JOBI: Part 1 The Meeting
Jon walked into CE Starbucks with one thing on his mind: Obie. He had a pretty good idea that the young barista was working that night, and could not hide his eagerness in seeing him. In previous encounters they had exchanged only a few words, but both couldn't stop grinning in the other's presence. Obie had even blushed and his voice raised a few decibels. Jon thought to himself that this time he would try to step up his game, although the thought left him quite nervous. As he opened the door a wave of cold air washed over him, and a voice called out, "Welcome to Starbucks!"
Obie saw Jon right before he entered the store and braced himself for their next encounter. Last time he had anxiously announced Jon's presence to his manager and adopted mother, Elena. Jon had seemed a little weirded out by the incident and so Obie thought he would try to be more calm this time. As soon as Obie greeted the handsome customer, he was met with a warm smile. As they met at the cash register Obie cheerfully asked, "What can I get started for you today?" Jon looked up at the menu briefly before looking directly into Obie's eyes saying, "What would you suggest?"
Obie trailed off "Ummm…." Jon watched as he became more and more flustered. "What about a pumpkin frappcino?!" Jon didn't normally get frappcinos, but he was willing to try something new for this cute barista. "Sure, sounds great" he replied, flashing another smile before looking down and biting his lip nervously as he started to make payment. "So how's your day going?" Obie asked, as he clicked buttons on the register. Jon's heart started racing and his face started to flush as he looked up, once again locking eyes with Obie and said, "Better now". Obie's face started turning red, obviously caught off guard and searching for words to respond before answering, "…me too, actually". They looked into each other's eyes anxiously before Obie snapped out of the trance and announced he was going to start making Jon's drink. As he moved over to the bar, he tried to collect himself and figure out what to say next. Jon followed and sat down in a chair on the side bar. He was determined not to lose his nerve this time, but wasn't sure how to continue the conversation.
"So what's the special occasion" Obie found himself asking as he made the frappe, quite conscious of Jon's eyes on him. "Oh the suit?" Jon briefly looked at the sleeve of his blazor before returning his gaze to the back of the barista's neck and responding, "I was at a student event handing out pamplets and ushering."
"Cool, cool…"
"Hey, Obie"
"Yeah, Jon?"
"Can I try on your hat?"
Obie turned around to face Jon as soon as the request was made and found himself handing off the hat to the smile on the other end of the counter. Jon fitted the cap to his head and grinned with triumph.
"I might have to keep this" he continued.
"Well…it looks good on you." Obie's face flushed again as soon as the words left his mouth.
Once again they were looking at each other nervously, unsure what to say. Suddenly Obie remembered he was making a drink and added the whip before handing it off to Jon who was still wearing the hat.
"Looks delicious."
"I blended whip in too so it'll taste like pumpkin pie," Obie explained unsure of what else to say. He grabbed a straw and handed it to Jon, their fingertips briefly grazing making the butterflies in Obie's stomach flutter more. Feeling restless watching Jon drink the frappe Obie decided to clean the condiment bar. He couldn't figure out what to do with his hands.
As he started wiping off the counter, he berated himself for not saying something more clever.
"It's really good."
Jon's breath made the hairs on Obie's neck tingle, sending chills down his backside. He hadn't heard Jon get out of his seat. He turned around to face Jon, their bodies only inches away from each other. Jon was a few inches taller and looked down into Obie's eyes, once again with a grin on his face.
"I figured I should give this back to you" he explained as he took the hat off with one hand and placed it back on Obie, his hand lingering a little longer on the back of the barista's head. Obie laughed nervously. Jon's hand slipped away slowly and landed on Obie's shoulder where he gave it a brief squeeze before saying, "It was great to see you, again."
"You too, man" Obie said, mad at himself for not saying more. Overcome with emotion, he impulsively inched up on his toes and eskimo kissed Jon, their cold noses brushing each other back and forth while their lips were mere centimeters away. Jon smiled while chuckling, and leaned forward into Obie kissing him. Jon took his free hand and returned it to his newfound favorite spot behind Obie's ear. Although it was a brief kiss, it felt much longer. Obie a little stunned, but overjoyed, eased back down onto his heels while still looking up at Jon. An audible gasp came from the other side of the store where Rai and Elena had been observing, and were now high-fiving.
"Oh, the store is closed by the way" Elena mentioned casually, "but you can stay a little longer if you want to." "Yeah!" Rai winked.
Still maintaining eye contact with Obie, Jon replied, "I should really be heading out, but I'm glad I hung around. Do you have a sharpie?" Obie, snapping out of his daydreaming handed the pen to Jon absentmindly. Jon picked up Obie's hand and began scribbling on it. When he finished he slipped the pen back into Obie's apron pocket before saying, "See you next time" and walked out the door looking back one more time before letting it close, a large grin still lighting up his face. Obie returned the smile, happier than he'd been in a long time. He looked down at his hand to find that Jon had written his phone number. Elena and Rai raced over screaming in unison, "OH MY GAWDD."
"Text him now!" Rai demanded, immediately invested.
"You should invite him over to the apartment!" Elena added. "We just need to clean it."
Obie, still in shock touched his mouth with his fingers, the kiss still lingering on his lips. Jon was the only thing on his mind and he was barely listening to anything except his own thoughts.