Serenity sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at her phone.
She had already typed in Kaiba's number and even created a contact for him, but she wasn't sure what to send him first - or, for that matter, if she was going to send anything at all.
Her history with men and relationships certainly wasn't as extensive as that of most of her friends, but she also wasn't the naive kid she had once been. She could tell that Kaiba was playing some kind of game with her, even if she wasn't sure quite what it was.
What kind of weirdo pulls out a business card and informs his barista that she will be texting him using her personal phone?
Coupled with the enigmatic smiles he had been giving her and that soft touch on her arm two days before - the memory of which still caused a strange chill to run up her spine - she had become pretty convinced that this wasn't actually about coffee, or getting his coffee made in advance so he didn't have to spend five minutes waiting around a café.
Then again, as weird as Kaiba was… maybe it was about the coffee.
Maybe she was the one being presumptuous, assuming anything else.
Serenity groaned and fell back into her pile of pillows.
Did she want it to be something else?
As basic of a question as that seemed to be, she still wasn't sure. It had never occurred to her to think of Kaiba in those terms… but then again, she also hadn't crossed paths with him since she was thirteen. At that point he had seemed like he was a great deal older (even if it was probably only a couple of years, in reality) and his money and looks and celebrity status made him seem more like a movie star than someone she could realistically daydream about maybe dating.
But for that matter, who was she to think that had changed now?
Taking a break and removing herself from the jumble of her thoughts, she listened to the sounds of a movie playing in Joey's room across the hall. From what she could hear, it seemed like something with cars and guns and probably things getting set on fire. Definitely not her cup of tea, but she still couldn't help but smile. There was something comforting about having her brother so close and knowing she could lean in his doorway and grab a handful of popcorn or borrow his phone charger or ask his advice.
Well, usually.
She couldn't ask his advice about this, that was for sure.
Where the Kaiba situation was concerned, having Joey so close was another complication altogether.
The thought of marching into his room and saying "I think Kaiba's trying to manipulate me into something; what should I text him?" just about made her laugh out loud. In fact, if Joey knew that Kaiba even frequented the establishment where she worked, he would probably put pressure on her to get another job.
However she decided to handle this, it would have to be without Joey's knowledge.
That was definitely a vote in the column of not texting Kaiba at all: getting involved with him (in any way really, professionally or otherwise) could potentially drive a wedge between her and her brother, which was the last thing she wanted.
Well, if she was going to think in terms of votes, she decided, she might as well make an actual list.
Pulling a journal off her night stand, she tore out a page and drew a line down the middle. On the left side, she wrote "Reasons To Text." On the right, she wrote "Reasons to NOT Text" - then decided that sounded weird and crossed it out and wrote instead "Reasons Not to Text."
The first thought for the latter column had already come to her, so she wrote it down:
1. Joey would FREAK.
Short and to-the-point.
Below it, she added a second item:
2. Kaiba's probably manipulating me.
She paused and mulled over that bullet point for a moment. Was it too vague? What did manipulation even mean, exactly? In a sense, really, any flirting could be considered manipulation.
She crossed it out, and wrote instead:
2. I don't know what Kaiba's intentions are.
That seemed fairer.
Realizing that the table was becoming unbalanced (and she must have some reasons to text back, given that she was agonizing over the whole thing so much to begin with) she turned her focus to the column on the left.
1. He may actually just want to order coffee, and I want to be a good employee.
Well, that got the obvious one out of the way.
2. I'm curious, and I'll never get a solid answer unless I text him.
3. He'll think I'm spineless if I don't text him.
Those two came to her back-to-back, but the rationale behind number three led to a complementary number three in the "Don't" column as well:
3. He might think he has some kind of control over me if he succeeds in getting me to text him.
So things currently stood at a tie: three to three. Three great reasons to put her phone down and get some sleep, and three somewhat good reasons to send Kaiba a message after all.
Gazing down at the column on the left, she slowly wrote a fourth item:
4. His smile is sort of handsome, and I kind of want to see what happens if I text him.
It was becoming apparent that this process might be less than scientific.
Serenity gave herself a few minutes to weigh all of her options and really, truly tried to think of another "don't" to even out her list again. However, try as she might, she couldn't come up with any more reasons not to go ahead and send one dumb text message. Whether she was comfortable admitting it or not, there was a chance she had known what she was going to do all along.
Shaking her head and laughing under her breath, Serenity picked up her phone and began to type.
Hey. It's ur friendly neighborhood CoffeeWorks barista. Want 2 know our saturday specials?
Less than a minute later, her phone lit up, and she was momentarily ashamed to find herself diving for it.
Actually, I'm going to take another earl grey. I'll send you a message five minutes before I arrive for you to start steeping it. Also, less cream this time.
She rolled her eyes.
Well, that told her nothing.
