Smile
"Smile every moment of every day. You never know who might be falling in love with it…"
Austin Moon surveyed the small café as he poured his fifth cup of the morning. It was only seven, the shop had been open all of twenty minutes, and already the place was swamped. When he took the job, he wasn't really counting on actually having to work.
Cassidy, the hot blond he worked with (and the main reason he didn't just quit) smiled sympathetically at him and he returned with a flash of his most dashing grin. The effect, however, was ruined by his howl of pain as the scalding hot coffee spilled over the top of the mug and onto his bare hand.
"Shit!" he exclaimed, jumping backwards in surprise. The mug fell to the ground, shattering, and he hopped around, shaking his injured hand around manically.
"Watch your language, Moon." Mindy, his overbearing boss, hissed at him. He stopped moving, holding his burnt hand to his chest.
"Sorry Mindy." He muttered, not sorry at all.
He poured the customer another drink, taking the money and watching the customer leave the shop. Cassidy approached Austin, grabbing his hand to inspect the damage.
"Well, I think you'll live, but you should wrap that anyway. It'll get infected otherwise." She instructed him, smiling apologetically. "Thanks, Cass," he said gratefully, putting on a brave face to hide the pain he was in, "Do you think you could cover for me for a minute?"
She nodded, gesturing for him to leave.
Once his hand was bandaged he went back out to the shop and took over from Cassidy. There were no new customers for a while, and he fiddled with the coffee machine for a while, distracted.
"Excuse me?" he jumped at the sound, whirling around to meet the eyes of a young, smiling brunette. He smiled, instantly going into flirt mode, and moved towards her.
"What can I get you?" he asked her, smiling. She looked thoughtful for a second, and then smiled.
"Surprise me." She replied. Austin only noticed the other three girls she was with because they laughed at that.
"I'll have a soy latte." One tall, blonde girl said. A short, curly-haired Latino girl nodded, saying she'd have the same.
"And I'll have it black." The final girl added, this one a redhead. Austin smiled at them all in turn, but couldn't help himself and his gaze went back to the brunette. She was smiling widely and when he found himself looking at her a few seconds too long, she winked.
Blushing slightly, (which is something that Austin Moon never does), he turned back to the coffee machine to start their order. He made two soy lattes and a black coffee, handing them over to the girls that ordered them. He told the girls to find a table. Then he went to the other machine and started on the brunette girl's surprise.
When it was done he walked over to the table the girls were sat around. Their conversation halted as he leant down and placed the brunette's drink in front of her. She looked up at him, smiling playfully as she picked up the drink and took a sip. Everyone watched her face with baited breath for a second, before she broke out into a grin.
"Hot cocoa! How did you know?" she exclaimed, beaming. He shrugged.
"You don't strike me as a coffee-lover."
"You were right! I hate coffee…are you sure you're not psychic?" she asked, taking another sip. He shook his head, smiling.
"Pretty sure…so anyway, would you like your bill now or when you're done?" he asked. The girls dug around in their bags to pull out their money. The blonde, the Latino and the Redhead all paid for their own drinks, but when the brunette tried to hand him the money he shook his head.
"That one's on the house." He said, winking flirtatiously. She laughed, shaking her head and trying to hand him the money.
"Seriously, let me pay."
"I won't take your money."
"I can't just not pay, though!" she exclaimed. Austin thought for a second, then grinned.
"I have an idea…instead of paying for the hot cocoa, you can tell me your name." he suggested. She mulled it over for a second.
"Do you ask all of your customers for their names?" the Latino girl cut in, suspicious. He shook his head.
"Just the pretty ones. In fact…how about you all tell me your names, and your next drinks are on me?"
All the girls giggled, except Ally. She was still staring at Austin, eyebrow raised.
"You really wanna know my name?" she asked. He nodded.
"Yup."
"Okay then. My name is…Gertrude." She said, face serious. The other girls fought back giggles as Austin's eyes widened.
"Seriously?"
"Yup. So, can we drink our drinks in peace now?" she asked, a little impatient.
"Yeah, I guess…" he said, about to walk away, but he was interrupted as Cassidy walked over, grinning.
"Ally! What are you doing here? I haven't seen you for ages!" she cried, and 'Gertrude' jumped to her feet, running into Cassidy's arms to hug her. Austin frowned in utter confusion.
"What's with your face?" Cassidy asked him. 'Gertrude' looked at him and laughed loudly.
