StarStruck Coffee

Iced Coffee

None of them knew how long they sat in Zach's room, huddled in a circle, talking about everything and nothing, about the mundane and the interesting. Beth told Zach all the stories from the coffee shop, while she sat cross legged on a wooden chair placed behind the door; about how the regulars asked after him, and how even her boss Sean who never showed any sort of affection for him in the past six months confided in Beth and told her he was secretly very worried. Nate and Layla filled Zach in on everything he missed from their shared lessons, and even handed him a stack of essays; Zach rolled his eyes, but you could see he was happy. Even the awkwardness between Beth and Layla seemed to evaporate, much like Layla's ice queen exterior. All of that was replaced with a smiling girl full of joy for seeing her friend back awake but the moment those three shared in that lobby. None of them would forget. Not for a long while.

If it wasn't for the team of doctors, coming to escort the group out for the seventh time that night, after saying they wanted to keep Zach one more night for examination. The group had already stayed way past visiting hours, but one look from Layla sent them scurrying away every time, they probably would've stayed up for much longer, but Zach sent them away as he needed his rest. The only one that stayed however was Beth, it seemed she was the one sleeping on the sofa in the corner. When Zach confronted her about it, she just shrugged as she fluffed up her final pillow, laid down on the sofa which she managed to transform into a rather comfy looking bed, and replied, "You'd do the same for me." Zach went to answer her, but she cut him off, "Anyway you need your beauty sleep, handsome. Go to bed. Goodnight, love you." They'd always said "love you" to each other but this time, this time, something felt different for Zach and Beth, neither admitted it to the other but that was the start of their blossoming love.

The next morning came far too quickly, as at what Zach could only assume was a time before even the birds were awake, the same team of doctors from last night came barrelling into his room, basically throwing Beth out the door and telling her to wait outside. They did some tests on him, how high he could count, his blood pressure, all the basic stuff. Then he had to sign a bunch of release forms, before they threw him out on his ass with the automated, "Have a good day" flashing on the sign next to the exit door.

The lights were practically blinding as he walked out of the double doors, he had to use his hand to shield his eyes as he stepped back into the land of the living. His feet crunched on something, which caused him to look down, where he saw the broken glass from last nights 'freak lightning strike' but before he could ask any questions Beth lured him away from it with the promise of free coffee if they got to the coffee shop in time for Beth's shift there. Sean didn't expect her there but as Zach was "doing just fine honestly", she thought it was only fair she went in. She couldn't remember how many times she heard Zach say that this morning on the phone to his parents, she'd never met the two, but they sounded just as doting as Zach had described them. From the small snippets of conversation, she could hear, Zach had to convince them to stop booking flights down to them that evening to see their 'Baby Zachy'. When Beth heard that she let out a giggle which warranted her a death glare from Zach and a promise to murder her if she ever told anyone about his parents' nickname from him ever since he was a little kid.

They got to the coffee shop after a five-minute train journey on which Zach swore to God one of the pervs sat behind them tried to grab at Beth's ass, she denied this as she didn't want to stress Zach out, but she didn't know if he actually was trying to grab her ass or if he was just i the wrong place at the wrong time, and a twenty-minute walk. When they got there Sean was in the middle of a customer who was moaning that her Iced Coffee was 'too cold'. When he saw them, Sean threw Beth her apron and told her to deal with this customer while he went on break. Beth obliged but got equally as annoyed at the Karen in front of her that wanted a full refund and another coffee, she shot Zach a look that almost pleaded at him to get her out of the situation, so he strolled up behind the woman and put on the most murderous smile Beth had ever seen, as he tapped her on the shoulder and said with lethal grace and murderous intent, that if she didn't want an iced coffee she shouldn't have ordered one, and that she should get out of the line before Zach did something he'd regret. The Karen turned to Beth and stammered out something that sounded similar to, "did you hear this thug just threatened me?" but Beth feigned boredom and said she agreed. She earned a huff from that comment and the Karen stormed away, but not without squealing over her shoulder like a pig, "You've lost a loyal customer today."

After the incident, Sean told them to leave and even promised Beth a full week's worth of wages if she went home for the day and took Zach with her, Beth gave him a wide smile and tugged Zach out of the coffee shop, throwing her apron on the mahogany coat rack by the double glass doors of the entrance. They were walking for about fifteen minutes before Zach mustered up the courage to ask, "Beth, you know I love you, but..."

"Mm?" She replied looking in the window of one of the millions of clothing stores down this street. "Where the fuck are we going?" Zach stopped her and looked around, "Do you recognise this place at all because i don't."

"Of course I do, just trust me Baby Zachy." She threw Zach a smirk over her shoulder and started running. "Oh hell, no. You're not getting away that easily." Zach laughed as he started chasing her. They ran all the way to the base of an apartment building, before Beth skidded to a halt and sucked in loads of huge gulps of air. "Okay, Okay I give up." She raised her arms in surrender as Zach rounded the corner. "We're here anyway." Zach looked at her confused and waved his arms, telling her to continue, as he too struggled to regain his breath. "Welcome, to mi casa. That's French for my apartment." She winked at him, as she strolled to the pin-locked door. "It's really not." Zach countered as he came up behind her.

"Eh. French, Spanish. It's all the same thing really." She pushed open the large wooden door that looked onto a set of stairs and one singular door. "That is the cleaner's cupboard," Beth pointed at the door as she made her way towards the stairs, "Make sure you've got your breath back, this is a five-floor building, and we're on floor four." Zach felt like he might throw up, but he followed her up the stairs anyway, he was intrigued to see where she lived.

They made it up the stairs remarkably quickly, especially as they'd just ran about five blocks but what Zach saw when he reached Beth's floor was not what he expected. There were two doors, both rather plain looking; one was slightly open, and what was inside was a ton of dark furniture and brick walls, "definitely a bachelor pad," he exclaimed as he followed Beth to the second door which she unlocked with brutal efficiency and pushed open. She flicked the lights on, and when Zach's eyes adjusted, he was...

Underwhelmed.

He thought it'd be one extreme or the other, not this. There was a lot of wood, wood and plants. It felt like he was back in the coffee shop. How Beth could work and live in basically the same place, Zach had no clue. He'd never worked, but from what he heard from his friends back home that did, you wanted a completely separate environment, not the exact same place.

"Latte?" Beth asked from the kitchen.

"Yes please." Zach hollered back as he just stood awkwardly in the living space. Beth threw her head round the door, "Do you want- what you just stood there for?" Beth left the kitchen, and padded over to him, "Sit down. It's all clean." She rolled her eyes, and lightly pushed him into a sofa seat; "There it's clean right?" Zach just nodded. "Good. Now, do you want caramel syrup? We have hazelnuts if you'd rather, but I thought you'd prefer caramel?"

"Sure, caramel sounds great." He grinned from the sofa.

"You're a creature of habit Zach." Beth stated as she started her slow walk back to the kitchen, hips swishing with each step. "Sorry, I guess?" Zach replied, eyes averted from her behind, despite the overwhelming urge to stare. "Don't apologise. It's refreshing, I always know what you're thinking," she winked at him as she swished her hips again, which only made Zach's blush worse. Beth laughed as she disappeared into the kitchen.