Like it does every 24 hours, the alarm sounded off.
Unlike the usual, expected screech emitted from an alarm clock, a bass-boosted ripple of 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA emanated throughout the room. It was 5:30am. The blue-haired girl stirred in her cosy single bed and stared sleepily at the clock. By the time it had got to the chorus, she had at least managed to sit up (enveloped in her navy-white striped duvet) and stretch. Crawling reluctantly out of bed, she stood up and assessed herself in the mirror. Bronze tanned legs, an oversized t-shirt and short, messy bed hair.
The local café she worked at was a small, friendly and successful business. She had no formal uniform, allowing her to wear her own attire: a white tee with blue sleeves tucked into some distressed denim shorts. Classic black Converse shoes completed her look. The walk from her apartment was short – about 15 minutes. Reaching for the handle on the yellow door, she noticed it was unlocked already; one of her two co-workers was there already. Closing the door behind her, she yelled across the coffee shop a greeting to whoever was there. "Oh, hey Lapis," came an excited reply. The owner of the chipper voice was obvious: Steven, her best friend. He wasn't as tall as Lapis, for she was a couple inches short of 6 foot. He had brown, curly hair - incidentally a similar length to hers. "How are you on this fine morn'," Lapis enthused, somewhat sarcastically - yet genuine. An equally dramatic voice responded, "I, good madam, am absolutely phenomenal. How about you?"
"Same as always – good, just tired," was the bluenette's response.
"Good good. By the way, Jasper is still 'sick', so we'll have to make do without her again," Steven said.
"She's probably just going through another break-up. You know how much of a hopeless romantic she is," she thought aloud whilst donning a dark green apron.
Looking up, Steven retorted: "Like you aren't, Lappy!"
"I am not," she defended, producing a small laugh from Steven. Lapis always had this small-talk and banter whilst she and her co-workers set up for the day. It was one of the reasons why she had such high job satisfaction. Flipping the cute, handmade open/closed sign to 'open', Lapis took a place at the till – which was opposite the front of the shop. The shopfront was mostly window, giving her something to occupy her eyes with. 8am. The morning was always slow – but rife with anticipation as she waited anxiously for a particularly cute regular.
The door opened.
A short girl with similar scruffy hair to Lapis' (except she had soft blonde locks) strolled in. Lapis' heart rate accelerated slightly as she approached the counter. Smirking, she asked the customer a simple question: "The usual?" The blonde nodded, returning the playful smile with a curt, "That'd be good, thanks." Flashing her credit card so that she could pay contactless, the customer sat down in the corner (on the comfiest sofa, of course) which was opposite from the counter and pulled out a laptop from her black backpack.
Steven finished making the americano coffee and almost took it to the girl before stopping and giving it to Lapis with an understanding, encouraging wink. Slightly embarrassed, she delivered the black coffee and the blonde thanked her with an exaggerated smile. Lapis quipped curiously, "Do you even like it black? You never finish it," she inquired with a laugh. The blonde looked up from her screen again with amused, glowing emerald eyes and replied, "Not really, to be honest. Caffeine is caffeine," she concluded. Lapis couldn't help but notice her adorable freckles that spanned across her equally cute nose. "Seeing as you're a regular," Lapis started carefully, "how about I get you something a little more special?" The blonde considered very briefly before deciding to agree, joking about how she'd be living life on the wild side. Witty and sarcastic? If Lapis didn't have a crush on the girl before, she indubitably did now. To be safe, she made a coconut milk latte with hazelnut syrup – her favourite. It was a trusty drink that helped Lapis through many a groggy morning. She produced the drink to the best of her barista abilities and enthusiastically gave the cutie the sweeter, tastier beverage. Gratitude was painted across the smaller girl's face, which became rosy as she fervently thanked the barista. "I'll make this up to you," she insisted as Lapis was happily walking away. Looking back, she smiled and simply said, "Sure." She tried to play it off and act cool, but she could already feel the warmth of her blushing cheeks.
After quickly informing Steven on what had happened, she retreated to the storeroom in the back to quickly fangirl about her smooth conversation with her crush! Containing her excitement, she returned to the till. Occasionally, she gingerly made eye contact with the blonde, making her have the cutest, most suggestive smirk ever – especially when Lapis looked away in embarrassment. She eventually closed her laptop, having done a few hours of work, and left the quaint café. As she walked past the large window on the front, she turned and winked to Lapis. Her heart skipped a beat or five. The anticipation to see her again returned. 13:00pm.