"He was trying to be all flirty and cool, so I told him my name was Gertrude." She told Cassidy. The blonde girl laughed, rolling her eyes at Austin.
"Oh, Austin, Mindy told you you're not allowed to flirt with customers!" she chided him. He blushed, looking a little sheepish.
"Whoops…"
"Don't worry, I won't tell her. This is Ally, by the way. Not Gertrude."
"And these are my friends; Rachel," Ally gestured to the blonde girl, "Trish," the Latino who was currently snorting with laughter, "and Rosa."
The three girls finally stopped laughing to greet Austin with dazzling smiles. He hadn't really noticed before, since he had been too busy ogling Ally, but all three of these girls were stunning.
"Hi. I'm Austin. So how do you girls know Cassidy?" he asked. Rosa spoke up.
"Rachel, Trish and I are in a band with Cass. Ally used to be in it too, but then she moved to New York with her mom. She just moved back here today, and we thought we'd come surprise Cassidy." She explained. Ally and Cassidy grinned at each other, and Cassidy threw her arms around her best friend again.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were coming back, Ally! How long are you staying?" she asked. Austin wasn't sure whether he should leave them or not, but he didn't want to, so he stayed.
"I'm here for good, Cass. I just graduated from NYMA, and I just bought this music store in the mall." She told her. The girls squealed loudly, jumping up and down in excitement.
"Which music store?" Austin asked, intrigued. He loved everything to do with music, and he couldn't resist butting in.
"Well, I don't know if you've heard of it, but its called Sonic Boom…?" she said. Austin gaped and even Cassidy looked taken aback, but for a different reason.
"Sonic Boom? You bought Sonic Boom? Girl, that is the music store in Miami! Everyone goes to Sonic Boom! Justin Bieber bought a guitar from Sonic Boom! I can't believe old man Dawson sold it!" Austin cried, awestruck. Ally shrugged, smiling.
"Well, he is getting old now. Of course, he'll still have a say in how I run it, but it'll be my job to keep the store running." She said.
"And you're going to do a great job."
"Wait, why would Mr Dawson still have a say in it? Surely if he sold it to you, it's your shop? You can't let him push you around like that…"
"Oh, right, I forgot you didn't know. Austin, I'm Ally Dawson. Mr Dawson is my father." She told him. Austin's mouth dropped open, and his mind was flooded with memories.
The girl in the music store.
"Did you work there when you were younger?" he asked slowly. She nodded, wondering what his confused expression was about.
"Yeah, why?"
"How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-four, why?"
"You're the same age as me…why did I never see you in school?"
"I never went to school. I was home-schooled…we all were. That's how we met. Because we never went to school, we would all hang around the mall when we had breaks." Austin nodded, suddenly overwhelmed.
The girl in the music store. Here. In the coffee shop. Talking to him.
"I have to go. Cass, could you tell Mindy there was an emergency?" he asked her. She took one look at the pained look on his face and nodded. He smiled gratefully and then speed-walked out of the café, not even bothering to take off his apron.
"What's his problem?" Trish asked, frowning. She wasn't personally offended, but she'd seen the way he had looked at Ally before he'd run out, and Trish did not like seeing people look at her friends like that and run away. Something was going on, and she was going to find out what.
"I have no idea…Austin's a little strange. Ever since he started here he's been flirting with me constantly, but he hasn't tried to ask me out or even make a move. I know that doesn't sound that strange, but there are other little things he does…and he's never even had a girlfriend. I mean, look at the guy. He's sex on legs…how can a guy like that never have had a girlfriend?" she chattered jovially, not noticing her boss approaching from behind.
"Erm, Cass…" Ally said warningly. Cassidy groaned, turning around slowly to smile at her boss.
"Having fun, Smith?" she asked, glaring at the young blonde. Cassidy gulped.
"Sorry, Mindy. I got distracted; I'll get back to work."
"Yeah, you will. If we weren't short staffed already, you'd be fired. And so would that idiot, Moon. Where is he, anyway?"
"Oh, he had a family emergency and had to leave. I told him I'd cover for him." Mindy smiled evilly.
"Oh did you now? That's good, because I was going to ask him to clean the male toilets, but I guess if you're covering for him, you can do that as soon as Paul gets here, can't you?" Mindy asked, voice sickly-sweet, eyes challenging, daring Cassidy to say no. Knowing that she'd lose her job if she refused, Cassidy nodded meekly and made her way back over to the counter miserably.
