mackenzie sighed softly to herself as she rushed around. it was freezing cold in washington and there were a lot of customers coming in.
she was split between asking to make a mocha frappucino and a cup of hot chocolate. there were only so few of them working on the last weekend of christmas when everybody was doing last minute shopping.
once she quickly made the two drinks, she's back at the cashier, trying to catch her breath.
she's been working all day with no breaks and she's more than exhausted. her back hurt and her arms were tired. she had another hour of her shift left but she was sure that she'd die if she doesn't get at least a five minute break soon.
she pulled her hair up into a ponytail as the next customer came up. she spent another good thirty minutes doing this back and forth — getting orders and then making the drinks.
it wasn't until forty five minutes later when she had the shock of her life. the guy she had the biggest crush on in high school had just walked through the door with a couple teammates.
he was laughing and enjoying their company, without a care in the world, until their eyes met.
she'd convinced herself after senior year that there was no way that she would ever see him again up close. when he declared himself for the nba drafts, she knew that it was nearly impossible now.
he probably had a hundred girls throwing themselves at him day after day. there was no way he'd remember her.
but he did. he remembered dropping his heavy loaded gym bag to the ground when she slipped by the doors to the cafeteria where someone had vomited. he remembered her eyes and her hair, and the way she got flustered when she realised what happened.
he remembered every single memory he had of her. from that moment on to everything that happened until they graduated. he remembered vaguely how she won swim meets after swim meets and how she balanced that well with her academics.
he couldn't forget her even if he tried — but he never tried at all. he was wishing that he'd get another chance to see her, and this was fate putting them back into each other's radar.
when he stepped up to the counter, her shift had just ended on the dot. but that didn't matter now.
the smile was back on her face and suddenly she felt a lot less tired. maybe it was the fact that this boy could've been her future if she just returned his calls back in junior year, or maybe it was the fact that he was more successful than her.
there was nothing more embarrassing than dropping a guy as nice as kelly to focus on school, then a few years down the road have him more successful than you could ever be.
he remembered the heartache he went through when they started to drift apart, but it was okay. it's another time to try again with her and he was not going to let her out of his sight ever again.
"hey," he smiled, "been a hot minute since we last saw each other."
she nodded shyly, looking past him. the crowd had died down and it was going to be a lot less busier in the coffee shop. "graduation. how've you been?"
"been well," he grinned. "can i have a cup of hot chocolate?"
the last they spoke was graduation. his partner was absent, and somehow they ended up together again.
he had things to say — words that he'd been repeating to himself like a mantra for the last few months of senior year to tell her, but when the moment was there, he couldn't say anything.
they exchanged a few words of congratulations and then went their separate ways.
"alright," she smiled, walking away to make the cup of drink. "it's on the house."
another employee took her spot to take the rest of the orders of the team. kelly immediately moved, stalking her to get closer. "why on the house?"
she didn't reply so he didn't ask again. maybe she didn't hear it because of his teammates' loud hollers and voices so he just let it go. he made it a mental note to just thank her afterward.
he watched her every move then. back in high school, she was as clumsy as a person could get. now, she's so careful with everything. she moved so gracefully and swiftly, dodging coworkers perfectly.
she turns back to him and placed the takeaway cup in front of him. "because i want to apologise for whatever went down in junior year."
"i thought we were way past that," he chuckled as he took the cup into his hands. he took the cap off and blew on the drink lightly. "i've forgiven you for that."
"i couldn't forgive myself for doing what i did," she muttered slightly, chuckling though it hurt her inside to remember what she did. "i really liked you, kelly, but my parents saw my grades and they... you know."
he nodded. he understood where she was coming from. she's mentioned how strict her parents could get and he couldn't get mad at her for focusing on her future. "that's fine, i promise."
she smiled, hoping that kelly would take the way she thanked him. she couldn't get words past her lips to thank him. if she did, she would've said other things unrelated to their topic now.
he took a sip of the drink and a smile tugged his lips as he stared at her with hooded eyes. "this hot chocolate is really sweet. does it have anything to do with the person who made it?"
raising an eyebrow, she leaned forward. "are you hitting on me, kelly?"
"depends on how you want to interpret it," he teased, "but, i guess, yeah. i am."
"how could you still hit on me after what i did?" she chuckled, starting to untie her apron from behind her back.
"you just gotta move past it," he laughed. "are you free now? let's go to dinner."
she glanced at his teammates playing around, and she reluctantly dragged her eyes back to kelly. there were just about a couple nba stars in the same room as her and embarrassing herself wasn't very an ideal thing to do. "but you're out with your teammates."
he waved them off, rolling his eyes. "i'd very much like it better if i could catch up with you. i'm starting to get tired of them — i've been with them almost everyday since i got drafted!"
"okay, you have a point," she nodded. "i'll just change out and get my stuff then we can go."
disappearing into the employee room, she couldn't help but let out a squeal. here was the second chance she'd been asking for and she isn't going to throw this one down the drain.
she's going to make this work.
hO HO HO CHRISTMAS IS FOUR DAYS AWAY HERE BECAUSE IT'S TWO IN THE MORNING. ARE Y'ALL EXCITED?
SMH I'M NOT AS EXCITED ANYMORE BUT UH I'M SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED THIS IN A WHILE... I JUST GOT OUT OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT BUT I'M BACK TO CATCH UP WITH Y'ALL
YOU ARE READING
seasonal ♕ nba shorts
FanfictionCOMPLETED. [KIND OF] PREVIOUSLY NAMED AS JINGLE BELLS. in which althea relieves her seasonal feels in the form of short stories starring athletes from the nba.
