a dumb cafe au bc why not. also this is so long omg i didn't realize my attention span lasted that long to write this. also dan is gone (thank god pedophile ass)? chenry could possibly happen season 5 #excited. also cursing in here so if u don't like it don't read i never know how to rate stuff lol. cursing is minimal though even though it's the second word in the story. rate and review! i love constructive criticism!
The fucking register wasn't working again.
Charlotte Bolton-Page slapped the side of the vintage thing picked up from some thrift shop, regretting it soon after a sting settled in her hand. She glanced at the customer, plastering a fake smile on her face. "Sorry. The register gets stuck sometimes." She then remembered the trick her co-worker and best friend, Jasper showed her. Jiggle the handle, tip it over a little bit… Ta-da! She threw her hands up in triumph, a real smile growing on her face as she gave the customer his change.
"Have a nice day!" she called out, turning around and wiping her hands on her apron. Swell Cafe was usually empty around this time, and today was no exceptions. There were 3 people in there: two college students studying and an older woman reading. Charlotte turned toward Jasper to find him struggling through making a latte. She rolled her eyes, walking toward him.
"Wow, it's like you haven't worked here for two months." She grabbed the cup from out of his hand.
"Not everyone could be as perfect as you, Char," he teased, leaning close to her. She giggled, playfully shoving him from in front of the machine. "See," she handed him the finished cup, "easy."
Jasper grinned and grabbed it. "Welp, imma get going. Have fun." He winked and strolled out the door; the only reminder of him being there was the tinkle of the bell. She sighed, surveying the café. The old lady was the only one there now, still hunched over her book eating one of their famous Danishes. Charlotte pulled out a book and began to read.
Charlotte made it to the fourth chapter before she heard someone clearing their throat. She looked up and quickly bookmarked her page, sheepishly smiling at the boy in front of her.
"Sorry. May I take your order?" she smiled. He smiled back, and Charlotte became painfully aware at this moment that this guy was capital H Hot. He had messy blonde hair that made it look like he just woke up from a nap and perched on the bridge of his nose were black rimmed glasses. Charlotte realized she was staring, and that she should stop staring.
"Hey, are you even listening?" A squeaky voice from next to him yelled. Charlotte winced, looking down to see a girl who looked about 12.
"Sorry. What can I get you?"
The girl rolled her eyes and placed her order. She then said her name (Piper) and stomped over to one of the couches, pulling out her phone and texting vigorously.
"Sorry about her," the boy said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. The motion caused her to get a very close-up view of his very muscular arms. Thank god she's dark-skin.
"It's no big deal. Is that your little sister?" Was that too personal? She's only spoken two sentences to the guy and already asking questions about his family.
"Yeah. Piper's a handful." Okay, so maybe it wasn't that personal. Why is she making such a big deal? Sure, he's really hot, but it's not like she's ever going to see him after this. He looked her age. Did they go to the same school? No, Charlotte definitely would've noticed him.
"I can relate. My little brother is super annoying too." Charlotte smiled and turned around to start making the drink. After she was done, she called turned back to around, to realize the guy was still standing at the counter. He was leaning lazily on the counter and his eyes were angled down. He immediately straightened up when she turned around and a slight guilty look settled on his blushing face. She was kind-of confused, but choose to ignore it in favor of calling out Piper's name.
Piper stomped up to the counter and grabbed the drink out of Charlotte's hand. "Thanks," she said, already half way out the door.
"Piper!" Her brother yelled at her. He started to dig around in his pocket, pulling out a couple crumpled bills.
"You don't have to pay," Charlotte quickly said.
He frowned. "Yes, I do. How much was it?"
She shook her head. "No, for real, it's fine. On the house. First time customer special? Plus, you seem to have a lot of your hands with Piper."
"Thanks. See you around?" He waved his hand while turning around.
"I'll be here!" she shouted at him; the only response she received was the sound of the bell on the door. She cringed, burrowing her head in her hands. "God, you're so fucking stupid."
