AN: So if I remember correctly, Vogue used to be located at Times Square near The New York Times building and has since moved to the One World Trade Center building. I will most likely be keeping the location at Times Square for this story, as I honestly couldn't have predicted that change while planning this story three years ago, so I will be keeping it as is. Hope you enjoy the latest chapters!
Chapter 7
Fancy Meeting You Here
oOo
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
"You're kidding right? The Dave Karofsky?"
"Yes, Rachel. For the tenth time, I swear it was him," Kurt said to the disbelieving voice of his best friend coming from his cell phone as he stood in line waiting for coffee very early that morning. He had called Rachel while stopping at the café behind his apartment hoping (rather guiltily) that she would already be awake with her usual morning sickness so he could tell her the news of how he ran into Dave Karofsky the night-and morning-before.
"And you're sure you're not concussed?" she demanded as Kurt moved up a step as the person at the front of the line moved aside, making him only the third person in line. Why BLU Café was the only coffee shop in Lincoln Square baffled him. His own coffeemaker finally gave out on him this morning after years of use, offering him only a sad puttering noise and a puff of steam. He made a mental note that he would have to buy a new one that week.
"No, why would I be concussed?" Kurt scoffed, attempting to reassure her of his physical well-being. "I'm fine."
"Well, you know how he used to be…" she started and he rolled his eyes, wondering if Rachel's concern was worth telling her about running into Dave. He should have at least waited until he had some caffeine in his system.
"And my lack of a concussion makes it pretty easy to recall 'how he used to be'," he said shrewdly, moving up another spot in line once more.
"But it's been twelve years," he reminded her. "People don't stay the same people they were in high school."
"Except maybe you and me."
"Oh yes, because we were so flawless. Please Rachel," Kurt said, thinking about how he and Rachel could barely get along in high school, but somehow became inseparable best friends by their senior year.
"Okay fine. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful…" she said warily.
"What do you want me to do, Rach? Use the buddy system when I'm around him?" he asked, flourishing a hand that he realized, after the fact, that she would not see. "It was fine. Fun, actually."
"Really? What kind of fun?"
"We went to the diner and talked for a bit. It was pretty late and I probably only got one hour of sleep that night. Which is why I didn't bother telling you earlier. I crashed on the couch as soon as I got home from work that day."
"I don't understand you, Kurt. Some… Lummox… Makes your life a living hell and now you want to be friends with him? What do you two even have in common anyway?"
"Well, what about you and Quinn Fabray? She practically tortured you freshman year and you're still in contact with her."
"That's different. We were in Glee Club together." Kurt had to bite his tongue, as he almost slipped out with an adamant "we were gay together", but he knew how that statement could easily be misconstrued.
"Well, maybe there are plenty of things he and I have in common and don't know it yet because he was too scared to be himself in high school. The point is… He was really nice and I may have invited him to come over to the apartment some time this week now I am about to get some coffee so I will talk to you later okay bye."
"Wait what?" Kurt heard before hanging up the phone, knowing the word lashing and reprimanding he would receive from the woman later. But he was first in line anyway, so he stowed the phone away to his coat pocket.
"How may I help you?" asked the chipper blonde behind the counter.
"Just a 12 ounce coffee, please. And room for cream," he added, already digging his wallet out of his back pocket.
She replied with a polite "of course" and behind her, one of her colleagues dispensed a stream of coffee into a cup, placed a lid on it, and handed it to her as he pulled out a five dollar bill.
"Two dollars and fifty cents is your change," she said, sliding the drink across the counter as the cash register chimed and opened. She withdrew the pair of single dollars and quarters and handed it to him.
"You have a great day," she said with a smile blinding enough to reveal she herself likely did not partake in the product she was selling. Or had a fantastic dentist.
"Thanks, you too," Kurt said, hastily shoving the change into his pocket and picking up the hot cup so the line could keep moving. He had been to the café only a handful of times and it was always packed, but somehow completely spic and span with its white floors, counters, and chairs. It was the complete opposite of his favored diner, but it was closer. What he wouldn't give to have a a few Starbucks in the area, though.
