Caitlin was stressed.
It was Christmas Eve morning and she had yet to find a gift for her mother, who she would be seeing later that evening for dinner. Work had kept her so busy the last few weeks and Christmas snuck up on her this year. Luckily, she was off today so she could try to find something. Unluckily, it being the day before Christmas and all, a lot of stores' shelves were bare of all the good stuff.
Her mother and her were recently trying to move on from their previous estranged relationship, so she wanted her gift to feel personal rather than something menial she only got because it was last minute. Even if that was true in this case.
With a sigh, she sat defeatingly at one of the food court's tables. Instinctively, she took out her phone and opened up Instagram and began scrolling down on her feed. And just as if the app had read her mind, she saw an ad for a holiday basket company. Curious, she clicked on the ad, taking her to the company's Instagram page.
There she saw pictures of numerous baskets of all different sorts, so eloquently put together. One in particular happened to catch her eye. It was a basket in the shape of a Santa sleigh with a couple different flavors of hot chocolate with accompanied mugs and cookies and other Christmas nick nacks too. It stood out to her mainly because hot chocolate was such a staple of the holidays when her dad was alive, and she doesn't quite remember having it since.
But before her mind got too far ahead, she sighed once more. Would she even be able to get this basket on such short notice?
She checked the page, a flurry of excitement coursing through as she saw that it was based in Central City. However, she soon frowned when she saw no connected address or number to call. But...the DMs were open…
: Hi, I just came across your page today and I absolutely love that Santa sleigh basket with the hot chocolate. Would it be possible to purchase one?
: Also, sorry if this isn't the correct means of purchasing. I couldn't find another alternative.
The young doctor bit her lip as she stared at her phone. She wanted a quick response, but she knew considering the day, whoever ran the page might be busy and take awhile.
However, just as she had that thought, she received a notification from the company.
AllensSpeedyBaskets: Hello, Merry Christmas Eve! Do you need this basket by a specific time/day?
The young doctor winced before typing out her response.
: Could I get it by 5pm today?
: That's really short notice, so I'd understand if you can't!
AllensSpeedyBaskets: Last minute shopping? Lol
She blushed. Busted.
: That obvious, huh? I'm not normally like this though.
AllensSpeedyBaskets: It's quite alright. Happens to the best of us. I can definitely get it done for you by 5pm. Would you like it delivered?
: Are you sure this is okay? It feels like a big ask.
AllensSpeedyBaskets: It's fine. Speedy is in our name after all :)
She chuckled and found herself smiling despite herself.
: Thank you so much! As for delivery, could we do a meetup instead? Do you know of Jitters, the coffee shop on Gustin Ave?
AllensSpeedyBaskets: I know Jitters. I'll see you there at 5pm!
She smiled as she tucked her phone away. Mission accomplished. Now she could spend the remainder of her day packing and getting ready for her visit to her mother's.
.
Caitlin strolled into Jitters just a few minutes before 5pm, relishing the warmth of the coffee shop in comparison to the chilliness of the outdoors. Her eyes then scanned the room for anyone that might be holding her Santa sleigh basket, but she didn't see anyone yet. She shrugged it off, knowing it was still technically early, so she walked to the counter to retrieve her bakery order, eyes on the entrances the whole time in hopes to spot the basket.
But as the minutes passed, even after receiving her bakery order and taking a seat at one of the tables where she could watch the entrances some more, no one had come into Jitters with any kind of basket of any kind and it was almost quarter after five. Frowning, Caitlin took out her phone and opened up Instagram. Her frown deepened as she didn't see any new messages from the basket-maker.
: Hey, I'm at Jitters. Is someone coming with the basket still?
She bit her lip as she waited for a reply, but as another couple minutes ticked by, she got no response. A pang of disappointment rang throughout; she didn't so much blame the person if they were unable to complete the order since it was very last minute, but she wished they would have at least let her know instead of ghosting her. That way she could've gotten an alternative gift.
Just as she was about to stand to get ready to go, the front doors were pushed open with a mighty force revealing a lanky man holding a basket in the shape of a sleigh. "I'm here!" he windedly hollered to the whole cafe before bending over, trying to catch his breath.
Everyone in the cafe looked at him peculiarly for a few moments before eventually going back to their own businesses. It was then that Caitlin hesitantly rose from her seat and walked over to the frantic delivery man.
"Are you okay?" she questioned, seeing as he was still breathing heavily; the doctor side of her surfaced to make sure he wasn't going to faint.
