#barista!jack

[luminous-letters]

barista! jack? the cafe is called 'StarBarks' btw

[i-really-do]

I want to get back into writing and what better way to start with my guilty pleasure Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s? I’ll be adding new one shots or whatever from time to time. I hope you have as much fun reading as I have writing.

Enjoy!

Prompt: Person A is a customer who is obsessed with the way Person B, a barista at a local coffee shop, makes their pumpkin spiced latte every morning.

By @olicitytropes

Don’t throw me away 

Every breath she took built small clouds around her face. She put her scarf further up her face. It was only October and she already felt the ice creeping up her bones. Every autumn she promised herself she would go back to Italy. At least for a week. And every winter she barely scraped by.  Her nose hurt when she sniffed. She could imagine how she looked. A woman tucked away under a jacket and a coat on top of that and a scarf which hid nearly her whole face. Her hands were in some thick cloth gloves. They made her hands at least 2 or 3 sizes bigger. And she had boots that reached all the way up to her knees.  The siberian marcher. That was her nickname every fucking winter. What can you do when you are used to much gentler autumn and winter days. In Italy winters meant 10 degrees plus not 30 degree minus.  Cordelia let out a deep sigh and regretted it in the next second. Her lungs filled with the icy air and it burned her inside out. The urge to cough rose quickly. She held it back. The burning cold air wobbled inside of her. Finally she caved. The coughing got so bad she had to stop on the street and just let it out. It felt like minutes until she could walk again. With her gloved hand she smeared across her face. She could feel all sorts of sticky stuff. Disgusted with herself she wept everything on her coat. But she could still feel something on her face. So she kept rubbing until she was certain it was gone.  Well as certain as someone with near frostbites could be.  She put her scarf back on and kept walking. The only good thing about this freaking weather was she could get any hold drink and not feel bad about the few bucks. Especially now shortly before Halloween she could get all the pumpkin spice latte. The barista was a nice plus. Just thinking of him made Cordelia a bit warmer. His hair was the best of him. It had the same orange colour as literal pumpkins and it was so messy. It didn’t seem like he ever combed it. She really wanted to touch it. A smirk formed under Cordelia's scarf. But she would have to be fast, because the staff would change in a few minutes. Reflexively she looked at her wrist. Her watch was buried under a ton of clothes. Forcing another sigh down her throat she began to walk faster. Finally she reached the entrance. There was barely anybody in there. Just the barista, his blonde coworker and two coffee drinkers who practically lived in their newspaper. Cordelia pushed the door open. The bell above made a faint tingle. The baristas were in the middle of a conversation and Cordelia nearly felt rude for interrupting it. When they heard the bell both turned and put on their best customer-is-always-right smile. Other than the forced smile you would never guess that they had been here the whole night. Well maybe they weren’t but the shop had insane operating hours so she just assumed.  “Oh wow did we get hit with a cold front in the last hour?”, the orange haired barista jocked. Cordelia never learned his name. 

Well, you could warm me up.

With a crooked grin she shoved the scarf a bit down. The warmth of the store burnt on her ice cold skin. “I can’t help it, this weather is a serious threat to my health”, Cordelia's voice was throughty and she sounded like a kids cartoon.  Both baristas looked at Cordelia as if she summoned an ancient marshmallow in front of their faces. She tried her best to clear her throat.  “Anyway”, said the orange haired man, “ehhh, you get a Pumpkin Spice Latte, right?” 

Yeah, I’m THAT basic.

 Cordelia noded. She didn’t dare to say another word. “Coming right up!” She moved over to the blonde one and paid for her drink. While she paid with her card, which she had already prepared, she spied over to the other worker. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but whenever he prepared a drink he put a tiny bit extra effort into it.  The way he slid across the floor to get the cup was the best and worst part of her day. Best, because she got to see him. Worst, because this was literally a highlight.  With a raised eyebrow the blond man looked down on her. He was at least one head taller than her. The man towered over her and everyone else. She didn’t notice the look he gave her, her attention still rested on the orange haired man.  If Cordelia had any guts she would ask for his name. But Cordelia didn’t have those. Instead she just starred.  As he poured the drink into a plastic cup the pumpkin scent filled the room. Everything got soaked. She unconsciously bit her lip in anticipation. Other than him working there was no sound or at least no sound which Cordelia paid any attention to.  The man turned around for a second, smiled at her and looked at his co-worker. She couldn’t place his facial expression. Was he pleading? “Say you don’t come from here, do you?”, the blond man’s voice took her out of the trance she basically was in. It took her a few seconds to register him. “Mh, eh no I-I grew up in Italy”, the stupid stammering came back. It always did, whenever she got surprised. She made a fist with one of her hands, well she tried to, but the cloth was simply too thick. Her fingers barely touched each other. “Oh, Italy! Never been there. How is it?” “A lot warmer, but not as friendly as here.” A smile formed on his face: “So why do you torture yourself in this weather?” 

