Morning Coffee and Evening Music | Wilbur Soot x Reader

Blue Chalk and an Acoustic Guitar

You walked into work, Olivia right behind you. You both wore the outfits the restaurant required--something much less comfortable than you would prefer. You walked into the back to grab the menus and check with the chef for the specials tonight, while Olivia walked into the bar to start mixing drinks. It was around sunset, and you knew you'd be there for a while. You sighed. You hated this job, but it's better than nothing.

The chef told you the special for tonight, spitting the words out at you as if you was wasting his time. You simply grabbed your notepad and walked to the first table of customers. Hey, at least they weren't rude.

As you walked back to turn in their order, you glanced at the sign next to the small stage at the back of the restaurant. There were people performing here about half the time. Usually, it was just some guy who thought he could play the guitar; thought he'd found a "passion" for music. Some nobody.

But the sign tonight was different. Scribbled onto the small blackboard in light blue chalk, read the name "Wilbur Soot."

You felt your heart lift. The man from the park! He was here! You'd listened to his music with Olivia, and you'd loved every word of it.

And you could see him again.

You rushed to the bar where Olivia was mixing a drink, "Olivia! Guess who's playing tonight?"

Olivia looked back, "Who?"

"Wilbur Soot! The guy I met at the park, from the videos we watched!"

You saw Olivia's eyes brighten. She gasped, "Oh wow! That's great!" Her face shifted into a smirk, "Maybe you can be the one to bring him water onstage."

"Oh, I hope I can be! I can't wait until he gets here!" You could barely contain your excitement.

That is until your boss tapped you on the shoulder.

You turned around and saw his scowling face. "Y/N," he spat.

"Y-yes?" you stammered, anxious.

"What have I told you about talking with your colleagues? You have work to do. Get back to it."

You nodded your head, "Y-yes, sir!" You shuffled away, delivering the order to the kitchen. Oh, how you hated this job. At least it pays...well, it pays something.

~~~small time skip~~~

About an hour into your shift, you were starting to be exhausted. You'd served many customers so far, some of them being bitter if you took an extra half a second to lower the food onto the table.

You glanced over to the stage. Just then, you noticed the blue curtains quiver. The man that hadn't left your mind for the past week slowly stepped onto the stage. You saw his curls shake as he walked, acoustic guitar in his hands. You stared at the bright shade of yellow in his sweater, contrasted with the chocolate brown of his hair.

He sat on the single stool on the stage. He adjusted the microphone up to match his height, the speakers producing a squeak. A few customers looked over to the stage. Your heart melted when you heard his voice,

"Um, hello everyone. My name is Wilbur Soot, and I'm going to be playing a few songs for you tonight."

He strummed his guitar once for good measure, before taking a deep breath and strumming out the main rhythm of his first song; you remembered it was called "White Wine in a Wetherspoons."

You were mesmerized by his voice, slowly getting more confident as the song goes on. You tore your gaze away from his fingers expertly strumming his guitar as you noticed your boss, arms crossed and staring at you. You scrambled to wait on more tables, the sound of Wilbur's voice keeping you calm.

You served table after table of hungry customers as Wilbur played his songs. The strums of the guitar and the smoothness of his singing voice soothed you while you delivered iced tea to ungrateful people.

While you were fetching another order of drinks, no one saw you snatch another glass of water. You delivered the drinks first, then approached the stage. Wilbur had just ended his last song.

He glanced down at you as you reached up to hand him the water. You could see in his eyes--a tinge of recognition. His hands brushed yours as you handed over the glass. He mouthed the words "thank you," giving you a wink before sipping the water and launching into his next song.

You felt lighter than air. He'd winked at you! The legendary Wilbur Soot had winked at you! You rubbed the side of your hand where his fingers had grazed...you'd remember this forever.

You glanced back to the bar where Olivia gave you a thumbs-up. You smiled and blushed. This night would be a lot more interesting than most of your work shifts.

~~~another time skip lol~~~

You couldn't help but steal glances at Wilbur the rest of the night. And to be fair, he was stealing glances at you. You saw his eyes dart around between the tables until he settled on you--before snapping back down to his guitar.

You looked up from the order you were reviewing to hear the last few notes of Wilbur's last song. "Saline Solution" was one of your favorites, after all. As he strummed the last chord on his guitar, he swept his gaze across the room, catching you as you stared back at him. You could've sworn you saw a tiny hint of pink in his cheeks...but then again, it could just be the lighting.

You had frozen when he looked at you. All the way across the room, you could still see his dark brown, gorgeous eyes. You would stop time just to stare into Wilbur's eyes forever.

Suddenly you remembered your job, and hastily refocused on the pad in front of you. Green salad with Italian dressing...cheeseburger with fries and no onions...chicken dinner with the sauce on the side...

You rushed the order to the counter and grabbed the next collection of meals to serve. You snuck another glance in the direction of the stage. Wilbur was putting his guitar back in the case. Ooh, he looks good in those pants...no, you have to focus on work. Well...a few minutes of conversation couldn't hurt, right?

You quickly served the plates and then made your way towards the stage. This could be your moment. Wilbur had just finished packing up his stuff, and he hopped down off the slightly raised stage when he saw you.

"Hey, Y/N, right?" he says as I approach.

"Yup! You were great up there, Wilbur!" I said shyly.

"Gee, thanks! You work here?"

"Yup. I'm glad you could play here tonight!"

You exchanged pleasantries and small talk for a little. Then Wilbur surprises you, "I'd love to stay in touch with you, maybe we could meet up again sometime. Could I have your phone number?" He said it rather smoothly, but you could tell he was just a tad nervous. You smiled.

"Yes, of course!" You grabbed a napkin from the nearby table and the pen from your apron and wrote down your number, handing it to Wilbur.

"Thanks! I'll uh...I'll see you around, then!" he said, clutching the napkin as he turned in the direction of the door.

"See you!" you said, waving after him. You let your gaze linger on the back of his head as he walked away. He was quite tall, so you didn't lose him in the crowd. You watched him until he'd passed through the door. He was cute. You really hoped he would actually contact you.

You tugged yourself back into reality: your boss glaring at you from across the room.

You glanced at your watch. Another hour and a half to go... you thought, and walked back to the kitchen to fetch your next orders.

Either way, you knew you'd remember this night. The one night going to work had become enjoyable.

Thanks for reading! This was a longer one. The story will start to pick up a bit from here; don't worry! Have a great day/night! Word count: 1346