AN: I literally only wrote this bc there's no Bellow Diamond coffee shop au? Every pairing needs that au so I'm stepping in. I'll probably add more but I can't promise my updates will be regular...
but anyway, I hope it's not too bad!
Rain poured down the windows of a dim coffee shop, the only light coming from behind the counter as a woman cleaned mugs, her eyes blinking slowly as she tried to stay awake. Waking up at 6am to get early to a shift that starts at 8am would be tough for anyone, let alone a university law student with studying on her mind 24/7. Putting the mug she had been cleaning down she looked over the shelf of other freshly cleaned cups, satisfied with her work and glad to know she would have the chance to relax before the shop opened, though being a perfectionist made Yellow on edge at all times feeling there was more to do.
Yellow had only had this job for a little over a month but she was already tired of it and bored with the mundanity of cleaning cups and pouring coffee for the sake of a few spare pennies. She had known going in this job was far from glamourous but somehow she hadn't anticipated it being as dull as it was, especially as she was currently alone in the main shop while her manager was outback sorting through papers or whatever else he normally wasted his time with. The only benefit to her job was the fact that it was right outside her flat and down the street from her university campus, making her life much easier since she wasn't one to enjoy long distance travel and hassle. Pushing back the hair from her face, Yellow stepped away from her counter and went to the employee toilets to clean her hands before starting her shift in ten minutes. While there Yellow looked into the mirror, her eyes scanning over her pale face. No makeup was ever present on her, brown eyes and blonde hair cut short and styled upwards, Yellow was never one for practicing femininity outside of the occasional high heeled boots for the sake of adding some height. Yellow liked being tall as she came in at 6'0 and an extra few inches from a pair of heels was welcomed in Yellow's eyes, her height giving her a sense of importance. Once her hands were cleaned Yellow took a seat behind the counter and waited for whoever the first customer would be for the morning. Her manager, Matthew, came out from his office to unlock the doors and nodded at Yellow,
"Ready for another day, kiddo?" He asked, far too preppy for 8am and put together with slicked back hair and his button up shirt adorned with a tie that was too long for him. Yellow hid a grimace from his little nick-name he had taken to calling her.
"Ready as usual. I'm guessing Amethyst called in ill again?" Matthew only nodded, sighing.
"I should really look for a replacement for her... one more sick day and she'll have to go," Matthew cleared his throat, "anyway, Yellow, as per usual just pop to my office if there's any trouble. See you later," with that he was gone once more.
Yellow couldn't say she was angry at the thought of handling the shop on her own since they never had many customers, though knowing her co-worker was so unreliable made her shudder at the thought of handling a busy full day without help. Maybe she should try actually talking to her for once instead of ignoring her outside of work hours and see if she could ask why she was off ill so often. Was she just pulling a lie for the sake of laziness or did she have another reason? Or was she really that sickly? Yellow wouldn't put it past her, her co-worker was only 18 compared to Yellow being 21, so if she had to guess she say that perhaps the girl was just irresponsible and not ready for work, though how she got the job in the first place was beyond Yellow's understanding. Matthew was far too forgiving towards the girl and Yellow was willing to guess the only reason she was still around was that they may be related. Yellow shook her head free of any thoughts about it as the bell above the door rang, signalling a customer. Looking up at the clock Yellow realised she had been deeper in thought than she had realised as she had spent ten minutes pondering the life of her co-worker outside of the workplace. Looking up at the person at the door Yellow was almost taken aback by the woman who was stood there. Yellow had seen her before around her University campus, her deeply tanned skin and long, dark hair had always caught Yellow's eye for some reason, though in this moment the woman was dishevelled and drenched from the rain outside. The woman approached the counter and smiled sheepishly at Yellow,
"Hey, sorry for tracking in water. Are you guys serving hot drinks yet?" Her voice was soft, a slight hint of an Irish accent surprising Yellow. She'd never met an Irish person, or anyone from the UK for that matter.
"Yeah, we just opened up shop for today. What can I get you?" Yellow was far too tired from her late night of studying to be in her full customer service mode at this moment, so she hopped her tiredness wasn't coming through in her voice. The woman smiled and slipped her bag off of her shoulders, reaching for a purse inside,
"Just a black coffee, please," she paused to look up at the menu, "do you serve food here?" Yellow mentally kicked herself,
"Oh, uh, yeah we do, but uh," Yellow looked behind her at the menu board where the food options should of been, if Yellow had remembered to put it up. She knew she had something more to do!
"It's okay if you can't at the moment!" The woman reassured her, Yellow must of been red in the face at doing something wrong. Yellow just shook her head and went to grab the board from the back closet.
"No, I'm sorry its my fault, I forgot to put up the board with the food options on it. I'll be right back!" Yellow quickly ran through the closet door and signed deeply, embarrassed by her mistake. So much for first impressions with the mysterious woman. Yellow had been somewhat fascinated by the woman ever since she began noticing her around campus, but she had never figured out what classes she took or even how often she came to University, only popping up randomly. This was the only time she may of had to actually strike up conversation and now she had already made a mistake. Yellow knew she wasn't the most easily sociable of people but for some reason Yellow wanted to try talking with the woman and she was already too awkward for it.
