You walk into the small coffee shop on the corner, a bell tinkling at the door as you enter. The girl at the front register greets you as you walk up to meet her at the counter. "Hey there! What can I get for ya?"
She smiles and you give your go-to order before thinking. "Hey! Can I get a grande vanilla soy latte, please?"
"Alright!" she said cheerfully. You couldn't even quite tell if the cheerfulness was genuine or the usual fake customer service cheerfulness, but either way it brought a smile to your face. In the same moment that she says, "Can I get your name for the order?" you look down at her nametag, handwritten in a cutesy cursive-esque style. Rose, with a small drawing of the corresponding flower next to it.
Rose, you think. Sweet name. It seems to fit her. And you assume you're just thinking it but you realize you've started to say her name out loud. And you realize she just asked for yours, and you pause maybe a second (or more. Definitely more) too long. "R—Rebecca." You've gone too far toward saying Rose, and this is the first name that comes to your mind that starts the same. You feel absolutely ridiculous, you can't even pretend it's anything close to Victoire, but you figure she doesn't know you're lying and it's not like it matters anyway. So your vanilla soy latte will have a random name on it, you can handle that. But you might not be able to handle the way Rose bites her lip just barely as she writes your name on the side of your cup.
She moves over to the espresso bar to make your drink, and you look down at the change that is apparently resting in your hand. You sigh softly, dropping the few bills and change into the tip jar on the counter and find a seat. The chair you sink into faces the bar because you know yourself well enough to know that you aren't going to be able to resist turning around to look back at Rose and her red hair pulled back and the way she makes your latte with practiced hands and care for each step. As she reaches for a lid, you start walking up to the handoff plane without realizing it, and it's probably a good thing you do because when Rose calls out, "Vanilla soy latte for Rebecca," you blink confusedly for a second before you recall your earlier falter.
You smile, taking the drink with an affectionate "Thanks." You curse your earlier self for cheating you out of the opportunity to hear her say "Victoire," but you shake it off and go back to your seat, taking a sip and relishing the way the steamed milk burns your tongue.
Later, as you leave the café, you hear a voice calling from behind you, "Thanks for coming in, Rebecca! Have a great day!" As you turn back with a smile and wave, you mentally roll your eyes. Magnificent, you think. It's stuck. I'm Rebecca now.
X
You return to the coffee shop a week later, hoping Rose is working again. She's wiping down a counter behind the bars and smiles up at you as you walk in, the chime of the door behind you announcing your arrival to the otherwise empty café. "Hey! Rebecca, right?" You make a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sigh because of course she recognizes you and of course she remembers the fake name you gave her last time you came in. "Let me think, it was a soy latte with… vanilla. Right?"
"You remembered all that?"
Rose puts the rag back and comes over to meet you at the register. "I try," she giggled. "So, the same thing as last time, or did you want to switch it up?"
A part of you was tempted to say that you'd rather switch up your name and give her your real one this time, but you settled on, "I think I want to try something different this time, actually."
"Oh, was the vanilla soy latte not good last time? I could—"
"Oh no, no, it was great, really." You flash Rose a smile, and see it mirrored on her face. Maybe her joy wasn't all artificial after all. "Just thought I'd like to get something new this time. Any suggestions?"
She takes a step back, looking up at the menu on the wall behind her contemplatively. You're fairly certain she has every detail of the menu memorized at this point, but you smile at the gesture. "Hmm. What about something with mocha. An iced mocha is one of my favorites."
You shrug. "Mocha, as in chocolate? Would you believe I'm not a big chocolate person?"
"What? What sort of a monster doesn't like chocolate?" Rose laughs, though, and the sound brings such a lightness to the room that you consider going back on everything and getting yourself a large cup full of just mocha sauce if it would make Rose laugh like that again. Instead, you just laugh along with her.
"Sorry. What else do you like. Non-chocolate drinks, preferably."
"Well, bit of a guilty pleasure drink, but what would you say to a pumpkin spice latte? Getting into the seasonal mood and all that."
"And there's no chocolate?"
"Nope, no chocolate, unfortunately." Rose giggles again. You almost turn down this suggestion as well just to get her to go through the whole menu for you and keep the conversation going. Almost.
You take out your wallet, deciding that, "Pumpkin spice sounds great. Grande?"
"Course! You planning to stick around while you finish it again? I can get you a for-here mug if you'd like?" And, as you find yourself doing more and more, you agree to everything Rose suggests.
"Thanks. How much-?"
"Oh, don't worry about it. This one's on me!" Before you can argue the point or thank her Rose flips over a mug off the shelf behind her and goes off to work behind the bar. You follow her down the line, entranced by the way she works the machine like it's an extension of herself. "Oh, I forgot to ask, did you still want this one made with soy milk?"
"Please. Yeah, that'd be great!"
Rose pours the milk into a pitcher, dipping the steam wand in, turning it on and slowly lowering the pitcher out of it. You know you're probably going insane but when she steams it the gentle, paper-tearing sound is like music and the steady pouring of the espresso shots rounds out a perfect sound and as Rose taps the milk pitcher on the counter, swirling and grooming the milk you're certain you've never thought about coffee as a thing that warrants so much reverence before. She pours the drink together with an artful control of her wrist and you find yourself falling for Rose just as much as you are for the coffee and as she hands it out with a broad smile, you don't even notice that she's called you Rebecca again because this latte is gorgeous and she's done a heart in the foam on top and you feel your own heart melt. She watches you expectantly, and you take a sip – just a small one so you don't mar the art quite so much. "It's wonderful."
