tennis slash - The International Diner: Sunny Days...
Title: Sunny Days Chasing the Clouds Away
Series: The International Diner
Author: Kris S.
Pairing: Lleyton Hewitt/Andy Murray
Other Players: Sam Querrey, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: This did not happen.
Summary: The first date between the baker and the waiter. Takes place soon after the events of International Diner.
Author’s Note: I promised I wouldn’t completely desert this AU and this is the first tale. The story is kind of silly but I felt this would be a nice reward for those who have friended me. That and I needed something to balance the angst from Free Coffee (let's just say there's a reason I haven't written anything related to the AO final).
"You know Andy and I aren't as serious as Roddick claims, right?" Lleyton says out of the blue during the Friday morning shift.
Sam shrugs. "I would certainly hope you're not serious."
"The truth is that everything is just starting. We haven't been on a date yet. I've never even been around him outside of the diner."
Sam stops what he's doing and studies his friend. Not the time to make jokes. "You'll realize he's the total opposite of Marat."
"That's a good thing," Lleyton says quickly. "I am sick of the drama. Speaking of, you and Andy need to cut it out with the sniping. I'm telling him that too, so don't think you're being singled out here."
"Hey! I've gotten better about that! I no longer call him a sonofabitch."
"Only because you think Andy's mom is awesome and don't want to insult her."
Sam grins sheepishly. "Well, yes."
Lleyton shakes his head, pointing out, "There's a line and you definitely cross it."
* * * * *
The original idea for the date had been pizza and a movie. Lleyton figured it'd be best to get away from their co-workers, yet didn't want to put too much pressure on the date. Knowing Andy, he'd be overthinking everything and Lleyton wanted to see him in more relaxed a mood.
All was going to plan. Andy had finished his shift, promising to meet back in the parking lot at seven. Lleyton would finish work, walk home to change, then drive his car back to the lot and they'd head across town.
Then Lleyton opens the back door and sees the sky is very dark with pellets of rain already hitting his face. He mutters under his breath, but takes solace in knowing that he does have his car and can call Andy.
He ducks back into the kitchen, straight to the closet, and calls Andy's cell. He is thrown off when a female voice answers. "Hello?"
"I'm sorry. I must have the wrong number," although he's sure he punched the number in correctly. "I'm looking for a co-worker..."
Lleyton can hear Andy in the background call out, "Give me my phone back."
A different female voice says, "No, Ana. Keep it away until you find out who it is."
Ana, the one who must be holding the phone, says to the other, "It's from his job but I don't recognize the voice. There's the cute southerner Andy, the hot Russian, that new cutie French guy and the serious, vaguely-European owner."
Andy is now on top of the phone, pleading, "Cut it out," then there's a struggle on the other side. After some rustling, Andy sounds hurried when he finally says, "Sorry about that. They can't seem to respect a person's privacy. Jelena, go bug someone else."
One of the ladies says loudly, "Oh, I know! It must be the secret guy he's been crushing on."
Lleyton tries not to laugh but the loud slamming sound tells him that Andy isn't thrilled to hear that either. Andy says loud enough to be heard through a door, "They are simply the most obnoxious people on the planet."
Lleyton kids, "We're supposed to be meeting up and you have two ladies fighting over you now? I thought I only had to worry about that stuff when I was with Marat."
"I suppose I should be honored to get lumped with him that way. It sounds even better when you realize one of them will be my sister-in-law in about twenty four hours." Andy chuckles. "So what's going on?"
"Bad weather a-coming. Maybe I should pick you up instead."
"Oh. While I wouldn't care normally, do you really want to be subjected to the two nuisances who will be prying for information?" There's a loud "Hey!" in the background, which Andy talks over. "But yeah, I heard the forecast as well so I guess it's not a bad idea."
There's a loud banging against the closet, Sam yelling, "Lleyton, go the fuck home."
"It's pouring and I need to make this call," Lleyton shouts back.
Andy lets out a loud sigh, then relents. "Fine. I'll give you the address."
* * * * *
The weather has gone from dark skies to downpour. It is difficult for Lleyton to even do the drive to the house, visibility quite low and the wind howling. That, added to the fact there are cars parked on the entire block, means any work done to look good will be for nothing.