Still bent over, he waved her off. "Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine," he assured her through pants. "I - I just ran...I ran the whole way here so…" he explained before looking up at her, eyes widening, his Adam's apple bobbing. "It's - it's you!"
"It's me?" she confusingly asked.
The delivery man finally straightened to his full height, and she could deduct he was a good half-foot taller than her. "The woman from Instagram," he clarified. "The one that bought this basket," he further said, holding up said basket. "I recognize you from your profile picture…"
"Oh…"
"That sounded creepy, didn't it? I'm sorry, I just-"
"No, no, it's fine," she interrupted him with a shake of her head. "For a second there I just forgot that you could see my profile picture and all," she further explained. "So...you work for Allen's Speedy Baskets?" she asked, redirecting the conversation.
"Yes, I'm Barry Allen: Owner, Basket Organizer, Social Media Manager and Delivery Boy all wrapped up into one," he proudly declared, puffing out his chest a tad.
Caitlin's eyes widened a little at that revelation. "Oh, you're the owner?"
"Picturing a retired grandma?"
"Yeah, kinda…Sorry!" she confessed with a slight wince.
Luckily, Barry just chuckled. "It's okay, I get that a lot. But sorry I couldn't be as Speedy as the name suggests. I should've messaged you to let you know I was running late, but my mind was thinking I could become the fastest man alive somehow and still make it on time despite needing to run 20 city blocks with a huge basket in my arms so…"
The young woman shook her head. "No, seriously, it's fine. It was a last minute gift, anyway. You made it faster than anyone else would've attempted," she assured him.
"I still feel bad," he told her. "Let me at least buy you a drink to make up for the time you waited?"
"Uhhh," Caitlin started unsurely, discreetly trying to check the time on her watch.
Barry then hit the palm of his hand to his forehead. "I'm stupid, sorry. You probably have to get going. I won't take up more of your time. Forget it."
On any normal day, she probably would've taken the out and hightailed it out of there, but there was just something about this basket-maker that intrigued her, silently coaxing her to spend a little more time with him.
"Actually," she started, "A drink would be great. I still have a little time to spare before I'm expected at my mother's."
The resulting grin that then manifested over his face was enough for Caitlin to feel good about her decision. "Great, um, so yeah, I'll go get us something to drink," he stuttered out as he clumsily handed the sleigh basket to Caitlin before walking towards the counter.
She amusingly shook her head as she placed the basket down on her table, admiring it as she did. It somehow looked even better than the picture on Instagram. She was sure her mom would love it.
Not long after, the basket-maker was back with two beverages in his hand. "I forgot to ask what you wanted, so I just got us both Flash's," he told her as he put them on the table.
"That's just fine. It's one of my go to's," she assured him.
He let out a smile of relief as he took off his coat and hung it on the back of his chair, revealing a deep green sweatshirt that made his eyes suddenly pop out; they were comforting, like admiring a Christmas tree on a silent night. He then tore off his beanie, leaving his dark locks tousled, but it all somehow just made him more endearing.
"Again, sorry for being late," he said to her as he took a seat across from her. "My ride had a last minute emergency call so I had to hightail it here from the CCPD," he explained to her.
Caitlin raised a brow. "And why were you at the CCPD?"
"I work there."
That further confused Caitlin. "So wait, the basket business isn't your job?"
"No, no, not really. That's just a side business type of thing," he told her. "You can only watch so much Netflix, you know?" he joked.
She giggled. "I pretty much just read, clean and cook on my down time, so I get it," she admitted. "So if you work at CCPD, are you a cop then?" she inquired as she took a sip of her beverage. She didn't think he looked like a cop, but as he pushed the sleeves of his sweater up his forearm, she could detect some muscles on his thin frame.
"Oh God no," he breathed out, making them both laugh. "I'm a forensic scientist, actually."
She let out a sound of approval. "That sounds interesting."
"It's not as glamorous as the show CSI makes it out to be."
Caitlin smiled. "Trust me, I'm a doctor, and you know how many people I've hooked up with on the clock?"
He squinted his eyes, assessing her with a reserved grin. "How many?"
"Zero!" she dramatically proclaimed. "Grey's Anatomy lied to me."
Barry laughed, his Christmas eyes somehow gleaming brighter, like lights were actually glittering within them.
"So a doctor, huh? What kind of medicine do you practice?" he asked, which tailspinned into a whole discussion about their jobs, which bled into a discussion about the latest superhero movies and what powers they'd want, if that sort of thing were possible.
