Coffee, & random names
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A/N: Happy conventional love day. :')
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Tiffany worked at a little quaint cafe down the corner of the busy street, and only 3 shops down from the big Star coffee shop. They’ve never had more than 2 people in line, except for rare days when they hold a lunch promotion, but they had enough regulars to make ends meet. Tiffany enjoyed her job thoroughly, her boss was understanding, and her colleagues made great teammates. The pay wasn’t the greatest but it helped pay her rent, and she could do a lot worse with the current economy. Even their regulars were more or less friendly acquaintances. It all became even better when Cute Girl stumbled into their humble cafe one day, and Tiffany kept looking forward to see her again.
Cute Girl was a cheeky brat, and Tiffany felt helpless. Cute Girl came in maybe once, twice if she’s lucky, every week to the little quaint cafe and would order the same drink (iced vanilla latte, with an extra shot of espresso), sometimes with a banana muffin to-go, and it would make Tiffany’s whole day just to catch a glimpse of the little eye candy, even if it was for a few minutes.
Cute Girl had been coming for two months now, easily making her one of their regulars, and Tiffany still doesn’t know her name, because Cute Girl thought it was funny to give her fake names.
The first time she saw her, she noted that Cute Girl was around her age, maybe slightly younger (she wasn’t too sure), slightly shorter and had long hazel brown hair. Cute Girl had paused briefly when she was asked for her name, and her eyes lit up with mischief when she grinned.
“Hermione Granger,” she informed her and Tiffany had found her extremely cute at that time so she chuckled and played along.
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“Hermione Granger,” Tiffany called a few minutes later as she placed the drink on the counter, smiling at the girl. “Enjoy your drink. Please come again.”
Cute Girl got even cuter as she beamed in delight that Tiffany had played along. Glancing at Tiffany’s nametag as she reached for the drink and she gave her a wink. “Thank you. Have a nice day, Tiffany.”
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Tiffany thought for sure ‘Hermione Granger’ would give her real name if she came again but Cute Girl seemed to find amusement in it, and Tiffany played along every time because when she did, she would get Cute Girl to smile like it had made her day.
“BoA.”
“Diana Prince.”
“Taylor Swift.”
“Dory.”
“Fat Amy.”
“Fa Mulan.”
“Regina George.”
The list was endless.
It was admittedly fun at first, and it started off like a pretty harmless game between them but Tiffany was sure Cute Girl was just plainly teasing her now. She wasn’t an expert for body languages, but Cute Girl was starting to send her signals- if she had to call it something, and if she hadn’t known better, she would call their interactions borderline flirting.
“Lois Lane,” Cute Girl said this time, leaning forwards slightly on the counter with her arms crossed, a small lopsided smile graced her face, and batted her eyes innocently.
Tiffany squinted a playful glare at her as she wrote it down at the side of her cup anyway. She felt a smile creeping on her face, as Cute Girl handed over the money for the drink, their hands brushing just slightly.
As Cute Girl sauntered away to the other end of the counter to wait for her drink, Tiffany stared after her until she caught her colleague, Lucy, giving her a weird look.
“Was that the cute girl you told me about?”
She nodded, grinning. “The one and only.”
“I think.. she was flirting with you?” Lucy said in amusement and wonder.
Tiffany chuckled softly. She looked at Cute Girl who was watching her the whole time and received a smile from the latter, that little teasing one she had familiarized with, and she hid her own smile as she looked down at the fake name she scribbled on the cup instead.
“I think so too,” she replied thoughtfully, wondering if all these flirting were just a flitting thing for Cute Girl- she hoped it wasn’t, and that she was a little more to her than just a barista at that little cafe she liked to mess with.
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Cute Girl could be sexy too, Tiffany realized one day.
It was raining, and a really slow day for the cafe. It wasn't pouring, but it wasn't exactly a light drizzle either. There were three customers that sought shelter in the little cafe, and Tiffany was just staring out the windows, looking at people walking pass with their umbrellas, bracing the seemingly strong winds.
It wasn’t until a familiar figure rushed between the moving silhouettes outside the store that Tiffany snapped out of her dazed stupor.
Cute Girl rushed into the cafe, trying to brush the remaining raindrops off her coat on the entrance mat before she noticed Tiffany staring at her.
Grinning, Cute Girl ran her hand through her damp hair, brushing them to the side as she approached the counter.
