coffee // joshler

38

tyler's point of view

at home that sunday, im sitting in bed, scrolling through my work emails on my laptop.

"hows it going, love?" josh walks into the room with two cans of red-bull and homemade tacos.

"im waiting for a call or email about catering a wedding, so that's exciting," i tell him, setting my computer aside to eat with him. "thank you for cooking."

"no problem, babe," he smiles a little and takes a bite of his food. "we probably shouldn't eat in bed, but i trust that we wont make too big of a mess."

as he says that, a piece of cheese falls out of my taco shell. "you spoke too soon."

-

the next day, jenna is switching out pastries in the display up front and ryan cleans and preps the beverage machines.

"i want to go home," i frown and wipe my hands on my apron.

"you okay, boss?" jenna squeezes my shoulder.

"tired," i take a breath and pull on a smile when a few customers walk in. "hi, welcome to lemondrop. how can we help you?"

the girl places her order and then sits down while ryan prepares it. its on her table within a minute or two, and by then several other customers have entered.

we serve them promptly, but by lunch time, the cafe is full and there are even people sitting at the outside patio tables.

"why are we so busy today?" jenna asks, carrying a tray of pastries to the front of the store.

"not sure," i shrug and wipe off the cappuccino machine.

"students are about to have midterms," ryan adds, "maybe thats why."

the day carries on with a mildly busy customer flow, but i have confidence in my employees to handle it, so i head to the back, looking through my emails again before deciding to give up for the day and play with a recipe ive been developing.

by closing time, ive almost perfected it, which makes me smile.

josh is waiting for me outside when i step out and lock the doors.

"hey, hun," he smiles brightly when he sees me, my helmet waiting in his hand.

i walk towards him and kiss his cheek. "hi," i take my helmet from him and strap it on before sitting down behind him.

we ride in comfortable silence until we get home where jim is waiting for us.

"hi, buddy," i squat down to pet him and he licks my face. i stand up again and shrug my jacket off. "how was work?"

"exciting actually. i had another meeting, and theres a conference in florida. i have an all expenses paid business trip in february. they said you could come," he steps forward and takes my hands in his.

"really?"

"yeah," he kisses me softly. "itd be fun. we can go to disney one day, see the beach, makeout in the hotel room," he presses another soft kiss to my neck.

"shut up," i feel my cheeks warm and he pulls away.

"what?" he laughs a little and i smile.

"i love you," is all i answer with.

"i love you too."

-

i take the day off on wednesday, and josh and i go to a used car dealership to look at possible vehicles for me.

we walk around the lot hand in hand, looking around. we find a decent car in my price range and josh finds someone who actually works at the establishment for us to talk to.

i pay the down payment and we figure out all the paperwork within forty-five minutes or so. by the time we actually leave, me in my small black car and josh on his motorcycle, we're both starving.

josh parks his motorcycle at our apartment complex and gets into the passenger seat of my car instead. "lunch. what're we having?"

"i dont care. what do you want?" i ask, pulling back out of the lot.

"i dont care either," he drums his fingers on his knee. "its weird not driving though. i dont know what to do with my hands."

i laugh a little at his statement and pull into a stall at sonic, hoping he's okay with the choice. "what do you want to eat, weirdo?"

"aw, get me some tator tots," he sits up a little, leaning forward to look at the menu. "tator tots and a blt? man, i just love tator tots."

i press the red button and place our order, leaving my window rolled down until someone comes to give us our food.

"hell yeah," josh takes his food from my hands and shoves a few tator tots into his mouth, "i havent had these in forever."

i shake my head and start eating my food. however, on my second bite, a bit of ketchup spills out and onto my shirt.

"are you kidding me?" i sigh and josh laughs a little.

"its like our first date all over again," he hands me a napkin and i shake my head.

"no, you made a mess that time too," i reply, attempting to get as much ketchup off of me as possible.

"tyler, can i tell you a secret?"

"well, of course," i crumple up the napkin and look at him.

"i did that on purpose."

"what?" i sit up a little straighter and he nods.

"i did it on purpose so you wouldnt be as embarrassed," he admits, a small smile on his face.

i feel my cheeks warm and my heart melt. "well, thanks, i guess."

"id ruin a good shirt for you anyday," he winks at me and my cheeks burn brighter.

"shut up."

(an: omg i had sonic for dinner last night what a coincidence)