Next chapter! In which Alfred gains a new regular, and perhaps something more~
Alfred doesn'expect much to come from the all too brief meeting with the tall businessman. After all, that was how all of Alfred's flirations ended—with a raised eyebrow and a coy smile, followed by a quick goodbye and a speedy exit.
And those fancy important looking guys who happened to stumble upon the tiny cofee shop almost always never returned to pay a second visit. Alfred couldn't remember a time when he'd seen one of his "targets" more than once. And that was fine with the young teen—it was really all just a fun game, wasn't it?
So Alfred is surprised, to say the very least, when, the very next day, he looks up from taking the order of a middle aged woman in a chartreuse pantsuit to see a glimmer of strange-but-familiar hair skim up from the back of the line at the register. Not only hair but a face. A face that had sent all kinds of tingly feelings up Alfred's body for the duration of the previous evening. He'd woken up thinking of that face, of the warm purple eyes and the sheen of that pale hair, that smile—
Alfred drops his pen, and it clatters to the counter much to the displeasure of the female customer, whose order for a caramel whipped macchiato goes right over Alfred's head.
Matthias, who's cleaning up the coffee machines behind him, notices Alfred's pause and peers over the counter, instantly noting the cause of the teen's sudden stop. Smirking, he nudges Alfred in the ribs.
"Hey, look who's back. Got any more smooth moves for Mr. Hot Russian Businessman there?"
Alfred swallowed, but couldn't surpress the sudden rush of excitement that washed over him upon seeing the businessman again. Him and that smile, the one that he was currently giving Alfred now over the heads of the other customers—it was way too much.
Shrugging Matthias off, Alfred quickly recomposed himself, mechanically taking the orders of all those who had suddenly come between him and another flirty session with the responsive and seemignly interested businessman.
Alfred bounced on the balls of his feet, unable to contain his excited squirming as the tall man finally arrived at the register, kind smile growing to a full grin at Alfred's exuberant appearance. Alfred smirked, putting on hand on a canted hip and looking right up at the tall businessman.
"Well, well, well—look who's back."
The businessman was wearing a different suit today—dark gray, with a lavender tie that almost matched the strange dusky shade of his eyes. The soft smile seemed to extend all the way up to his irises—something that Alfred had not noticed yesterday.
But Alfred had certainly noticed—and remembered—that voice.
"Good evening."
The man ordered the same as he had yesterday—tall coffee, black—but instead of going down to sit at one of the tables, the way the other customers did, he stayed close by the counter, peering over to watch as Alfred worked, brewing the coffee in the bubbling machine and pouring it steaming hot into the styrofoam cup. Alfred occasionally peered over his shoulder, and couldn't help but wiggle his hips a bit whenever he caught the businessman staring.
This game was really starting to heat up. Good thing that Alfred loved to play—as long as it stayed at just that. A game.
He again scribbled on the coffee cup, as this had been an established rule of this particular game since yesterday evening. He thought for a moment, tapping the Sharpie against his cheek, before he inwardly snapped his fingers and wrote the new message down.
The barista then put a cover on the coffee cup before he sauntered back to the counter, placing it right in front of where the businessman stood, bending over a bit to lean an elbow on the counter to close the distance between the two of them.
"So, what's the deal? You coming back in here tomorrow?" Alfred didn't want to sound too hopeful, but his tone sounded far more uncertain than he'd meant it too, "I mean, two visits to the same shop in a row? That's practically a commitement in my mind, dude. And I get hella attached to my regulars, don't cha know."
The tall man cocked his head and put on a show of expression as if he were thinking hard about Alfred's question. After a moment, he chuckled at some amusing thought unknowable to the barista, before looking back at Alfred.
"I think that perhaps I may. This place is fortunately located between my office and—admittedly—it is not without its charms."
Alfred snorted, but didn't miss the slow, steady way that the tall man said the word "charms," with a slight inflection of the tongue that suggested that the appeal of the coffee shop lay in more than the faux-European interior and muted atmosphere.
Alfred was about to reply, witty retort all prepared and ready, when Ivan spoke up again.
"I think that perhaps, I will make visiting this place one of my daily rituals. After all—"
He lifted his hand slowly, Alfred's eyes instantly drawn to the movement.
"I do quite enjoy all the various sights and smells."
Alfred thought for a brief, overly-hopeful moment that the tall man was moving to touch, or to maybe even lift and tuck a piece of stringly blonde hair behind the barista's ear. The thought made him excited ad flustered at the same time, but it went unfulfilled as the businessman instead reached down to pick up his cup of coffee.
"Thank you, Alfred," The barista started and began to question how he knew his name when the businessman chuckled and pointed to Alfred's chest.
"Your nametag. Do you forget that you are wearing it, Alfred?" Ivan shook his head and Alfred stumbled over his words, blush pinking his cheeks.
"Hey, now, don't pull that. 'S been a long ass day," Alfred retorted, trying to have control over how good it made him feel to hear the man call his name. Alfred licked his lips surreptitiously as the businessman flicked his wrist up to his face to check his watch. After exchanging a quick goodbye and a faltering wave, the businessman left again, with only a final smile and a promise that he would return the next day clouding Alfred's head.
The barista watched the businessman through the glass windows of the storefront, observing as the tall figure stopped and held up the coffee cup to his eyes. Alfred's breath hitched in his throat as he saw him peer at the cup for a moment, almost as if he were—
Reading.
Alfred's chest fluttered, as he wondered what, in that moment, the newly christened "Mr. Nice Sexy Suit" was thinking.
