When Jordyn had told Auba to come back to the cafe the following day, it had completely slipped her mind that she'd booked the day off for an extra photography lecture in the evening. It wasn't until she walked into work a few days later that she remembered, and immediately felt guilty about it.
"Damn Lia, I've done something massively stupid," she sighed.
"You?" Never," Lia smirked.
Jordyn laughed.
"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but... yeah, listen, you know how I told Auba to come back tomorrow?"
"You didn't realise you took the day off? Yep. I know. Well done, idiot."
"Cheers for that," the Australian muttered, pocketing her phone, before tying on an apron, and beginning to clean the coffee machine.
"What are you gonna do?" Asked Lia. "Just hope he shows up again?"
"At least I'll know he's serious if he does," said Jord.
"That, or he really likes how you make white hot chocolate," Lia grinned, and when Jord gave her a look, "What? I wouldn't blame him, you make amazing white hot chocolate."
"You mean I make the best white hot chocolate," said Jord, with a smirk.
"Oh, and guess what? The owners are getting a grant! So no more crazy busy afternoons!"
"You what mate?" Jord chuckled. "Now go back to the beginning and start again. What owners? What's a grant?"
Lia sighed, but did as her friend asked.
"The owners, of this coffee shop, the one on Sunshine Terrace, which you happen to work at, have received a grant from the government for small businesses. So... they can pay for a new baker! She starts next week."
"Wait, they already hired?"
"A lot happens when you're not around, you know," Lia winked. "You wouldn't believe the people I saw in here yesterday."
"Wait, did you see Auba?" Asked Jord, turning to look at her. "Did he say anything? What happened?"
"Oh so NOW she's interested," Lia giggled.
She finished starting up the eftpos machine, and then picked up a cloth to wipe down the tables before they opened up. Jordyn eyed her expectantly, but Lia said nothing, humming away to herself and pretending to forget all about it. Jordyn sighed.
"I actually hate you."
"You better watch what you say to me if you want me to tell you!" Lia sing-songed.
"So you did see him!" Said Jordyn.
Lia was quiet again, and the Australian eyed her suspiciously.
"What?" She said at last.
"I just... I need to tell you something, it's kinda important."
Jordyn, who could never keep up with Lia's swift changes of mood anyway, simply nodded, jumping to sit on the bench beside her beloved coffee machine.
"Okay. What's up?"
Lia eyed her friend's precarious seat - she hated her sitting up there but at least she still had time to clean it later.
"So," she began. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before, I was going to, I swear, but..."
In that moment, there was a commotion outside the store, and Lia broke off as both girls turned to look at what was going on. Through the windows you could see two figures standing before the door. Voices could be heard, but not loud enough to be understood. The door rattled again.
"You're kidding," Lia muttered darkly.
"What?" Asked Jord. "Please tell me we're not being robbed as well."
"Nope. Not the cafe at least," she said, as she headed over to the door with the keys. "You're about to meet my boyfriend. Please mentally prepare yourself."
Jordyn watched her, feeling completely confused as she put the key in the lock, and opened the door.
"Okay, what are you two doing here?" Lia demanded.
"See, I told you she worked here," said a voice, the body of which Jordyn could not see.
"Come in, both of you," sighed Lia, stepping aside.
The first male was black haired dark eyed, but Jordyn's eyes widened when she saw who his taller companion was.
"Auba?" She said, in surprise.
Auba looked over, and smiled when he noticed her sitting on the bench.
"I'm not too sure Jordyn, but I feel like you owe me something after yesterday," he said, raising an eyebrow at the Australian playfully.
"Yeah, sorry about that," said Jord, feeling embarrassed. She jumped down from the bench, and moved around the counter to join the three of them. "I completely forgot I took the day off."
"Don't worry, your friend told me."
The two of them turned to look at the other newcomer, who had his arm around Lia.
"This is my boyfriend, Jordyn," said Lia. "His name is Alex, but no one ever calls him that."
"Laca is fine," the newcomer smiled at Jordyn. "Lia talks about you quite a bit, it's nice to meet you in person."
"Good to meet you too," Jordyn returned his smile, a little shyly as she always was with new people.
"Laca plays football with Auba, Jord," said Lia.
"Oh, okay," Jord said, a little surprised. And then she understood. "Oh. This was the great important thing you had to tell me, right? And then your big and famous footballer boyfriend showed up and ruined it all. Perfect timing."
"To be fair, we haven't been dating for THAT long," Lia defended herself, but Jordyn was smiling cheekily at her, which made her feel a little relieved.
"Okay, play it off then," Laca teased her, and the rest of them laughed, which seemed to ease the tension. Jord didn't seem too upset that the English girl had kept something so big from her, but Lia decided she would clarify later. For now...
