A/N: Something funny and light this time around! I can write happy stuff too, even though it's usually at least laced with drama. Fluffy and rainbow-y is completely out of my comfort zone, but I still like this story.
Enjoy and please, leave a review when you're done :)

Summary: "I was no shitty romance novel heroine material, but I swear to every god, in that moment I sure as hell felt like one."
Genre: Romance/Humour
Rating: T
Other info: Modern AU, some swearing, alarming amount of fluff

COFFEE SHOP
"Life is full of surprises."
-John Major

The last few days had been too warm and too sunny for my taste.

I was in London for barely two weeks and the weather was completely nuts the entire time. I mean, it usually rains at least twice a week, but since I came back from my family vacation, it hadn't even once. Not until now, that is, when I decided to leave my umbrella at home. As if this wasn't enough to destroy my already bad mood, I had only five pounds on me, ate close to nothing the whole day and was fifteen minutes late for work. To top it all, I was also drenched to the bone. I hated sweating like a pig and so summer was definitely the season I wasn't particularly fond of. On the other hand impersonating a sponge wasn't my favourite pastime either.

My luck was apparently out of town for the time being.

I ran across the street, paying no attention the lights, as per usual, and then I continued running and bumping into random strangers until I finally reached the small café where I worked.

The place was remotely small and only a few people seemed to know about its existence. It always reminded me of all the cafes in the old movies – with big windows and small wooden wobbly tables with cosy and comfy armchairs. To put it simply, everything about "Ground and sound" screamed home. Even the music we played gave this specific warm and welcoming vibe.

Completely out of breath, I entered the building. The door slammed behind me rather loudly, which seemed to startle some of the clients. I could actually feel their stares as I moved past them. I was almost to the back room, when I came face to face with my boss.

"Haruno, are you even able to show up on time?" He inquired with a raised eyebrow. "And why are you wet?"

I rolled my eyes with exasperation.

"It's pot calling kettle, Mr Hatake, and if my memory serves right –and it does – it's only the second time I'm late," I replied with a small smile as I made my way to the door with 'Staff Only' written on them to change into my work clothes. "And it's kind of raining cats and dogs out there."

"So I've noticed," he said, following me and stopping outside the door. "But the question still stands. Last time I checked, that gay-parade thingy you call an umbrella was practically an extension of your arm."

Snorting, I finished changing and put my phone into the pocket of my apron.

"Believe it or not," I responded as I exited the room. "I forgot to take it."

"Unbelievable," he deadpanned.

I just swatted him playfully on the arm before going behind the counter to serve a new customer.

I genuinely liked my job. It wasn't much, but I could live with eight pounds per hour for now. The shifts were quite long and the café was open 24/7, so I got a lot of shifts, but the place was never too busy and the regular customers very fairly nice. It was also much better than any job I could get back in Japan, even though it would probably be much cheaper to stay home. My mum had other opinion about the matter, through. She said – and I'm quoting here – that I should live to the fullest and enjoy life, because it's too short to constantly look over your shoulder. She was, of course, referring to my non-existent social life and the apparent lack of a boyfriend. I was only twenty-two, but she was seriously worried that at this rate I wasn't going to settle down with a nice lad who would make me shit rainbow. Thankfully, my dad couldn't care less. Of course he loved me, but he was convinced that I was perfectly capable of making my own choices in life. At least one person in my family had noticed that I'm an adult.

As I was finishing the mocha for a client, my phone buzzed and I groaned inwardly. It was probably Sasuke, my friend slash ex-almost-boyfriend who was at collage with me. I forgot to call him back once again and I was pretty sure he was pissed.

I handled the coffee to the most colourful teenager I've seen in my entire life and then sent him a quick message that I will call him during my break. I just managed to hit the 'send' button, when the doors opened and a man walked in.

I'd never seen him before. I would have remembered such an eye-candy, that's for sure. Even if he was a very wet eye-candy right now.

He smiled at me and I could literally feel my heart flutter. I was no shitty romance novel heroine material, but I swear to every god, in that moment I sure as hell felt like one.

"Good evening, sir. How can I help you?" I asked him, trying to control my voice and kind of failing miserably. It shook and I was pretty sure my face looked like a tomato. My mother was right, I really should hone some much-needed social skills before it was too late.

"Some paper towels would be nice, but a cup of tea will surface for now, thank you," he responded, shoving black damn bangs out of his eyes. His hair was longer and definitely prettier than mine, which I noted with both envy and admiration.

