Takeoff Music Imagines

Next Lifetime

Inspo: Next Lifetime-Erykah Badu

Y/N

I was standing in front of one of the blenders trying, and failing, to get it to work properly. It was the middle of the morning rush, and the line in the lobby was all the way out the door. I looked up over the counter and out the window to see the drive thru line wrapping around the building. If I had known this coffee shop was so damn busy, I would have never applied to work here. I only got this job to have some extra money while school was in session for the semester. I got a full ride scholarship, and my dad pays for all my personal expenses. I only got this job because I was bored and figured I could use some extra money to throw around. The door opened and in walked another customer.

"Hello, welcome to Starbucks," I called out over the crowd of people.

"You okay over there?" called a familiar voice. I looked up and my coworker, Kirsnick, was looking at me from where he stood in the drive thru window.

"This thing isn't working," I said.

He walked over, pushed his hand down against the lid and pressed two buttons and it started working like nothing was ever wrong with it. "I'll be damned."

"You gotta make sure the lid is on all the way or it's not gonna work." He moved back over to the drive thru and continued with his work.

Once the lobby was empty and the drive thru was clear we all started the job of cleaning the mess that I made trying to make drinks. I had recipe cards, straws, and cup lids all over the place.

"I don't think imma be here long," I said aloud to myself.

"Probably not," I looked over my shoulder to see Kirsnick wiping the counter. When he caught me looking at him, he laughed.

"You think that's funny?" I asked, throwing one of the straws I was holding. I bounced off his shoulder and fell on the floor.

"Damn, I think I'm gonna have to go home." he said holding his shoulder as if he was hurt. I'm not gonna lie, this job sucks, but my coworkers aren't too bad. Kirsnick is nice, and always polite to the people who walk in even though some of them aren't nice to us. He's like me, in school, with nothing else to do but work a customer service job to pay for the extras. We spend a lot of time together actually; our programs required us to take some of the same classes so sometimes we study together before or after our shifts at work.

"You ready for the anatomy exam Friday?" I asked him.

"If I say no, will you be mad?" he replied.

"Not even a little, I'm not ready either," I replied.

"We still studying tomorrow afternoon right," he asked. Without waiting for me to answer he pressed the button on the headset he was wearing and said. "Welcome to Starbucks."

I listened to the order through the headset I was wearing and started trying to make the order as the person was ordering. He picked up one of the recipe cards and handed it to me. I tried my best, but the Frappuccino was basically liquid when I was finished. He stepped around me and remade the drink quickly, and when he was done, he handed me the cup to pass out the window.

The rest of the day tended to drag, but something was strange, like the energy in the room was off. He seemed like he was tip toeing around me. We were in the stockroom now and it was like he was trying to keep his distance from me.

"You, okay?" I asked him.

"What?" He looked over at me.

"You seem a little off today, you, okay?" I reached up to try and grab a new pack of straws from a box over my head. I couldn't reach it, so he stepped around me and grabbed the pack I was reaching for.

"You....doin anything this weekend?" he asked.

"Not really, I'll probably spend some time with Jamal." I said.

He was turned facing the other way, but I knew he rolled his eyes. He always rolled his eyes when I mentioned my boyfriend, which is something that I noticed but never made it a point to address it.

"Oh, okay." he said.

"Why what's up?" I asked him.

"I was going to see if you wanted to link this weekend. Maybe go do somethin Saturday." he said.

I turned around and looked at him. He was standing on the other side of the small stock room leaning against the shelf behind him.

"What do you mean link?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "You know, chill or something."

"You asking me on a date?" I asked him.

"If you wanna call it that?" he replied.

I shook my head. "I have a boyfriend; you know I have a boyfriend."

He shrugged against and pushed himself off the wall behind him. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?" It only took him two steps before he was practically hovering over me. He kept moving closer and closer, bracing himself against the shelf behind me and leaning down so that our faces were only inches apart. I could feel his breath against my top lip, and it was then that I noticed that I was sweating.

"I mean, doesn't it? Because I think it should maybe." I said. My brain was scrambling as I tried to search for the words that I was trying to get out.

He was staring me right in the eyes and I was starting to feel like my lungs had stopped working. "No, it doesn't,"

I shook my head. "I can't, I can't do that to Jamal. He... loves me and we plan-"

"You plan on getting married after you become a nurse and he finishes medical school. Yeah, you told me that story and I still don't care. I like you, and I want you. So, you gonna let me take you out this weekend or what?"

I sucked in a deep breath and was about to say something else, but a familiar ding rang through the headset signaling that there was a car in the drive thru. I pressed the button and my headset and answered the car. "Welcome to Starbucks. I said, still looking right into his eyes.

"You get the order I'll make the drink." he said before he grabbed the straws and walked back into the front of the store.