A/N: Yay, another chapter! This one was pretty fun to write, especially because I got to introduce new characters. Anyway, enjoy!
John
John watched as the newly introduced Alexander Hamilton smiled as he shook hands with Charles Lee. He hadn't seen the face Aaron made, and was under the impression that Hamilton genuinely liked Lee. He rolled his eyes, and whispered to Lafayette.
"I don't know about this new guy, Laf. He seems to like Lee, and any guy who likes Lee is a prick."
Lafayette glanced uncertainly back at Hamilton, who had drawn back his hand and placed it uneasily onto the strap of his worn-out backpack, and then back at John. "Oh, mon ami, do not be so worried. At least give him a chance." He perked up when he heard Angelica say his name, and stepped forward, warmly greeting the man, who looked slightly intimidated.
'Good'. Thought John. 'If he turns out to be a complete troll we have a way to keep him from acting like one.' He looked back at Hamilton, who stumbled back a little from the greeting. 'Hopefully,' he added as an afterthought. He was lost in thought. He could always use a new friend, but…
"And finally," Angelica's voice pulled John back to reality, "this is John Laurens," she said, pointing at him. John looked up at Hamilton, stepping forward nervously. He cursed himself as he stumbled over his feet a little, almost falling face first into the hardwood floors.
'Damn it!' he thought, steadying himself. 'Way to make a fool of yourself in front of the new guy.' John straightened up and looked at Hamilton, whose mouth was curled upwards in a tiny smirk. John instantly disliked him. 'Oh,' he thought viciously, 'So he thinks that was funny.' John huffed and quickly grabbed Hamilton's hand, shaking it up and down curtly before releasing it as soon as possible. He turned away without a second glance, rejoining Lafayette and crossing his arms in annoyance.
Lafayette just chuckled and clapped a hand on John's shoulder. "Ah, mon etrange ami. What was that?"
John scowled and crossed his arms. "I tripped, and he thought it was funny. Did you see his little smirk?"
"Do not take it too harshly, John," replied Lafayette. "I thought is was funny"
John glowered at him. "Well you're my friend. You're allowed to think that." He looked back at where the group had been standing. "Hey," he looked around, "where did everyone go?"
It turned out that Angelica was taking Alexander on a tour, and the rest of the group, excluding Lafayette and John, had joined them. They were currently in the kitchens, and Angelica was explaining how the system worked. When they finished, they made their way back to the front counter where Alexander would learn how to operate the cash register and how they made his drinks. She had Aaron show him how to use the machine, and he smiled pleasantly before launching into a boring explanation of how it worked. John instantly zoned out.
"John here is our barista. He's pretty experienced, so I think he'll be more than adequate demonstrating how to make a drink." She held her hand out proudly to John, who was still spaced out. "John?" she asked, shaking his shoulder gently.
He snapped out of his little daze and smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry. What was I supposed to do again?"
"Show Alexander how to make a drink, yeah?" Angelica sighed.
He nodded sheepishly and went behind the counter. "Which one?" he asked.
"Whatever you want." Angelica shrugged.
"Okay…" He thought for a moment then started pulling out ingredients for a Mocha Latte. He skillfully made the drink, his hands expertly mixing and measuring. Alexander watched with a sort of fascination and observed the process very carefully.
Once John was done, Angelica stepped forward. "Good job, John." He grinned in response. "Now," she said, turning to Hamilton, "would you like to try?"
He looked thoughtfully at the newly-made drink, and nodded. "It wouldn't hurt. Do I just…?"
Angelica smiled encouragingly. "You can go join John behind the counter. Don't worry, he won't bite." Alexander looked like he wasn't so sure of that, given John's hostile behavior earlier. John did feel a little bad. He was probably very nervous, and anyone would have laughed at John's screw up. He was still annoyed, but decided to give him a second chance.
The new employee cautiously made his way around to the back of the counter. He stood beside John and looked unsure of what to do. John simply handed him the recipe for the drink he had made a few minutes ago, and pointed to the ingredients. "You can just… the ingredients are already out, so just… try your hardest." Alexander nodded, and studied the recipe for about a minute before handing it back to John. John, confused, held out the paper towards Alexander again. "I think you're going to need this."
Alexander smirked confidently. "I'll be fine," he replied. Everyone in the group looked taken-aback and skeptical. Hamilton grinned at their expressions, and got to work. Everyone stared as he made the drink, watching as he put in all the right ingredients in the right order and measured everything out perfectly. Within just a few minutes, the drink was complete and looked perfect. John felt a pang of jealousy as he noted the neat and artistic swirl of the whipped cream on top and impeccably placed chocolate drizzle. Everyone looked impressed, and Angelica stepped forward to grab the drink.
"May I?" she asked, reaching for the mug. "I need to taste test it, so we know you did it right."
Alexander looked confused. "Of course. You don't have to ask me."
Angelica looked pleased at his response, and took a sip of the Latte. John could've sworn that the coffee barely even touched her tongue, but her eyes widened, and her expression was shocked. "This is… this is delicious. How?"
Alexander shrugged again, and smiled sheepishly. "I guess I'm a bit of a perfectionist."
Lee, much to John's annoyance, held out his hand and demanded Angelica to let him try the drink. "I want to taste it," he whined. Angelica scowled at him and handed him the cup. He took a small sip and he narrowed his eyes. "What the… how did you do that?!" For the first time in the history of ever, it seemed that Lee had gained a tiny shred of respect for someone. "How did you remember all of the ingredients?" he demanded.
Alexander looked at him, and plainly said, "I have a photographic memory." He sat there, looking confused as everyone stared at him. "What?"
"Dude," Horatio started, "You're like, amazing." The cup had ended up in his hands after being passed around and tested by everyone but John and Alex, and he had taken a large gulp after hearing the positive remarks about the drink. He passed the drink back to Alex, who looked at it uncertainly. He decided not to try it and set it down on the counter, while everyone looked expectantly at John.
