As she stood there waiting, she recalled the first day she walked into this little coffee shop. It was a rainy day in the beginning of September, and she was just looking for something warm to drink on her way to work. It had been a rough week. She was caring for her sister who had been sick, one of her best employees had submitted their letter of resignation the evening prior, and on top of it, it had been raining for several days straight with no signs of stopping.
She just needed to do something for herself that was at least remotely relaxing. She had always meant to try that café. Every day on her walk to work she would pass it, and every day she would think to herself, someday she would try it. That day she did, and it was the best decision she ever made.
The ambiance of the place was cozy, quiet, and relaxing. What really got her though was the friendliness of the staff, particularly the redhead that took her order and subsequently made her coffee. She remembered asking for a recommendation to which the redheaded barista offered to surprise her. The girl promptly returned with a hot cup of something. For some reason, she never did like drinking out of those plastic lids, so she promptly removed it revealing a cute star drawn in chocolate drizzle across the whipped cream topping.
She hadn't known what to expect, but if she thought it looked good, it tasted even better. It was heavenly. It had been a long time since she had more than a regular coffee with cream and sugar. She remembered asking eagerly what it was after saying how good it was. The girl just smiled and shrugged with a devious glint in her eyes.
"Ask me next time and I'll tell you,"
"Why not now?"
"If I tell you now, how could I guarantee I'd see you in here again?" The girl's smile made her feel warmer than the coffee she was holding, and she knew right then she'd be back.
In fact, she'd been back every day since. Every day the same mysterious drink. The girl quickly learned to serve it without the lid, given the amount of times Sarah removed it immediately. If she was honest, it was just as much about not liking the lid itself, as it was now about her curiosity to see what little design the girl had chosen for that day. It wasn't until about a month after that first day that she finally was enlightened to what concoction she was drinking.
The redhead had kept it such a closely guarded secret that one day she stopped by on a day the girl called out sick, not only was she disappointed she didn't get to see her, but she also realized she had no idea what to order because the redhead never told her, and she was the only one that made it for her.
The redhead's blonde coworker smiled at her as she walked up to the counter, though Sarah still didn't know what she wanted. Well, she knew what she wanted but guessing the ingredients correctly was something else entirely. More than that though she was realizing she was missing the redhead's adorable, dimpled smile that lit up the room.
"Name for the order?" The blonde one asked.
"Sarah," She responded mindlessly while looking up at the menu, not realizing until later that she had never given her name for her drink there before, the redhead always handed it to her personally.
"Thank you, give me a second," The blonde smiled and walked off to speak to one of her other coworkers, but Sarah barely noticed, still confounded by the vast menu. There was no way she was going to figure it out, so she decided it would be better to just skip it for the day rather than get something she didn't like.
"Never mind, I will come back another day actually," she said over the counter, but didn't care either way if the blonde had heard her.
Almost to the door, she was stopped by a loud "Order for Sarah!" that had her turning around to see the blonde looking at her directly.
"I didn't order anything,"
"I have your drink right here," Suspiciously she walked up to the counter, took the lid off like she always did and took a small sip. It was missing the usual drizzle pattern on the top, and it tasted a little off, but she wasn't sure if it was because it really was slightly different or if it was just because she knew for a fact the redhead didn't make it.
She fumbled with her wallet for a moment until the blonde shook her head. "Already paid for,"
"By whom?" Sarah couldn't believe it.
"You already know the answer to that. When she called out, she said it was on her, because you'd have to suffer through whatever variation of it, we made, considering you don't know what it is exactly," The blonde explained over her shoulder while cleaning up.
Sarah raised an eyebrow at her. "And what is it again?"
"Just a lavender mocha latte, extra espresso, and the works-hey ow what was that for Bells?!" The blonde had been struck on the arm by her other coworker, a tall dark-haired girl who always seemed to be giving someone else directions whenever Sarah was there.
"Tally said you weren't supposed to tell her what it was, shitbird, all you had to do was get her name and hand her the drink, it shouldn't have been that hard!"
"Shut up Bells!" The blonde grumbled before turning back to Sarah.
Sarah just looked between them, grinning at the fact that now she knew the girl's name, and more so at hearing that apparently the girl was perhaps just as interested in her as she was in the girl.
"Please don't tell her we told you, she'll kill us," The blonde pleaded.
"Kill us?! Rae, you messed up, not me, it'll just be you facing the consequences," The other girl threw over her shoulder, and the blonde, Rae, still was looking at Sarah.
Sarah nodded with a smile before leaving.
It had been two weeks since then, and here she was, standing in line, waiting to see her favorite barista. Today was the day she was going to ask if the girl wanted to go on a date.
The line was long and all the extra time standing there was making her nervous. Why though. Clearly the girl was interested in her at least a little bit, she didn't need to be nervous. Her palms were sweaty though, and she wished this could just be easier.
She was quickly distracted from her nerves by the sound of Tally's laugh. Sarah looked up.
The redhead smiled brightly. "Nicte, to what do we owe the pleasure this early in the day? What will it be?" Standing a few people back in the line, Sarah had to admit she was a little jealous of how the girl was interacting with this other woman.
"Heyya Red, you know me, can't seem to stay away. We both know you already know what I want,"
Tally grinned some more and nodded. "Large hot mocha, black, extra espresso," Tally spouted off like she had been asked the color of the sky.
"Well, yes that," she grinned mischievously. "Annnd, for you to stop calling me Nicte, it's far too formal, Red, we know each other better than that, don't we?" The shorter woman leaned on the counter and Tally just laughed.