On the walk down the block, Lleyton does notice the door to the building he's looking for is open and a young lady is standing there, holding the screen door in place. She's noticing that Lleyton looks lost and waves him in. "Oh, it is absolutely horrible out," she drawls out when he reaches her, looking at the sky. "Good thing this storm is supposed to pass during the night. Jelena would have a fit if the relatives were stranded at airports. Bad enough that Jamie and his mom are stuck being questioned by her parents. Hi, I'm Ana. You're the co-worker?" the last sentence mocking his tone from earlier.
"Lleyton." He's heard several staff members rave about this young woman, mainly in the sense that she has Novak cower in fear and Marat thinking she's awesome as a result. They seem to ignore the fact that it's Andy, not Novak, who actually grew up with her, lumping her in with the Serbian crew instead.
Ana shakes her head. "You're not going back out in that," then gestures for him to follow as they pass through the living room and end up near the kitchen. Lleyton scrunches his nose, smelling something burning. Ana notices as well, calling out, "What did you do?" before entering.
Jelena replies defensively, "It's not as bad as it smells. I'm fixing the problem."
Andy says, "It was too late when I got to it. Never had a chance." Jelena glares coldly at him to which Andy adds, "It was on fire, Jelena. I had to save my home! You should've just done eggs."
Ana announces, "Let the expert in."
Lleyton starts, "I'm not..." He knows it's sauce meant to accompany the pot of water that will hold spaghetti, but he cannot identify what she is attempting.
Jelena and Andy turn around upon hearing the other voice, Andy initially smiling before doing a double take upon seeing Lleyton drenched. But Andy catches himself before the ladies see his reaction, to state, "One, he is not at work. Two, she may be hopeless in the kitchen but there are things I can make." He peers into the pot. "This is pretty awful. It's sticking to the sides."
"This should be interesting," Lleyton mutters.
Andy explains to him, "The idea was that she was supposed to impress my family by making spaghetti with cream sauce."
"How bad is it?" Lleyton asks, staying near the counter but straining his neck, curious as to the mess.
"It's supposed to be creamy yellowish white, not crusty brownish gray."
Jelena whacks Andy with a potholder. "Stop making fun of me!" Andy tries not to laugh too hard but it provokes Jelena to hit him a few more times.
Ana peers over and pronounces, "It's a lost cause. But don't worry about it. The storm is going to keep them away for hours anyway. Your mom is surely feeding them - and they’re probably much better off for that."
Jelena reluctantly shuts the pilot off, then Andy guides her away from the stove. She admits, "Okay fine. Though we still need to deal with dinner for the ones stuck here."
Andy looks at the pot of boiling water. "Well, you have the spaghetti ready to go. Just cook up a garlic clove in olive oil and throw in a few tomatoes." Jelena looks blankly at Andy. He shakes his head and heads for the fridge.
Lleyton covers his hand over his mouth to keep his smile hidden, having to admit he's a little impressed. Not that Andy is culinary-minded in any way but he's clearly caught bits and pieces from conversations among the cooks. There is a long-standing bet between Sam and Lleyton that neither Andy can operate a stove. While both know they're basically right regarding Roddick (they've heard Roger's complaints over the years) at least this Andy proved he'd learned something by not suggesting to open a jar of tomato sauce. The ten bucks from Sam would be worth it, even if the night turns into a disaster.
Ana yanks on Lleyton's free hand and leads him toward another room, insisting, "There's a heater in the study, will help you dry off quickly." When they're alone in the room, she asks immediately, "Are you the guy who was with him on his birthday and Novak not so secretly hates?"
"That's one way to phrase it." Lleyton accepts a thick towel that suddenly appears in front of him and stands over the heater.
"I'm glad you were there. Though I'm sorry if you heard the 'secret guy' thing. Always knew there was a guy there he crushed on - and that it wasn’t the Russian. He claimed it was Novak but they’re both like brothers to me so I’m glad that didn’t work.”
Lleyton shakes his head, his focus on the heater. “He told me it was Novak as well.”
Ana raises an eyebrow. “Really? Hmm. No. I now realize he’s always been tense regarding you. One day I found a piece of a cake he swiped from work and decided to beat him to it. He was so annoyed.”
