There she was
In the same spot as always
at the table for two, by the front window.
She was dressed in a way that made Bubba wonder if she'd taken a wrong turn to a rock concert.
But she wasn't, she was right where she wanted to be.
Bubba stood behind the counter, watching her.
'The Sweet Kingdom' café was small, it's walls were light pink, yellow, and white. It wasn't exactly the kind of place any punk rocker would hang out, far from it.
Yet this woman came here every day.
Bubba owned this small establishment, but because of his small employment, he was a waiter most of the day. This allowed him to spend much time with the customers, specifically this mystery girl.
He was fascinated by her, every one of her actions, her movements, she put so many questions in his head.
For one, she didn't come for the desserts, like so many others.
This mystery girl ordered coffee, the same kind every day.
Why come here for coffee? This place was far from a proper coffee shop.
Then she would sit there for hours, still on the same cup. Why?
And why that spot? Was she waiting for someone who never showed up?
He knew he was spending to much time thinking about this girl, TOO much time.
But her attitude frustrated him.
Why?
Every cake, every brownie, every sweet on display, every dessert served to the customers, was made by him.
He spent hours every day, baking for his customers. It's practically all they served there, and it was obviously the best part about the café.
So why'd she never order any of it?
But he came to an conclusion...
She did it on purpose.
"What'll it be?" He would always say, no longer taking out his notepad to write down her order.
"My usual...and just that" She said grinning accompanied by two nubby front teeth. She gave a small wink at the sight of his hurt expression.
"As you wish..."
While the coffee machine went to work, bubba grumbled to himself in the kitchen, still thinking about the raven-haired women.
"Why? Why is she doing this? I've slaved over a hot oven for years making these sweets, is this just some kind of joke to her?"
Her drink finished
"Well" He said as he popped on the lid " Two can play at that game..."
Next day...
Marceline sighed, tapping her foot underneath the small table.
She stared back at the kitchen, wondering when her regular server was going to take her order today.
She had to keep up her pattern.
She was quite aware that he baked everything here, that was the point.
She just loved messing with him.
It was cute.
He probably didn't even know that she never showed up on his off-days, and was making sure he made her acquaintance when she could.
She loved it when she'd catch him staring at her, she would give him a small wink, almost making him drop his trays.
However none of her antics were gonna work today.
Another waiter walked to her table this time to take her order.
Marceline couldn't hide the disappointment in her face, making bubba, who was peeking from the kitchen, feel accomplished.
But a sudden realization hit her.
He knew... He was playing her back...
She still came everyday, now being served by everyone BUT bubba.
She had a new plan.
Bubba sat behind the counter, as Marceline overdramatically gave her new server a tip. Making sure bubba got a good look at the dollar in her hands.
He crossed his arms.
Now she was giving people tips?He was never tipped once by this women.
And the thing was, no matter how cold her coffee was, or how bad it tasted, or just how much the order was screwed up...she still tipped them.
He hated how much thought he was putting into this women's shenanigans, he was doing just what she wanted him to, giving off a reaction.
He had to stop this somehow, find some way to ignore all her attempts to bother him. Let her know he didn't care.
An idea came to mind...
"YO BUBBA!" A man with dirty blonde hair called out, accompanied by a teenager with a huge grin.
"Finn, Jake! Ahh It's good to see you both" Bubba shook their hands politely, and all three sat down at an empty table.
Jake leaned in for serious talk. " So dude, what's the deal? I mean, your foods awesome, but why are we here?"
"I wanted to talk with friends..." Bubba said, he needed to distract himself, and if she noticed he lacked any interest in her, maybe she'd leave.
Jake didn't look so convinced, " Dude, if you wanted to talk with us, then why'd you call us down to your place? We could talk on the phone"
"Well..."
"Hey!" Finn piped up, "Is that Marceline?"
Her name was Marceline...She'd apparently been watching the three with interest, she stood up and walked towards their table and took a seat.
"Hey boys! What's up?"
She winked to bubba
He secretly hoped neither would say anything.
Unfortunately...
"Hehe hey Marce," Finn said, "Eh nothing bubba called us over to talk"
"Oh really?'
Bubba sunk down in his seat, desperately wanting to disappear.
Having to call his friends over was embarrassing, but his friends didn't always come over to visit him, and he had to do something. He didn't have an active social life, no girlfriend, and it's been forever since he had a nice time out with friends.
Maybe that's why he spent too much time thinking about 'Marceline', he had no one else to distract him from his work these days...
To bubbas horror, finn kept talking
"Yeah have you guys met yet?"
Now she was looking full at him
"No, I don't think we've had a 'proper' introduction"
"Cool, okay hey Bubba this is Marceline, she's a super cool musician"
She winked, smirking at his flushed face.