Because I REALLY want to get into the pants of your co-worker.

 “At first studying, and now work. Beggars can’t be choosers”, she shrugged. “Well it’s nice to have such loyal customers especially at this hour”, the orange haired man walked over with her pumpkin spice latte in his hands. In his other hand he still had the pen.  “You really don’t have to write my name on the cup. I mean”, she gestured around, “who else could be getting a latte right now?” “Haha, it’s basically muscle memory at this point. Besides, Cordelia is a beautiful name.” 

Show SOME guts!

 She smiled at him brightly.  At this point she would always run. How often was she at a similar point? Maybe a dozen times. Nothing would ever change. She would walk out that door. Not a tiny bit closer to learning his name or anything about him. Cordelia would always stay the same. Except when she didn’t. “Say, I never asked for your names. Would you mind telling me?”, her voice was shaking a bit. But she did it. She asked THE question.  Both looked surprised.  “Sure, I’m Jack and this is Crow”, the blonde one spoke.  Crow looked, smirked at her and his eyes seemed bigger than before.  “Jack, Crow”, she nodded at both of them”, the morning is a pleasure with baristas like you. See you tomorrow.” As a farewell she held the cup high and cheered to them. In the next second she pulled the scarf up her face and walked out the door.  Just as she was walking out the next shift walked in. Cordelia stayed and held the door open. It was a red haired woman and a black haired guy with yellow streaks. She always wondered if they were coloured or natural. Both smiled politely. Their eyes were nearly closed and the woman yawned while she walked to the back of the store.  Behind Cordelia she could hear Jack and Crow whispering. She could not make out the words. Cordelia didn’t look back. If the next shift was already there she had to move it. Otherwise she would come late to the morning huddle. And her boss was always pissed when he had to wait for someone.  With big steps she made her way through the people who slowly emerged from their hibernation.  ------- A big sigh left her lips as she finally dropped into her office chair. Cordelia was tempted to kick off her shoes and call it a day. But it was barely 9 am.  She made it on time. But she had to run a few meters and that really sucked all of her life out of her. Her only saving grace was another co worker who came in late. Otherwise the boss would have roasted her.   As she sipped on the latte a loud gurgling noise came from it. The smell of pumpkin vanished completely. Now only the stench of plastic remained.  When did she drink all of that? Disappointed she put the drink at the edge of her desk. The cleaning lady was going to come through any minute and she was nice enough to throw it away immediately.    Without looking Cordelia pulled out her laptop, started it, put in her headphones and put on her reading glasses. Within seconds she was working on some numbers. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she entered new numbers and deleted some old ones.  This was her zone. She could work for hours like this. The time would fly by and then she could get home, shower and- “Excuse me.” Cordelia nearly jumped out of her chair as a hand tapped her shoulder.  

Motherf-

 She pulled on the cord and her earphones popped out. The music was faintly hearable. Some stupid love song was playing. The cleaning lady looked at her a bit frightened. With a sharp breath Cordelia let go of the tension and she hoped it would be done soon.  “What is it?”, the words still came out harsher than she wanted. She formed a smile, but it felt fake so she quickly dropped it. “I-I just wanted to ask if you saw the message on the cup”, the cleaning lady held the empty cup up. 