"Take a sit and I will see what I can do," I said with a smile. My face was so hot I was wondering if there was steam coming out of my ears. My experience with men was so scarce that when one actually paid any semblance of attention to me, I turned into a babbling mess. So charming, right? "Any particular tea you're after?"

"Green. Leaves, not bags." His smile was heart-melting and I was a pathetic excuse of a human being for ogling him like that. My eyes travelled to his mouth. I gulped. Most guys I knew had chapped, dry lips. There were, of course, some exceptions, but I've never before met a guy who looked like he actually took care of that part of his face. Then again, everything about him was so ridiculously attractive than I wouldn't be surprised if he just woke up every single morning with his lips perfectly smooth and ready to kiss.

"If that's an option," he added after a moment. To my utter mortification I realized that I had been not only staring at him like a dim-witted teenage girl with a crush, but also ignoring his order while I was at that.

Sometimes I seriously wondered why people trusted me with anything.

"S-sure thing, sir," I stuttered like Hinata when Naruto was in ten-meter radius.

"Thank you." He politely ignored my strange and very unprofessional behaviour, and with another dazing smile, he was off. I stared after him with a rather silly smile on my own until Sai came and shook me lightly.

"You okay there, Pinky?"

I jumped a little, because, as usual, I haven't heard him until he was right behind me. He was creepy like that – always sneaking up on unsuspecting people and scaring them half to death. My other co-workers and I were convinced that he had been a ninja in his previous life.

"What?" I broke out of my haze and blushed heavily, when I noticed his amused expression. "Oh. Yes, right. Tea. Towels. On my way."

The bastard just laughed at me. As much as I was tempted to smack him, I couldn't waste any more time on pointless argument with a dude that couldn't care less.

Nothing interesting happened after that. I brought the man his tea and towels, exchanged some pointless remarks about the weather and got a few more smiles before he was on his way.

What I wasn't expecting at all, was his presence at the café the next evening. And the next one. And the one after that. He was even there, when I came to work after my requested day off! When I asked, Mr Hatake just shrugged and said that the guy had a good look to his eyes. I had had no idea what he meant by that, but thankfully Ino, one of my co-workers and my best friend in the world, was a gossip girl and she couldn't resist letting me in on the story.

Apparently the guy came on my day off too and was disappointed that I wasn't there, so he somehow charmed my schedule for this month out of Mr Hatake. It was slightly creepy, but I wasn't going to complain all that much. He was positively gorgeous and as much as I wanted to deny it, I was flattered by his attention.

We continued on without mentioning it. He spent more and more time at the counter every time he came, instead of wandering off into the corner and I've even managed to learn his name.

Itachi.

A nice name for a nice guy.

All in all, it was pleasant to have someone to talk to, when my shift was particularly uneventful.

He wasn't much of a talker, but he seemed to enjoy listening to my mindless chatter and he did so rather attentively even though the verbal diarrhea falling from my mouth wasn't really that interesting. When he talked, his words were precise, to the point and laced heavily with sarcasm, which was both refreshing and intriguing.

Out of the blue I found myself looking up to see him. We talked literature, comic books, movies, TV series and my studies. He made some damn funny remarks about the pedestrians who we could easily see through the windows and my customers. And it was all nice and dandy, but almost three weeks into our sort-of friendship I still barely knew him. It was ridiculous, really, what with all the talking we did daily, but every time I thought about confronting him, I chickened and quickly changed the subject. For an adult, I was truly pitiful.

As time went by, I was also beginning to wonder what Itachi did for a living. He seemed to possess all the time in the world, since he spent the majority of his days at my work place. When I was forced to abandon our conversation in favour of serving the customers, I could see him going lazily through some papers from the corner of my eye, but I was unable to catch what were they about, because they disappeared into thin air the moment I appeared by his side when I could talk to him again.

Maybe he was some sort of business man, who was trying to escape the stuffiness of his office? Sasuke often mentioned that there were days when he would give almost anything for some outdoor assignment. I couldn't quite imagine him wearing anything besides his expensive suits and the vision of him with a shovel never failed to make me laugh, but I understood the sentiment.

Or maybe he was a lawyer? Looking over case files probably didn't require any particular type of setting.

A data analyst? For some reason I highly doubted that a man as fine as him would have such a mundane job.

There was also a distant possibility that he was a university professor, through he was probably too young for that. On the other hand he was also wicked smart from what little I had gathered when he actually decided to say something.

I sighed as I dried my hands on the paper towel. My eyes drifted to the corner, where Itachi was sitting, his attention focused entirely on his mysterious papers, and I couldn't fight back a smile.

I really liked him.

We weren't exactly friends, but after weeks of him basically stalking me at work I couldn't very well say that he was a stranger.

