A Frothy Compilation of Steamy One-Shots (Harry Styles)

Americano; Extra Sugar, Extra Cream (RL) @dirtyyarn

It was the kind of cold that made your bones feel brittle and the hair in your nose freeze. The sun was riding high and if you were lucky enough to be indoors looking out, you might think it would provide some warmth. What a scam, I thought to myself as I continued along the sidewalk. Sure, it was gorgeous out here with the early morning sunshine, the wide-open blue sky and the icicles hanging from the shop awnings on the main street downtown, but that beauty didn't tell the whole story. In reality, we were in the midst of the dreaded month of February. Most afternoons it warmed up enough to cause boot sucking slush and mud. The roads ran with melted snow. Then the temps would drop into the teens at night and it would all freeze over. The walkways were treacherous; the roads were like an ice rink. I wouldn't even be out here this early in the morning, except for the fact that my apartment was currently cold enough to house polar bears. The utilities were included in my rental fee, but the landlord got to set the thermostat. Apparently he believed that as long as the water pipes didn't freeze, humans should be fine as well.

So here I was, speed walking toward my favorite coffee shop, hat donned, scarf wrapped, mitten clad, parka layered. I was wishing that I had caved to the bitterness of the morning and worn my wool lined Sorrel's, but my sense of style had me wearing my black, chunky heeled, leather biker boots with my black skinnies. Hey, I was going to be sitting in that coffee shop for a long time. I wanted to be comfy. There also happened to be a hot barista that generally worked mornings and I wouldn't be heartbroken if he happened to notice me. It was a Saturday, so the place would have lighter traffic and fewer distractions. If I could get myself out of these layers of winter gear, and my hair recovered from being pressed under my beanie, I might have a decent shot at getting his attention.

Dodging a woman tying her fluffy golden retriever to a bike rack outside the shop, I grabbed the iron handle and jerked the door open. The heat and smell of freshly ground espresso beans washed over me and thawed my tender nose. Deep breath, senses coming alive. Bliss! Scanning the hodgepodge of mismatched wooden tables and chairs I spotted exactly what I was hoping for. I scored a table against the wall opposite the coffee bar; it was near enough the front windows that I could enjoy the view, but far enough from the door that I wouldn't suffer a blast of frigid air every time someone entered. As a side benefit, there was an unobstructed view of the delicious barista that I had hoped would be pulling espresso shots. Two points for me!

Dropping my backpack to the tabletop, I began the process of shedding my layers. There was no point in expecting my hair to have weathered the walk well. This time of year meant that even the deepest conditioning treatment wasn't going to tame my dark honey colored curls. I did my best to calm the mess that tumbled out of my black knit beanie; it was a little hopeless, so I simply shrugged it off. Once I had divested myself of the outerwear, I went about setting up my work. Out of my backpack, I hauled a notebook, pens, a paperback thesaurus, my steel water bottle and most importantly my MacBook Air. I had scraped and saved to buy this computer. I wanted something great for school. When I made the purchase, I had no idea how invaluable it would become to me financially.

I loved living in a college town and attending the University. There were great opportunities here for me to volunteer in the community and I'd even had two fantastic internships; one at a teen crisis center, the other, as an outreach coordinator for a local food bank. Since the University provided a deep well of student employees who needed experience, and they were willing to work for peanuts or school credit, there weren't many good paying jobs available. I was a good student. Having proven myself academically, I was able to land enough scholarship and grant funding to pay for all of my school expenses. However, the issue of rent, food and utilities remained. They weren't going to pay for themselves and I hadn't been able to find a normal job that would work around my class schedule.