Taylor x Travis: In Every Life

pumpkin spiced latte

"Just the usual?" The girl behind the counter asked when she saw me come through the door.

"Yeah, thanks Ang." I smiled, pausing by the counter. I'd become such a regular at the coffee shop near my house that every single member of staff knew my order and I knew all of their names. "Busy today?" I asked.

"Not really, but it's only eight." Angela wrote my order down and passed it down to the barista. "I'll bring it over."

"Thanks." I nodded at her, going to wait at my usual table by the wall and pulling out my phone. There were a couple emails from Tree waiting for me about upcoming events that I scrolled through while I was waiting, adding them to my calendar one by one.

After a few minutes, Angela brought over my pumpkin spiced latte and set it down next to me. I thanked her with a smile, and took a sip just as my phone started to ring. It was my Mom, and I put the mug down to answer.

"Hi Mom." I said with a smile.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?"

"Great, I'm just getting coffee. How's the new job going?" Mom had gotten a job at a charity in town last week and she'd been really excited. She'd been a bit lonely living at home alone and had needed something to do, so when someone mentioned that a charity in town was looking for people, she'd jumped at the chance.

"It's going really well. We've started organising a fundraiser for a few months time, and everyone's really nice and helpful." She sounded really happy and I smiled.

"Oh, put me down to come help out at that." I told her. "Just forward the information to Tree and she'll make sure I've got nothing else on."

"Really?"

"Of course, I want to help out."

"Well great, I'll make sure to do that once we set a date and time." Mom sounded like she was smiling. "Thanks sweetheart, that's so great."

We chatted for a while until Mom had to go, and I kept looking through my messages as I drank my coffee. When I was done, I took the empty cup up to the counter so Angela wouldn't have to clear the table.

"See you tomorrow?" She asked, smiling thankfully as she took my cup.

"Of course." I laughed, and she went to turn away. "Wait, I haven't paid."

"Oh, someone's paid your tab already." Angela told me, and I blinked.

"Who?"

"Umm, he did." Angela motioned over my shoulder. I turned around to see who she was talking about; a man talking on the phone by the door.

He was tall, with short hair and a short beard. Pale green eyes rose to meet mine as I stared at him. He looked a little familiar, but I couldn't quite place him. A football player, I was fairly certain - since my backup dancer Kam had a brother who played - but that was all I could think of. His eyes crinkled as he smiled at me, and I found my lips twitching up in a smile of their own. It was strangely hard to tear my eyes away, but eventually I did, turning back to Angela.

"Who is he?" I asked, and she shrugged. "Okay, well thanks. See you tomorrow."

I turned away from the counter, intending to head for the door, but my eyes caught the handsome stranger gaze across the room again. He said something into his phone and then hung up, sliding it into his pocket. I changed direction and approached him instead, folding my arms over my chest.

"You're the one who paid for my coffee?" I asked.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Miss Swift." He held out his hand. "Travis Kelce." A little confused, I reached out and shook his hand.