“Was it Maple Blueberry Coffee Cake?”
Ana thinks back, it taking a few seconds before she remembers, “Yes, in fact it was. So he goes on about how the cake doesn’t sell but the baker wishes it would because it reminded him of his family back in Australia. I tell him if that’s the case, the baker would probably like to hear that somebody else enjoys the cake. Of course Andy being Andy, he can’t outright admit he likes anything but he seemed flustered as he’s trying to call the idea stupid.”
“He is not going to like that you said that.” Lleyton doesn’t remember ever telling Andy the origin of the cake or that he wished it was more successful.
“Probably not but you needed to hear it anyway, even if this doesn’t go past tonight.”
* * * * *
A half hour later, the four are sitting in the living room, Terminator playing on the television in the background while enjoying the spaghetti. The talk is mostly related to the wedding tomorrow, Jelena getting anxious while Ana sidetracks her with some goofy story showing they’re meant to be together. Ana insists she’s going to tell the blind date story during her toast, which Andy is trying to dissuade.
Lleyton lounges back on the couch, enjoying the company. He thinks back to when he was their age, just out of culinary school and drinking with friends at the bar.
Andy turns back while the ladies are chatting to ask Lleyton, “You okay?”
“Sure. I’m surviving your cooking.”
“So rotten.” Andy shakes his head though he appears amused. “Did you bet on whether I could?”
“Sam owes me ten bucks.” Lleyton takes another bite. “Pretty smart, I must say.”
“I would have certainly prefered not to do that for you on a date.” Andy sets the empty plate on the coffee table and sits back, taking his time before asking, “What did she say?”
“She said nothing.”
“Lleyton, I know both of you well enough to know that’s rubbish. She loves to meddle and you cannot tell a lie. Tell me.”
“How did you know about the coffee cake being a family recipe? I don’t remember telling you that.”
“You didn’t exactly.” Andy stares up at the ceiling. “You were mad about the cake not selling well enough to keep Marat from complaining. That there were only Americans working, which went against the whole international part of International Diner, and none who could understand the difference about having food from your own country even if it was ordinary cuisine.”
Lleyton remembers the conversation, continuing, “Sam corrected me, mentioning that the new kid who’d just started working day shifts wasn’t American but that he wouldn’t agree with me since Scottish cuisine is so disgusting. I think there was a bet about it…”
“Of course.”
“Then we got you cornered and you said that, while Sam had a point, your grandmother’s Yorkshire pudding was a positive memory that you mom couldn’t reproduce.” Lleyton notices Andy try to hide a smile at that information but isn’t sure why he’d react that way. “But what does that have to do with the cake?” Lleyton glances to the ladies, still deep in conversation. They’re not paying attention so he tilts his head, watching Andy carefully.
“Whenever you find out the cake is selling better, you get this wistful look, clearing thinking of home. I get that way too. The Cheesecake may be your money item but that coffee cake means more.” Andy keeps his head up but glances out of the corner of his eye at Lleyton’s position. “What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” Lleyton mutters, slouching back on the couch. Andy lightly chuckles, to which Lleyton snaps, “What?”
“Nothing,” but Andy is sitting up and that smile is back. “You like me.”
“Oh for the love of God,” Lleyton groans, his hand running through his hair as a reflex. Sure enough, the ladies have stopped talking and both are staring at the Australian, wondering what they’d missed when they weren’t meddling.
“Then how do you remember the conversation so well? That happened when I first started!” Andy rests his arm on the back of the couch, edging closer. Lleyton is the fidgety one, which simply cannot be. “Hold on. You liked me back then?”
If anyone in the diner realizes that one, Lleyton will never hear the end of it. Not from Sam, and definitely not from Roger or Marat. “Andy, you need to shut up. Or else.”
“Or else?” Andy mimics, getting Lleyton’s accent down rather well. Lleyton can’t help but chuckle, to which Andy stops him with a kiss.
“You are so dead.” Lleyton lunges at Andy. They wrestle until Lleyton succeeds in pinning Andy down on the couch. “Don’t ever try that again.”