"I assume you don't have many friends, seeing that you called these two down here..."
"I happen to have a busy life, miss... er ..Marceline"
"Not busy enough to keep your eyes off me"
Finn and Jake gave each other a look before standing up.
"Well we're just gonna sit down at the next table, since you two wanna...er... 'talk'"
And with that the brothers left to order something from another table. This left the waiter and the rocker alone at their own table.
Bubba didn't want to talk to her, but there was so many questions
"So...you know them?"
She laughed, "Well duh, we live in the same apartment building, plus I give finny music lessons every one in awhile"
"So you play?" He asked curiously, " to be honest I didn't think you had a job"
"What? Cause I like chilling here, and I dress like a gang member? Dude, I don't stay here all day"
His face turned red in embarrassment, "Whoa I-I didn't mean it like that, I just thought...y'know..."
It grew awkwardly silent between them. No one spoke, bubba played with his hands, considering maybe he shold get back up and go to work.
Eventually Marceline got sick of this long silence.
"So if you own this place, do you consider yourself royalty?" She asked
Bubba was caught off guard by this odd question.
"Wh-w- what?"
"This place, it's called 'Sweet Kingdom', so does that make you 'Sweet' royalty?"
She pointed to his shirt's logo, it was a crown.
"Well, it's just a name for the place, since y'know...it's mainly sweets served here"
It felt odd, talking to this women. For months, he'd only guess about her. Now, she was only a breath away, talking to him just like any other human being.
Sort of.
"You see these?" She said.
She pointed to the left side of her neck, where two small birthmarks were, they looked like bite-marks .
Bubba hadn't noticed them before, maybe because her hair always covered them, or maybe because her neck wasn't really the first thing that came to mind whenever he saw her.
"Yeah?" He almost worried that maybe she'd been injured at some point.
"I'm the Vampire Queen"
But it wasn't.
"You're what?"
She grinned at his confusion, "It's my stage name doofus, cause I'm awesome and everyone bows to me. Plus the whole 'vampire', thing totally suits me"
"I'll say..."
Which gave them both a good laugh.
Bubba was smiling, she was pretty cool...for somebody who did nothing but mess with him.
"So basically, you think 'I' also have a stage name?"
"Yeah, how about...'The Candy Prince', sorry, it's a first draft"
He chuckled, "Sounds perfect. ...Wait, why prince?"
She wiggled her eyebrows in response.
"Cause Kings need a Queen first"
He felt red, "So you're dating someone then..."
He didn't know why he felt so depressed about it, maybe because he's so used to being turned down by so many women already...
She quickly took note on his sudden change in emotion.
"Nah, I'm single. But I'm definitely not calling myself 'princess', too prissy for my taste"
A mischievous grin spread upon his face.
"Well, I don't know Princess, I think the pink frilly type sounds perfect for you"
"Very funny"
He wasn't sure what to say next.
He still had a job to do, but he'd never had a break in his life.
And he still had so many questions...
Marceline could tell how anxious he was to get them
"I assume you wanna explanation for my behavior?"
"Well...er..yes"
She sighed in response before speaking.
"I used to come here before...before you owned this building.." She seemed uncomfortable speaking, she wasn't even looking him in the face anymore.
"It was a coffee shop before, and I went...with a friend"
Bubba noticed her change in behavior. " Hey uh, it's okay if you don't wanna speak about it"
"No no, I-I need to get this off my chest..."
It took every once of her energy to face him again, she breathed in slowly, calming herself.
" She was my only friend, and we used to sit in a seat by the window just like that..."
She gazed towards the seat, almost lost in her memories.
"We'd both order the same kind of coffee and sit there for hours, talking bout stupid people and how our careers suck and stuff..."
"What happened?"
"She left, gone off to some collage and never talked to me again...sometimes I imagine I'm just waiting for her, but I know she's not coming"
Now it was his turn to feel sad.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know...th-that's why you come here"
Her expression changed form sad to surprised.
"Dude, that's not just why I come here"
He looked up from the floor.
"Than why?"
"I like you, your fun to mess with..."
"Am I like her?"
She grinned, showing her odd nubby front teeth, which now reminded him of fangs.
He took that as a full on yes.
He stood up out of his chair. "Well, this has been nice, but breaks over for me"
She started to play with her hands on the table, her fingers practically dancing on the table.
"You know, as a queen, I always get what I want..."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
She gave him a playful wink in response.
"That means Friday, you and me prince, dinner and movie"
He looked like a deer in headlights.
But he snapped out of it just as fast as he gained it.
" I- no I can't, I have wor-"
She stood up as well, grinning.
"I'll see you Friday night...Prince Bubba"
She didn't see him smiling as she walked back to her original seat.