"As lovely as it is to have you two breaking down our door, we do need to finish opening up the cafe, so if you have something to say..."
"Oh you continue to set up then," said Auba. "I just wanted to see Jordyn again."
The blonde Australian blushed a little, and met his eyes with a shy smile.
"You don't give up, do you?"
"Did you want me to?" He asked playfully.
"I guess not," she smiled. "Okay, you can stay. But I have to unpack the dishwasher, so..."
"Say no more," said Auba, following her around the counter, and perching on top right where Jordyn had sat earlier.
"Hey, none of that," Lia glared at him. "It's bad enough that Jord sits up there!"
"Shut it, Lia, you owe me one, remember?" Jordyn laughed. "He can sit on the bench if he wants to, he's not hurting it."
Lia sighed, and taking up her washcloth again, she grabbed Laca with her other hand, and pulled him with her out of the kitchen. Auba and Jord watched them go, and then turned to look at each other.
"Yeah, I don't know either," Jord shrugged. "She's crazy, but I love her, for some reason."
"Probably because she brings out the best in you," Auba smiled. "We all need a friend who does that. You two are like opposites, you know?"
"Yep, well aware of that," she said, as she opened up the dishwasher, and began to unload the cutlery and utensils into their respective cupboards and drawers.
"How long have you worked here for?" Asked Auba.
"Since I moved here from Australia, so about two years, I guess. I met Lia here, and then turns out we go to the same university, so..."
"That's nice," Auba said. "It's a beautiful little cafe. No wonder you get so busy."
"Understatement," Jord chuckled. "Crazy would be more accurate. But we handle it. We're getting another staff member, according to Lia. Was one of the many bombshells she dropped on me this morning."
"That's good, right?" Auba said.
"Yeah, it's good," Jord smiled. "And it also means I get more practice making friends."
"Oh? You need the practice?"
"I generally don't make many unless they somehow force their way into my life." She eyed him meaningfully, and Auba chuckled.
"Hey, you know why I was so keen to get to know you? And I'll give you a hint, wasn't just 'cause you're beautiful."
"Why?" asked Jord, smiling at him despite herself.
"It was because of how you were with Lia, with your customers, with everybody. And you were really tired, I could tell. But you were so kind hearted, you don't see that everyday, you know."
"Stop it, you're embarrassing me," Jord giggled, shaking her head at him.
She couldn't help thinking that Auba resembled an out of control car that was headed directly for her, but the Australian couldn't bring herself to jump out of the way. He was the most open and honest person she'd ever come across, and he was so happy that it fascinated her.
"Alright then," she said, as she finished with the dishwasher, and turned to pull out a few mugs from the cupboard. "Tell me about you then. Why do you play football?"
"Because it's the only thing I know how to do," he shrugged his shoulders, with a grin. "And I happen to quite like it."
"That's lucky for you then," Jordyn smiled. "Lia loves football too. It's not really a big deal in Australia - some people like it but not like they do here."
"You should come watch a game," Auba said, and Jordyn laughed, shaking her head. She turned on the coffee machine, and then turned to face him again, leaning against the bench. He was still sitting on top of it, making him seem even taller than he already was.
"I don't do well with big crowds," she said. "It's not social anxiety or anything, just freaks me out a bit."
"That's fair enough," said Auba. "For most people, that's half the appeal. For me as well, I'm a people person."
"You don't say," Jordyn chuckled.
Auba grinned at her. The blonde began making a drink with the machine, and Auba watched her concentrating on it, whilst deep in thought himself.
"What if I got you a box? It's like a private booth you can watch the game from, it's right at the top of the stadium, and you can just go with your friends, no big crowds. Do you think you could handle that?"
Jordyn looked doubtful.
"Is it expensive? I don't want you to spend money on me even if it's easy for you, you barely know me."
"It's free for me, since I play for Arsenal," Auba chuckled. "You don't have to worry. If you give me your number, you can text me when you decide."
Jordyn laughed at this.
"Always the number, huh? Fine."
The blonde picked up her sharpie, which she used for writing names on the takeaway cups, and moved to stand directly in front of him. She took up his left arm and turned it over, and wrote her number neatly on the inside.
"You have a lot of tattoos," she commented. "Is that a footballer thing as well?"
"What do you mean, as well?" Auba chuckled at her. Her hands were so small and soft as she held his arm, and the frown of concentration as she wrote her number brought a smile to his face.
"As well as the hair," she clarified, looking up at him. They were closer together now, and Auba could see the traces of green in her eyes that had been lost in the blue when he'd seen them from distance.
"I feel like you have a pre-conceived idea of 'footballer', and you've unconsciously put me into the box with the rest of them," he said, a little more softly.