Andy laughs at the seriousness of Lleyton’s expression. “You’re not exactly dissuading me very well.”
Series: The International Diner
Author: Kris S.
Pairing: Lleyton Hewitt/Andy Murray
Other Players: Sam Querrey, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: This did not happen.
Summary: The first date between the baker and the waiter. Takes place soon after the events of International Diner.
Author’s Note: I promised I wouldn’t completely desert this AU and this is the first tale. The story is kind of silly but I felt this would be a nice reward for those who have friended me. That and I needed something to balance the angst from Free Coffee (let's just say there's a reason I haven't written anything related to the AO final).
"You know Andy and I aren't as serious as Roddick claims, right?" Lleyton says out of the blue during the Friday morning shift.
Sam shrugs. "I would certainly hope you're not serious."
"The truth is that everything is just starting. We haven't been on a date yet. I've never even been around him outside of the diner."
Sam stops what he's doing and studies his friend. Not the time to make jokes. "You'll realize he's the total opposite of Marat."
"That's a good thing," Lleyton says quickly. "I am sick of the drama. Speaking of, you and Andy need to cut it out with the sniping. I'm telling him that too, so don't think you're being singled out here."
"Hey! I've gotten better about that! I no longer call him a sonofabitch."
"Only because you think Andy's mom is awesome and don't want to insult her."
Sam grins sheepishly. "Well, yes."
Lleyton shakes his head, pointing out, "There's a line and you definitely cross it."
* * * * *
The original idea for the date had been pizza and a movie. Lleyton figured it'd be best to get away from their co-workers, yet didn't want to put too much pressure on the date. Knowing Andy, he'd be overthinking everything and Lleyton wanted to see him in more relaxed a mood.
All was going to plan. Andy had finished his shift, promising to meet back in the parking lot at seven. Lleyton would finish work, walk home to change, then drive his car back to the lot and they'd head across town.
Then Lleyton opens the back door and sees the sky is very dark with pellets of rain already hitting his face. He mutters under his breath, but takes solace in knowing that he does have his car and can call Andy.
He ducks back into the kitchen, straight to the closet, and calls Andy's cell. He is thrown off when a female voice answers. "Hello?"
"I'm sorry. I must have the wrong number," although he's sure he punched the number in correctly. "I'm looking for a co-worker..."
Lleyton can hear Andy in the background call out, "Give me my phone back."
A different female voice says, "No, Ana. Keep it away until you find out who it is."
Ana, the one who must be holding the phone, says to the other, "It's from his job but I don't recognize the voice. There's the cute southerner Andy, the hot Russian, that new cutie French guy and the serious, vaguely-European owner."
Andy is now on top of the phone, pleading, "Cut it out," then there's a struggle on the other side. After some rustling, Andy sounds hurried when he finally says, "Sorry about that. They can't seem to respect a person's privacy. Jelena, go bug someone else."
One of the ladies says loudly, "Oh, I know! It must be the secret guy he's been crushing on."
Lleyton tries not to laugh but the loud slamming sound tells him that Andy isn't thrilled to hear that either. Andy says loud enough to be heard through a door, "They are simply the most obnoxious people on the planet."
Lleyton kids, "We're supposed to be meeting up and you have two ladies fighting over you now? I thought I only had to worry about that stuff when I was with Marat."
"I suppose I should be honored to get lumped with him that way. It sounds even better when you realize one of them will be my sister-in-law in about twenty four hours." Andy chuckles. "So what's going on?"
"Bad weather a-coming. Maybe I should pick you up instead."
"Oh. While I wouldn't care normally, do you really want to be subjected to the two nuisances who will be prying for information?" There's a loud "Hey!" in the background, which Andy talks over. "But yeah, I heard the forecast as well so I guess it's not a bad idea."
There's a loud banging against the closet, Sam yelling, "Lleyton, go the fuck home."
"It's pouring and I need to make this call," Lleyton shouts back.
Andy lets out a loud sigh, then relents. "Fine. I'll give you the address."
* * * * *
The weather has gone from dark skies to downpour. It is difficult for Lleyton to even do the drive to the house, visibility quite low and the wind howling. That, added to the fact there are cars parked on the entire block, means any work done to look good will be for nothing.