Grabbing the menu and walking out to see the woman stood where she had been when Yellow left, Yellow hung up the menu and cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry about that, early mornings seem to be getting to me, haha..." Yellow gave a half hearted laugh.
The woman smiled at her, "it's okay, honestly, I'm the same. If I didn't have class I wouldn't even be awake right now." She looked up at the menu, "Oh and would it possible for me to get a blueberry muffin with my coffee please?" Yellow nodded as she began brewing the coffee. While it brewed Yellow grabbed a muffin from the fridge and looked over to the dark haired woman. Now that Yellow was up close to her she noticed that looked how Yellow felt, dark circles under her eyes. Her clothes that were still damp were simple, a dark blue turtleneck with a black pencil skirt, black tights and loafers. Simple, but elegant, much how Yellow would of assumed the woman would dress.
mTrying to think of conversation topics Yellow went with the first thing she thought of. Placing her muffin on a plate Yellow looked up to her,
"So, what class was it that pulled you out of bed?" She asked, happy she had a conversation topic at all. The woman looked startled by the question as of she had been spaced out while waiting,
"Oh, I'm working on an art and design degree. I'm hopping to take it into interior decorating." She smiled at Yellow as she poured the hot water into her coffee, "at first I thought I would go into fashion design but something about decorating spaces that people would spend their time in seemed more appealing to me." Yellow smiled back at her while stirring the coffee in her hands. She wouldn't of thought the art students would be in the same campus as the law students, thought that being said it wasn't like Yellow had ever been curious enough to look around. The art field suited this lady though, she looked like someone who would have refined taste.
"Do you go to the campus down the street? That's where I study law," Yellow hopped she wasn't coming off as strange by asking, though Yellow already knew she did go there.
"No," Yellow did a double take to the woman's face, "I go to Lakeside Campus, the one a bit further down the other way. I wouldn't of thought any art subjects would be taught at your campus," Yellow paused, confused as she served the coffee. If she didn't go to that campus why would she be here? Did she not say she has a class? Yellow shook herself, remembering she hadn't given the woman her total yet.
"Oh, I just figured since you're here you'd have class close by. That'll be $4.99, by the way," the woman brought put the money in Yellow's hand. As Yellow went to reach for her change the woman stopped her,
"No keep the change for yourself as a thanks for talking to me and a sorry for the trouble before," she reached for her coffee and muffin and Yellow couldn't help but admire the way her cheeks were still flushed from the cold outside. The dim lighting from the shops lack of lighting in the winter morning didn't stifle her appearance, if anything only serving to give her a soft glow.
"Thank you! I hope you enjoy your coffee," Yellow smiled properly for the first time that morning and the woman giggled slightly,
"Don't worry about it. My name is Blue by the way. I'm guessing yours is Yellow from your tag?" She said, glancing at Yellow's chest where her name tag was,
"Yeah, my name's Yellow, nice to meet you," Blue took a sip of the coffee and shuffled her feet a little, almost unsure of what else to say but wanting to keep talking,
"I like that. It's a nice name," Blue said. Yellow, not realising the second part of what Blue had said, grinned,
"I'll make you another one sometime soon maybe?" the moment she said it her mind registered what happened and Yellow's face turned red again at her second mistake of this interaction. Looking down and blushing hard, Yellow tried to hide the redness of her face when she realised Blue was laughing. She had such a cute laugh, light and airy, and Yellow suddenly felt better despite still thinking of herself as foolish.
"Sure, Yellow, I'll be sure to stop by another time. Thank you for the coffee," Blue said as she turned to leave, her hair floating almost magically behind her.
"Uh, okay! See you around!" Blue smiled, waved before leaving and left Yellow unsure of how to feel. Did she mess it up? Was Blue now going to avoid the shop because of Yellow's mistakes? Was Yellow going to have to move towns? Was-
Yellow's worrying was interrupted by a noise coming from the back, turning around she saw Matthew standing at the doorway. The smile on his face was enough for Yellow to know he must of seen Yellow's... unfortunate attempt at flirting. Probably through the security cameras.
"So..." Matthew started, "is that the girl you said you keep seeing around your Uni?" Yellow scowled at him. She liked Matthew, but god he was nosey sometimes.
"Yes, that was her. You really don't have to say anything, I know it wasn't great."
"Kiddo, you're fine, trust me. She l wasn't laughing at you in a cruel way, I'm sure she's gonna come back at some point," Matthew patted Yellow on the back, his smile bringing out the wrinkles around his eyes. Matthew's words actually manged to make Yellow feel a bit better even if she was still feeling like a dimwit.
"Thanks, Mat. If you don't mind I'm just going to continue my work and try not to make a fool of myself." Matthew nodded and returned to his office, giving a silly salute before closing the door. Yellow looked back to the door where Blue had just walked out, hopping she would come back soon so she could at least attempt to redeem herself from her blunders.