"I don't know," Caitlin said unsurely, tucking her hair behind her one ear. "Maybe...the ability to heal anyone with a touch."
"Such a doctor answer!"
"Well I'm a doctor, what do you expect?" she vollied back.
He rose his arms, gesticulating grandly. "I don't know, something more selfish? Like just wanting to fly so you could travel the world or turn invisible to spy on someone. Like me, I'd want to be able to run fast, since I'm unfortunately frequently late…"
Caitlin narrowed her eyes. "I somehow doubt superspeed would fix that problem," she teased.
Barry stuck his tongue out at her. He then opened his mouth to say something more when one of the baristas approached them, interrupting the conversation.
"Sorry to bother you, but we're closing early tonight on account of it being Christmas Eve," she stated, and it was only then that Caitlin noticed the bumbling atmosphere of Jitters had thinned out to just her, Barry and a few other stragglers.
This prompted Caitlin to quickly look at her watch, causing her to curse as she saw the time.
"Running late?" Barry asked, but his lips were fighting off a grin.
She rolled her eyes. "Yes," she admitted as she got up from the table. "I hadn't realized we were talking for as long as we were."
"I'm sorry!"
Caitlin shook her head at his apology. "It's fine. I'm just due to be at my mother's in 15 minutes and it's about an hour away…" she said with a grimace as she grabbed her bag from the bakery. "So I have to get going."
She was about to grab her basket next, but Barry blocked her attempt. "Let me," he insisted, picking it up. "I feel bad about running late and then making you late for your dinner, so the least I could do is help you take it to your car."
Considering her car was just down the street, the young doctor relented and had him follow her out of the coffee shop and onto the crisp streets of Central City.
"So the basket is for your mother then?" Barry conversationally inquired as he followed her.
"Yup, it's something I hope she'll appreciate since drinking hot chocolate used to be a big family tradition on Christmas Day," she told him over her shoulder.
"Well I hope she enjoys it."
A genuine grin slid across her face as she turned to her companion. "I hope so too," she told him just as they reached her car. "This is me," she told him, opening up the back seat for him to put the basket in.
After getting everything situated, the pair stood in front of each other awkwardly.
"Umm," Barry started, rubbing the back of his neck, "It was really nice to meet you, and - and thanks for the business, obviously," he said with a chuckle.
She dipped her head down, feeling her cheeks reddening just a tad.
"And sorry, again," he added meekly.
She shook her head amusingly. "Stop saying sorry, it's fine," she told him as she slowly made her way to the driver's side of the car.
"Sorry!" he said reflexively, which caused them both to laugh.
She smiled at Barry, hand on the handle, but she just didn't want this exchange to end. "Thanks for the drink."
"Thanks for the company, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas."
"You too," she told him, biting her lip as she gazed at him across the roof, knowing she couldn't prolong this conversation any longer. "I-I guess I have to get going…"
He shook his head, as if he had been in a trace previously. "Right, yeah...um...drive safely!"
She nodded, offering him one last smile, before opening the door and getting in, knowing if she didn't in that moment that I'd take so much more willpower to leave. However, just as she put her gear into drive, she heard a knock come from her passenger-side window.
She reflexively smiled as she saw Barry bent over, looking through her window with a grin, gesturing to her to put the window down.
"Did I forget something?" she asked as the window receded, the coldness already sweeping into the car.
"I don't want to hold you up too much longer but ummm…" he started, the smile on his face turning uneasy, like he was nervous. "I - I just wanted to ask if you could, you know, message me later," he said before immediately adding, "For business purposes of course, because I want to make sure your mom, you know, likes the basket...and all..."
The doctor found herself blushing. "Definitely."
"Really?" he croaked in disbelief before shaking his head. "I - I mean, great. Cool. Um, will look forward to that."
Caitlin fondly shook her head, finding his behavior adorable. "Bye, Barry. I'll message you later," she promised him with a smile and tiny wave.
His smile only grew, dazedly nodding as he stepped back from the car, letting her put her window back up. And as she drove away, she could make out Barry's form in her rearview mirror, waving after her until she was out of sight.
She definitely couldn't wait to message him later. And it wasn't only going to be for business purposes.
A/N: Merry Christmas, Eve! This was a little AU scenario here, but I hope you enjoyed it. I somehow can see Barry making baskets for some reason? LOL. Let me know what you thought of this one-shot by leaving a review! :)
