Coffee Beans || Sasuke Uchiha X Reader

.:Chapter Fourteen:.

            You woke up feeling groggy and disgusting. You squirmed around in discomfort, and looked under the covers to see that you were still wearing your jeans. You groaned, and dropped your head back onto the pillow. Your mouth tasted revolting, your face was oily, and you had a horrible headache. This was not how you imagined your first night at Sasuke's would go. You were about to drift off back to sleep, when a single thought crossed your mind. Work. Your eyes widened in horror, and you sprang to the opposite side of the bed where a digital clock blinked the time in harsh red light. It was 8:31.

"Shit!" you squealed, and jumped out of bed. As quick as you could dug out a fresh pair of clothes from your bag, stripped off the sweaty ones that you were wearing, and changed as fast as possible. You left your hair in a ponytail, rolled on some deodorant and spritz on some perfume, then popped a few mints in your mouth before ripping open the bedroom door and running out into the hallway. Your head was immensely dizzy, but you were two and a half hours late for work, and you would rather deal with a headache than with Emiko.

When you were running through the apartment, checking your phone to see that you had ten misses calls from both Emiko and Rin, and dozens of worried and angry texts. You heard someone moving around in the kitchen, and you saw Sasuke sitting casually at the breakfast bar as he sipped his coffee and flipped through a newspaper.

"Good morning," he said. He looked tired too.

"Get your stuff, we have to go right now!" you shrieked, grabbing your coat off the hook beside the elevator and jamming your arms into the sleeves. He looked startled and confused, but grabbed his keys and briefcase off the counter and followed you into the elevator.

"Why are you so jumpy?" he asked when the elevator doors closed.

"I'm so, so late," you said in a panicked voice. "They're going to kill me, I know it. Why didn't you wake me up?!" you shrieked.

"I tried, around seven. You wouldn't budge."

"That's still too late! I needed to wake up at five!"

"I don't know your work schedule," he said in an aggravated voice. You knew it wasn't him fault, but you were in such a bad mood that you needed someone to take it out on.

"I can't believe I forgot to set my alarm." You put your head in your hands. "They're seriously going to kill me."

"No they're not." Sasuke rolled his eyes, then pulled something out of his suit jacket and handed it to you. It was a card. "Take this."

"What is it?" you asked, and flipped the little rectangular piece of plastic around in your hand.

"It's an elevator key. You need it to get to the penthouse." He looked at his watch. "I'm giving it to you so you don't have to wait around for me to get off work for you to be able to get in. Just slide it in there," he said and pointed to a key-card slot on the button panel. "And it'll bring you to my place."

"Okay," you said, taking deep breaths. "Your big fancy car can't teleport us to the café, can it?" you asked.

He chuckled, and shook his head. "Sorry, it's not that advanced."

"Great," you mumbled, and hit your head against the elevator wall. "Just great."

¤¤¤

You ran into the café, bursting through the door and startling a few customers who were sitting nearby. You scanned the room for Rin, who was standing behind the counter as usual, and Emiko, who was serving twice as many table as she usually did. She was smiling at a few customers, but when she glanced up at you, a scowl took over her face. Emiko had only ever been mad at you a few times, but when she did, it was scary. You avoided her glare as you passed her on your way to the stairs, but you knew you couldn't avoid her lecture forever. You tossed your coat into your cubby, tied on your apron, and ran back downstairs to get to work.

"You look like shit," Emiko said bitterly as she passed by you and pushed her way into the kitchen. You waited for her to emerge back into dining room, holding two full trays.

"Let me take one," you said, and reached for the heavier looking one. She dodged you though, and shot you another nasty look, before sweeping in through the tables and delivering the food like a pro. No spills or crashes or falls, she did everything perfectly.

"Emiko, I'm sorry," you practically pleaded, but she wasn't having any of it. "Let me do my job."

"If you wanted to do your job you should have been here two hours ago." She pushed past you again to get into the kitchen. She came back out a second later with more to say. "I'm gonna finish this round, and you can pick up your new set of tables when more people come in."

"I can't just wait around for a new set," you said, following her around to her tables, half of which you were supposed to cover, but she was taking care of due to your absence.

"You want to be helpful?" she asked, then jerked her head in the direction of Rin at the counter. "Grab the coffee pot and go around filling cups," she said bitterly, and pushed you aside so she could do her job.

You sighed, and trudged over to Rin. She avoided your eyes as you slipped behind the counter, and grabbed a hot coffee pot from the workspace behind the cash register and displays, where all the coffee machines were lined up.

"I didn't mean to be late," you said to Rin, who was handing an elderly lady her change.

"Of course you didn't," she replied, and you rolled your eyes.

"I meant to set my alarm, but I forgot." She said nothing in return. "It was a long night."

"What, with that Sasuke guy?" she asked.

"You were cool with me staying with him," you said, reminding her of her own opinion on the matter.

"I didn't think that it meant you would miss work because of it," she said.

"It was an accident, really. We just hung out, eating, drinking, watching movies. Come on, Rin. You understand."

"I don't, actually," she said, and you officially had no allies. You sighed and grabbed the coffee pot, then went around and refilled mugs like Emiko told you to. You thought it was best to keep your mouth shut at the moment, and wait for the storm to blow over.

When customers that had been sitting in your section left and new ones filled the table, you began serving again. Emiko looked thankful to have the extra tables off her hands, but she still refused to look at you with any expression except pissed. You wondered how long it would take before you were forgiven. Knowing Emiko, it could take a while, especially when it came to work.