Eddy sighed and picked up the cup. It was very light. Eddy widened his eyes.
"Please Eddy, take it with you. Thanks."
Brett rushed back behind the counter to serve the waiting customers.
Eddy had no idea why Brett would give him an empty cup. He was quite annoyed by the whole situation, he was tempted to just leave the cup behind on the table and go. But he saw the desperate look on Brett's face. Eddy didn't like the idea of leaving rubbish on the table either. He also didn't like the idea of disposing of the cup in front of Brett – he thought that would be hurtful, to see Eddy throw the cup in the bin right in front of his eyes. So he grabbed the cup by the top and left, thinking he'd just throw it away once he was outside the coffee shop.
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Saying that Eddy was annoyed with himself was an understatement. For starters, Eddy regretted not saying something straight away. He disliked conflict and had chosen the path to ride things out and by the time the problem starting to bother him he was too shy to mention anything as he didn't want Brett to think he was making a complaint. He was also actually jealous of Shaun whose face, name and order were remembered by Brett even after 6 months. Eddy blamed himself for not being able to leave a decent impression on the cute barista.
Saying that Eddy was confused about the whole situation was also an understatement. Eddy had initially thought Brett was being a bit of a cheeky smart*ss by purposely messing up Eddy's order or the spelling of his name as a little prank in order to get Eddy's attention. And at first, Eddy did think it was funny and cute. What Eddy didn't expect was that he had developed a bit of a crush on the cute barista and to find it quite hurtful when the barista kept doing it.
A bit of a crush?
Okay, so perhaps by now it was a rather enormous one.
And to top it all off, what's with the empty coffee cup!?
With his hand holding the top of the cup, Eddy quickly stood up and left the coffee shop as he felt Brett's eyes on him. He briskly walked along the street till he knew Brett could no longer see him from inside the coffee shop. He then lifted his hand to look at the coffee cup Brett had given to him. Eddy was so worked up, he had scrunched up the top part of the paper cup along with its plastic lid. He loosened the grip of his right hand as he let his left hand hold the cup, leaving his right hand holding the scrunched up plastic lid.
He then noticed there was writing inside the cup.
Peering inside, Eddy noticed the barely legible, chicken scratch of what looked like Brett's phone number.
Brett had been nervously staring at the entrance of the coffee shop so he immediately noticed Eddy when he walked in.
"Eddy"
"Hi Brett"
"Thank you so much for texting me and agreeing to see me. I already ordered our coffees.. I got you a latte, no sugar."
"..Sounds good. So what's the coffee here like? Is it as nice as the ones you make?"
Brett smiled.
"That's very nice of you to say, thanks. Yeah. They make pretty nice coffees here."
Eddy shrugged.
"I suppose they would.. since you picked the place, after all, you should know your coffees.."
Brett replied in a saddened tone;
"Eddy...I know you think I'm so bad at my job..."
Eddy looked at Brett.
"No Brett.. I didn't mean that sarcastically. I honestly meant that you would know this place would make nice coffees otherwise you wouldn't have asked me to meet me here."
"Thanks."
Eddy shook his head.
"Look Brett, to be honest, I really don't know why I'm here."
"Eddy.."
"Brett, you're a barista. You make great coffees. And while knowing your customers' names and their regular orders is a really nice thing to do, it's not mandatory as a barista, so really, it's no big deal if you didn't get mine right."
Even though I'm still annoyed about that... Annoyance Factor 7/10
"Eddy, I need you to know that I didn't get them wrong on purpose."
Oh, so it wasn't intentional? Well then. Annoyance Factor 4/10
"Ever?"
"Ever. I swear, never."
Okay. Annoyance Factor 2/10
Eddy shrugged.
"Okay."
"...Okay?"
"Yeah, okay, that's fine. It just means that I didn't make much of an impression on you to remember. Unlike Shaun's name and order that you remembered even after 6 months of not seeing him."
Ugh, I'm so annoyed with myself now. Annoyance Factor 8/10
Brett shook his head.
"No, Eddy, that's not true either."
Eddy rolled his eyes.
"Oh c'mon Brett, how can it not be true?."
"Eddy, when I overheard Shaun and found out I've been stuffing up your orders, I immediately checked our order log."
"..Order log?"
"Yeah.. we enter the customer's name and order so they print out on their receipts."
"Oh."
Eddy would have not known that since he'd never asked for a receipt.
"I couldn't believe it.. I had entered you as Eddy, latte no sugar the first time you were at our coffee shop. Since then, I've been getting it wrong almost every single time.. your order and the spelling of your name...I was mortified. Look, Eddy, I know it's totally my fault for stuffing up but why didn't you ever say anything? You had every right to be so pissed off at me."
"Well, I thought it was kinda funny at first. I mean I was okay with most of the drinks you made for me anyway, except for the one you added 3 sugars to."
Brett cringed.
"I'm so sorry Eddy."
"But I felt.. a bit.. hurt.. when I saw you got Shaun's order and name correct even after 6 months."
"Hurt?"
Eddy shrugged.
"I guess it was more like jealousy. I thought I must have not made an impression strong enough for you to remember me."
Agh, why am I saying all this? He's gonna think I'm being so prissy. I'm so annoyed with myself now. Annoyance Factor 12/10
"Are you kidding Eddy, you've made such an impression on me which is why I had not been able to fulfil your order."
Eddy raised an eyebrow.
...I made an impression on him? Still confused though. Annoyance Factor 8/10
"That doesn't make any sense, Brett."
"I know.. it's sAcRiLeGiOuS. And it's never happened before."
"...It hasn't?"
"I swear, never. Up until this point, I've never stuffed up a customer's coffee order this badly."
Great. Just mine, hey. Annoyance Factor 10/10
"Brett.. then why the hell..."
Brett stammered as he blushed;
"Eddy, when I see you, I.. I get chicken brain. I walk three steps and forget everything. Like literally everything goes out the window, things like your order and how your name is spelt. It's ridiculous.
Say what ? I have that effect on him? Annoyance Factor 6/10
"So Eddy, every time I see you I try to remind myself not to move around except when I see you my brain short circuits and I get so giddy I can't help pacing around, clocking up my 3 steps then boom my short term memory is gone. I can still make the coffees but the memory of your order is wiped out, so is the spelling of your name.
Whaaaaaaaaat? I make him giddy? I make him giddy? I'm giddy. Annoyance Factor 3/10
"Eddy, Like, I'm no speller even on my good days but this is something else. And worse of all I didn't even realise I've been stuffing things up till I overheard Shaun and checked the order log. I'm so sorry. I'm afraid.. ...I like you too much."
Eddy blushed.
"Um... um... ...okay."
Eddy smiled.
Annoyance Factor 0/10
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A/N: That's the end of the Twoset Barista trilogy, I hope you enjoyed it !