Jasper was sick and left Charlotte alone. The shop was empty, and she didn't have any work to do. So, she was scrolling endlessly through her Instagram feed, debating on whether to delete it because it wasn't in chronological order.
Ring. She looked up at the sound of the bell and was pleasantly surprised. It the really hot guy from a couple days before. She smiled. "Hey. What can I get you?"
"Black coffee," he winked. Oh god. Did he really just say that? This is why she didn't mess with white boys. God.
Maybe he wasn't flirting with her? No, he definitely was. He winked and had a smirk on his face. His glasses were gone now, and his hair was done. He licked his lips. Nope. Definitely flirting.
She quickly made his coffee, sliding it in front of him. He didn't look that attractive now that she thought about it. Black coffee? Why did he think that was a good idea?
"Hey, I'm Henry, by the way." He leaned onto the counter, trying to look suave but failing.
"Okay. That's cool," Charlotte said, turning back around and started to wipe down the counter to make herself look busy. She usually disliked when the shop was really busy, but right now she was praying for it.
"What's yours?" Do men not know how to take a hint?
"Charlotte." She had considered lying, but her nametag says Charlotte on it.
"That's a pretty name for a pretty lady. How long have you worked here?"
Maybe if she ignored him he would go away? No, that would probably just get her fired and she needed this job. Maybe just keep the answers short? "3 months," she answered in the most uninterested voice she could muster.
He was quiet for a second. "Did… Did I do something? Was it the coffee? I'm sorry. I asked my boss what a good pick-up line and he would be said that was it. That was stupid, right? I'm sorry. Oh my god, was it racist too? Shit, I'm really sorry. I swear I'm not a racist."
"That's what a racist would say."
"No, but like, I know that! I try not to be racist. I don't say the n-word. I'm sorry, fuck. I'll just go."
She giggled. He stopped his sulking at the sound and looked up brightly. "It's alright, white boy. Just don't say stuff like that no more, okay?"
He looked relieved. "Promise." Charlotte thinks his smile could light up the world.
Henry was here again, and Charlotte looked a mess.
She had slept the whole day and woken up really late. She grabbed the first thing she could find to put on, which happened to be her younger brother's I 3 LARP tee. The apron, unfortunately, didn't cover it up because it was on the back.
She was bent down on her hands and knees grabbing more cups from under the counter when he entered.
"I LOVE LARP? Really? Didn't take you for the type."
She jumped, bumping her head on the cabinet. "Ow," she murmured quickly standing up. "It's my brother's shirt. I was running late to work and threw on the first thing I saw." For further clarification she added, "I don't LARP."
"I do."
She arched an eyebrow. "Really."
"Yep," he stated proudly. "As Kid Danger and Captain Man."
A frown creased on her forehead. "Is that a thing? My brother loves them, and he's never done that."
"It's exclusive."
"Exclusive?"
"Yep, exclusive. Only my boss and I do it." He sat down at one of the couches
"I'm confused. You and your boss roleplay as Captain Man and Kid Danger? Where do you even do this at? Why?" She turned around and started making herself a drink.
"It's fun. The shop usually doesn't get much business, so it's something to do to pass time."
She finished, and she started both started walking over to the couches. Suddenly, Charlotte tripped over her shoelace. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the fall that never came. Peeking out of one eye, she realized she was in Henry's arms, one hand supporting her waist and the other holding her coffee.
She blinked. "Thank you-"
He grinned. "No problem."
"-But, how did you get here so fast? You were over there, and I was over here? And how did you catch my coffee?"
Oh shit. She really got him there. His eyes widened, and he took a couple steps away from her. "What? I have good reflexes. I'm fast." His watch started beeping and he looked down at it relieved. "Hey, I've got to go. But your welcome again for basically saving your life and coffee."
That was weird. Another customer came in just as Henry was leaving, and Charlotte returned to her post, wondering what the hell just happened.
"Char, I need help! The register won't work," Jasper called out from behind the counter.