On the walk down the block, Lleyton does notice the door to the building he's looking for is open and a young lady is standing there, holding the screen door in place. She's noticing that Lleyton looks lost and waves him in. "Oh, it is absolutely horrible out," she drawls out when he reaches her, looking at the sky. "Good thing this storm is supposed to pass during the night. Jelena would have a fit if the relatives were stranded at airports. Bad enough that Jamie and his mom are stuck being questioned by her parents. Hi, I'm Ana. You're the co-worker?" the last sentence mocking his tone from earlier.
"Lleyton." He's heard several staff members rave about this young woman, mainly in the sense that she has Novak cower in fear and Marat thinking she's awesome as a result. They seem to ignore the fact that it's Andy, not Novak, who actually grew up with her, lumping her in with the Serbian crew instead.
Ana shakes her head. "You're not going back out in that," then gestures for him to follow as they pass through the living room and end up near the kitchen. Lleyton scrunches his nose, smelling something burning. Ana notices as well, calling out, "What did you do?" before entering.
Jelena replies defensively, "It's not as bad as it smells. I'm fixing the problem."
Andy says, "It was too late when I got to it. Never had a chance." Jelena glares coldly at him to which Andy adds, "It was on fire, Jelena. I had to save my home! You should've just done eggs."
Ana announces, "Let the expert in."
Lleyton starts, "I'm not..." He knows it's sauce meant to accompany the pot of water that will hold spaghetti, but he cannot identify what she is attempting.
Jelena and Andy turn around upon hearing the other voice, Andy initially smiling before doing a double take upon seeing Lleyton drenched. But Andy catches himself before the ladies see his reaction, to state, "One, he is not at work. Two, she may be hopeless in the kitchen but there are things I can make." He peers into the pot. "This is pretty awful. It's sticking to the sides."
"This should be interesting," Lleyton mutters.
Andy explains to him, "The idea was that she was supposed to impress my family by making spaghetti with cream sauce."
"How bad is it?" Lleyton asks, staying near the counter but straining his neck, curious as to the mess.
"It's supposed to be creamy yellowish white, not crusty brownish gray."
Jelena whacks Andy with a potholder. "Stop making fun of me!" Andy tries not to laugh too hard but it provokes Jelena to hit him a few more times.
Ana peers over and pronounces, "It's a lost cause. But don't worry about it. The storm is going to keep them away for hours anyway. Your mom is surely feeding them - and they’re probably much better off for that."
Jelena reluctantly shuts the pilot off, then Andy guides her away from the stove. She admits, "Okay fine. Though we still need to deal with dinner for the ones stuck here."
Andy looks at the pot of boiling water. "Well, you have the spaghetti ready to go. Just cook up a garlic clove in olive oil and throw in a few tomatoes." Jelena looks blankly at Andy. He shakes his head and heads for the fridge.
Lleyton covers his hand over his mouth to keep his smile hidden, having to admit he's a little impressed. Not that Andy is culinary-minded in any way but he's clearly caught bits and pieces from conversations among the cooks. There is a long-standing bet between Sam and Lleyton that neither Andy can operate a stove. While both know they're basically right regarding Roddick (they've heard Roger's complaints over the years) at least this Andy proved he'd learned something by not suggesting to open a jar of tomato sauce. The ten bucks from Sam would be worth it, even if the night turns into a disaster.
Ana yanks on Lleyton's free hand and leads him toward another room, insisting, "There's a heater in the study, will help you dry off quickly." When they're alone in the room, she asks immediately, "Are you the guy who was with him on his birthday and Novak not so secretly hates?"
"That's one way to phrase it." Lleyton accepts a thick towel that suddenly appears in front of him and stands over the heater.
"I'm glad you were there. Though I'm sorry if you heard the 'secret guy' thing. Always knew there was a guy there he crushed on - and that it wasn’t the Russian. He claimed it was Novak but they’re both like brothers to me so I’m glad that didn’t work.”
Lleyton shakes his head, his focus on the heater. “He told me it was Novak as well.”
Ana raises an eyebrow. “Really? Hmm. No. I now realize he’s always been tense regarding you. One day I found a piece of a cake he swiped from work and decided to beat him to it. He was so annoyed.”
