'Kav, you need to understand. I'm not a barista, babes,' Malini mumbled as she stood there fiddling with an apron that her friend had given her. 

Malini Jayadev is your cheerful girl next door, a fine arts student in her third year, and not a barista.

"Mal, once, just once, you can take that pastry as a treat? I finally got time to go out with my man, as his project is finally done. Please, pretty please?!" Kavya asked making Malini sigh. 

Kavya Manohar is the actual part-time barista.

"2 pastries," Malini answered holding up 2 fingers making the girl nod. 

"deal."

"Dude, I don't drink coffee or tea, you all know that!" Shubman muttered exhausted. 

Shubman Gill, the heartthrob of the nation, got his heart broken twice, and both times, within a week, in the past 2 years, did not like drinks. well except milk, wine and alcohol.

"Oh, we know. Just because you don't like coffee—" Hardik spoke, but Ishan interfered. "Or tea!"

"Or tea" Hardik pointed out. "Doesn't mean we can't have our doze of caffeine. Now come on."

"Whatever," Shubman grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets, and following the boys inside. 

The bell chimed as the door opened and they made their way to a corner window side table.  Virat, KL Rahul, and Rohit sat on one side, whereas Ishan, Shubman, Shreyas and Hardik sat on the other side. 

Shubman was scrolling through his mobile when he heard footsteps approaching. He didn't think much but just heard a girl asking for their orders and he could hear the slight scratching of her pencil on the notepad.

But then he felt her tap the pencil on his shoulder making him glance up, and his mouth just went dry. God, she looks so gorgeous.

"What would you like to have?" she asked and he could swear, his heart did a backflip and bounced off his chest making it absolutely difficult for him to speak.

"Oh he doesn't —" Virat chimed in, but taking everyone by surprise, including himself, he spoke. 

"An Espresso. I'll take that. Thank you," he answered before he could even stop himself.

He could feel all the eyes on him, but his eyes were on her as she noted his order down. 

"I'll have all your orders ready by in, umm, 20 minutes?" She muttered confused herself.

"You don't seem sure about yourself," Rahul spoke. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, it's just, I don't work here. My friend does. She actually has a date right now, so she had asked me to take up her shift. Promised me 2 pastries. Didn't have the heart to say no especially when she was going on a date with her boyfriend after a long time," Malini spoke.

"That's really kind of you -" Rohit trailed off not knowing her name. "Malini. Malini Jayadev."

"That's a gorgeous name, Malini," Shubman spoke up again, her name rolling off his tongue like a melody. 

He saw her cheeks flush a tinted shade of pink, as she gave him a small smile before walking away to prepare their orders.

Shubman instinctively turned his head to look at her and noticed her working on their orders,  but before he could just daydream, he was brought back to reality by his friends.

"DUDE!?" Shreyas whisper yelled hitting his head.

"Are you okay? Are you sick?" Ishan rambled placing his hand on Shubman's forehead to check if he was heating up. 

"What's wrong with you guys?" He mumbled.

"You just ordered an Espresso, like you have been doing every day! What the actual hell?!" Virat spoke. 

"Oh no, it's going to rain now. What is going on with our prodigy?" Rohit muttered running his hand through his hair.

"Okay maybe I just didn't really want to see her sad," he shrugged. 

"Didn't want to see her sad? Are you even hearing yourself right now? Like dude? Which barista, or even in Malini's condition, gets sad if you say 'No Thanks' when they ask for your order? You've been doing that your whole life, dodging coffees like bullets," Hardik answered.

"Guys, Shubman's down bad for Malini," Ishan muttered placing his hands on his cheeks, making the boys erupt in laughter and hoots.

"So real! No way he'd just order something random without falling for someone!" Rahul pointed out.

"Guys! What the actual—" But before Shubman could finish the sentence, and put an end to the ruckus, she came back with their orders.

"Here are your orders," she smiled placing all their coffees in front of them, and the boys could practically see Shubman's eyes soften so much, and he had never done that before.

"Your Espresso," Malini spoke pulling Shubman out of his trance. 

"Oh? Um yeah, yes, thank you MJ" He mumbled making her look at him for a while before flashing a smile and walking away.

"MJ, huh?" Ishan snickered taking a sip of his hot coffee, just to keep the cup back on the table. 

"Shit, it's so hot," he mumbled, trying to figure out how to cool his hurt tongue.

"Shubman's down bad crying at the gym for Malini" Shreyas and KL Rahul sang in unison, their voices teasingly high-pitched, making Shubman groan and bury his face in his hands.

"Y'all are wild," Shubman mumbled, but the corners of his lips were lifting into a reluctant smile.

Later the cafe had quieted down, and practically everyone had left, well, except the boys. They were still there, chatting and laughing, and Shubman in the meantime was sneaking glances at Malini who had now removed the apron and her messy bun, making his breath hitch.

Before he could stop himself, his feet worked automatically, taking him towards the counter. The boys, of course, had stopped whatever they were doing and turned to see what Shubman was doing.

"Bet you 20 rupees he'd either get her Instagram ID or phone number," Ishan whispered. "Why 20 though?" Shreyas questioned. "I want Lays chips."

"Hey um, Malini?"  Shubman called out. He was usually confident, and smooth, but something about her made him fumble with his words. 

"Hey," She spoke, her voice barely a whisper as she brushed away a strand of hair from her face. "What's up?"

"I, um, god, I'm usually not like this. I, I just thought, like, if you don't mind, would it be okay, if I got your insta and phone number?" he stuttered.

"My Insta and Phone number?" she asked tilting her head. "What's so special about me that you need both?"

"You are special, and I genuinely want to get to know you," He answered softly, and he could see her smile. 

"That's sweet. Sure I'll give the ID and number," she spoke pulling out a sticky note and writing it onto it, and playfully sticking it onto his jacket. 

"There. Feel free to text," Malini smiled. He then saw her grab 2 cupcakes and place them into a box, but when she noticed him looking, she held out a vanilla-flavoured cupcake towards him, and he took it mumbling a thank you. 

"Anyway, I gotta go. It was nice meeting you, Shubman. Have a good night," She smiled before leaving.

After she left he turned to face his friends who were looking at him. They saw the sticky note stuck on his jacket, and a cupcake in his hand, with a goofy grin on his face.

"I think I'm in love."

soup rants!

- hello everyone!

- I hope you guys are having a great day so far, and I also hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

- they're so cute, me when? 😔☝️

- also comments on the chapter?

- i hope you guys liked this one!

- with lots of love, supraja 🫶