people that he knew who waved at him. A lot of people in his school knew that he was related to the person who owned this place.
A few minutes later, Maya came into the cafe, her eyes wide as she noticed how many people that were in here. Her backpack was still on her shoulder meaning she probably came here straight from school.
She walked over and behind the counter, putting her stuff down underneath as she looked over at Josh with a winded look on her face.
"This is a lot of people for a Monday." She told him as she grabbed another apron and pulled it over her head.
"Finals are this week, most of these people are from school." He told her. Maya shook her head as she tied the apron around her waist and grabbed a notebook and a pen. "Riley not helping out?" He asked her.
"She's going on a date with Lucas." Maya told him. "Besides, our moms won't let us work together." Maya rolled her eyes. Josh laughed.
"Too distracting probably." He stated. Maya looked up at him and was about to say something but Katy came up to her.
"Uh uh, no." She stated. "I told you not to distract her, Josh!" Katy said. Josh laughed.
"She came over here to me." He told her. Katy moved him out of the way causing him to laugh harder before she reached down and grabbed another apron and pushed it into his chest. Josh stopped laughing.
"You're joking." He deadpanned as he glanced at the apron and then back up at Katy.
"Not unless you don't leave her alone." Katy said. "You two can talk and hang out later, but not now." Katy said. Josh relented and winked at Maya before walking over to the only empty table that was left.
"Hey, since you're up, can you take my order?" Josh teased. Katy placed her hand on her hips and gave Josh a pointed look, and he was suddenly reminded of an older version of Maya.
"Joshua Matthews, do not make me take a muffin and shove it down your throat!" She exclaimed. He laughed even more before Katy pushed Maya over to a table to start taking orders.
For the rest of the afternoon, Josh watched as Maya raced around the cafe and took orders from some of his fellow college mates and Katy handed her orders from the back to take to them.
Why he was just sitting here for the last two hours and watching people come in and out while Maya hustled around, he couldn't explain. Especially since he had loads of studying that he should be doing to get prepared for finals.
Just as he was about to call it a night and head out, planning on heading over to at least say goodbye to Maya if he could avoid Katy, he noticed more of a rambunctious group of people that walked into the cafe. And Josh slowly sat back down in his seat as he noticed who it was that was leading the group.
James. Josh wasn't sure what his last name was, and he hadn't really ever spoken to him before, but he had about him. He had quite the reputation around campus for being such a player and a party kid. He was a horrid drunk, and when he had his eyes set on something that he wanted, he didn't take for an answer. Josh had heard a few rumors involving a few freshman and him earlier this year.
"Hey waitress!" James called out, Maya turned her head from the other table that she was at.
"I'll be with you in a moment!" Maya called back to him before turning her attention back to the table that she was at.
James and the three guys he was with laughed and whispered to each other while staring at Maya's back. Josh felt an uncomfortable feeling come into the pit of his stomach. It wasn't necessarily jealously, more like protectiveness.
Josh watched closely as Maya went back towards the counter and grabbed some food before coming back to another table and placing it down. She walked back to where James group was and took her notepad and pen out.
"What can I get for you?" She asked them.
"How about your number to start out with." James said with a wink, causing some of his friends to laugh. Maya on the other hand didn't even bat an eyelash as she let out a chuckle.
"Sorry, not on the menu." She told him. "Anything I can get you to eat?" Maya acted casual, as if she had been hit on like this before. Considering that most everyone that had come in today was college students, Josh wouldn't be surprised if she had been hit on a few times.
"Are you on the menu?" James asked as he openly eyed her up and down. Josh slowly started to get up from his seat, wanting to give Maya the room she needed to handle it, but wanting to be right there in case things went south. And a comment like that just made his blood boil.
"Okay, first of all you're not the first Prince Charming to walk through these doors today, and I'm sure you won't be the last. For future references, get something a little more original. Secondly, either I can take your order or you can get out and make room for people who are actually interested in eating here."
Some people from tables near by stopped talking and listened to the exchange. Some of the laughed at the expense of James and others looked on awkwardly.
Josh stared on, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips and as he listened to Maya take care of things. He leaned against the wall that was beside his table, giving him a clear view of it all.
"Alright, fair enough. I'll make you a deal. I'll order whatever your favorite thing on the menu is if you come back with me later tonight. My roommate is out of town, and it would be so lonely to go back by myself." He told her.
"Oh but you're not alone. If your attitude is any indicator on how your buddies act over here," she nodded her head to the three goons he was sitting with, "then I'd be willing to bet they don't have girlfriends either. You can cuddle with them tonight."