“Was it Maple Blueberry Coffee Cake?”
Ana thinks back, it taking a few seconds before she remembers, “Yes, in fact it was. So he goes on about how the cake doesn’t sell but the baker wishes it would because it reminded him of his family back in Australia. I tell him if that’s the case, the baker would probably like to hear that somebody else enjoys the cake. Of course Andy being Andy, he can’t outright admit he likes anything but he seemed flustered as he’s trying to call the idea stupid.”
“He is not going to like that you said that.” Lleyton doesn’t remember ever telling Andy the origin of the cake or that he wished it was more successful.
“Probably not but you needed to hear it anyway, even if this doesn’t go past tonight.”
* * * * *
A half hour later, the four are sitting in the living room, Terminator playing on the television in the background while enjoying the spaghetti. The talk is mostly related to the wedding tomorrow, Jelena getting anxious while Ana sidetracks her with some goofy story showing they’re meant to be together. Ana insists she’s going to tell the blind date story during her toast, which Andy is trying to dissuade.
Lleyton lounges back on the couch, enjoying the company. He thinks back to when he was their age, just out of culinary school and drinking with friends at the bar.
Andy turns back while the ladies are chatting to ask Lleyton, “You okay?”
“Sure. I’m surviving your cooking.”
“So rotten.” Andy shakes his head though he appears amused. “Did you bet on whether I could?”
“Sam owes me ten bucks.” Lleyton takes another bite. “Pretty smart, I must say.”
“I would have certainly prefered not to do that for you on a date.” Andy sets the empty plate on the coffee table and sits back, taking his time before asking, “What did she say?”
“She said nothing.”
“Lleyton, I know both of you well enough to know that’s rubbish. She loves to meddle and you cannot tell a lie. Tell me.”
“How did you know about the coffee cake being a family recipe? I don’t remember telling you that.”
“You didn’t exactly.” Andy stares up at the ceiling. “You were mad about the cake not selling well enough to keep Marat from complaining. That there were only Americans working, which went against the whole international part of International Diner, and none who could understand the difference about having food from your own country even if it was ordinary cuisine.”
Lleyton remembers the conversation, continuing, “Sam corrected me, mentioning that the new kid who’d just started working day shifts wasn’t American but that he wouldn’t agree with me since Scottish cuisine is so disgusting. I think there was a bet about it…”
“Of course.”
“Then we got you cornered and you said that, while Sam had a point, your grandmother’s Yorkshire pudding was a positive memory that you mom couldn’t reproduce.” Lleyton notices Andy try to hide a smile at that information but isn’t sure why he’d react that way. “But what does that have to do with the cake?” Lleyton glances to the ladies, still deep in conversation. They’re not paying attention so he tilts his head, watching Andy carefully.
“Whenever you find out the cake is selling better, you get this wistful look, clearing thinking of home. I get that way too. The Cheesecake may be your money item but that coffee cake means more.” Andy keeps his head up but glances out of the corner of his eye at Lleyton’s position. “What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” Lleyton mutters, slouching back on the couch. Andy lightly chuckles, to which Lleyton snaps, “What?”
“Nothing,” but Andy is sitting up and that smile is back. “You like me.”
“Oh for the love of God,” Lleyton groans, his hand running through his hair as a reflex. Sure enough, the ladies have stopped talking and both are staring at the Australian, wondering what they’d missed when they weren’t meddling.
“Then how do you remember the conversation so well? That happened when I first started!” Andy rests his arm on the back of the couch, edging closer. Lleyton is the fidgety one, which simply cannot be. “Hold on. You liked me back then?”
If anyone in the diner realizes that one, Lleyton will never hear the end of it. Not from Sam, and definitely not from Roger or Marat. “Andy, you need to shut up. Or else.”
“Or else?” Andy mimics, getting Lleyton’s accent down rather well. Lleyton can’t help but chuckle, to which Andy stops him with a kiss.
“You are so dead.” Lleyton lunges at Andy. They wrestle until Lleyton succeeds in pinning Andy down on the couch. “Don’t ever try that again.”
Andy laughs at the seriousness of Lleyton’s expression. “You’re not exactly dissuading me very well.”