Tiffany her eyes follow the gesture from her hair, to the exposed jaw and neck, she could have sworn Cute Girl was moving in slow motion- on purpose.
God damn.
“Can I have a hot vanilla latte, please? With an additional espresso shot,” Cute Girl said, her eyes twinkling with the usual playfulness and this time, a little amusement.
Tiffany shook her head to stop herself from staring and cleared her throat, blushing slightly because she knew Cute Girl had caught her basically swooning. Keying in the order into the cash register, she asked out of formality, “To-go?”
“I’ll have it here.”
Tiffany looked up and raised her eyebrows at that. Cute Girl hadn’t stayed for her coffee before, but Tiffany nodded, anyway. This was new, and she wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to look at her longer. Cute Girl really was a beautiful sight to behold.
Since the cafe was quiet, it really wasn’t necessary to ask for her name, but they did usually still write names on the order receipt when customers have their drinks there so Tiffany tried anyway.
“Your name, please.”
Cute Girl hummed in thought, and Tiffany knew she wouldn’t be getting her real name this time either.
“Baby Spice.”
Tiffany had the laugh softly through her nose at that.
It was safe to say that Tiffany spent the rest of her shift stealing glances at Cute Girl who sat in a corner, people-watching out the window, and if Tiffany didn't know any better, watching her when she was working and not looking. She could have sworn she had caught Cute Girl looking away too many times to be called a coincidence.
---
Cute Girl was talking on the phone today as she entered the shop, eyebrows creased into a frown as she listened to the person on the other line. Tiffany found it sexy and adorable at the same time; which was ridiculous because that shouldn’t be allowed.
Tiffany smiled in greeting when their eyes met, and when Cute Girl managed to smile in return, albeit a little distractedly, and Tiffany knew she was crushing hard on the girl when she felt like her day couldn’t get any better from just getting to see her. It had been an unforgivable long shift when one of her colleagues had called in sick and no one else could cover that extra three hours except for her, but getting to see her little eye candy made it all worth staying the extra hours.
“I’ll have my usual, iced,” Cute Girl whispered quickly as she stood at the cashier, before replying on the phone, “How can that be? Look, we can just- I know- it’ll work out, you’ll see. Don’t worry-.”
Tiffany keyed in her order in the cash register, and whispered back, as she prepared her marker over the plastic cup, “Name?”
“Taeyeon.”
Tiffany’s head couldn’t have snapped up any faster as she met Taeyeon’s equally surprised face. A laugh bubbled in her chest and Tiffany had to laugh as the girl's lips parted in surprise and her eyes widened in disbelief.
“Damn it,” Taeyeon whined, squeezing her eyes shut. She started to laugh as well, so much so that she had to apologize and tell the person on the line that she would call them again in a while.
Hanging up and shaking her head, Taeyeon sighed at her slip of tongue. She smiled in resignation and tilted her head, looking at Tiffany with uncharacteristic warmth in her eyes. It was then that Tiffany believed Taeyeon hadn't considered her as just a barista in a cafe.
“Taeyeon,” Tiffany repeated, admittedly a little victoriously, as she wrote it down, adding a little heart at the end. She couldn’t stop grinning, and honestly could care less that the girl was watching her with an amused smile.
As Taeyeon paid and made her way to the other side of the counter, resuming her previous phone call, Tiffany had to stop herself from smiling too much as she made the girl's drink with extra care (as usual). As she carefully placed the cover on the cup and slipped the cup holder over the drink, in a brief second decision, she picked up the marker and wrote her phone number right below Taeyeon’s name.
"Taeyeon," she called shortly after, absolutely loving how she now had the name to go with that pretty face. She smiled as Taeyeon mouthed a small 'thank you' while still being on her call, before taking her drink.
She watched as Taeyeon headed to the door and was about to look away when she noticed the girl stop short in her tracks, lifting the cup to her eye level, seemingly studying it. Tiffany grew nervous, hoping she had read all of Taeyeon’s signals right, because otherwise she might have completely made a fool out of herself.
When Taeyeon turned her head over her shoulder, grinning, she winked as she mouthed out, “I’ll call you tonight.”
She felt her whole face beam in pure joy as she returned Taeyeon’s little wave before the latter left the cafe; her heart stuttered in excitement.
Yup, she thought happily, her day had officially been made.
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