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KATIE'S POV
After my last class of the day, I didn't wait around, I grab my stuff and start to leave the school as fast as I can.
"Katie!" Someone says getting my attention.
I turn to see Tim walking towards me with a girl walking beside him.
"Hey!" I say readjusting my backpack straps.
"So you are the famous Katie." The girl says with a smile, "Stephanie Brown, one of Tim's only friends, nice to meet you." She says sticking her hand out for me to shake.
I smile in greeting and shake her hand, "Nice to meet you too." I say studying her. She has wavy blonde hair and blue eyes and is dressed in the Gotham Academy outfit so I am guessing she is ever new or I just haven't seen her.
"I have friends," Tim says pouting slightly, "Bart and Jaime for starters."
"They don't count," Stephanie replies, crossing her arms.
"Why wouldn't they count?" I ask confused, watching them share a look.
"She was kidding, they do. And Gar, and Cassie-"
"Cassie is your ex," Stephanie interrupts him with a scoff, "I don't know-"
Tim has an ex?
"We are on good terms!" Tim defends, his eyebrows drawing together causing me to smile a bit.
"I'm sure you are," I say getting their attention, "And I am sure the Timothy Drake has millions of friends, me included," I add before I point behind me, "But I've got to get to work. You two should come by!"
Stephanie waves back, "We definitely will!" She promises sending Tim and mischievous look that I ignore. Probably an inside joke.
Tim smiles as he watches me go, and I smile one last time before I start making my way to work.
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Derek had the day off so it was just me managing everything. Not that I needed Derek, I did his work for him and usually pretending he did it so he would get a raise.
Jack, the old man that owns the café, usually knows it's me who does the work, which means I am constantly trying to make myself look like a horrible worker when he is around.
As a result, he is barely here.
Today, however, he noticed that I was the only one who was scheduled to work because everyone wanted the first day of school off, so he is here and watching me to make sure I don't need help.
So far I've managed to spill three coffees on the floor and I've only been here for an hour.
The last one caused Jack to sigh very loudly and leave me alone to go sit in his office and stare at his wall. He is probably contemplating why he hired me in the first place and even gave me a raise.
Which means I am now on my own and now have to pick up the pace.
I smile as people keep walking in, taking their names and remembering them, their faces and their orders perfectly before I go back and make coffees, hot chocolates, pastries and more.
By the time there is finally a break in the long line of people, it's nearly been four hours since I got here, meaning it's almost closing time.
The café is usually open from 6:00 am to 10:00pm. I got out of school at 4:00pm so I just had two hours left with it being around 8:00pm.
I go check on the people at the tables, making sure they are good and happy.
Most are but some want a refill, which I happily give them before I go back to the counter and wait for more costumers.
The bell rings again and I look up to see several people enter, but my smile widens when I realize Hazel is one of them.
I quickly take the orders of two more people and get them their coffee and a cheese danish before I make a cup of hot chocolate.
Not needing to ask her what she wants still hurts a little bit, but it's fine. She doesn't have to like coffee I guess.
"One hot chocolate for the girl who hates coffee to spite her best friend," I say setting it down in front of her.
She rolls her eyes at my comment but smiles, "So, how was your first day?" She asks, causing me to look back to make sure everyone is taken care of and Jack isn't coming to watch before I sit down across from her.
"Pretty good. I love my art teacher, soccer tryouts are next week, my history teacher and my calculus teacher both already hate me, my chemistry teacher seems cool, and I still suck at french." I fill her in before I add, "But I have Tim in calculus so it's okay."
Her eyebrows raise at this, "You and Tim have classes together?"
"Yeah, we have calculus, chemistry and english together." I supply absentmindedly as I play with a salt shaker, tilting it to watch the grains move back and forth.
She only hums in response, causing me to look up to her before I say, "I appreciate you checking in."
Her eyes soften at that, making me look away, "Of course."
I don't look at her again before I get up, "I'm going to get your more marshmallows. If you are going to ignore the goodness of coffee, you are going to at least do it with marshmallows."
I don't really want her pity. She is the only one who really knows how absent my parents are, but that doesn't mean I want her looking at me that way. It's not her fault, but...
She doesn't reply as I go to get the marshmallows and put them in a cute little bowl before I start walking back to her, only to find Tim and Stephanie sitting with her.
I didn't even hear the bell ring.
I smile as they both look at me, "Katie!" Stephanie smiles, finishing up saying something to Tim, who was looking a little embarrassed.
Weird.
"Hey, Stephanie, Tim, what do you guys want?" I ask, though I have a feeling I already know what Tim wants.
"What do you recommend?" Stephanie asks before Tim can answer.
"I make it all, so anything." I smile, "Derek isn't working today and everyone else decided to do the same." I fill in before I say, "I like the caramel macchiato though."
"Sounds good to me," Stephanie nods, making me turn to Tim who was frowning slightly.
Hazel is too, "You are working alone today?"
"Yeah," I confirm, confused as to why they are so concerned over the matter.
"You have been here since school let out, right?" Tim asks.