Charlotte rolled her eyes and set the rag down on the table she had been cleaning. "You're the one that showed me how to get it open," she said while jiggling the handle.
"Yeah, but you do it better than me now."
"I'm better than you at a lot of things." He chuckled and nudged her out of the way, giving the money to the customer. Charlotte leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. Sleep was limited this week because of early morning cross-country practices (already), summer tutoring, and working. She must've passed out on his shoulder because the next time she opened her eyes Henry was standing there.
Henry's been visiting the café almost every other day for the past two weeks. Turns out they do go the same school but have no classes together because Charlotte's in L.I.M.P., and summer break had just started.
("Oh, you're in LIMP?"
"It's not pronounced LIMP!")
She smiled sleepily at him, lifting her head off of Jasper's shoulder. "Hey Henry. Enjoying your summer?"
He looked agitated. "Yeah. Can I get an expresso?"
Damn. What crawled up his butt and died? "Sure," she hesitated. Should she ask him what's wrong? Was that too personal? They had gotten closer, and Charlotte would be lying if she said she didn't have a tiny crush on him. The thing about Henry, however, is that he's constantly flirting with other girls. She doesn't think he even notices. It's a part of his charm, she thinks. It's okay, though. She wasn't surprised. Henry was way out her league anyway. Plus, senior year was coming up and she needed to focus on school, so she could go to a good college.
"Hey, you doing okay? You seem a bit mad," she asked while making his coffee.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He went back to his phone, blatantly ignoring her. It pissed her off a little, but in the name not making a scene she kept a cool head.
"Here," she said while sliding the drink across the counter to him. He grunted in reply and slapped $5 on the counter, pivoting on his heel. She frowned.
"That's Henry?" Jasper questioned, standing behind Charlotte.
"Yeah, but he usually doesn't act like that," she leaned back into his chest.
He sucked his teeth. "This is why I told you not to fuck with white boys."
"You're white."
"But gay. Big difference."
She shrugged. "You right."
Henry hasn't been in the shop for 2 weeks and 3 days.
Not that Charlotte was counting.
The shop has been boring. Jasper went to some bucket convention in New York, leaving Charlotte alone. The café had been pretty busy, but today it was raining, which she wasn't expecting. Her hair that she had spent hours detangling, moisturizing, and twisting had been ruined. It was up in a messy bun on top of her head.
The door chimed, and she looked up. Henry stood there, drenched in water. He seemed to be out of breath, for he was panting. Charlotte raised an eyebrow and scanned his body. His wet clothes clung to his body and she could see the faint outline of his abs. Was it hot in here? Maybe she should turn the AC on.
She quickly averted her eyes, instead opting on looking at the register.
"How may I help you today?" Her voice was clipped. She was kind of annoying he hasn't visited her, especially considering he's doing nothing all summer except for working at the thrift store. She thinks it's called Junk N' Stuff. She's walked past it a couple times, but the only thing she knows about it is that the owner is hot.
"Black coffee?" She looked up at him incredulously. He had a small smile on his face.
"Seriously?"
"Look, I'm sorry for being rude last time I came in here. And I'm sorry for not coming in."
She sighed. "It's fine. You're probably busy anyway."
He sat down at a nearby table. "Not really. Just the job I have."
She sat across from him, putting the coffee in front of him. "What do you do at that job anyway?"
He was tense for a second, and she saw a brief flash of panic pass through his face. It was gone as quickly as it came. "Nothing much. Work the cash register and straighten shit up, I guess."
"Seems interesting. Maybe I could visit you there one day."
He shook his head violently. "No, no, no. You wouldn't want to do that," he chuckled nervously. "It's pretty boring. Nobody ever comes in. Plus, all the stuff their sucks."
As an afterthought he added, "And it smells. Like worms."
She squinted. "Worms?"
"Yeah. Worms."
"Okay? If you didn't want me to come, all you had to say was no." She was a bit hurt he didn't want her to visit him, but it made her even more curious about his job. If it was as boring as he said it was, why couldn't she come there?
