All Because Of A Car

Chapter 15: Penny

A/N: Hey, I'm back! I had to wait a day to post on wattpad bc I was rushed to leave the house haha, that's what happens when you cross-post on four different websites...

Also, shout out to prncesselene on ao3 for the line 'Stars-knew-who about Aces-knew-what'!

Monday blues were a thing but Cinder didn't have them. If anything, she'd had the weekend blues. Were those a thing? Cinder doesn't even care, she's just more than elated to finally be out of the house and back to work, surrounded by the whirring of machines along with the scent of paint and oil and metal.

She totally wasn't also looking forward to seeing a certain customer ask about a certain car, of course not, she's was far too professional for anything like that.

She pauses at the door of the garage, smiling at the familiar sight of hopeful customers and her kind-hearted, tired colleagues who'd probably been working the night shift again.

"Cinder, hey!" Zac calls as soon as she walks in, smiling wider than should be possible for someone with bags under their eyes.

"Hey, Zac." Cinder swallows a yawn that'd been solely prompted by Zac's yawn and elbows him. "Go on, I know you're itching to get out of here."

Zac grins at her. "Thanks... Good luck..." he starts to walk away before abruptly stopping and turning to wink at her. "You might want to be in workshop three at half twelve, just saying..."

"Get out already!" Cinder can't hide her blush as he laughs before walking out.

But, nevertheless, she makes sure she's finished up everywhere else before twelve so she can work on the Mercedes. For some reason, the car lies abandoned to one side, as if nobody had wanted to work on it.

It's not even a surprise when someone tentatively knocks on the door of the workshop. Someone, of course, being Kai.

"Hey, barista." She's not even sure where the nickname comes from but it rolls off her tongue like perfectly brewed coffee so she doesn't try to amend it.

"Hey, princess." Kai waves at her before blushing and running a hand through his hair. "How can I help you?"

"I don't think you can," She replies.

"I disagree."

She can practically hear the smirk in his voice so she humours him and raises an eyebrow, staying silent so he can continue.

Kai beams and then brings his hands out from behind his back to reveal a cup of coffee. "So... This won't help?"

"Uh..."

Making an expression of pity, Kai starts to turn, taking the cup away from her, and that's all she needs to give up her argument and concede.

"I was so wrong," Cinder blurts, lunging for the cup with a faint smile. He smiles back at her and it's the most beautiful sight she's seen all day, his face full of sunshine and happiness.

After one, small, sip of the perfectly brewed coffee, she points to his car. "I'm sorry, we haven't gotten very far with it."

Kai shrugs. "Don't worry about it. It's only a vehicle, after all."

Cinder shoots him a grateful smile before practically gulping down the next bit of coffee, ignoring the burning sensation on her tongue but regretting that when Kai awkwardly taps her back after she chokes on the scalding warmth.

"Don't forget to breathe," Kai whispers. Embarrassingly, she realises she had and has to make a conscious effort to inhale but, luckily, Kai doesn't seem to judge her for it.

"This is really good coffee," she compliments eventually, after such a long pause that Kai jumps, his eyes widening before he laughs at himself. "Sorry," Cinder mutters.

Kai only shakes his head, still laughing a little. Not wanting to waste time by drinking coffee in the middle of any conversation they might start, she plans to finish her drink before he stops laughing. Except that she can't because she can't physically take her eyes off his perfectly curved dimples and the adorable crinkles creating triangles on the side of his face. In fact, she only manages to look away when Kai recovers and semi-frowns at her, tilting his head to ask why she's staring at him.

A blush rises on her face. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Oh?" Kai fumbles in his pocket for a second before pulling out something small and round. "A penny for your thoughts?"

It takes her a second but she bursts out laughing, stumbling forwards as she fails to stifle it and sending a small drop of coffee flying at Kai. Gasping, he drops the penny and the two of them watch it roll under the table, Kai chuckling and Cinder cursing. Both of them decide to leave it there and looking at each other instead. As they lose themselves in one another's eyes, a thought comes to Cinder's mind and she tries to suppress it but her mouth is against her so she blurts,

"You don't even need that penny!"

"No?"

She can't tell if Kai is amused or not but, knowing that she's too far into it, she carries on. "I mean, have you looked in the mirror? You essentially have two, beautiful pennies on your face at any given moment and I'm sure the world would agree with me." A second later, she flushes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"You're right."

Shocked, she coughs and looks up again, in time to see Kai grin. "But, nevertheless, you owe me a penny."

This time, Cinder smirks. "And what evidence do you have for that statement, mister barista?"

"Our memory is my witness, princess."

Skies, she's never loved anyone's wit more.

They both flinch as Kai's phone rings and he makes a bashful face at her, gratefully smiling when she nods at him with a knowing smile. He turns and walks a little to the left, leaning on the wall as he starts talking to stars-knows-who about aces-knows-what. She might have been able to listen in - excluding the input of a moral compass - but she's still thinking about the brightness in his coppery eyes and how they'd be worth so much more than any penny they might resemble. After enough time for her to reassemble her frazzled composure, Kai hangs up the phone with a guilty look.

"I'm sorry, princess, I have to get back- there's uh... One of my friends is- Well, he needs my help..."

His voice is laced with so much compassion, she could kiss it. Or him-

"That's okay," she manages to say, "I'll have your penny next time we meet."

"I'm counting on it." Kai winks at her before giving her a small wave and rushing out of the door.

What in the name of spades? She groans in frustration, flopping onto the floor with a heavy sigh, wondering why on earth she'd thought about kissing him just after he'd told her his friend needed help. If Iko was here, she'd manage to find a reason but Cinder can't find anything logically romantic in her situation. It's only about five minutes later that she gives up problem-solving and scribbles 'penny' on her hand in what she hopes isn't permanent marker so she doesn't forget, just in case she somehow manages to exile Kai from her mind, where thoughts of him never sleep.

Feel free to point out errors! Have a fabulous day <3