I signed heavily.

I didn't have a chance to talk with him, because an enormous queue of our regular lunch-breakers had forced me to stay at my post and fed the hungry. I was completely exhausted and my shift wasn't over for another three hours. My life was horrible.

"You look like you could use a break," Ino patted me on the arm with a warm smile. "Go. I can hold the front for a while."

"Thanks," I muttered with a smile on my own.

As I was removing my apron, the front doors opened and I could see my flatmate, Karin, burst in with all the grace of an elephant in a porcelain store.

She was supposed to be somewhere with her boy-toy. I vaguely remembered her telling me about some kind of elaborate lunch-date that they were going to have today, so what on earth was she doing here?

She waved at me frantically when she noticed me. I blinked at her owlishly as she made her way to me, her high-heeled boots making a rather annoying clicking sound. She was scowling so much I was kind of afraid that the expression would just stay frozen on her face forever.

"He stood me up, the utter bastard!" She proclaimed a tad bit too loudly. A few customers glanced our way with interest.

I looked at her blankly.

Last time I checked, it wasn't a big deal. I mean, they were on and off almost constantly, so I couldn't see the problem, really. Suigetsu was just the type of guy who was nice and funny until you mentioned the word 'attachment'. Then he was on the other side of the globe in a matter of seconds.

"Nobody can stand me up!" Karin was obviously having trouble in comprehending said simple matter, because she was beyond furious. "I stand people up, not the other way 'round!"

I rolled my eyes at that.

"Pig, I'm out for a smoke," I said, grabbing my purse from behind the counter. I also snatched my paper cup of half-drunk coffee and then got Karin out of the store before she could say anything else.

"Are you out of your mind?" I asked her, when we were finally outside and out of earshot. "It's my workplace. You can't just come and start shouting nonsense! The hell is wrong with you?!"

I lit the cigarette with a frown and gave her a look. She just sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry. It's just… I'm so angry at him!"She turned her back to me and exhaled loudly. "It won't happen again, I promise."

"You better keep that one, sunshine," I mock-warned her, but she was not listening to me. What a surprise. I sighed in exasperation.

We stood just around the corner from the cafe for a few more minutes, both of us smoking in complete silence. I tried finishing my coffee, but it was too cold and simply disgusting, so I dumped the cup into the nearest bin.

"Come. Some coffee and a piece of cheesecake will do you good," I said with a smirk as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

She smiled at me.

"You know me so well…," she muttered as we re-entered the store.

I made us coffee and cut two pieces of raspberry cheesecake. We sat in the staff room, eating in peace and I was incredibly thankful that Mr Hatake was nowhere to be found – probably hidden in some dark corner with one of his smutty novels – and the café wasn't busy at this hour.

When we were done, Karin declared that she had a day off and she could wait for the end of my shift, since she needed help with some clothes shopping anyway. I was slightly disappointed, because that meant I wouldn't have any opportunity to talk with Itachi, but I couldn't very well say anything to Karin.

She had a tendency to be nosy when it came down to other people's affairs and my life was her favourite kind of affair to get involved in.

I worked for another hour undisturbed, sending Itachi pathetically longing glances. Thank gods he was still engrossed with his work, so he didn't catch any of that.

I just finished serving some Asian tourists, when I noticed that Itachi was gathering his things. I sighed. It looked like he was leaving and, for whatever reason, it made me sad.

Maybe because I had tomorrow off.

Maybe because, against all odds, I liked the guy a lot more than wanted to admit.

I followed him with my eyes to the door, where he suddenly stopped, as if he had made his mind about something. He then turned around and walked to the counter with some new-found confidence. He stopped in front of me and for a second I thought he was going to run for it. He looked genuinely uneasy, which in turn made me incredibly nervous.

"Yes, Itachi?" I inquired with a small, encouraging smile. He stared at me for another moment before he cleared his throat.

"I was wondering, if you would like a cup of coffee."

I blinked and then snorted, unable to control my sudden amusement.

"I work in a coffee shop, Itachi." I gestured at the two coffee machines behind me. "I have plenty of coffee here, thank you."

His cheeks coloured slightly in what I suspected was a badly hidden embarrassment.

"I didn't mean…," he halted mid-sentence. "I didn't mean here. Through if you would prefer a movie or a dinner, I'm completely fine with it."

I choked, probably on air alone. He was trying to ask me out. And I just made fun of him. I was an utter moron sometimes.

"I'm so sorry!" I could practically feel my cheeks turn bright red. "Yes! Yes, of course. Coffee. Coffee! Coffee will be just fine!"