Maya closed her notebook and turned around to walk back to the counter when James suddenly got up and grabbed her wrist.
Josh straightened up and unfolded his arms, ready at any moment to head that way. It seemed as if some of the other guys in the cafe had the same idea, as they too seemed on the edge of their seats as they watched on with serious looks on their faces. Josh made his way over to the counter, where a concerned Katy was gazing on. This also put him in a position to jump in faster than he would have been able to from his table.
"Hey sweetheart, I'm going to give you a by since you don't know who I am. But all I want to do is introduce myself, get to know each other a little better." He told her.
"You have three seconds to let go of me." Maya told him as she turned towards him. James rolled his eyes.
"Come on, just let me introduce myself-"
"Three." Maya cut him off. She suddenly grabbed the wrist of his hand that was holding her with with her free hand and placed her thumb on the pressure point between his thumb and forefinger. She twisted his wrist and he hissed in pain, his whole body turning. She placed her free hand on the shoulder of the arm that was twisted and his whole upper body was now slammed against the table. There was a few loud collective gasps from around the cafe as everyone's attention was now on them.
Katy gripped Josh's shoulder with her hand as they both watched on. Josh relaxing as he saw that she had a handle of the situation. A small smile gracing his lips.
"Let me introduce myself." Maya told him as she bent down to talk to him, putting more pressure on his shoulder and twisting his wrist even more, causing him to gasp. His friends staring in shock. "I'm the girl that doesn't take orders from anyone. I don't know what kind of people you date, but when I say no, I mean no. That's not code for anything, it just means I'm not interested." Her tone was low and threatening and it seemed to be getting the point across. "I hear finals are coming up, it would be a shame for you're writing hand to be broken." She twisted it more to get her point across. "Don't touch me again."
Finally, she let him up. Maya took a step back as he came back up aggressively and glared at her while rubbing his wrist. Maya gave him a fake sweet smile as she got her notebook and pen back out and flipped it open.
"Now, let's try this again." She stated. "Is there anything that I can get you?"
"No. I think we were just leaving." James said. Maya closed her notebook and continued to smile at him.
"Alright then, feel free to not come back." She turned around and walked away, annoyance clear on her face.
James and his friends got up and walked out of the cafe. Everyone eventually went back to what they were talking about before. Maya made her way over to behind the counter and sighed as she slammed her notebook down.
"Are you alright, baby girl?" Katy asked. Maya nodded.
"A lot better than him." She stated as she motioned her head out the door where James and his group had just walked out. "Anyway, I'm sorry mom, but I think I've hit my limit for today." She told her. Katy smiled.
"That's alright. Things are calming down here and you've been a big help." Katy told her. "Go home." She took Maya's notebook and pen and headed to the back. Maya untied her apron and placed it back under the counter tops.
"You really stuck it to him." Josh said as he leaned forward on the counter with his elbows and gave her a slight smile. Maya looked up at him and gave him a dry chuckle.
"Thanks." She stated lowly as she grabbed a cloth and started to very quickly wipe down the counter tops before she headed out. "I just wish there wasn't so many douches in New York." She told him.
"Well at least you can handle yourself." Josh told her. Maya stopped wiping the counter tops and looked up at him.
"Thanks for letting me handle it myself." She replied. He raised an eyebrow. Maya rolled her eyes. "I know you wanted to jump in and save me. It's part of your noble complex you have." She told him. "But it meant a lot that you were willing to let me handle it on my own."
"I wasn't planning on getting involved. My luck I would have come from behind you and you would have taken me out, too." He joked. Maya gave him another slight chuckle before she reached down and grabbed her stuff.
"Well either way, thanks for having my back." She told him. Josh gave her one last smile before she shouldered her bag and started out the café door. He watched her leave, not taking his eyes off her retreating back when suddenly there was a slam on the counter right beside him.
Josh jumped before snapping his head over and seeing a smug looking Katy holding an extra apron and a notebook and pen. She raised an eyebrow at him and started forward as if she was going to hand them to him.
"Alright, alright I get the message." He told her as he raised his hands in surrender. Knowing she was saying either get out or help.
"If you go now you can probably still catch up to Maya." Katy told him. Josh reached over and grabbed another muffin before placing down another two dollars. Katy rolled her eyes at him as he winked goodbye to her before heading out of the door of the café, ignoring the smirking Katy behind him as he put a little skip into his step was more jogging than walking to catch up with Maya.
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Thanks for reading everyone! Hope you guys enjoyed!!!