Just how easy was it to piss off the universe? Cassie's day had been exponentially shitty, and it was getting worse. The clear blue sky had turned into pouring rain, wreaking havoc on her hair and her clothes- minus her sweater, which she'd somehow lost. And the line at her favorite coffee shop had been long. She normally didn't mind, but today she was in a rush and grabbed the first coffee put in her direction and bolted.
Bad idea. She took one sip and realized it wasn't hers immediately. She was already halfway to the diner, and Jin was going to foam at the mouth if she was late again. Even though Jin's lack of patience with her was usually amusing, today his family was in town, and he had enough on his plate. No pun intended.
She grimaced. An entire day without some sort of caffeine boost sounded like actual hell, but she really didn't have the time to go back. Plus she didn't trust herself to not cause a huge scene, complete with "Well, fuck you and this place. I'm leaving a shitty review on Yelp!"
At times, she regretted being friends with Jin. Cassie sighed to herself, and continued walking to work.
"Cage, I was five minutes away from having to cover you. Again." Jin said as she made her way into the back of the diner.
"But you don't have to."
"Not the point. I don't understand why you don't just drink the coffee here-"
"Because it's fucking gross!" Cassie whispered.
"Coffee is coffee."
"If you value our friendship, never say that sentence ever again. How many people do we have?"
"Three tables, all waiting for their orders to be taken."
"Shouldn't they be called the waiters? They wait for food." Cassie grinned, already knowing what Jin's reaction was going to be.
"No, because we wait on them- god, I hate you. Let's just try to get some decent tips."
Cassie didn't mind being a waitress, even though being a cook would have better, if for no other reason than to see Jin's hair tucked up into a hairnet. Normally, she functioned fine, and sometimes she liked her job, but those all happened as Caffeinated Cassie. Non-caffeinated Cassie was a different person entirely. She zoned out, forgot orders, and nearly spilled food. So when she approached her next customer, she was very careful.
"Good morning. What can I get you?"
"No offense, but you sound like death. Are you alright?"
"No." Cassie answered honestly. "I'm sorry if I'm a shitty waitress, but I haven't had my coffee."
"I know what you mean. Neither have I. It's part of my order, actually. So there's no worry," The customer leaned forward, reading her name tag. "Cassie."
Cassie liked how her name sounded in this stranger's mouth. A lot.
"Alright then,-"
"Jacqui."
"Jacqui. What else can I get you?" Maybe she could have chosen a phrase that didn't sound so suggestive, but at the moment she really didn't care.
Cassie practically skipped toward the kitchen with Jacqui's order, something that did not go unnoticed by a nearby Jin.
"Your mood change doesn't have anything to do with the girl at table 3, does it?"
"Nope. Not at all- can we hurry with the coffee, please?" Cassie called out.
Jin looked at her, the most smug smirk ever plastered on his face. "Then why hurry with her order? That desperate to see her again?"
"I want a tip, you know. A little something extra-"
"I bet you do, Cage. I bet you do want a little something extra from her." Jin said, still smirking.
"I hate you."
Before Jin could respond, there was a call of "Order for table 4!"
"You're up, Jin. Don't want to keep your customers waiting." Cassie added, but she could tell from his face that he was far from done with the topic.
"Coffee for 3 is done!"
"I was beginning to think I scared you off." Jacqui said when Cassie returned.
"You can't. Don't worry."
"Are you this friendly with all your customers?"
"Only the incredibly pretty ones."
From the blush that rose to her cheeks, Cassie guessed Jacqui hadn't expected that. Rather than answer, Jacqui started to add sugar to her coffee.
"Your face just went from confident to disgusted. What'd I do?" Jacqui asked.
"You don't need all that sugar- it negates getting coffee in the first place. I'm glad you've spent so much time looking at my face, though." Cassie winked.
Jacqui took a sip of her coffee, not breaking eye contact, and then, "Are my eggs going to be here any time soon?"
"Chef, where's table 3's order?" Cassie asked, as she went into the kitchen once again.
"Five minutes. You do have other people waiting for their orders to be taken, right?"
"Don't sass me, chef."
"The lady's meal has arrived." Cassie said, presenting Jacqui's food, complete with fake fanfare.
"Thank you. You know, it's really convenient that there aren't that many people here, so either this food is terrible, or this is destiny."
"Or both."
"That's… not making me want to eat this food."
"Sorry." Cassie shrugged. "I've never actually eaten here. I can't reassure you. But it's bacon and eggs. It can't be fucked up that badly."
"I hope not."
Cassie felt a buzz in her pocket- a text, from Jin.
Hey asshole, I know you've got a thing for the chick at your table, but there are other people here.
If I don't get any, I'm not talking to you for a week.
Flirt on your own time, Cage.
Cassie pondered not leaving, and straight up asking Jacqui if she wanted to go out sometime- she didn't, because she didn't want to get fired. There was likely some rule in the employee handbook "Thou shall not flirt with innocent customers."
Wait, that was the Ten Commandments. Not the Ten Commandments, obviously (and there was nothing holy about her intentions).
"Enjoy your meal."
It got to the point where Jin intercepted and gave Jacqui her bill. Which was a dick move, all things considering, but it was possible Cassie had ignored everyone else in the place, and that Jin might have been trying to make sure Cassie kept her job.
"You're stuck talking to me for the week." Jin said, his voice singsong when he came back.
"And why's that?"
Jin held up a piece of paper. "She left her number. It could be for me, as I do happen to be exceptionally handsome-"
"Give me the paper, Jin." she said, turning it over to see that Jacqui had written her number, along with "I guess it is destiny."
Maybe today wasn't so bad, after all.