"Yeah," I shrug, "I mean Jack tried to help but I just kept spilling drinks when he was watching so he finally left me alone." I explain, earning even more confused looks. "It makes sense." I say to no one in particular before I walk off.
I finish making Stephanie's before I realize that I didn't even wait to ask Tim what he wanted. I fix up a caramel macchiato for him too but put an extra shot of expresso in it, knowing he is going to want the extra caffeine.
When I bring them back, I balance both and manage not to spill either as I make sure I give the right one to Tim and the normal one to Stephanie.
"There, I hope you like it," I say, looking as another group gets up and waves bye to me. "Bye David, Jane!" I call, and they smile.
"Bye Katie!"
I lean back on the booth's side looking back to Stephanie and Tim, who both seem to like the coffee.
"This is great!" Stephanie smiles and takes another sip.
My eyes find Tim's, making sure he likes it too. "It's good, I like it." He reassures me.
"Good, I thought you might. Extra shot of expresso, so try not to have too much caffeine later or you will never go to sleep." I joke with a smile.
"That's the point," He mutters as he takes another sip, causing Hazel to look at him in concern.
I raise my eyebrow at his words, hoping he is kidding before I look back, seeing Jack come out of his office.
"Oh, got to go," I mutter, and leave to clean the table David and Jane left from, pocketing the tip and wiping down the table.
I pick up the two empty coffee cups and quickly take them to the back room, wash them and dry them before I pass Jack.
"Hey, how's it goin?" I say as I walk past him but don't wait for a response as I set the cups down and go back to the front.
When he isn't looking, I open the cash register and put my tip in.
The bell chimes again, and I look up to see more people.
I guess rush hour hasn't ended.
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By the time that most everyone is gone and it's just Hazel, Tim and Stephanie, it's almost 9:30 pm.
The bell rings and I almost groan, tiredness seeping in my bones and as much as I love coffee, if I have to make one more, I may just combust.
"Don't look so excited to see me, Curly fry," Jason Todd, A.K.A Hazel's bad boy biker boyfriend grins at my expression.
"Katie, I am going to leave for the night, You okay to shut down?" Jack asks me, coming to the front. He eyes Jason and the others, "Everything okay?"
"Yup, perfectly fine. These guys are harmless," I say causing Jason to snort as he sits down next to Hazel who elbows him in the ribs. He winces but doesn't say anything as I continue, "And I can close shop. Tell Molly I say hi."
"Sure thing," He says and tosses me the keys. I catch them absentmindedly and slip them in my pocket as I start to clean off another table.
He leaves with another chime of the bell and I look up to the rest of them, putting my hand on my hips and grinning, "Finally, okay, one hot chocolate coming up for leather jacket, anyone else want anything?"
Jason raises his eyebrow at the nickname but doesn't say anything about it as I move to their table.
"More coffee?" Tim asks hopefully, causing me to smile slightly.
"You have a problem," I tell him seriously before I add, "But it's coffee so it's okay."
"No it isn't," Stephanie and Jason say together looking wide eyed at Tim.
"Decaf," Hazel says looking from them to me, "Decaf for Tim would be great. It's just really late."
"In fact, don't give Tim anymore caffeine after 8:00 pm," Stephanie says nodding to me.
I raise my eyebrow at them, "That bad?"
"Possibly," Tim says rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm working on it."
I nod amused before look to Hazel and Stephanie, "Anything else?"
"I'm good."
"No thanks."
I nod and go to the kitchen to make their drinks.
When I turn to grab another coffee cup for the hot chocolate, I jump as I come face-to-face with Tim.
"Sorry," he apologizes, seeing my face.
I smile lightly, causing his worried face to ease up, "It's okay, just scared me. Your whole family walks so quietly." I joke as I reach around him to grab the cup.
He goes incredibly still before I pull away and he moves again, his eyes on me.
"I didn't know you were good at math," He says finally.
I raise an eyebrow at him, "I'm not Timothy Drake level, but I'm not bad."
His mouth quirks up at this and he shakes his head, "You aren't going to let the Timothy Drake thing go, are you?"
He means what our teacher called him, because he was the best example in class of a perfect student.
"I just like saying your full name." I shrug innocently, "Sounds all fancy."
"Sure," He says watching my face carefully as a I pour the hot chocolate into the mug.
"I forget how famous you Wayne Wards are until things like that happen," I admit as I finish making another coffee for myself. I tuck some of my hair out of my face as I turn to him and hand him a cup, "To me, you are just Tim."
Our fingers brush as he takes the cup, his eyes staying on mine as I smile, "And Bruce is B Dawg, Damian is Spikey, Dick is-"
"You know Bruce hates B Dawg more than Bossman," Tim stops me, shaking his head at my nicknames.
I wink at him, walking past him to get out of the kitchen as I say, "That's why I call him that when he isn't here."
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A/N:
i am loving katie smmmm
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do you love her nicknames?
which is the best nickname?
how do you think tim is going to find a way to flirt?
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thanks for reading, don't forget to vote & comment !!
xoxo, author