Hell's Book of Random One-shots

My Little Latte - Female Barista

It had been around Christmas when I'd first encountered her, taking the orders of patrons for the small coffee shop on the corner.

Darkness had already descended and shops were just over an hour away from closing, I had finished my own shift barely fifteen minutes ago and had plans to meet a friend for a rare catch-up.

They had moved away a couple of years prior and would come back to our small town from time to time, we would always make plans to meet up and give each other updates on life.

Which was the plan for that evening, a present exchange and a chat over some Japanese cuisine but first, I had forty minutes to kill.

Granted, I could have saved myself the hassle and incorporated my breaks into my workday but I preferred to work through and go home a little earlier, something my manager seemed to prefer as well.

A win/win situation.

To waste at least some of this time, I had decided to stop off at the small coffee shop and indulge myself a little bit, mostly to get a little snack to fill just a tiny bit of the gap created over the course of my non-eating during the day.

Upon entering the shop, I hadn't expected to come face to face with the most adorable girl I had ever seen in my life.

Her smile lit up the room and created dimples on her chubby face as she greeted me and asked the usual questions, occasionally glancing to her co-worker to ask if she was putting things in correctly.

Despite not being a giant myself, I found that I had to look down ever so slightly due to her short stature which, combined with her slight chubbiness and off-purple hair, created a being so wholly adorable that my heart almost squeed looking at her.

Watching her laugh and joke with her co-worker was wonderful, she had a sense of humour to match my own and I found myself laughing along, though more to myself as I sat with my back to their counter so I could people-watch through the large window.

That was the night that started my regular visits to the coffee shop.

Over the course of the months I saw her go through a variety of hairstyles and colours, in a variety of moods and picked up on her small quirks, like the habit of playing with her lip ring when she was thinking or how her nose would scrunch up when she found something amusing.

Each time I left the shop after a failed attempt at interaction, I would chastise myself before starting to justify my lack of making a move, even towards friendship, though ultimately ended up right back where I started, feeling more like a stalker than an admirer with a crush.

Sure, we know each other's names now, but there was only so many times I could tell myself that I just needed time before I had to stop and face the facts that I was merely being cowardly and wouldn't know if she was into me unless I went for it.

It had been almost a year and I could still barely muster out a few sentences between making my order and collecting it.

I'd lost count of how many times I had egged myself on to talk to her, only to fall at the last hurdle.

"But you don't know if she sees you that way, she probably think you're some kind of awkward idiot."

'No, but you also won't know if she does if you don't go for it or, you know, talk to her beyond asking how she is.'

I groaned and banged my head on the thick, dark wood counter I was sitting at, waiting for my panini to toast.

"That looked painful."

I let out an involuntary squeak of surprise as I sat up again, trying to cover my embarrassing noise with a clearing of my throat.

"U-Uh, no...no, it was...it was fine," I stammered with a quick nod, "perfectly controlled."

"Oh good," she smiled, tilting her head while putting a hand on her wide hip, "I wouldn't want to have to call an ambulance for a costumer's self-inflicted concussion."

"No, no need," I laughed awkwardly, looking down at my lap, "I don't even have a bump."

"Well that's good news."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

Silence descends upon us and I can feel her staring at me while my eyes had become fascinated with her pink Converse.

"So," she said, drawing the word out, "want to take me out to dinner?"

"Huh?" I asked dumbly, snapping my head up to meet her gaze.

She smiled in amusement, quirking a well plucked eyebrow.

"Come on, like I haven't noticed you gawking."

My mouth hung open, flabbergasted.

No one had ever been that forward with me before, though the months of admiration had taught me that she was confident, maybe even a little overconfident at times.

"I'm free after my shift, if you want to take me out," she continued unphased.

"I...um...y-yeah, yeah sure," I smiled, nodding a little too eagerly.

"Great, so I'll meet you outside the shop in three hours."

She flashed me another charming smile and turned away with an extravagant flip of her hair, marching behind the counter to slip her apron back on now her break was over.

Great, I had three hours to stew in my nervousness to see how I would mess things up.

It'd be fine, absolutely fine.