midday came around before lillie knew it, and for the first time ever she was excited to start her shift at work.
she settled in, taking over from jan, her middle aged co-worker who was working the morning shift, and just over an hour after she and romy started, the bell at the door chimed and joe entered, a dark haired girl beside him.
"hey!" lillie greeted as he reached the counter, the cafe surprisingly empty for just after 1pm. "brought a friend today, huh?"
"this is natalia, we work together." joe introduced. "natalia, this is lillie."
romy's head shot up at the sound of joe's voice, quickly finishing making a coffee for a customer before joining them.
"it's nice to have a face for a name, joe's been talking about you for weeks." natalia grinned, and joe blushed, smacking natalia's arm slightly.
"it's nice to meet you. this is romy, my best friend." lillie introduced, gesturing to the taller girl next to her.
"hi!" romy grinned.
"the one who keeps trying to get her to watch stranger things?" joe questioned, and romy nodded.
"a label i will gladly accept." she laughed.
"are you mocha frappe?" lillie questioned, turning her attention to natalia.
"yep." natalia grinned. "that's actually why i decided to come along today. it was delicious."
"thanks." lillie smiled. "i've been told i make the best coffee someone has ever had."
she winked at joe, who shook his head, trying to hide his still red cheeks.
"didn't realise this was call out joe day." he mumbled.
"i think that's pretty much every day." natalia joked. lillie laughed as the door chimed again, signifying they had another customer.
"so just the drinks for today?" she asked.
"what would you recommend food-wise?" joe questioned. lillie thought for a moment.
"depends," she said. "something sweet or something savory?"
the pair exchanged a look.
"surprise us." natalia decided, and lillie nodded, pressing a couple of buttons on the screen.
"$12.40." lillie smiled, and joe tapped his card.
"i'll take the customers?" romy suggested, and lillie shot her a grateful look, switching spots so that romy could take the till.
lillie moved around the serving area quickly, taking a ham and cheese croissant and an apple and cinnamon muffin from the cooler and placing them in the warming oven, before moving to make the coffees.
"so what time do you finish today?" joe's voice came and lillie looked up to find the taller man leaning against the counter watching her, as natalia sat at a table in the corner, pretending she wasn't watching them.
"i finish at 5, when we close." lillie said. "why?"
"i've finished for the day so i was wondering if you'd like to go somewhere? we could go for a walk if you'd like?" he suggested, and lillie's heart fluttered.
"i'd love that." she grinned. joe's face lit up.
"cool, so i'll come back here at 5 then? how do you get here?"
"carpooled with romy today." lillie pushed his drink across the counter at him, focusing her attention on finishing natalia's.
"so i'll pick you up then?" he asked, and lillie nodded.
"if you don't mind." she said, topping off natalia's drink with some cream.
"of course not." joe took the drink, watching as lillie moved over to the heater to collect the food for them. she plated it quickly, bringing it over to him.
"you gonna be good with all of this or do you want a hand?" she asked. he shook his head, taking the plate in his free hand.
"i'm good." he said. "i'll be back before we leave."
"look forward to it." lillie grinned, watching him head back over to natalia, before she busied herself with starting the next few orders.
over the next half an hour lillie snuck glances at joe as she made drinks for the steady stream of customers that came through the door, wishing that they would just stop so that she could take a moment to go chat with joe and natalia.
she was out of luck, however, when the pair stood up to leave as lillie was making her third latte in ten minutes. joe said something to natalia, who responded with a teasing grin. joe shook his head, before making his way over to the collection point of the counter.
"so 5?" he said, leaning against the counter again. lillie nodded, a smile on her face.
"5." she replied simply.
"see you then, just lillie." joe winked, before standing up and leaving before lillie could even reply, too flustered to even realise the milk was finished frothing.
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true to his word, joe pushed open the door a minute before 5pm.
"sorry sir, we're just about to close." lillie joked. joe feigned annoyance.
"and here i was thinking it was the perfect time to get the largest, most complicated order you have." he replied. lillie laughed.
"you joke but so many customers do exactly that." she said. "i swear the orders around closing time get more complicated on purpose just to spite us."
"who are you talking- oh hey joe." romy exited the kitchen, having just finished cleaning up the back area.
"hey." he smiled.
"we're gonna go for a walk so i don't need you to drop me home tonight." lillie said, and romy shot her a cheeky look.
"i see." she winked, moving past the pair to flick the sign on the door to closed. "you can go lills, i'll finish packing up here."
"are you sure?" lillie frowned. romy nodded.
"go." she prompted. lillie shot her a thankful smile, before turning to joe.
"give me 5 minutes to change and grab my bag." she said, and he grinned.
"take your time." he replied. "anything i can do to help while i wait romy?"
lillie didn't hear her friend's answer, too busy rushing to the backroom to change into the playsuit she kept in her bag in case her and romy decided to go out after a shift. she fixed her hair quickly, before making sure her makeup looked okay, and headed back out to the front of the cafe where joe and romy were chatting.
"ready to go?" joe looked up as she entered the room, a grin appearing on his face.
"you look really nice." he complimented. "and yep, i'm ready."
"see you tomorrow morning lillie." romy grinned. "and probably you too joe."
and with a final goodbye, the pair left romy to head out and find a nice place for their walk.
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they ended up in the botanical gardens, and had been wandering around chatting for almost an hour when joe stopped as lillie climbed out over the water on some rocks.
"smile." he instructed, holding his phone up to take a photo of lillie. she smiled for the photo, before climbing back up to where joe was to see how the photo had turned out.
"that's really cool, you'll have to send that to me." lillie said. joe nodded, sending it quickly.
"do you mind if i post it to my story?" he asked. lillie paused.
"would you mind covering my face? i'd just rather keep myself more..." she trailed off.
"private?" joe finished, and lillie nodded.
"yeah." she said. joe smiled, fiddling with his phone for a second before showing her the screen.
"how's that?" he asked. lillie grinned.
"that's perfect." she confirmed, and he nodded, posting it to his story. lillie looked up at him, a soft smile appearing on her face.
"thank you." she said quietly. joe smiled.
"any time." he replied. "now should we keep going this way or should we head back down the hill?"
"you choose." lillie smiled, and joe returned the gesture, before leading them back down the hill, chattering the whole way.
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(lillianajhampton): tiana 💘 (@teehampton) replied to your story
tiana 💘
BITCH IS THAT STEVE MOTHER
FUCKING HARRINGTON ?!
lillie 💫
apparently so
lillie 💫
remember the guy
who always flirted
with me at the cafe?
tiana 💘
IT WAS STEVE MOTHER
FUCKING HARRINGTON???
lillie 💫
as i said, apparently so
tiana 💘
did you not recognise him?!
lillie 💫
ive never watched it
tiana 💘
seriously?!
tiana 💘
when you get home we're
starting a binge watch
lillie 💫
i better get romy over
then, she said she wanted
to watch with me when i
finally watch it haha
tiana 💘
i'll text her
tiana 💘
you go back to your
date with steve mother
fucking harrington
lillie 💫
its just a walk
tiana 💘
sure it is