***

6:37 PM

another loud ding rung from the bell hung over the cafe door, alerting me of an entrance. It usually wasn't this busy, but I guess many people wanted coffee right now for some reason.

I looked down at the next customer in line, a short, young girl, probably 15 or 16. despite her age, her makeup looked amazing.

"hey, what can I get you today?" I spoke with a close-lipped smile, her green orbs scanning the menu above my head before locking onto my gaze.

"Could I get the number 7 with vanilla and could you add some extra caramel and some whipped cream to that?" she asked politely, her American girl doll teeth peeking out as she spoke.

I quickly tapped her order into the tablet "Will that be all for you?"

the strawberry blonde gave me a nod while holding out her phone for Apple Pay as I spun around the tablet for her to tap it "By the way I love your makeup, it's super cute"

my words caused a full smile to rise to her face as she became a little bashful "Thank you so much, I love yours too, your eyeliner is so sharp it looks like it could cut me"

I smiled back at her compliment with a small laugh at her word choice.

***

I had gotten through the line and luckily the orders were simple so I was able to get most of them done pretty quickly on my own. I began to tidy up as usual since my shift was almost over now, once everything was mostly clean I pulled up a stool behind the counter and sat on it, tapping at the little game displayed on my phone screen.

Ding!

My gaze shot up as I quickly stood from the stool and set my phone aside, I prepared the tablet for the order and once my eyes met his, his gaze scattered around before he cleared his throat.

Those same brown eyes.

"It might be a big ask since you're about to close, but do you happen to remember what I got yesterday?" He asked as his gaze landed on me again, he gave a small guilty smile hoping id comply.

"Uhm... the chai tea?.." I dragged out my words a bit unsure of my answer and squinted my eyes at him a bit analyzing his expression to see if I got it right

"Not exactly.. I think it was a chai latte?.." he spoke, the tension from his body relaxing a bit at the fact I didn't just blurt out a rejection.

"Oh! Right, sorry.. busy day, will that be all for you tonight?" A tinge of embarrassment at the fact I was wrong hit me but I typed in the order and gave him a tired smile

"It's fine i understand.. that's all if you don't mind" he responded sheepishly while pulling his wallet out and handing me payment, yet again with a tip larger than others usually give me

"Of course it's all good, I'll have that right out for you- oh, would you like me to put your name on the cup?" We didn't truly put names on the cups in order to save time but I was curious to know, after all this was his second day in a row showing up

He nodded and told me his name before having a seat and typing some things on his phone patiently.

***

Alex.

I wrote the name on the cup with a sharpie before walking over and handing it to him, he gave a grateful smile before standing and thanking me.

I turned to walk back to the front counter but was interrupted causing me to spin on my heel to look at the man

"Hey uh-.. do you happen to be going to that park again after your shift?" He asked sheepishly again, he seemed a little shy at all times for some reason, like he was scared to say a word wrong.

"Maybe, why?" I asked him, curiosity filling my mind as my head tilted slightly in anticipation for his answer

He swallowed hard and hesitated "I was wondering.. if you wanted to go with me? Like.. we go together? Not like in a weird way but just you know-"

A grown man, nervous? What is happening I've never seen this before "of course, that sounds nice, since I'm about to get off in a few minutes if you want to wait here for me while I close up and we can go together" I gave a smile

"Oh, yeah I can do that no problem" he gave me a smile back, the crinkles in the corners of his eyes made his smile look adorable as he sat back down.

I went to the back and began to clean up, a little excited now that I got to walk to the park with a cute guy so I closed up a little quicker than usual.

***