"Yes, Niks, I suppose so. Is that better?" Tally asked as she turned away to make the beverage. The sound of the blender being used by a different employee drowned out whatever this Nicte woman said so Sarah couldn't hear but whatever it was, Tally heard, and she laughed some more.
Sarah wished she could make her laugh like that. Thankfully the two people between her and Tally had easy orders, and before she knew it, she was face to face with that beautiful redhead once again.
This had to be her favorite time of the day.
"Sarah, your drink is all ready for you," Tally pushed the cup of hot liquid toward her. Their hands touched ever so briefly. "I made it an extra-large today, I hope that is okay," She asked with a smile, but she already knew the answer. Sarah nodded affirmatively.
Part of her didn't like that Tally made it before she got up there, it meant she got to spend less time with her, but on the other hand it meant she was special enough that Tally went out of her way to do that. Tally clearly knew that other woman's order too but made no effort to make hers ahead of time. It made Sarah feel special.
This was her chance though, if she was going to ask her out, now was the time.
"I hope you have a good day today, Sarah," Tally said softly.
"You as well, Tally," She needed to bite the bullet and ask her. If she was so desperate to see her every day that she was upset that she couldn't wait longer for her order, then obviously she should try to see her outside of work. It was just hard to tell if Tally was really interested in her or not. She lingered a moment longer, and Tally cocked her head to the side.
"Is something wrong?"
Sarah shook her head slowly and eyed the top of her coffee, adorned with an adorable little spiral flower. "No, I just uh. This isn't easy, but uh-"
The shattering of a glass behind the counter took both of their attention away. Standing there with a guilty look on her face was Raelle. Tally scowled at her and looked quickly back to Sarah who was now also frowning at the interruption. "I think I need to help her, I'll be right back,"
"Don't worry about it," Sarah forced through the polite smile on her face as she nodded.
Tally scurried away and Sarah watched for about a moment before she looked down at her drink again. She really didn't want to put it off, but she also had to get to work, and she clearly needed to actually have an idea of what to say. It just wasn't going well for her today, maybe the next day would be better. "I'll see you tomorrow, Tally," she said over the counter, to which Tally yelled a quick 'Have a good day!'
Sarah could hear Tally berating her coworker for ruining the moment.
The walk out was torturous. She was kicking herself, why didn't she just ask her?! The worst she could say was no, then she would lose the best part of her day, and she'd never drink coffee again. Oh. Hmm that would be bad. Almost to the door, there was a couple sitting at a nearby table, the woman had taken the lid off her coffee. Did Tally draw a flower on her coffee too? She glanced over just a little to see, but it was too difficult. She sighed and left; she would have to figure everything out the next day.
She took a small sip of the burning liquid and tried to let it soothe her now that she was outside. Her nerves were frayed. She couldn't quite say the words fast enough when she came face to face with the beautiful redhead. All she wanted was to ask her out on a date, or to dinner, or maybe just to take a walk in the park nearby. She honestly didn't know, she just wanted to see her outside of her job, outside of their roles as customer and barista.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would do it for sure. She had been going there for a while now and the whole time the girl always seemed happy to see her, and a little more than that too if she were being honest.
What if it was just part of the customer service act. She grumbled to herself as she walked through the doors of her office building. She glanced briefly back down into her cup, the whipped cream now mostly melted, the chocolate flower having long since dissolved. She thought of the redhead whom she had brushed hands with as she took the cup.
Tomorrow for sure.
Tally couldn't help but smile at how beautiful the woman before her was, though she did look nervous, and Tally could only hope she was the reason for it. There was no direct answer to that though, and she was okay with that. Sarah's soft hands brushed against her own as she passed her usual signature drink to her. Tally took a few extra seconds every day to draw delicate patterns on it, in a subtle attempt to get the woman's attention.
She had no way of knowing if it worked or not, but she liked to think it made her think of her.
When Sarah paused for a moment after getting her coffee, Tally was sure she was going to ask her out, and she was so thankful that she didn't have to find a way to do it without being her awkward self, but instead she was disappointed by Raelle fumbling around and breaking a glass pitcher, and before she knew it, Sarah said a quick goodbye and that was that.
"Rae! Do you know what you just did?!" Tally grumbled as she helped the other girl off the floor and looked to the front door after the woman who was long gone.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm sure whatever it was, you can talk about it tomorrow?" The blonde offered with a careful smile.
Tally rolled her eyes. "She was going to ask me out, do you know how long I've been waiting for her to do something?!"
Abigail walked up behind her when she had finished taking care of the next customers while Tally had helped Rae clean up. "Do you know that for sure? Or are you just seeing something that isn't there? You know that Nicte woman is always trying to get your attention too, and she is very clear about it,"
Tally rolled her eyes. "Nicte is interesting for sure, but Sarah, oh my goddess. Have you looked at her?! Or talked to her?! Those cheekbones! Those eyes! That sexy voice!"
Both Raelle and Abigail looked at each other in agreement that they did not see what Tally saw. "Give it a rest Tally, please, we know you're in love with her," Abigail whined.
"Why don't you just ask her out if you're so tired of waiting for her to do it?" Raelle pointed out. "That's what I did with Scylla. I thought for sure she'd say something, but she never did, and I didn't want to miss my chance, and I'm so happy I did. Come on Tal, to know is better, even if she says no, cause at this point you're just wasting time you could be spending together if she says yes,"
Tally sighed; she knew they were both right. "Fine, maybe tomorrow,"
