"Cosima, you're on fire today, that's what I'm talking about!" The faint compliment pushed through time and space, from across one side of the tiny coffee shop to the other. The dreadlocked girl shot a smirk at her boss from the brewing machine, biting her tongue to stop herself from delivering a rather sarcastic reply.
Somehow she wasn't that fond of the douchebag named Greg who apparently happened to be more than willing to offer a promotion in return of some intimate kindness on Cosima's part. Or at least, that was the conclusion she'd drawn according to their conversation from the night before. If anything, spreading her legs for five more dollars per hour didn't exactly fit into her category of magnificent opportunities.
"Greg's really satisfied with your work today, huh?" Scott asked with a goofy smile on his face, leaning over to his lab partner and colleague.
"Yeah well, that's the only kind of satisfaction he'll be getting from me." Answering without putting effort into looking at her friend, Cosima was rather busy with applying the lids on top of two steaming hot cups. "Pass me some sleeves, please."
And so he did, then dropping off the beverages to the costumers, only to return to his beloved hobby of getting on the dreadlocked brunette's nerves. "I mean, you can become the new manager any day now."
"Because leading the local Shitbucks is my dream, sure." Cos grinned to herself in utter entertainment, then finally taking a moment to settle her orbs at Scott and observe the alignment of his features. "Come on…" She added as she pushed a button on the machine and finished preparing yet another order. "White Chocolate Mocha for Liz!" She yelled out and shortly handed the drink over to the bubbly redhead. "Have fun with it."
"If you hate this job so much why won't you quit?" Scott inquired, his tone rid from any sarcasm, relentlessly forcing Cosima to keep the conversation running. Although they both tried to keep their voices down, with the machine roaring so loudly they had to try hard enough to find the perfect volume without getting strangers involved in their discussion.
"Because pot is expensive and I have a shitty scholarship, that's why." She replied with an amused grin, slightly chuckling at Scott's sudden shocked expression. "I know right, life would be so much easier if I could just date my dealer."
"You could always date me!" He took a deep breath, trying to flash a proud look but failing miserably.
"Do you have Purple Haze on you anytime of the day? Because if you don't, thanks but I'll pass. You're a great guy but I don't hate myself."
Scott let go of the breath, his shoulders falling forward and lips pouting with a bitter taste. "This was more hurtful than necessary." He mumbled as he gave out three cups of coffee and turned to get a sandwich from the microwave.
"Aww Scotty, you know you're my favorite geek. What would I do without our Star Wars rewatch weekends?" Cos reached out to briefly pat his shoulder, then pinched his cheek and returned to her job, trying to focus on the appropriate level of sugar for an extremely needy customer. "You're my bro, but there's no realistic chance of this-" She took a pause to gesture at herself and then at him. "-ever happening. You're not my brand, but don't worry, we'll find you a nice girl. When we're not serving the whole town… What is it with people wanting to drink coffee at this hour?!"
"And what if I gave you my notes from last week's phylogenetics lecture?" Scott joked, seemingly still somewhat hopeful.
Cosima arched a brow. "The notes I borrowed you two days ago? By the way, I need those back."
"Damn." She could hardly hold her laughter back as the realization struck Scott. "You did lend me those."
"Yeah I guess it sucks that I'm better at everything than you are, huh? Aaaand… yeah, I ran out of milk. Be a peach and open a new box for me, would you?"
"See? You're not better at everything. You need me." And so he did, mere seconds later she was lifting the freshly opened box to the rim of the cup, casually looking at the insane crowd lined up in a thick row. She eyed the group of caffeine addicts, trying to estimate how long would it take until she could sit down for a minute and rest her worn members a tad.
Golden locks caught her attention, luminous cascade shining through from the end of the line. Somehow the cropped sight of aesthetically pleasing hair occupied her brain, kept her in a strange hold so badly that only when Scott took the box from her hand, did she notice that she'd overfilled the cup and spilt the milk literally everywhere around themselves in an uncomfortably spacious radius.
"Cos, what are you doing?! Are you high right now?!" Scott asked, staring at the white liquid dripping off the edge of the cold surface.
"No dude, I swear I'm not, I was already late and I didn't have the time to roll. Like… damn, I'm sorry." She sighed, reaching out for paper towels. Attempting to wipe the counter clean, she only soaked unimaginable amounts of the kitchen papers. A middle-aged woman leaned over the machine and frowned at the mess.
"Excuse me, when I said extra milk I didn't mean this." The woman's need to clarify angered an already frustrated Cosima, nevertheless her fake smile only grew wider at the unsolicited irony.