His face lightened up with a smile almost instantly, as if he was seriously afraid I would turn him down.

"Excellent!" He flashed me another smile. God, he was so ridiculously hot. "Just give me your number and I'll call you tomorrow."

I wrote my phone number on the piece of paper he gave me a little numbly, my mind still trying to fully grasp what had just happened. I was well aware that all the people in the cafe were looking at us, a slack-jawed Karin included, and I felt horribly self-conscious. Itachi, through, didn't give me time to think about it any longer. He took the piece of paper from my shaking hand and kissed my knuckles, before turning around and disappearing out of the door.

For a long few minutes, I just stood there with wide eyes, hugging the hand he kissed to my chest. The silence was broken by Karin, who apparently was able to shake herself out of the internal shock faster than me.

"What the hell was that?" She asked, rounding on me.

"The hell I know," I murmured, looking at her, dumbfounded beyond belief. I had this strange urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. I never had an urge to giggle before, which was a proof enough that I had it bad for the poor guy.

"To me, it looks like Mister Mysterious finally gathered his wits and asked his lady love out," said Ino matter-of-factly. "Good for him!"

She danced away to a far away table to collect the dishes all the while humming some kind of love song. I snorted, but my amusement didn't last long as Karin grabbed me by the front of my shirt and junked by forward so I was almost bumping noses with her.

"When were you going to tell me that you are dating Uchiha Itachi?" She whispered and I just stared at her with confusion.

"Who?"

"The guy that just asked you out," she said and then rolled her eyes at me, because I still had absolutely no idea who she was talking about. She let go of my shirt, sighing with obvious irritation. "You've watched every single freaking movie he is in like ten hundred times and you still… God, Sakura, I can't believe you sometimes!"

"I can't believe myself on occasions, so don't let it get to you," I said, bending over the counter.

We were quiet for a moment.

"You seriously don't know who he is?" She asked to clarify.

I shook my head.

"Nope."

Her head banged against the counter with a dull thud.

"He played the leading role in that chic-flick you love so much. You know, the one with the crazy dog that ate everything and then got sick?"

I openly gapped at her.

"Seriously?!"

"Yup, seriously." She winked at me. "You've gotten yourself a fine piece of man, my friend!"

I'd finished my shift in a trace, unable to focus on anything other than finding any resemblance between the rather silly character in the movie and the quirky guy with whom I had bonded over the course of the last three weeks. They did looked similar, when I thought about it, and the more I thought, the more stupid I felt for not noticing it sooner.

As we got home, I still couldn't really process that I would be going on a date in a very close future, which also made me realize that apart from a dozen of superhero T-shirts, four pairs of skinny jeans, some very unappealing skirts and shorts, a very worn-out hoodie and an old leather jacket, I didn't have anything to wear. Or at least I didn't have anything suitable for a date. I could only hope that whatever Itachi planned wouldn't require a strict dress code. Well, I needn't have to worry about that now, so I simply ignored the problem for the time being.

My day off had started and gone by as per usual.

I did my laundry, washed three days worth of dishes, browsed some websites and finally ended up watching re-runs of NCIS with a huge bowl of vanilla ice-cream for an evening meal.

The only exception was the fact that I was constantly checking my phone and just couldn't stop myself. Karin was visibly shaking with laughter every time she caught me doing it, but stopping was easier said than done.

In the end he called me shortly past 11 pm. We agreed to meet two days from now for coffee near Victoria Coach Station, because after that Itachi wanted to take me for a walk in Richmond Park.

I'd never been there before and when I had told him so, he just laughed and said that I should bring a camera with me. We then wished each other good-night and hung up. Never once had I mentioned that I knew who he was. It didn't seem right to talk about it on the phone. Besides, by the looks of it, I should have plenty of time to talk it through with him during our upcoming date.

As cliché as it was, I couldn't wait to meet him.

Then another thought entered my mind.

"Karin?" I called and the redhead appeared in the doorway of our living room a minute later.

"Hn?"

"What was his surname again?"

"Uchiha," she responded with a frown. "What about it?"

My eyes widened comically at that. I was so freaking stupid it was unbelievable. The hair, the eyes, the everything! For the love of ice-cream, if stupidity could make you fly, I would have turned into a bird a long time ago.

I lunged for my phone, ignoring Karin's concerned looks in the process of doing so, and hit "7" on the speed dial. Three signals later, a guff 'what' greeted me from the other side of the line.

"Hi, Sasuke," I responded with a sheepish smile, even though he couldn't actually see me. "Sorry for the time. I know it's late. But I have a question."

"Hn."

"You don't happen to have a brother, do you?"