"I'm sorry. It's just, yeah. Um, anyway," he started, desperately attempting to change the subject, "how's your boyfriend?"
Charlotte's eyes widened. "Boyfriend?! What boyfriend?"
He blinked. "The guy you were all over the last time I was in here? I think he works here with you?"
She wasn't 'all over' a guy last time he was in here. The only person she talks to that works here is Jasper—oh. He thinks Jasper is her boyfriend.
She started laughing. A lot. Uncontrollably. "You think," she said between chuckles, "Jasper is my boyfriend?"
He was blushing now and look confused. "Yeah? You were leaning on him."
"Dude, Jasper is hella gay."
"Oh."
"Oh," she mocked.
"It's literally not my fault for thinking that."
"Okay. I don't understand why you didn't just ask."
"I didn't want it to be awkward."
"Why would it be awkward? You're not homophobic, are you?"
"No! I'm bi!"
"Oh, cool. I'm pan," she revealed.
His watch started beeping. He looked at it and groaned. "I gotta go."
"Okay, I'll see you around?" She asked hesitantly.
"Definitely. I won't ghost you no more. Bye!"
"Bye." He was out the door by the time she said it. Why was his watch beeping like crazy again? She'd noticed it before, and it was a lot clunkier than usual watches. Henry was an enigma, and she was going to figure him out.
Swellview was a small, quaint city. It had two high schools, one hospital, and was situated on the west coast. It had its flaws, like stupid laws that made it illegal to eat ice cream on a cone or wear two hats at once. Oh, it also had a ridiculously large number of super villains and its own team of superhero's, Captain Man and Kid Danger.
She was a fan of them, everyone was. They've saved the city multiple times. Charlotte's had the pleasure of meeting them once when she came across them stuck in a hole. She saved them, and they had thanked her by kindly asking her to forget about the whole situation. Well, at least Captain Man did. It was apparently embarrassing to be saved by a little girl. Kid Danger seemed appalled and then proceeded to lowkey flirt with her.
She didn't tell anyone about it, not even Jasper. Mostly because Jasper has a huge ass crush on both Kid Danger and Captain Man and practically idolizes them. She didn't want to ruin their image for him. She did make sure to stay out of trouble, so she wouldn't have to see them again, though right now she really wishes they would make a sudden appearance.
It was a sunny day and the café was unusually busy. Jasper had a doctor's appointment and left early, leaving Charlotte and another co-worker to deal with the rush of customers. She quickly scribbled the name Jeff onto the cup and called out his name.
"Here." A big guy came up to the counter, and shit. That was the guy she had to throw DVD's at in order to save Captain Man and Kid Danger. "Remember me?"
He pulled out a laser, zapping the coffee out her hand. She screamed and the café around her went into chaos. Her co-worker (Sidney was their name, she was pretty sure) screamed louder than anyone right into her ear, making her cringe. "God, can you not?" She glowered at them, before returning her attention to the real problem.
"Hey, Jeff, right? I'm really sorry about what happened at the DVD store. Why don't we just forget about it? I'll throw in a free coffee," she offered with both hands up in surrender.
He seemed to think about it for a second, before snapping out of it and shooting the laser above her head. "No! You made me spend a month in prison! Man, do you know how hard it is in there? The toilets are all dirty!"
She glanced around the café while he ranted about how horrible prison was. Charlotte prayed that someone was calling Captain Man and Kid Danger. Everyone had either ran out the door or were crouched underneath tables.
"Hey, are you even listening?" She looked back toward him. His face was an ugly shade of red and spit was flying out of his mouth with every word he said. "Please listen. I spent a while thinking about what I'm gonna do to ya'".
She raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?" She realized she should probably shut up because, hello, trigger happy crazy guy waving around a laser gun. Honestly? She couldn't give two fucks right now. She didn't take him seriously at all. She had taken him down with DVD's for goodness sake.
