coffee // joshler

35

tyler's point of view

the month of october goes by slowly. i have a countdown on the dry-erase board in the back of the cafe, and by the time theres a week until the 31st, all the e-vites have been sent. josh made fun of me for sending e-vites instead of texting everyone, but everyone replied nonetheless.

jenna is bringing courtney, josh's siblings are coming, and ryan is bringing nathan. none of my siblings wanted to come because theyre taking their kids trick-or-treating, which is a reasonable reason to skip, so im not to upset about it.

the decorations are all set up, and we even bought jim a tiny sombrero to wear as a costume.

josh and i couldnt think of costumes for ourselves, so we bought matching skeleton hoodies and called it a day.

i wear it to work on halloween day, and i have a bowl of candy set out for any kids that stop by.

the buy-one-get-one sale on some special halloween pastries i created paired with our pumpkin spice lattes makes for a rather busy day at lemondrop and it makes my heart warm every time i see a child in a costume.

jenna comes to work as a witch, and ryan comes as a cat.

"no way," jenna laughs loudly when ryan walks in.

"what?" he looks down at his costume.

"courtneys coming as a cat," she takes a sip of the tea she made for herself.

i walk over to flip the sign to open. "what is nathan coming as?"

"frankenstein," ryan sighs. "i wanted to do matching costumes, but he said that was 'too gay.' it was a joke but it still kind of hurt my feelings."

"im sorry," i frown.

"sounds like you need a new boyfriend," jenna claps a hand on his shoulder.

"no. i love nathan. hes just not one hundred percent comfortable with his sexuality yet," ryan shrugs.

"maybe that means hes not ready for a relationship then," i add quietly.

"sorry," he shakes his head, "i didnt mean to ruin the mood."

"its okay. looks like we have some customers anyway," jenna puts on a smile when a family of five walks in.

"hi, welcome to lemondrop. how can we help you today?"

the smallest child, a girl dressed as a cop who can't be older than seven, walks up to the counter. "we want five halloween cakes to-go," she slams a ten dollar bill on the counter, "keep the change."

jenna takes the money and ryan arranges the cakes in the box.

they leave with a smile and a wave and the day goes by fairly quickly. we all leave together after closing. ryan takes his car to pick up nathan, and i ride with jenna to pick up courtney. stephani is driving alone, and i believe josh's siblings are carpooling together.

we all arrive within ten minutes of each other, and get our introductions out of the way.

the marshmallows we bought (or at least what was left of them) were in a bowl decorated with spider webs, and josh picked the first movie. he decided we should watch the scream movies, and our limited seating results in me sitting in josh's lap.

i squirm around a little, partially in fear and partially to tease him.

he wraps his arms around me and kisses my neck. "settle down, love."

i shake my head and squirm a little more.

"tyler," he mumbles, his fingers grip my hips a little tighter.

"nnn," i move again.

"youre going to get it later," he whispers.

i bite my lip, but i stop moving.

im excited for just what later entails.

three movies later, everyone is getting drowsy and the snacks are almost gone.

"it was nice meeting you," i shake hands with each of josh's siblings.

"you too. mom and dad will love you," ashley hugs me instead of shaking my hand, and i smile.

i was nervous none of them would like me, so the reassurance is comforting and much-appreciated.

after everyone is gone, josh takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom.

"i-"

"you little tease," he interrupts me and steps forward until the backs of my knees hit the back of the bed and i fall back to lay down. he kisses my neck and i reach up to wrap my hands around his neck.

"joooosh."

"what?"

"stop talking and have sex with me."

-

waking up on the first of november is difficult.

i have absolutely no interest in leaving the warmth of my bed, especially when i hear the rain pattering outside.

josh is still sleeping next to me. my alarm evidently had no effect on him.

i stand and stretch, sighing to myself. i get ready relatively quickly and then make sure jim has food and water before i leave for the bus stop.

my umbrella sheilds me from the rain, which isnt letting up, until the bus arrives and i step on.

i dont have enough in my savings for a car just yet. now that the bills are split, i could probably afford at least the down payment though.

i make a mental note to go to a used car dealership this weekend when the weather is better and get off the bus.

i walk into lemondrop and see alex working in the back by himself, prepping some things before we open.

"hey, alex," i smile at him and he looks over.

"hey, tyler. how are you?"

"wet," i shrug off my coat and hang it on the rack, replacing it with my apron. "this rain is horrible."

"i don't know. i enjoy it," he continues mixing whatever batter he deemed necessary for the work day and i wash my hands.

we make small talk as we get ready to open, and ashley (who i now know apparently shares a name with one of josh's sisters) joins within fifteen minutes before its time to flip the closed sign to open.

the radio plays and i hum, wiping tables to pass the time until customers arrive.

josh, as always, is the first.

"good morning, beautiful."

(an: lookalike by conan grey but the live acoustic version)