Probably my name, you…

 “What message do you mean?” The cleaning lady smiled at her. “You might want to keep it.” Before Cordelia could protest the cup was shoved into her hands and the lady scooted off.  “Okay what’s so special?”, she murmured to herself. As she turned to the message she saw there were two lines.  The first one was short and the second one long.  Cordelia’s eyes got wide. Within seconds her face turned red she could feel the heat that suddenly radiated from her cheeks. And a small giggle escaped her lips. The best present of the year. And she nearly threw it away.  Without thinking she pulled out her phone. Her fingers were slippery and she had to double check the number on the screen.  She quickly saved the number and let the phone slip into her pocket. Right now she couldn’t text. Her boss was pissed enough as it was.  But lunch was coming quickly. With a big stupid grin on her face she returned her attention to her work. At some point she started to hum and time didn’t move quite like it should have. ----- Once it was finally time for her lunch she slumped back. Her earphones already laid on the table and her glasses joined them after a second. She practically threw them.  The last 3 hours felt like a whole work week. The time barely moved, because she was very deep in her thoughts and still managed to look at the clock every other second.  Her work was boring as always. The thing that occupied her mind was: What would she write?  “Hi” ?“The frozen italian girl here” ?“Could I come over and you warm me up?”  So many possibilites to fuck this up.  Her coworkers dissolved around her. Nobody stayed in the building. Everybody went out. Well everyone except Cordelia. Slipping into her 2 layers was too much of a hassle for a 45 minute break.  She pulled out her phone and nervously tapped on it. The screen looked like a disco. Going on and out in seconds. She still had no idea what to write, but she didn’t want to wait any longer.  Well, she could simply call.   An evil grin spread across her face.  

Why not go all in and make a video call? What’s the worst that could happen?

 She pushed the images that crept into her mind down way down. If that should happen she would need to find a new coffee shop. Or even better a new place to work. But she was pretty certain that wouldn’t happen. At least she hoped.  God what was she thinking? Cordelia had made up her mind and walked into the bathroom. Fixed her hair and got rid of some slightly smeared makeup. Next she scouted a nice spot where she wouldn’t be bothered.  She decided on one of the break rooms. It had a nice painting on the wall.  

Maybe he will think I have a life outside of the coffee shop and work. Haha. Who am I kidding?

 With one last exhale she started the call.  Ringing once Ringing twice Ringing th- “Give me a second”, that was Crow’s voice followed by some rumbling. Nothing could be seen on screen. After a few seconds a light flashed across the screen a strand of his orange hair came into frame.  “I didn’t expect a video”, his voice was barely audible but he sounded impressed. Well at least that’s what Cordelia heard.  She just smiled awkwardly at the camera.  Crow pulled something over his head and then he finally picked up the phone.  He looked more sleepy than a few hours ago. His hair was tangled and messier than before. But his smile was still the same. Bright and crooked. For a second she felt her cheeks getting all hot again. “Were you not afraid you could see...you know?”, he walked around the room and kept looking away from the camera. There was some noise in his background, but Cordelia couldn’t hear anything clearly. “Well if I had seen HIM, I could have easily decided if we should skip the dating part and go straight to…” 

WHAT THE HELL JUST FELL OUT OF MY MOUTH?

 Cordelias hand went up to her face and she covered her mouth.  WHOOPS. Crow’s end was silent, but his phone shook violently. The background noises were dead as well. “If you are cursing at me or something, I can’t hear you, you are muted.” In a split second hell broke loose on the other end. Cordelia looked unsure. She couldn’t make out a single noise. After a few moments it got quiter. There was laughter. So many different people laughing.  

Oh no.

 Crow came back into frame. In his eyes were tears and he still was shaking from all the laughter. “Well, eh, I don’t mean to brag but.... I’d prefer we don’t skip the dating thing, because man....” He wiped a tear out of his face. “If you don’t take her I’ll do it!”, a voice from somwhere in the background shouted. “Shut up”, Crow looked away from the camera, still laughing. “So what do you say?”, he asked Cordelia. Cordelia suppressed a grin as she answered: “Coffee?” The smile on his face froze a bit and he looked like a wet cat. “Geez, that was a joke.” He immediately sighed with relief: “You’re a little jokester, he. I know a comedy club. I might get us tickets for this weekend.” “Sounds good” “Perfect! Let’s meet at the Greenhill cinema. Do you know where that is?” “Sure. See you.” “See ya” The call ended abruptly. Cordelia bit on her lip. That was way different than what she had imagined. Way better... “Task failed successfully”, Cordelia giggled at herself.

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Well there you have it. My first one shot in FOREVER. (literal years) I would be very happy to hear your opinion! Thanks for reading. 

Notes:

Yeah Jack is pretty ooc because he is ACTUALLY useful working. That's what AU's are for.