"I'm so sorry, totally my bad, my colleague over here will make you a new one. He's a great guy, maybe you could give him your digits." She purred with a sugary tone, merely even looking at Scott as she quietly added. "Incoming strong nine in the line, hold down the forth for a few minutes, okay?"
"But I…" She never had the time to listen for she jumped the few steps towards the cash register and placed a hand on her co-worker's shoulder.
"Sky, go take a break, you've been working so hard lately, you deserve a few minutes to rest. I'll take it over from here, no worries."
The man narrowed his eyes with a suspicious look. "You never offer extra help, is it because you want me to clean up the remains of the milk-apocalypse?"
"Nah, it's fine, Scotty's got that. Go watch some cartoons or something." She mumbled as she modestly pushed him away from the register and took over his place, then eagerly blinking at the blonde only two more people away.
"Hey, are we not gonna talk about Friday? You never called me." Sky said slightly offended, earning a glare from Cosima as she scribbled the next customer's name on a transparent cup.
"Yeah it was cool, you are great, but we have no future." She gestured with her free hand, pretending to feel at least somewhat sorry about the unlikely match.
Sky's expression turned into honest dismay. "But… why? I thought we had fun."
"Yeah, it was really fun, you took me to Taco Bell and I had to listen to you confessing your love to your motorbike. For an hour. And I don't even like Taco Bell. SCOTT! Grande Caffè Americano, pronto! You're the best." She blew a kiss towards Scott, sticking the tip of her tongue out and giggling lightly before turning her attention back to the next customer. Only one more to go – she thought to herself. "Look Sky, I'm kinda busy right now, can you please take advantage of how nice I am and go have your break?"
Of course, he just had to drop the worst line the very moment Cosima's time had come, and as the blonde stepped forward with a slight smile, he added: "And how about a friends with benefits kind of thing?"
"Be gone now, Sky." She whisked him away and shot a grin at the blonde. "Sorry about him, he had a stroke and now he's talking all kinds of nonsense."
Rosy lips curled, forming a surprised O and with heartfelt concern on her face, the blonde blinked. "Did he, really? He looks fine to me…" The accent caught her off guards and so she silently noted that her strong nine just turned a strong ten.
"No, I was just kidding, what is wrong with you?" Cosima chuckled, then face palming herself mentally at the badly put reply. "I meant… what will it be?"
"Uhm… a large Caramel Macchiato, please."
"Caramel, huh? Great choice… Can I have your name, please?"
"Delphine."
"With a 'ph'?" Cos looked up with a matter-of-fact kind of look on her face.
"Oui."
"Oh, French, I could've sworn… You have an awesome name. Anyway, uh, great, I'll prepare it real quick for you. SCOTT! Switch!" With that, she hurried back to the machine and began working on the best Caramel Macchiato of her entire, short career in coffee making. Delphine stood there silent, watching as the brunette put a vast amount of effort into that one single drink.
As the dreadlocked barista stuck her tongue out in her utter concentration, the blonde couldn't help but chuckle a little. Mere one minute later Cosima grabbed a holder and tinkered with it for a few moments, then reached over the counter and handed the drink over with a mile wide grin. "There you go. And just so you know, I'm working here every other day in a night shift, in case you wanna have the best Caramel Macchiato of your life again."
"Alright. I'll think about it." Delphine nodded her head and smiled with a hint of mischief in her eyes, then turned around and walked away with a grace incomparable to any other. The brunette watched her go and sighed, then looking over at Scott and mouthing "Damn" in complete haze.
The blonde seated herself across the bar, taking a laptop from her bag and moving the cup sleeve a little. Only then did she notice the handwriting in black, the name tag "Delfine" scribbled on the reusable paper cup, and another one on the holder "A special message for you" with an arrow included. Her eyes followed the line, seeing nothing in particular until she rotated the brown paper addition a little, with the arrow now pointing at the otherwise casual message. However, the original text had been striked out at some parts.
She blinked a few times at the words, then burst out laughing. She slid the sleeve off the cup and settled the drink on the small coffee table in front of her, searching for a pen among her belongings. Soon enough she added her own message and upon finishing her coffee and packing her things once again, she also managed to make her way back to the bar and the brunette, sliding the cup holder back to her with a grin.
Cosima took it with a bewildered expression, looking at the words and a few digits enough to compose a phone number. "Merci beaucoup", the piece of paper said. It took her a few moments to process the meaning, and by the time she lifted her head and sought out for the blonde, she'd already left.
"Whatever… Got the number, it's still a win." She shrugged to herself, putting the sleeve away in her pocket and painting a now completely truthful grin on her face. And somewhere outside, or maybe still even in the shop, a cup lay in a trash can, saying: "Careful, the beverage you're about to enjoy is extremely hot."