"Wow…this was interesting, guys, but I really should be heading back to the store now. I'll see you all later." She smiled, finishing her hot cocoa and hugging her friend's goodbye. She waved to Cassidy on her way out and left the café, sighing in contentment as she made her way back across the mall to her store.
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"Austin Monica Moon, what the hell was that earlier?" Cassidy screeched as Austin walked into the café, just as she was closing up. He winced, looking apologetic.
"Sorry, I guess I didn't handle things very well…"
"'Didn't handle things very well'? Understatement of the century! Not only did you completely alienate my best friend, but because of you, I had to clean the men's toilets. Austin, I think I'm traumatised. I've never seen so many dead bugs and pee stains in one place…" she shuddered at the memory. Austin chuckled at the expression on her face, but quickly shut up at the glare she sent his way.
"Sorry, Cass. I owe you."
"Oh, yes you do. I swear, I should have just let Mindy fire you. Then again, I probably would have had to clean the toilets anyway…"
"Come on, Cass, you know you love me really…" he said, walking towards her slowly. She scowled at him, tossing her head in contempt at the innocent look on his face.
"Don't even try it, Moon." She warned. He kept coming, smiling cockily.
"Try what?" he asked, stopping so that they were almost nose-to-nose. Cassidy went to step back, but her way was blocked by a chair. He had her trapped. Breathing out shakily, she frowned at him.
"Austin, what are you doing?"
"Convincing you to forgive me." He whispered huskily. She sighed loudly as he leaned into her, allowing her eyelids to flutter closed.
"Austin…" she murmured.
"Cassidy…" he replied, closing the gap between them. They were so close, lips almost touching, when…
"Ha! Austin, seriously?" Cassidy laughed loudly, shoving him away from her roughly. He frowned, looking hurt, but Cassidy knew he just had a bruised ego. Nothing to worry about.
"What?"
"You weren't really just about to kiss me just to make me forgive you, were you?"
"Actually, yeah I was. Why?"
"Because! I'm too old for you, Austin."
"You're only twenty eight." He protested. She chuckled.
"Actually, closer to thirty sweetie. In fact, I hit the big three-oh in a couple months."
"What? Are you serious? You look…younger." He muttered dejectedly. She laughed.
"I get that a lot. Seriously, though, I think you should stick to girls your own age."
"I'm twenty-four, Cass. I'm not into 'girls', I'm into women." He said quietly, glaring at her. She laughed, shaking her head.
"Wait, Ally said she was twenty-four…why are you friends with someone so much younger than you?"
"Hey, it's six years, not sixty. I'm still young. And our parents knew each other, so we were friends by default. Her mom died giving birth to her, so I was the one who was there for her when she was being bullied, when she got her first crush, her first period..."
"Okay, okay, I get the picture. There was no need to mention…girly stuff." He muttered, wincing. She laughed.
"What, crushes?" she feigned confusion. Austin glared at her, making her laugh harder.
"You know what I meant. Look, do you mind if I go home a little early?" he asked, glancing at the clock to see they weren't due to finish for another half hour. She furrowed her brow, suspicious.
"Why?"
"Erm…family emergency?" he tried. She shook her head.
"Nice try. Grab a mop, some kid spilt a strawberry smoothie on the seat in the back booth. It looks like vomit, so I'm not touching it." She said. Austin nodded, knowing enough about Cassidy's vomit-phobia not to attempt an argument.
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Over the next few days, Ally and her friends became regular customers at the café. Austin served them every time, but since the first day had avoided making eye contact with Ally. He thought she hadn't noticed, but she had. Eventually, she got sick of him tiptoeing around her. She'd had a bad day, and having the cute bus boy she'd grown annoyingly fond of practically ignoring her, she just lost it.
"Okay, Austin, what the hell have I done?" she asked him, voice raised, as she jumped to her feet. Trish gasped, luckily managing to grab Ally's mug before it could spill. Austin's eyes widened and he stared at her guiltily, like a deer caught in the headlights.
"W-what?" he finally managed to stutter out. She scoffed.
"You know exactly what! The first time we came in here, you were acting all flirty and didn't even seem to notice my friends. And then, even when you did, you still kept flirting with me and I thought maybe you thought I was pretty, or funny, or something. But then you left for whatever reason, and now you won't even look at me! Was it something I said?"
"No, Ally, it's…I don't know what you're talking about…" he tried, but even Ally wasn't letting this slide.
"Don't give me that crap, Austin. I've had a seriously shitty day and I'm not in the mood for this. Either you tell me what I did wrong or I'll just leave, and I won't come back."