Kurt stepped to the left side of the room to the small counter that held the various creams, sugars, and sugar substitutes, and set the cup down. He inspected the trio of insulated aluminum pitchers for the half and half label and when he found it, he pried off the lid to his coffee being careful not to burn himself. And then he cursed. Vividly.
"Shit. Fucking. Dammit," he hissed when he saw they did not leave room for cream. Or, at least, only a minuscule amount.
"Such language, Hummel." Kurt's head swung around toward the utterance of his last name as Dave Karofsky sidled up next to him at the counter, not with a smirk, but a smile.
It wasn't difficult for Dave to pick out the perfectly coiffed head of hair standing three people ahead of him when he had entered the building, Dave shook his head as he took his place in the back of the line.
"Now I am about to get some coffee so I will talk to you later okay bye."
Dave held back a snort after catching the last snippet of the conversation. He was already starting to get used to running into Kurt at the oddest places and the oddest times.
Of course Kurt would be here. The man was on his way to work, presumably. His hair was sprayed in place, sweeping away from his forehead before curling toward his right temple, and under the same coat that he wore two nights before appeared to be a fitted suit much like the ridiculous ones he wore in high school. Only this one was a bright cerise.
Dave on the other hand, was dressed in his old, blue, Queens College hoodie and really had no reason to be awake that early in the morning, or at least at the coffee shop, when his own coffeemaker was in working order. But it was nice to get out of the apartment, especially when Travis was away on business. So when he did go down to BLU Café, he would take his laptop with him just in case an idea came to him.
He watched as Kurt finished his order and moved off to the side, completely oblivious to the fact that he was only a few spaces behind him in line. He supposed he didn't blame him. The shop was crowded and Kurt was probably running late to work anyway.
"Hi, Krista," he said a minute later as he gave the young woman at the counter a ten dollar bill. He had become acquainted with the twenty-something year old a few months back when she had accidentally spilled Travis's cappuccino and got chewed out for. Dave had apologized profusely for Travis's over the top reaction and since then would leave large tips for the poor girl due to his second hand embarrassment. She was a sweet girl, and definitely did not deserve the brunt of his boyfriend's vitriol.
"Hi, Dave, the usual?" she asked, hesitating just in case he decided to switch it up that day.
"Yeah," he confirmed, all the while sneaking a glance towards Kurt, still at the counter looking like his cup of coffee personally insulted him.
"Here's your coffee and your orange-cranberry muffin," she aid, handing over a small brown paper bag and his regular black coffee.
"Keep the change, Krista," he said over his shoulder as he moved towards the counter where Kurt stood.
"Shit. Fucking. Dammit," he heard Kurt grumble under his breath. Dave was glad he didn't choose to take a sip of coffee right then. It was the most unKurt choice of words he ever heard the man say, and he was certain had he drank his coffee at the time he would have choked on it.
"Such language, Hummel," Dave gibed as he set his coffee and muffin on the counter. He was pretty sure Kurt was gaping at him in his periphery as he pulled a few napkins out of the dispenser, just in case he made a crumbly mess out of his muffin. Dave cocked his head.
"Fancy meeting you here?" he said, putting emphasis on the first word.
"Oh for... Really, David?" Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "Fancy?"
"I didn't mean it as an insult," he said quickly. "You're just very... Conspicuous this morning." He could now see Kurt's tie-blue and neon orange plaid. It complimented the bright pink suit in a very unexpected way. "Spiffy," he added in approval.
"Spiffy? Well, now I see why The Times hired you in the first place," Kurt said smartly.
"Ow, you wound me, Kurt," he said, placing his hand over his chest as if physically injured.
"Seriously. What are you even doing here at 5:30 in the morning. If I had just quit my job I would still be in bed right now."
"Oh, you know. Got my muffin." He held up his brown bag. "Thought I'd watch the sun rise."
Kurt stared at him blankly.
"You can't see the sunrise from here."
"Yeah, I know. That was a joke," Dave pointed out.
"Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined you a morning person. Who would have thought." Kurt looked him up and down, scrutinizing him like the idea of being cheerful in the morning was a concept foreign to him. Dave leaned back against the counter. This could be fun, he thought.
"You know I'm starting to think you're following me, Kurt. First my apartment and now my favorite coffee shop." He tutted.
Kurt narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be trying very hard to keep his stern facade in place. If he could get Kurt to laugh or just smile, he would take it as a personal victory.
"The only coffee shop," Kurt emphasized, crossing his arms and sticking out his foot. "On this entire, godawful block."
"Okay, maybe I should wait until after you have your coffee to make jokes." He held his hands up in resignation. He had been on the receiving end of Kurt's wrath before and knew when he was playing with fire.
The lines in Kurt's face disappeared as he let his arms, and challenging stance, drop. He shook his head apologetically.
"No," he huffed as he ran his hand through his hair. "It's just that every single coffee place I go to never leaves room for cream when I ask for it. They fill it to the brim and then I have to dump some out. But since I was a barista in college I know what a mess that can make for the people who have to take out the trash, but I hate black coffee so I don't want to drink some of it down, but…" He drew in a breath and stared at the liquid like he was confronted with having to drink poison.
So that's what this was all about?
"Why not just ask her to dump some out?" Dave asked jerking his head in Krista's direction before taking a swig of his own coffee. The liquid practically seared his mouth, but not without an idea in mind.
"No, she's so busy with other customers. I don't want to bother her. Or make her feel bad," Kurt said in a low tone, as though Krista could hear him from that far away and with all the chatter that filled the room.
Dave, on the other hand, tried not to think about how Travis would react if his order wasn't precisely how he asked for it.
"That's some dilemma," Dave said with mock seriousness. "Why not try..." Dave popped the lid off of his cup and picked up Kurt's, pouring about half an inch of Kurt's coffee into his own. Kurt watched, stunned, as Dave set his coffee in front of him and replaced his own lid once more. "This. Problem solved."
"Um... Yes, well… That does work. Thank you," Kurt said weakly, cheeks flushed in embarrassment after making a mountain out of that mole hill of a problem. He busied himself with pouring cream and two packets of sugar into his cup and stirred it rapidly with two of the wooden coffee stirrers. Dave assumed that his "issue" made him late for work.
"No problem," Dave said, with a shrug. He spotted a table from the corner of his eye and hoped no one else would grab it before he could. "Oh, and Kurt?" he piped up just as he started to walk away.
"What?" Kurt said, turning to face him.
"We seriously need to stop running into each other like this. It's starting to freak me out," he said playfully. Kurt responded by sticking his tongue out at him. Dave assumed that if the area was less public he would have given him a middle finger instead.
"Goodbye, David," Kurt said tersely, as he pressed his back against the glass door and pushed it open, slipping outside.
'Damn, so close.'
Dave chuckled as he sat down at the table facing one of the big windows and pulled his laptop out of his bag. While the sun itself couldn't be seen from the coffee shop where it rose above the East River, he could, however, see the brilliant orange and cerise streaks reaching like giant fingers across the long stretch of sky towards the Hudson. He sat back in his chair and took of a sip of his coffee, admiring the view just as Kurt passed his window, running carefully across the snow-dusted sidewalk to catch a cab. As he climbed into the back seat of the vehicle, Dave could have sworn he saw trace of a smile on Kurt's face.
"Frustrating man," Kurt grumbled as he slipped out the door, almost regretting speaking highly of him to Rachel. He scanned for a cab as the frigid air caught in his lungs and he cupped the warm drink in his hands in an attempt to absorb the warmth. He spotted one of the yellow vehicles pulling up to the curb in front of the entrance of the building, and he weaved in between the bare trees that lined the sidewalk, their branches wrapped in twinkling white lights for the holiday season. He managed to reach the vehicle, just as the previous passenger got out, and he slipped into the backseat.
"Times Square," he told driver. He looked out the side window of the cab at the café and saw Dave inside, looking down at his laptop and munching on what looked like a muffin. Kurt took a sip of his now perfect cup of coffee and smiled.
Maybe mornings weren't so bad after all.
