You never truly know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. That's what Henrietta had told him when she called. She was so ecstatic; it was very out of character for her. Henrietta was beaming because she had finally met him. The one she was meant to be with. The boy whose name had been branded on her skin since the day she was born. Michael.
"And so I thought I'd try the new coffee shop, instead of my usual place, since it was close by. When I walked in there he was. We locked eyes in an instant and just knew." Henrietta recalled with the ghost of a smile.
And so, Pete found himself at the diner, pondering everything Henrietta had said as they waited for Michael to arrive. "To think, I would have missed him entirely if I'd just gone to my regular place. I mean I know even so, I would have met him eventually," she said as she absent mindedly traced the name on her wrist. "But finding him sooner because of a split second decision is just mind blowing. I think you two will get along very well." She expressed. She seemed much more like herself once the initial glee had died down. Pete found that comforting.
Five minutes into meeting Michael, Pete knew why Henrietta had thought they'd get along. In fact, Pete really liked Michael and knew they'd be fast friends. Knowing there would be plenty of time for that later, Pete decided to dismiss himself and give the couple more time to themselves.
"Oh, Pete!" Henrietta called out before he left. Pete paused and turned back, waiting for her to speak. "That new coffee place is good. And they have your favorite dark roast on sale right now. You should stop in if you get the chance." Pete nodded with a smile before heading out.
If he was honest, Pete was happy for Henri, but a little jealous. It seemed like all around him everyone was finding their match and he had yet to find his. Just last year, his friend Firkle had found his soul mate, and now Henrietta. Pete was definitely feeling left out.
He reached up to his chest, just under his collarbone on the right, where his knew the letters were marked under the fabric of his shirt. He held his hand there for a moment before letting it drop with a sigh as he reached the street corner.
Pete stopped, looking down the side walk across the street. He turned to look down the side walk to his left knowing it led home then turned back to look across the street. Just a few blocks down was the coffee stop Henrietta had been taking about. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to check out the sale, since he was already out and about. Besides, it wasn't like it was a major detour. Pete crossed the street, his mind still plagued by the thoughts Henrietta managed to stir.
At first glance the shop was nothing special. It seemed to Pete the same as any other big corporate coffee shop. But after a few minutes, Pete decided he quite liked the atmosphere. He looked around and eventually located the wall with shelves upon shelves of coffee beans, and other merchandise. Pete walked over to the wall and inspected the various labels. After several minutes he frowned, seeing no sign of his particular choice of beans on the shelf. Looking around some more, Pete located a basket with a sale sign. Komodo dragon, that was the roast he liked. The sign stated a two for one special, but the basket was empty. Pete frowned again. Of course it's empty.
He walked over to the counter looking for the nearest barista. Pete spotted a young man, about his age, behind the counter attempting to pull out a full trash bag from a bin.
"Excuse me." Pete called out. The tall, raven haired, boy turned to face Pete with curious, piercing blue eyes. He released the bag letting it sink back into the trash can and walked over to the counter.
"What can I do for you?" He asked with a small smile.
"I was wondering if you have any more of the Komodo dragon you have on sale over there in stock." Pete stated simply as he pointed in the general direction of where he knew the basket was located.
The barista leaned forward a bit to see where Pete was pointing to before walking around the counter to the basket in question. Pete followed as he watched the boy assess the empty container.
"Oh, yeah. This roast had been selling all day. I can check the back if you'll give me a moment." He offered as he turned from the basket back to face Pete.
"Yeah that'd be great." Pete said coolly.
The taller boy nodded, turing back to the basket and making note of the number on the sign marked SKU.
"Just a moment." He said before disappearing behind a push door marked 'Employees Only'.
The guy was gone for several minutes and Pete vaguely wondered if he was having trouble. He leaned forward on his toes trying to peer through the tiny window on the door when suddenly the door popped open. He could see why the barista had taken so long as his arms were loaded to the brim with coffee bags.
"Okay..." He said, trailing off as he tried to restock the empty basket. Pete managed to catch a stray bag as it nearly fell. "Nice catch." The taller boy grinned. Before grabbing another bag and offering it over.
Pete suddenly felt self conscious at the comment and looked meekly at the bag before taking it. He cleared his throat before muttering, "Thank you..." Pete paused to look at the guy's nametag. "...Stan Marsh."
Pete blinked. He blinked several times staring at the name tag. Specifically, the fact that there was only four letters written on it. 'Stan' and yet the full name had rolled off his tongue with such ease. Pete looked up at the boy in surprise as the realization sank in.
Stan also looked surprised for a moment before it melted into a smile. It was the kind of smile that made Pete's heart race and his breathing stop. "You're welcome, Pete."
Another OTP prompt:
Imagine a world where you're born with your soul mate's name written on you somewhere, so everyone knows their love the first time they hear their name.
Person A goes to get groceries or coffee or something, and person B is working the counter. Person A tries to thank them for their help after they pose a problem, too many items, complicated order, etc. Person A squints at their name tag to complete the apology and garbles out Person B's full name out of surprise, first and last, while only their first name is on the tag. Their eyes meet and they both know.
