Sorry, I just really love Sakura and Syaoran. This idea was on a prompt list for OTPs and as soon as I read it I just had this idea pop into my head.

Tessa

Sakura Kinomoto handed a frappuccino to the sophisticated woman in a designer pantsuit who had been alternating between typing impatiently on her cell phone and glaring at Sakura while she hurried to finish making the woman's drink. The woman took the drink and put her cellphone to her ear as she walked out a sigh, Sakura brushed a strand of her honey-colored hair that had escaped her messy bun out of her face. Closing her green eyes for a second, she took a deep soothing breath. It was just another day with another rude customer. Opening her eyes, she turned back to the register and began to take another order. Working at the Clow Coffee shop was a frantic job. The sleek café was located on the bottom floor of the Li Industries building and mostly catered to the workers of the 30+ floors in the multi-million dollar company's cooperate building. Office workers were constantly in a hurry to get a drink during their fifteen-minute break, and frequently came into the café impatient and crazed as they ordered coffee. This also meant the baristas had to rush around and get a drink out in record time in order to keep their jobs.

At first, the job had been nothing short of stressful for Sakura. She had hated how rude the customers were and how fast she had to whip out a drink. However, as time had gone on, she had somewhat come to enjoy the bustling coffee shop. The other baristas were very friendly and she could make herself a free drink whenever business was slow. The hours were also nice and flexible so she was able to attend her college classes and study as much as she needed to. There was also the mysterious "Syao."

He came in everyday at 6:30 p.m. and ordered a Venti black coffee. At first it was sort of interesting; this handsome, well-dressed young man coming in everyday at approximately 6:30 at night, only ordering one basic drink and then leaving as soon as he got it. Then it escalated. What started as one coffee, became one at 6:30 and one at 8:30, then another at 9:30. Never a frappuccino, or a cappuccino, or even a tea (he must be up all night with the amount of coffee he orders. Who drinks two large coffees in the evening and gets a good night's sleep?!). Despite the extreme amount of caffeine he consumed, the guy also never used a card. He always had an obscene amount of cash with him. One time he had asked Sakura to break a hundred-dollar bill for a three-dollar coffee. Besides that, he was always alone, always in a hurry, and always the last person to leave the building, if he left.

As a faithful employee of 'Clow Coffee,' Sakura was usually one of the last people to leave the building. The shop closed at 9:45 and it took thirty minutes to clean and lock up. Sometimes it took longer due to various coffee shop mishaps or if they had to restock inventory. It never failed that as she was leaving, the over-caffeinated guy was either leaving or at the vending machines (probably getting a sugar rush too). The worst part was that this mysterious coffee addict was undeniably attractive; with deep brown eyes, a chiseled jaw and brown hair that always looked a little disheveled he could have passed for a male model. Not that Sakura had been inspecting him, it was just hard not to notice his looks when he she took his order every night.

Glancing at the clock, Sakura felt herself get a little excited. It was 6:30, time for him to get his first cup of coffee for the night. However, as the clock ticked by and closing time began to approach, the probability of him showing up also began to disappear. Despite being a tad disappointed, Sakura and her co-workers began to close the shop.

"He didn't show up tonight," Chihiro, another barista teased while her and Sakura got out the mop and bucket. Chihiro went to the same college as Sakura and had been working at the café a few months longer. With brown hair usually up in two ponytails and a tall, wiry build, Chihiro was a good friend and classmate of Sakura's. The two had grown closer after both getting the job at Clow and Chihiro relentlessly teased Sakura about her lack of a love life. In fact, the man's obsession with black coffee was a running joke among the baristas, especially the fact that he always ordered from Sakura.

Despite being 'cute,' Sakura didn't date often, a fact well known by her coworkers who often pried relentlessly into her personal life. The fact was that Sakura was very oblivious to flirting and when told to flirt usually just ended up making a fool of herself. She had had casual dates here and there and a serious boyfriend in high school, but college was very busy for the green-eyed barista. When she wasn't at school, she was studying. When she wasn't studying, she was at work. When she wasn't at work, she was at school. Finding a boyfriend wasn't at the top of her list.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed, "Maybe he finally got a coffee maker in his office." Letting out a small laugh Sakura began to wipe down the counters; however, Chihiro wasn't done with the conversation.

"Or maybe, he finally decided to ask you out and then got so nervous that he never came down." Chihiro added quickly making Sakura blush in embarrassment. The mysterious man was attractive, but to Sakura, he was a little too attractive to actually be interested in a simple barista. He worked at Li Industries for god's sake. He had to be very rich and very smart to even get a position there and the thought of him taking an interest in a girl working at a café and finishing university was laughable to Sakura.

As the two girls finished closing up the shop, Sakura let Chihiro and the other barista's leave while she put up the tables. It was going to be a long night of studying for her and a few extra minutes of putting up chairs was no big deal compared to the hours she would spend with her head in a chemistry textbook. Sighing as she started stacking the chairs, Sakura realized she was a little disappointed by the man's absence. It was nice to see a familiar face and he was such a nice customer, it was almost soothing to take an order form someone who didn't look like they wanted to rip off someone's head.