He straightened up, a smirk blooming on his face. "First, I thought, 'Hey, why don't I just kill her', but then thought that would be too easy for you," he leaned in closer to her, a sick leer on his face. She shrunk back. "I gotta make ya' suffer. So, I'm not gonna tell you what I'm going to do with you."
He leaned back, looking proud of himself. "First, I want all your money. And all the cake and cookies. Oh my god, is that a Danish? Can I get that too?"
Charlotte had two decisions to make. She could abide or try to out-wit him (which wouldn't be hard). She opened her mouth, ready tell him the price of all that when the glass door smashed open. That was unnecessary.
Captain Man and Kid Danger walked in, their feet scrunching against the broken shards of glass.
"Jeff, do we really have to go through this again? I was starting my ukulele lesson with Lelani." Captain Man whined. Charlotte rolled her eyes, crossing her arms against her chest.
"No! This time I'm going to win! Watch!" He turned back around to Charlotte and hoisted her over her shoulder.
"Put me down!" She screamed, kicking and scratching at his back. He smelled really bad. She could hear Kid Danger and Captain Man whispering in the background. Maybe they remembered her?
"Put her down Jeff. She has nothing to do with any of this," Kid Danger said. His voice sounded strangely familiar to her. It had obviously changed since the last time she saw him, considering it was two years ago, but she felt like she had heard it more recently.
Jeff readjusted Charlotte, making her gag. Did he just get out of prison and didn't have time to take a shower? He turned around, making Charlotte face the two heroes. Wow. Captain Man looked exactly the same, but Kid Danger even looked oddly familiar. He was staring at her and she could see the panic on his face. The sound of glass break brought them both out of their staring contest.
"Jeff! Stop breaking stuff! Don't take all the Danishes!"
"Too late," Jeff murmured through a mouth full of food.
"God, those are the best in Danishes in the city!"
"Can you stop worrying about the Danishes and save me?" Charlotte screamed at him.
Captain Man rolled his eyes. "Fine. Kid, go do something about him." He pulled out his phone and sat down at one of the tables.
Charlotte and Kid Danger looked at him incredulously. He then turned around, getting into a fighting stance. "Alright Jeff, come on. Let's go."
Jeff (finally) put Charlotte down. She stomped to the seat across from Captain Man and plopped down on it. "Thank you so much for helping," she sarcastically said.
"No problem ma'am. All in a day's work." He didn't even look up from his phone.
Kid Danger was currently fighting Jeff, but she was more interested in his identity. She had never really cared but she knew she had heard or seen him before. Maybe he's come into the café before?
He was moving really fast. Did he have a superpower? It reminded her of Henry, and how he caught her that one day. Now that she thought about it, Kid Danger really reminded her of Henry. They had the same stature, the same voice, and the same mannerisms. Wait, this didn't mean Henry was Kid Danger, right? No, it was Henry.
"Hey Captain Man," she called out.
"What?"
"What's a pick-up line you would say to a woman like me?"
"I don't know. You work here, right? I'd order a black coffee," he said.
Well, that proves it. Henry was Kid Danger. His boss was Captain Man. And Captain Man was lowkey racist.
She realizes she should probably be freaking out a bit more, but she really wasn't surprised. It explained why he caught her when she tripped. His watch was probably Captain Man calling him to help him catch bad guys.
Kid Danger, or Henry, had Jeff in handcuffs by now. The shop was empty, so when Captain Man led Jeff out of the store it was just Charlotte and Kid Danger alone.
"Thanks for saving me," she said standing from her seat.
"No problem. Just doing my job." Was he…flexing? Oh my gosh, he really was. Charlotte wasn't sure whether to laugh or oogle, so she did both.
He stopped, a frown replacing the glowing smirk he was sporting. "What?" Kid Danger started patting himself down, which caused Charlotte to laugh even harder.
Oh my god. This is Henry Hart.
"Seriously, what's so funny? Is there something in my hair?"
"You're Henry Hart," she blurted.
He paled. "Wha-What? I-I'm not H-Henry Hart!" He started laughing nervously and moving toward the door.