"You're the first footballer I've met," she said. "Laca's the second."
"Laca doesn't have crazy hair."
Jordyn shook her head at him with a smile.
"Fair enough," she said. "Crazy hair and tattoos are an Auba thing. Got it."
She turned back to the coffee machine, and took up the mug now filled with white hot chocolate, and handed it to him.
"White hot choc is a Jordyn thing then," said Auba. "Thank you."
"Welcome," she smiled, turning back to the machine to make one for herself. The building had heating, but the cold of winter still seemed to pervade it when the cafe was empty, and a morning hot chocolate was her standard procedure for helping her Australian body to cope with it.
"What would you do if you could do anything in the world?" Auba asked, after sipping his drink. "For a job, I mean."
"A photographer," replied Jordyn, without hesitation. "Or a videographer. I'd love to work specifically with wildlife, something like working on a documentary filming in a forest or a jungle. That's what I'm doing at Uni - my major is in photography."
"That's great! I guess you're part way there in fulfilling your dream then?"
"Well, it's a pretty competitive industry," she said. "But I think I'm up for the challenge. It's just finding the time to get out and take photos to make a name for myself in the business, so people know what I can do and they'll want to hire me. I do it on a small scale, but I need the work here to support myself."
"You'll get there one day, I'm sure of it," Auba nodded. "Your determination will help you climb mountains."
"Might have to, one day," she joked. "Camera gear in tow."
"I meant metaphorical mountains, but okay," he laughed.
Out in the front of the cafe, Laca was watching his girlfriend stressing as she wiped the tables down.
"Talk to me," he said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah... I'm fine, I just... I feel a bit bad not telling Jord who I was dating," she said. "She won't make a big deal out of it, because she's Jord. But you can never tell what she's thinking, and she never complains."
"So why are you worrying?" Asked Laca. "It's really not that important, like you said we haven't been together so long that it's bad that you didn't tell her."
"Yeah but when Auba walked in here the other day, it felt like a massive sign post, you know? Jordyn freaks out a little on the inside when meeting new people. Even I don't entirely understand it, but big personalities are a lot for her to handle as well. That's why I thought she'd freak out if I told her you were 'big and famous' as she put it, before she got the chance to meet you in person."
"But if big personalities scare her off so easily, then how is Auba..."
"I've got absolutely no idea," Lia shrugged, looking so clueless that Laca couldn't help laughing. He pulled his girlfriend in to hug her, and she giggled, moving her arms to return his embrace.
"You are too cute," he said, kissing her nose. "Maybe Auba just gets her. I don't know either, Jord is not someone I ever thought he'd go for either."
"You guys have known each other for so long everyone thought you was brothers - who's he dated in the past?" Asked Lia.
Laca looked thoughtful at this, and Lia waited patiently for him to answer, playing with the material of his shirt.
"He hasn't dated a lot," he said at last. "Maybe he never found the right person."
"Yeah, I guess not," Lia agreed. "Come on, everything's good to go in here now, we need to open up the cafe for customers." She reached up to kiss him.
"Love you," Laca mumbled against her lips. He ran his fingers gently through the soft strands of her dark hair.
"Love you," she returned. "Thank you for popping by, even if you didn't even know where your own girlfriend worked."
Laca chuckled at her teasing.
"Hey, I knew you worked at a cafe, I just didn't know it was this one!"
"I know which stadium you work at!" Lia retorted.
"I think it's a bit different," He smirked. "You know. Big famous footballer over here."
"Aw shut up, take your brother, biological or not I don't care, and get out of here, we need to do some work."
"Alright," Laca agreed.
He hauled Auba out of the kitchen, and smirked as he watched him say goodbye to Jordyn. The two disappeared out the door, the bell jangling in their wake.
"Lia, I don't know what the hell is going on in my life anymore," said Jord, coming out of the kitchen to stand beside her best friend. "Who even am I? What is confidence?"
The English girl chuckled a little.
"Girl I don't know, just go with it," she said, smiling. "Maybe you just needed the right person to come along and help you find it. You like him a lot, don't you?"
"No I... yeah, I do," the blonde said, unable to keep the smile off her face. "And I know you're freaking out about not telling me who your boyfriend was but you're way overreacting, I promise. I know I get kinda moody when I have to meet new people, so I get it. But you have to let me talk to Laca properly, I barely spoke to him at all just now."
"We will make this happen," said Lia, with a relieved smile. "So... did you get his number?"
"I did," she said, taking her phone out of her pocket, and waving it at the English girl. Auba had texted her from his phone as soon as he'd put his number in. Lia squealed in excitement.
"I'm so happy for you!"
"I actually feel happier than I have in a while," said Jord, feeling her cheeks heating up a little. "It's a good feeling."