"Ally…" his voice was strained, and he felt his heart skip a beat when he noticed the tears in her eyes. After a minutes silence ally seemed to deflate, and with a loud sigh he shoulders relaxed and she moved to grab her bag.
"Fine, whatever. I don't even know why I care, really. It's not like I even know you…but I'm not taking this shit from a damn bus boy. I never realised that your job was to be rude to your customers…" she snapped as she pushed past him and made for the exit.
"Ally, what's-" Cassidy started, but the door closed behind Ally before she could finish her question. Cassidy frowned, puzzled, as she looked between the closed door and Austin.
"Erm, what just happened?" she asked. Austin sighed, shaking his head dejectedly.
"I have no idea…" he lied.
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Ally was sat on the counter in the music store later that night, trying to tune the new bass guitar, but for the life of her she just couldn't get it right. Eventually she gave up with a frustrated grunt, placing the guitar on the countertop beside her and burying her head in her hands.
It was almost ten, and usually by now she'd be home in her new apartment. But she'd had such a horrible day, and the music store always made her feel better. It was so familiar to her…she'd grown up working there, after all. She still remembered how grown-up she felt that day when she was eleven and her dad let her man the till for the first time. Granted, it was only for a minute or so while he went for a quick toilet break, but still. She'd loved the feeling that it gave her, the sense of responsibility. Back then, all she'd wanted was to grow up. And now, all she wanted was to be that little girl again, excited about silly little things that were so very mundane to her now.
Deciding to try again tomorrow with a clear head, Ally got up to take the guitar back to its case. And then she screamed because there was a person in the doorway and she certainly wasn't expecting for there to be a person in the doorway.
"Whoareyouandwhatdoyouwant?" she babbled, voice high with fear. The person, whom she vaguely recognised but struggled to see properly in the dim lighting, raised their arms above their head.
"Whoa, chill Ally. It's me…Austin." He clarified, as if she wouldn't recognise his voice. She'd been, stupidly, thinking about him almost constantly since they met. Of course she'd recognise his voice…he didn't know about the whole 'thinking about him constantly' thing, though…hopefully.
"Austin? What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.
"I came to apologise. For everything."
"Look, Austin, you don't have to…I was being stupid, and I guess I took a little harmless flirting too seriously. It's fine."
"No, actually, it's not. You were right. I was trying to avoid looking at you, and I was being distant."
"Oh. Okay. Erm…can I ask why?"
"Because you're the girl in the music store." He breathed, voice soft and eyes a little…wistful? Ally frowned.
"Am I supposed to know what that means?"
"No, I suppose you wouldn't…"
"Then would you care to explain?"
"Well, the thing is…I used to walk through the mall on my way to school every day, for three years. And every day, I passed this store. And every day, almost without fail, I'd see this gorgeous, smiling face through the big glass doors. Sometimes she'd be serving some early-morning customers, sometimes chatting to the store owner or her friend. Sometimes she'd even be playing an instrument, and those were my favourite times. And, once in a while, on really good days, she'd be sat on the counter, swinging her legs, and writing in this little brown book. I mean, just the look on her face was enough to make my day…she always looked so peaceful, with that little smile on her face, hand moving furiously as she transferred her thoughts to words. And you know what really did it? Sometimes she'd actually be singing. And she had such a beautiful, sweet voice…what's a guy to do other than fall in love with her?" he explained, voice softening at the end until he was almost whispering, as if he was scared to say it aloud. Ally gaped, unable to speak after his confession.
When she eventually managed to turn her brain on again, she realised that during Austin's little speech he'd gotten closer and closer to her and now they were so close she could feel his warm breath on her rosy cheek. She smiled a little, looking into his gorgeous, chocolate brown eyes.
"How can you fall in love with a girl you've never spoken to?" she asked. He shrugged.
"How can you make a guy fall in love with you without speaking?" he countered. She chuckled and he felt his heart swell with happiness.
"Touché."
"So…"
"So…"
"Would it be really, really cheesy if I kissed you right now?" he asked. She frowned, biting her lip in a way that just made Austin want to eat her up, and not in a gross way.
"Yeah, I think it would. And a little bit forward…maybe we should save that until after the first date?"
"Fuck that, I've waited almost eight years for this." He muttered. Ally chuckled again, and then he cut her off with a searing kiss that made her thank her lucky stars that Austin wasn't the type of guy to care about rushing things…