"Why are you people looking at me like that?" he asked.
"Try it, mon ami," advised Lafayette. "You will like it." Everyone else bobbed their heads in agreement, excluding Alex, who just stared at the ground, lost in thought.
After some coaxing, John picked up the drink. "Fine," he spat. "But this poisons me, and I die, it's your guys' fault."
Angelica snorted. "Well, if it is, then we'll all die with you." John sighed in defeat and took a cautious sip of the coffee.
It was great. He didn't want to admit it, but the guy was good. Too good. He set the mug down on the counter and looked at Alexander. "Yeah, it's… it's okay," he mumbled.
Lafayette's jaw dropped at his friend's attitude. "Okay? Mon ami, this coffee is wonderful! It could even rival your skills."
John narrowed his eyes at the betrayal. "Bastard," he grumbled at his friend. He looked to the side where Alexander was standing, and saw a small smirk that was formed on his lips. 'Asshat,' he thought. Then he internally groaned. 'Why am I so angry over a well-made cup of coffee? It was probably just beginners luck anyways.' he mentally shook himself and forced his face to go back to a neutral expression. "Good… uh… good coffee, Hamilton. Maybe soon you'll become a barista." He forced himself to look at Hamilton, whose smirk was gone, though his eyes were sparkling with amusement.
"Thanks," he replied casually. "But for now, I'm just a bus-boy. I'll be cleaning tables and sweeping floors and all that."
John opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a loud beeping. Everyone turned to stare at Angelica, who shut off the noisy timer on her phone. "It's opening time. Everyone get to your stations! Alex, you come with me."
The group dissipated as the employees made their way to their regular stations. Lafayette went to the front door and flipped the sign, so it read 'open' and then fastened his black waist apron, dropping his pencil and his paper pad into the front pockets. Gates did the same, and combed his fingers through his hair, eager to impress any new girls that came in the coffee shop. It was around 8:20 AM when the first few customers streamed in, Lafayette and Gates welcoming them and leading them to their tables and taking their orders.
John dutifully began making the drinks, feeling a little better about himself when he spotted Alexander, who was mopping a dirty spot on the floor. He frowned when he saw the spot wouldn't come off with the mop, and grabbed the cleaning brush, getting down on his hands and knees and vigorously scrubbing the spot. John felt some satisfaction at this, and happily went back to making drinks. This happiness was short-lived though, when he saw a tall man wearing a magenta button-up shirt, cockily striding through the entrance with a shorter man following him timidly.
"Whassup, bitches?" he called. "Jefferson in the house!" All the staff and the customers rolled their eyes, unbeknownst to Jefferson. He just smirked and approached Lafayette, as usual. Thomas Jefferson, though he claimed he hated the place, came to the small Café every day and acted all high and mighty, just because his father was a senator, pretending that he was better than everyone. James Madison, his best friend, was less insolent, but still followed Jefferson everywhere and never stopped him from torturing the poor, overworked staff.
"Lafayette! You know my usual table. Let's go. Chop, chop!" he clapped his hands together twice and smirked at Lafayette. Lafayette forced a smile and cleared his throat.
"Of course, sir. This way, if you please." Jefferson leisurely strolled after Lafayette, but stopped abruptly, lowering his gaze to the floor. Hamilton was by one of the empty booths, still scrubbing the mark on the floor. Jefferson stared at him and took in his ratty clothes and messy ponytail, then smiled maliciously.
"Excuse me," he said with fake politeness, "but I need to step around you."
Hamilton paused and glanced up at Jefferson, raising his eyebrows. "Well," he responded, "I'm not stopping you." He went back to cleaning the floor. Jefferson's smile just grew wider.
"Ooooh, you've got a bit of an attitude. Let's try again. How about you move so I can get to my booth?"
Hamilton glared up at him. "Like I said before, I'm not in your way, therefore, I'm not stopping you."
Jefferson snickered. "Whatever you say." He looked down at the bucket of water on the floor by Hamilton and, without a moments hesitation, kicked it forcefully at the man on the floor. The water splashed all over Alexander, soaking his hair and his clothes. He sputtered in indignation (and to get the water out of his mouth) and brushed the wet strands of hair out of his face. Jefferson finally moved and walked to his table with Madison, sitting down and smiling viciously.
Hamilton stood up and stared down at his wet clothes, looking around helplessly. John felt a little bad Alexander and decided to help him. He reluctantly put down the ingredients he was holding. However, Lafayette was already leading him towards the back, and John sighed in relief. He really did not want to talk to Hamilton, seeing as he was kind of a prick. Sure, he was nowhere near as bad as Jefferson, but still, John didn't really like him.
"Hey! Can someone serve us over here?" speak of the devil. Jefferson was causing a commotion, demanding that someone come over to take his order. Gates had his hands full, though, and Lafayette was somewhere in the back, helping Alexander.
Then, as if by some miracle, Angelica rushed out, tying Lafayette's waist apron around her own waist. She hurried to Jefferson's table and pulled out the notepad. "Can I take your order, sir?" She forced a smile and prepared to write.
"Ah, Angelica Schuyler, "Jefferson purred. "How wonderful to see you again." He looked down at his menu and began to order. John looked helplessly on as he watched Angelica endure the man's flirtatious advances, even though she despised him.
Guys like Jefferson? They could do whatever they wanted, and John was sick of it. They all were.
A/N: WooOWww Jefferson. REEEEAAL mature of you. Also, so much drama over a cup of coffee. OOOH… I guess Hammy's just really great at making coffee, a skill many people wish they had, I think. Also, John's scared of losing his position to Alex. Don't worry though. It will all work out. Probably.
