“Sir, that will be $5.42.” A bored cashier snapped Volt’s attention back to reality. He was exhausted; he really needed that coffee as a pick-me-up. He hadn't slept in what felt like days.
Volt reached into his pocket and fished out his wallet, shakily pulling a debit card from his hand. He mentally crossed his fingers. He was due to get paid any day, and the grumble in his stomach was unbearable, but he didn’t want to push his luck. He tapped his card to the reader, which let out an embarrassing decline sound.
The cashier tapped buttons on his screen. “Try it again,” he said. Volt cursed himself, knowing that no matter how hard he tapped, it wouldn’t go through, but he obliged. The machine once again produced the beeping. “Do you want to try a different card?” Volt shook his head.
“No, thank you. I’m sorry for the trouble,” he said and quickly exited the coffee shop. His face was hot with embarrassment, and tears pricked at his eyes. Volt had felt so alone and out of it recently; this was just the icing on top of the cake. Between a failing career as a model, struggling to make ends meet posing in underwear, having no friends in the city he had recently moved to, and on the brink of being evicted, Volt wasn’t sure what he could do. Volt didn’t want to resort to porn, but he felt that might be his only option at this point. ‘Is there really that big of a difference between being naked on camera and being in underwear?’ He thought to himself, pulling his long white hair up into a messy bun on his head.
“Sir?” A rough voice called out from behind him. Volt paused, but continued walking. “Excuse me?” The voice asked again, this time right behind him. Volt turned around, almost ready to tell the person to fuck off, but the words stalled in his throat upon seeing them. The man was shorter than Volt and extremely handsome with a dark complexion, and was wearing luxurious, but not flashy, clothes. This man exuded wealth and stature, but wore a soft smile underneath tired eyes. He held two coffees in his hand, one being the coffee Volt had to leave behind.
“I don’t understand.” Volt’s eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head, incredulous. Was he dreaming?
“It’s for you- I got it for you. I didn’t want you to be without one, so here you go.” The man glanced around awkwardly and held the cup out further, a blush dusting across his cheeks. His voice was gruff, but sincere, so, after a few startled moments, Volt grabbed the cup, his fingers gently grazing the man's. The touch made Volt feel electric, sending a tingling up his entire arm, and he felt a hot blush spreading across his face. ‘Did he feel that too?’ Volt wondered.
“Thank you,” Volt stammered out. “I’m Volt. Volt Ampere.” Volt outstretched his hand for the man, who politely accepted and shook his hand.
“Eddison Watts, but people call me Eddie.” Eddie casually smiled up at him; Volt was smitten, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Volt felt like he had seen Eddie before, but he couldn’t place a finger on it. He chalked it up to them frequenting the same coffee shop and left it at that. “Could I… buy you a meal?” Eddie asked nervously.
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