Raising the Stakes; Zelink Coffee Shop AU (The Legend Of Zelda)

Chapter Six

5/24/17

So?

What xD

YOU KNOW.

I snickered. Oh, oh yeah, him.

Come on Zelda, spill it, did anything happen today?

Sorry not sorry, Bosa :p Weeeellll he winked at me this afternoon... I really didn't know why though. But... more importantly, I think he has a girlfriend.

What? Explain!

Some girl asked for his number after he took her order. He replied, "it's not available." What am I supposed to think about that other than he has a girlfriend?

Was she annoying?

What?

The girl who asked for his number.

Yeah, kinda prissy.

Then he doesn't have a girlfriend.

How do you know?

Trust me, he just said that because he didn't want to give her his number. I bet he'd give it to you.

... Idk Bosa...

Has it helped?

With writing? Actually... maybe... kinda...

HA, I TOLD YOU IT WOULD.

I chuckled, my fingers absent-mindedly swiping through what I'd written that day.

Yes, you told me so, I thought.

_-:-_

December 2nd

My next day followed like the past few had.

I tried to ignore the owner and ultimately failed for a majority of the day. And then he sat down across from me at lunch again, (which I had remembered to eat without a reminder that time.)

Without thinking about it too much, I asked the question that had been on my mind since the night before. "Do you have a girlfriend?" The words came out before I could think too hard, then I immediately cringed and wished I could claw them back. That's why I hadn't thought about it. If I had... the words would not have left my mouth.

Link stiffened, then raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

I avoided his gaze by staring at my food. "I was just curious as to why you replied the way you did to that girl yesterday." I tried to shrug. To make it seem like I didn't really care about his answer. Did I even care?

"Oh," he replied. "They've been in here before, always taking pictures of their cups and asking for my phone number." He rolled his eyes. "I don't think so."

"So... you are single then?" I asked. Stupid. Why do you even need to know that.

He smirked. "Why the curiosity?"

My eyes widened, and I had to resist the urge to hide behind my laptop. "I-" I hesitated. "It's just curiosity, there's nothing wrong with that."

Link chuckled. "No... I suppose not."

Smooooth Zelda. As if you couldn't be any more of a fail... For the love of Nayru... why can't you just have a normal conversation?

He cleared his throat. "Most unfortunately... I do not have a girlfriend."

I frowned. Unfortunately? If he wanted one he could totally have one.

"My grandmother really wants me to find a girl and I..." he started, then sighed, putting his hand to his face. "I was so stupid..."

"Why?" I asked. It wasn't really any of my business but I was curious... and he had brought it up, so...

"I may have... told her that I had a girlfriend." He groaned. "And she told me to bring her over this Christmas so that she could meet her..."

I smirked. "Wow, you're going to get busted," I said with a laugh.

"Hopefully not," he replied, then moved his hand off of one eye so he could look at me.

"What, you have a plan?" I asked.

"Well..." he trailed off and dropped his hand. "You." He leaned forward on the table. "You're my plan."

...What?

"I will give you a hundred dollars to be my girlfriend over Christmas."

I barely managed to stop my mouth from dropping open.

"Assuming you aren't going to go to your own family's place for Christmas."

My eyes darkened. "Oh no, I won't be doing anything with them," I replied quickly, and hopefully non-venomously. No way in the world am I gonna go back there. Ever.

And that was it. The truth of it. I was determined not to go back... and it was complete and utter foolishness to be so resolved about something so impossible.

He bit his lip. "So... uh... would you do it?"

I looked up, having actually forgotten what we were talking about for a moment. Fake being his girlfriend for Christmas? That's still weeks away... "Why don't you just... I don't know... get a girlfriend?"

He started to laugh, leaning against the table. "Are you kidding? I couldn't do that... I'm... I'm too..."

"What?"

"I'm just..." He raised his hand to the back of his head. "... A dorky owner of a coffee shop. My looks are really all I've got going for me," he replied with a shrug.

Does he really believe that? Sure, your looks are great, but your sparkling personality is what captured my interest.

"Please." He laid his hands flat on the table. "I'm desperate here. I don't want to disappoint her," he said. "I'll tell you all about me and our family so it can look like you've known me for awhile."

"Uhm..." I picked up my phone and checked the date. Twenty days till Christmas weekend. Twenty days to build up the act. "I won't do it for a hundred dollars."

Link frowned. "What do you want then, more?"

I was silent for long enough that Link started to look worried.

I wonder how much coffee I could get that would cost him a hundred dollars. I mentally shrugged and then picked my amount of time. How much time I could possibly hope for before my parents recalled me.

"I want two months of free coffee."

His eyes widened. "Two months? That's like..." He started counting on his fingers. "A hundred and eighty coffees."

"That's the price, do you want a date or not?"

The dismay on his face slowly morphed into a smirk. "You drive a hard bargain, Zelda," he said, bringing a hand to his mouth. "I accept."