Getting It Right
(Or 'five times the barista did well enough, and one time she did absolutely perfect'.)
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1.
Scott was running late, but he stopped for coffee anyway. It was a migraine-worthy day already, and he wasn't even at work yet. He deserved a nice cup of coffee.
The redhead behind the counter had intelligent look to her eyes, like she could be doing a whole lot better than barista-ing for work. "What can I get you?"
"Venti caramel macchiato with whole milk and two pumps of hazelnut, please."
"Sure thing." She named his total, and he tipped well. Scott knew his coffee order was obnoxious at best and pretentious at worst, but it was good, and he liked it, so whatever. "It'll be just a minute. Can I get a name?"
"Scott. Thanks," he said. He would've mentioned that hurrying would be nice, but that would probably just end up irritating Lydia the Barista.
The redhead was good at her job though, so Scott got his coffee quickly anyway. "Large caramel macchiato, whole milk, double hazelnut. Thanks, have a nice day," she said.
Scott smiled. "Thanks, Lydia."
She smiled at him again.
Scott arrived fashionably late to work (read: he got yelled at by his boss), but the coffee was good, so everything turned out okay.
2.
It was earlier than normal that Scott decided to get up. He still had another twenty minutes before his alarm was going to ring, so he decided he was going to get coffee. Lydia had done a pretty good job a few days ago, and the coffee from there (what was the coffee shop called again, Argent House Coffee?) was more than a dollar cheaper than at Starbucks, so win-win.
When he got there, a guy with a buzz cut was chatting with Lydia across the counter. Funny, he looked a lot like—
"Hey, Scott! How're things?" It was Stiles, a friend of his who worked on the IT floor of their building
"Hey, man, how're you?"
"You want the regular, Scott?" Lydia asked quickly.
"Sure. Except, would you mind using skim milk this time?"
Lydia nodded, marking his cup and getting started. Stiles mentioned something about getting into work to finish up a project, and left after another minute.
"So," Scott said tentatively, because curiosity killed the cat, "how do you know Stiles?"
"We met online. World of Warcraft, if you'll believe it."
"You're a gamer?"
"Nothing hardcore. Just the occasional MMO. Enjoy your coffee."
"Thanks, Lydia."
The coffee was good, but not quite right just yet. Scott's always been a drink snob though, so he shook off the turn of his mouth and moved on to work.
3.
The next time Scott found himself in Argent House Coffee, he was with his mother on a Saturday morning.
"Hi, Melissa!" Lydia chirped like she and Scott's mom are best friends.
Scott blinked, and turned to his mom. "You guys know each other?"
Melissa McCall smiled back at her. "I come in every morning before work, Scott. Hi, Lydia."
"The usual for both of you?"
"Yep," Scott said, pulling out his wallet. "But can I get three hazelnut and two-percent milk this time?"
Lydia nodded, writing out their orders on their cups.
His mom gave him a suspecting 'is there something between you two?' look, and Scott's eyes widened, not-quite-horrified. He waved his hands and shakes his head in what he hopes is a 'no, no, it's not like that' kind of way.
Ms. McCall just looked at him, frowning slightly.
Lydia came back a minute later with their drinks, and they stayed to chat for a while, then left to go get lunch like they had planned.
All the while, Melissa looked like she was keeping a secret that she found very funny. When Scott asked her, she just waved him away and changed the subject.
The coffee was closer, but he hadn't quite perfected his order yet.
4.
Scott and Stiles walked in, and there were two guys and a blonde girl sitting in their usual seats. They were looking around, all shifty-eyed, like they were nervous.
Stiles ordered their coffees, and Scott decided not to change anything today, because he's not sure he likes the look of the three musketeers over there.
When he asked Lydia in a low voice over the counter, she said something about rival coffee shops and some guy named Derek, so Scott just left it. As long as he got his caffeine fix for the day, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Stiles kept looking at the small group though, and Scott wanted to bug him about it, but there was something in Stiles's gaze that deterred the question.
The coffee was good. Still super close, but not there yet.
5.
When Scott walked in, Lydia wasn't at the counter. It was a girl with dark hair and—and she was beautiful. He wanted to ask her to dinner right there, but he wanted to know her at least a little bit first.
He ordered his coffee, with half-and-half and three pumps of hazelnut, and she smiled as she went to work. There was another minute that almost made Scott ask her, but he reigned in his tongue at the last moment. "Thanks," he said, and left, because if he stayed any longer, he would take her to dinner, and that would inevitably end badly.
Hm. Too much hazelnut.
+1
Lydia was back the next morning, but so was the dark-haired girl.
Scott tried not to stare at her, but apparently, he didn't do too good of a job, because Lydia caught him, looking like she was hatching a plan, and she knew something he didn't. Scott was immediately wary of course.
He ordered his coffee, a venti caramel macchiato with half-and-half and two pumps of hazelnut, and Lydia smiled, writing something on his cup.
When he got his coffee, he stopped short, because that was a written message from Lydia on the side of his cup.
Her name is Allison. She likes you too.
He looked at the message, then helplessly up at Lydia, who was in earnest conversation with...Allison. Over Allison's shoulder, Lydia was eyeing him, shooting ocular-based 'get your butt over here' daggers.
Scott looked at his drink, back at Lydia, and walked over. As he got there, Lydia muttered "Call me," probably to Allison, then sashayed away. Allison's gaze fell on Scott, and something shy, but bright, lit up in her eyes, making them dance.
By the time Scott got to work, he was ten minutes late, and had a date for Friday night with the beautiful Miss Allison Argent, whose parents owned the coffee shop to begin with. And honestly, he could've been an hour late and not cared less.
The coffee was totally worth it, seeing as he had finally gotten his order right.