Coffee Beans || Sasuke Uchiha X Reader

.:Chapter Twenty-Five:.

 "Where is everyone?" you asked yourself as you looked out the window of Espress. All week there had been a slow decline in customers at the café, but today there was the worst day yet. Normally during breakfast, nearly the entire café was packed with diners and a long line waiting at the counter. But today only five tables were occupied. You could tell that everyone was getting a bit worried, including you, but no one said anything about it. That was until Rin burst into the café, shouting, "You won't believe this!"

"What?" you asked.

"You wanna know why we've been getting less customers?" she asked as she replaced Emiko's position behind the counter. You waited for her to continue. "Two new Starbucks have opened up on the street. Not one, two, at either end."

"What?" Emiko shrieked, startling the customers yet again.

"Mhmm. I went and scouted them this morning. There were huge lines, and guess who was in them?"

"Who?" you asked eagerly.

"The Yamada's," she said, and you and Emiko gasped. Akio and Jun Yamada were two of your regulars, and you couldn't believe they would skip out on Espress like this.

"Well this sucks," you said disappointedly.

"It'll definitely take a toll on Espress. There's already other cafés around this area, and now there's two more of one of the biggest coffee chains in the world."

"Do Sora and Kou know about this?" you asked.

"They should. And if they don't already, they'll notice when all their customers abandon us," Rin said cynically.

"Hey," you scolded. "Don't think like that. It won't stay like this forever. People will come back once the hype is over."

"Whatever you say," Rin mumbled.

***

You went over to Sasuke's office during lunch. The lunch rush was small, and the other two could handle it on their own while you went to see your boyfriend. As you opened the glass door to the office, you saw Naruto talking to the receptionist.

"Naruto, hey!" you greeted happily and approached him.

When he turned around you could see that he was tired by the bags under his eyes, but he still looked happy to see you. "Hey, (Y/N)!" he said and pulled you in for a hug. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, thinks are pretty busy around here, huh," you said.

He chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Hey, this weekend -"

"Mr. Uzumaki, there's a call waiting for you on line one," the receptionist said, interrupting your conversation.

"Alright," he groaned. "I have to run, but I was saying that we should go out this weekend. I'll bring Hinata, you bring Sasuke."

"A double date," you said and nodded. "Sounds great."

"Perfect," he said and flashed his million dollar smile. "Catch you later," he said, then rushed away to his office.

You smiled to the receptionist as you passed her and received a fake smile in return, then proceeded to Sasuke's office. When you reached his door you knocked and waited, until you heard an agitated, "Come in." You pushed open the door, and Sasuke was sat behind his desk, typing away at his laptop. He glanced up at you.

"Hey," he said, then focused again on his computer screen.

"Hey," you said back and handed him the paper bag containing his lunch. "Brought your favourite."

"I don't have time for lunch today," he said without looking up. Your arm dropped in disappointment.

"Oh," you said. "So... should I leave?"

"Sorry," he mumbled apologetically. You stood there in defeat, and after a minute he tore his eyes away from the screen to look at you. "I'll call you tonight," he said, and stood from his chair. He leaned across the desk to kiss you on the cheek, then accepted the bag from your hand. "Thanks for this," he said and sat back down.

"No problem," you mumbled, then stalked out the door.

***

"He's busy like, 24/7 these days," you complained to Sora. It was after café hours, and you'd gone for a walk along the city streets. You passed by Espress as you usually did when you went for a walk. Just looking up at the tall building gave you a sense of hominess, and knowing that Sora and Kou were in there was reassuring. But tonight when you passed by, you were surprised to see the first floor lights on, and through the window you could see Sora moving around the room. You hopped up the steps and knocked on the door. Sora looked through the glass and seemed surprised to see you, but she happily let you in. A few minutes after talking, Sasuke came up in conversation, and you began spilling your worries to her.

"I know it's a busy time for him, but it just feels like he doesn't even try to make time for me," you said sadly. "Has anything like this ever happened to you and Kou?"

"Well, our situation is different than yours," she said. "We share a business together, so if one of us is busy, the other one's usually busy with them."

"Should I be worried?" you asked.

"Things will die down eventually," she said reassuringly.

"I don't know if it will," you said unsurely. "I mean, I should have expected this, really. He's the CEO of a major company, why wouldn't he be busy all the time."

"Okay, let me give you some advice," she Sora said, and you waited patiently for what she was going to say. "Think of trust as coffee beans."

You groaned loudly and put your head in your hands."Please not a coffee metaphor," you said.

She ignored you. "Great coffee starts with the beans, right? And great relationships start with trust. You just have to trust that things will get better and he'll make time to be with you. You really like him, right?"

You blushed. "Yeah, I do," you admitted.

"Then just wait things out. This is a stressful time for him and you should be there to support him. Things will turn around eventually, and I'm sure he'll be grateful that you stuck around."

"You're right," you said and took a deep breath. "Things will get better."