As she lifted up the last chair, a loud banging sound came from the glass beside her. Recalling that it was already past 10:30, a shiver went down Sakura's spine. Someone was knocking on the glass window. Hundreds of horror stories filled Sakura's head in less than a second, and the idea that a mass murderer was going to kill her in this little coffee shop suddenly seemed very realistic. Turning around, her terrified wide eyes met the tired eyes of the young man 'Syao' who hadn't shown up to get his usual coffee order today. Giving him a small, polite smile, she walked over to unlock the door.

"I'm so sorry," The man greeted, exhaustion evident in his voice, "but is there any way I can get some coffee?" Blinking in surprise, Sakura found herself pitying the young man. His hair looked even messier than usual, the bags under his eyes were dark and huge and his clothes were wrinkled. He looked like a disaster. Ushering him inside with a small smile, she found herself brewing a small pot of coffee for the sleep deprived office worker.

"This is all I can do right now, otherwise I'll be cleaning all night and then I would miss my morning class, resulting in a failing grade and then I really will have to work at a coffee shop for the rest of my life." Sakura explained as she brought him out a mug of steaming black coffee. He cradled the mug gratefully before taking a huge sip. Sakura giggled as she watched him smile in gratitude.

"Thank you so much," He began, "You have no idea how much I needed this." Taking another sip, he flashed her another smile and she felt her cheeks heat up. Walking back to the counter, she began to clean up the small mess that had accumulated from making him a cup of coffee. "Hey," the young man said as he got up and walked over to her, "let me help." Looking up and finding him standing right next to here, wiping down the counter, Sakura knew her face must have been as red as a tomato. He was attractive, had good manners and was really nice? That was just unfair.

"Oh no, it's fine!" Sakura replied, a little frantic. "It's not that big, plus you're the customer, that would be very inappropriate and if my manager ever…"

"Sakura, I want to help." He stated, before looking up at her and flashing her a smile again, "You're staying after hours to make me a delicious cup of coffee, therefor helping you clean up really is the least I can do."

Blinking a few times in confusion, Sakura only had one more thing to ask the gracious man: "How do you know my name?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew how stupid they sounded. She had a name tag on for one and two her question definitely made her seem suspicious of the gorgeous guy in front of her who she actually had no reason to be suspicious of since she basically saw the guy everyday and from the way he acted he gave no indication of being a stalker and-

"I've come down to get coffee from you five days a week for the last three months, it would be weird if I didn't know your name." His statement broke Sakura out of her internal state of confusion. The way he had so casually stated her name, like they were friends, made her feel like she had been punched in the gut. Her face felt like it was on fire now and her embarrassment must have been evident on her face, because he continued to speak to her as he finished cleaning up. "I really never loved coffee, but ever since you've started working her, the coffee just tastes so much better. Business in this shop has really picked up, and its not just due to the new holiday latte flavors. That's why I come down here to buy coffee even though I have a coffee maker in my office."

"You have a coffee maker in your office?" Sakura asked in shock, "How much coffee do you drink? Do you ever sleep? Caffeine stunts growth. You could end up really short! Also Caffeine addiction is a problem!" Watching her ramble on about the adverse effects of caffeine, Syaoran found himself laughing. The way her eyes had widened, how her cheeks were red in frustration and the way she was scolding him about stunted growth when he was over 6 feet tall and definitely done growing... it was all very comical to the man who had been staring at paperwork for the last nine hours.

"Syao, are you laughing at me?!" She asked in bewilderment as the grown man in front of her began to laugh at her outburst.

"I'm sorry," he said as he began to calm down, "It's just been a very long week and the fact that you're scolding me about caffeine intake and how I'm going to be short, sorry I just found it really funny."

"Stunted growth isn't something you should laugh at, it's real!" She defended, crossing her arms over her chest. It was then that she noticed how tall he really was. He was probably a head taller than her and she was over here talking about him becoming short? It was sort of funny when she thought about it.

"Also, call me Syaoran." He said before finishing off his cup of coffee and rinsing off the mug. "I just say Syao because it's easier to write on a coffee cup."

"Syaoran…" she mumbled, committing the name to memory. Taking a towel and grabbing his washed mug, she began to dry it.

"And while we're here, are you busy Saturday night?" Syaoran asked, grinning as she stopped drying the mug and looked up at him with wide eyes. "You see, there's this beautiful girl named Sakura who works at the coffee shop in my building and I would really love to take her out to dinner. It would only be fair because she's always making me coffee and I'm a terrible cook so I can't make her food. I was thinking taking her out to dinner would be nice though, because I really want to get to know her. What do you think?" Looking at him in shock, Sakura felt herself smile.

"I think she would love that."