You both stand at the end of the bar and smile at each other for just a moment longer, before Rose has to go over and help another customer and you take a seat at what's quickly becoming your regular table.
X
"Flirting, Rose?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said matter-of-factly, but the smile growing on her lips betrays her denial. Rose sprays down another mug before placing it in the sink. "So you had time to watch me flirt but you couldn't come help me run the floor?" James walked past her, carrying out more cups to restock.
"I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I figured you could handle two customers on your own." He left the back room to put the cups out front, and as he came back in he added, "You give her your number yet?"
Rose shook her head, starting to wash the new load of dirty dishes James brought back. "Not yet. I figured that was more of a third-customer-interaction-level step. She'll probably be back soon enough."
"I see you've given this quite a bit of thought," James chuckled. "So you'd go out with her?"
"If she asked, I'd be hers. Yeah," Rose trailed off, lost in her thoughts. The container she held slipped out of her hands and fell into the sink below, splashing soapy water onto her face.
James roared with laughter from over by the fridge behind her. "Even after that? You're really invested, aren't you?" Rose rolled her eyes and sprayed him with the sink sprayer hose.
"Oi!"
"Then stay out of my love life!"
"So you do love her—hey!" Rose aimed the hose again. "No, no! I surrender!"
X
The next time you come into the coffee shop, Rose isn't working. A boy named Fred takes your order and there's someone named James on bar. You decide to go back to getting your vanilla soy latte and he makes it fine, with the distinct lack of heart in the foam on top and a significantly lower amount of careful intent in the making of the drink, but it tastes good nonetheless.
You just regret the fact that the day you decide to lean into your sometimes sappy, romantic tendencies is the day that Rose is off work. You still pull the rose you picked from your mother's garden out of your bag and place it in the tip jar before leaving. James from bar watches you with a knowing smirk on his face, but he doesn't say anything.
Later, he texts Rose a picture of the tip jar with the flower sitting atop the loose change. Think this is for you. Do I even need to say who it's from?
Rose figures that the emoji flipping James off will have to do for now, until she can do it in person.
X
"Hey," you say as you enter the next time, face brightening as you see Rose back behind the counter.
"Hey! What're we thinking for today? Grande pumpkin spice in a for-here mug?"
"I can't stay, sadly, but I'll take that in a to-go cup." And this time, you insist on paying. The last thing you want is for Rose to get in trouble for giving you drinks for free all the time. You drop a few dollars in the tip jar as usual and follow her down the line of the counter toward the end of the bar.
"So, how's your day been?" Rose asks over the screeching of the espresso bar.
You chuckle, surprised she'd even be able to hear you over the noise. "It's been good. Better now! What about you?"
"Good, yeah," she sighs. "It's been a long day already, but I'm off work tomorrow." You store this away in the random-facts-about-Rose-from-the-coffee-shop area of your brain, and take the cup as she hands it to you.
"Thanks! I've gotta run, but I'll see you!" and you head out to your car. It's not until you're in the seat with the keys in the ignition that you look at the cup just a bit closer, and notice a string of seven numbers written across the top of the cup, just above a small heart. When you take off the lid, you notice a rosette etched upon the drink in foam, and you grin to yourself. Ignoring thoughts of how desperate it might seem, you type Rose's number into the 'To' box of the texts on your phone. Hey! This is Victoire 3. Sent. "Shit," you murmur. Or… Rebecca? Sorry. My name's definitely Victoire. And I really shouldn't have let that carry on for so long. Hope you'll forgive me? And I thought maybe you'd wanna go out sometime? You said you're off tomorrow? I'm up for anything – normally I'd suggest a coffee date, but I doubt that's what you'd wanna spend your day off on. I'm open to suggestions! Lmk, xo -Vic.
Sent.
And though you know she's not going to be able to respond for a few hours until she's off work, you still find yourself checking your phone every few minutes. Hours pass, but it seems so much longer, before a ding!
Lol. Don't worry about the mix-up, it's nothing! And I'm totally down for an anything-but-coffee date. See you tomorrow, Victoire 3
A/N: I'm back! And what better way for a comeback than a coffeeshop!AU written by a barista? (And as a side-note, Rose is apparently amazing at latte art for making something out of soy milk. What a feat. Because Victoire just has to be a soy milk person. It's just who she is.)
Hogwarts forum challenges: Writing club (Character appreciation: era Next gen, bonus for including Victoire; Sophie's shelf: write about someone faking their name on the spot; Ami's audio admirations: era Next gen; Showtime: "If he asked, I'd be his."; Count your buttons: "What sort of a monster doesn't like chocolate?", James Sirius Potter, Chime; Shannon's Showcase: Belarus – magnificent, rose, love) and The Insane House Challenge (Scenario: I ordered a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks and you made a heart with the foam and I decided to drink it here so I can smile at you some more.)