"Who's Henry Hart? Sounds like a cool name though. I don't know who that is though. Haha." He opened up the door. "What was the Captain Man? You want me? Sorry, gotta go help him."
"Nobody was calling you—"
"Bye! Your welcome for saving your life!"
Junk N' Stuff was a really weird store. When she first walked in, a fucking dragon breathed fire. A dragon. Even weirder, a south Asian man was sitting at the front desk, feeding a giant Venus Flytrap. The Venus Flytrap was weird, by the way, not the south Asian man.
She walked up to the front desk, making sure to not touch anything. She was sure nothing was too dangerous, but a dragon breathed fire when she walked in. She wasn't taking any chances.
"Hello. I'm looking for Henry Hart?" She asked the man. He nodded toward the back room and returned to feeding the plant. Charlotte assumed he meant for her to go back there, but it felt rude. Plus, this place was really weird, and she was kind of scared.
"Um, do you want me to go back there?" She pointed toward the beaded entrance. He nodded.
"I don't really feel comfortable going back there. Is it possible for him to come out here?"
The man sighed, and slowly stood up from his seat, making his way toward the back room. Charlotte was left alone with her thoughts in the middle of the room. What was she going to say to him? Hey Henry, you know I know you're Kid Danger. Where would she go from there? She was seriously regretting coming here. What if he doesn't want to speak to her again? Her parents forced her to quit the café, so if he came there she wouldn't know.
"Hey."
She turned around to see Henry standing there. In that moment, Charlotte realized that she really really liked him.
"Hi."
An awkward air surrounded them, with Charlotte fidgeting with her hands and Henry rocking back and forth on his heels.
"So. You know I'm Kid Danger," he started. She nodded her head.
"How did you figure it out?"
"You voice, you don't look much different with the suit on, and remember that day I almost fell, and you caught me and my coffee? I kinda put two and two together because I know Kid Danger has, like, super speed and you were, like, really fast that day," she rambled.
"So, you've known for like two months?"
"No! I put it together during the robbery."
They were both silent for a minute.
"You can't tell anyone," he stated.
"Obviously. I'm not an idiot."
He grinned. "I know. You're in LIMP."
"It's not called LIMP! It's called L.I.M.P, which stands for language, information, and ma—"
Henry took two quick strides toward her, grabbed her face in both of his hands, and kissed her. It was awkward at first; both their teeth clinked together, and Charlotte had stopped moving entirely. His lips were slightly chapped but full. Move. Your. Mouth.
He started to pull away after a minute of just her standing there, but she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled into the kiss. This was nice. It was sweet and becoming less awkward as time went on.
She pulled away because, hello, air. Their foreheads met, and she could feel his little pants on her lips. "That was nice," she whispered. He chuckled, pecking her lips.
"I like you, a lot," he admitted.
She smiled. "I like you too."
"Henry, I told you to get rid—oh, ew! Why do you have to do this in my shop!" Ray screamed, covering his eyes. Henry groaned, regrettably unhooking his arms from around her waist. "Ray!"
"What? I told you to get rid of her, not make out with her. You kids these days are gross," he mumbled while turning back into the back room.
Henry turned back toward Charlotte with an apologetic smile on his face. "I'm really sorry about him. I'm also sorry about not coming to the café. I got… scared. I don't want anyone to know I'm Kid Danger because it breaches my contract with Ray and I don't want anyone to get hurt by it." He took both of his hands in hers and Charlotte's heart started racing.
"It's fine. I haven't been working there anyway. My parents made me quit. I promise I won't tell anyone."
He kissed her again, then unexpectedly pulled back. "Wait, you quit? Does this mean you're going to need a new job?"
"Yeah? I guess."
"You could work here! You're smart and Schwoz is always down there alone and could totally use someone else smart in the Man Cave."
"The man cave...? Who's Schwoz?"
"Oh my gosh! I gotta go tell Ray," he quickly pecked her lips, "wait right here!"
What had she gotten herself into?