Pavlov's dog is a relatively well known study performed by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov in which he analyzed classic conditioning in his dogs. After an extended period of time in customer service, you began to feel like one of Pavlov's dogs. Whenever the door bell rang in your little cafe, your ears perked up, your eyes flew to the door, and the rehearsed store greeting came to the tip of your tongue. But all that conditioning flew out the window the day he walked in.
The doorbell rang, and you looked up to greet whoever walked in, but your mouth ran dry at the sight of what could only be described as "ruggedly handsome". Short blond hair above sky blue eyes that had you melting behind the cash register. As he approached the counter he flashed you a smile that nearly short-circuited your brain. You quickly tried to pull yourself together and asked, "Hi, how are you today?"
"I'm doing good, ma'am, and yourself?"
You weren't sure what shocked you more: the deep timbre of his voice, the formality of his speech, or the fact that a customer actually answered your question with something other than their order. You blinked several times before quickly responding, "I'm doing well! What can I get for you?"
The man leaned against the counter, bracing himself on his forearms, and nearly making you faint with how his shirt outlined his muscles. "I'm not sure. You see, it's been a long time since I've gone out and bought a coffee, so I'm not sure what's good. What do you recommend..." He glanced at your nametag, "Y/N?"
You felt your face flush as he used your name and quickly began rattling off your favorite coffee's to hide your flustered behavior. When he slowly developed a dumbfounded expression you giggled and asked, "Why don't I just make you my favorite, and if you don't like it we'll just try again?"
"Sounds perfect."
You started grabbing the ingredients you needed, and when you grabbed the paper cup and grinned. Okay, Y/N, it's a cliche but own it. You're a barista, this is literally you're job. "Can I get a name for your cup?" If it was to go I'd write my number too. You sighed in disappointment at a missed opportunity.
"It's, uh Steve." Hearing him hesitate, you glanced up and saw him giving you a weird look.
"What?" You cocked your hip to the side and have him a sassy look. "Would you rather I write 'Blondie'?"
He smiled and shook his head, "No, no, I'm just surprised you didn't just write 'Captain America' on it."
Your jaw dropped and your face burned in embarrassment. How the hell did you miss that one?
Seeing your shocked face, Steve started laughing. "You honestly didn't -"
"Well no! I mean what are the odds?"
"But you watch the news?"
"Yes, but Captain America? In my tiny coffee shop? A girl can dream but that doesn't mean it'll happen!"
Steve was bent over in laughter, holding onto the counter for support. You put a hand on your hip and and shook your head in astonishment. No one was going to believe you when you told this story. Huffing in embarrassment, you turned your back of the laughing superhero and started making his drink.
"Please don't be upset," Steve tried to talk through his chuckling. "I'm just as surprised as you are. And a little insulted that you didn't recognize me."
You threw him a skeptical look over your shoulder. "Aren't you supposed to be humble or something?"
"I don't see the harm in being disappointed that a pretty dame doesn't recognize me."
Your face was going to be permanently red by the end of the day with how much blushing you were doing. You finished his drink and wrote a name on the side. "Here you go, Captain Humble. Enjoy!" You set the drink in front of him and waited for him to try it.
He took a sip and hummed. "That's pretty good! A bit sweet, but I could see it growing on me." He noticed the writing on the side and pulled back to read it. "Blondie?" he asked skeptically.
"You know you had that one coming."
After that day you found yourself still perking up when the door bell rang, but instead of conditioning it was a hope that the next person to walk in the door was Steve. He came by nearly every day during the slow hours so you could talk about anything and everything and to try nearly every coffee on your menu.
Steve was leaned against the counter chatting with you while you cleaned and closed up shop and chattering about the lastest movie he'd crossed off his list. When he stopped talking and his smile faded into a serious expression you quirked an eyebrow at him. "Y/N, I just wanted to say thank you."
You smiled at him but felt a little confused. "Why are you thanking me? My coffee's not that good."
Steve chuckled and shook his head. "You're coffee's better than mine!"
"That's why I'm the one getting paid to make it." You winked at him and heard him laugh as you grabbed a stack of mugs to clean.
Steve followed you down the counter and rearranged a container of sugar packets absentmindedly. "I just really appreciate being able to come here and just... Exist, you know? No pressure to be Captain America; I get to just be a guy that likes coffee."
You set down the mug you were cleaning and turned to face him. "I don't totally understand since I'm not a superhero or anything, but everyone needs an escape from life. I'm glad you picked my shop to escape to." You flashed him a shy smile before quickly turning back to the coffee mugs before he could see the blush taking over your face.
You jumped a little when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You nearly got a face full of Henley when you turned around and had to look up to look at Steve.
"I'm glad I found your shop, too."
"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be behind the counter." Your words came out in a near whisper.
He quirked a smile at you and moved his hand from your shoulder to the counter behind you caging you in. "I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be here past closing either, but here I am."
You back up to the counter trying to give yourself a little space to get your breath back. "Seems like you enjoy breaking rules, Blondie."
He chuckled at the nickname and the deep rumble made your knees weak. "Almost as much as I like pretty baristas that make okay-ish coffee."
"Okay-ish?" You poked him in the chest. "Careful or this pretty barista will get mad and cut you off."
Steve grabbed the hand poking at his chest and got nose to nose with you. "Well we can't have that." Your heart thumped loudly in your chest. "I've become caffeine dependant."
"Are you sure it's the coffee you're dependant on?" You were shocked at your owm bravery.
Steve pulled back a bit, much to your disappointment, and sighed. "It's true. Your muffins are just so addicting." You rolled your eyes. "There's just something about the combination of coffee and muffins that just -"
You cut him off by quickly standing on your tip toes and kissing him. You pulled back before he could react and immediately started internally panicking. Oh god, I really hope I read those signals right.
Steve stared at you in wonder for a heartbeat, then two, then grabbed you by the hips and kissing you. Your eyes fluttered shut and your hands wound around the back of his neck. Finally.
You both kissed until you finally had to break apart to breathe, matching grins on your faces. You felt laughter bubbling in your chest at how unreal the whole thing felt.
Steve picked you up and set you on the counter, stepping forward so your knees caged him in and his hands rested on your thighs. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."
You kissed him again and grinned. "This doesn't mean you get free coffees."
Steve leaned in close again and said, "Then maybe I should try a little harder."
"By all means, Blondie, give it your best shot."