If there was one thing that Rita Mordio hated, it was noise. Crowds were definitely the worst, even in small groups. She already wasn't much of a people person. People were always too unpredictable, noisy, and illogical. That's why today, she had chosen the table furthest away from everyone else in the coffee shop to do her very important work. It was of the utmost importance she got as much quiet as possible to have total focus.
Of course, she would never have chosen a coffee shop as her first choice for work. Normally she'd stay at home, blackout curtains closed, and able to work in comfort. Yet today was her neighbor's kids' birthday and the family was notorious for throwing large and loud parties. It was a shame blackout curtains only worked for light and not sound.
Her usual first choice for working out of her home, the local Zaphian library, was currently being used by a whole counties worth of local summer camps and scout groups. One kid was already too much noise pollution in a library, over fifty would be deadly. Well, not literally, but it sure would feel like it to her.
So she decided on Luluria Coffee downtown, a place that at least was mostly populated by adults that knew better than to run around screeching. That, and the menu wasn't disgusting. Rita would often stop by to and from her job at Aspio, one of the leading companies in energy technology. Her usual order, a sweet cream latte, currently sat next to her laptop, completely ignored by the work in front of her.
In her current environment, Rita was able to pour all her energy into her screen. She typed in multiple formulas, equations, and chemistry notes she had gathered to make everything come together. She was on the brink of something amazing. Years of experiments full of failures and successes had gotten her closer to completing her thesis on recycling energy. It was complicated, but she had managed to successfully reuse energy waste as a fuel source in the lab multiple times. All she needed was to finish compiling all her findings together, add everything up, and…!
[Your computer is at 10% Battery life. Please charge the battery.]
Rita froze in horror, her fingertips hovering over the keyboard. Damn! Just when she was on a roll! Quickly she dug in her satchel for her power cord. It came out a tangled mess and she hurriedly pulled at whatever looked loose to straighten it out. After inserting the small end into her laptop, she got out of her chair and froze once again. One of those child-proof plastic covers blocked the only outlet in her isolated corner and above it, a hastily taped sheet of paper that read "Outlet out of order. :( -Luluria Management".
Great.
Rita scanned the cafe and its patrons. There were others also using their computers or phones, all occupying each plug. One small group of chatting older women had another outlet completely blocked off. Rita frowned and grumbled to herself. There were plenty of places to sit and gossip that weren't in front of a lifeline! Just when all hope seemed lost and she'd have to go home and suffer through listening to a child's party, an opening appeared. A larger patron had gotten up to leave, revealing an open socket on the other side of the cafe. She was not going to miss this opportunity.
Quickly saving her work and minimizing her programs, Rita set the rest of her charge cord on her keyboard and awkwardly cradled her laptop into her arms. She shrugged on her satchel and grabbed her now cold drink before making a beeline to the table near the lifeline. She had plopped her stuff down messily in her new spot, some of her belongings sliding out of her satchel, but that barely registered with her. She was focused only on saving the lives of her laptop and work progress.
"Soooo… do you always take over someone's spot without asking?"
The sudden voice turned her away from her mission. What she had noticed was the open socket. What she hadn't was the man sitting at the table. He was currently giving her a quizzical look, holding a hot cup away from the table like he was saving it from harm. His black jacket was unbuttoned, revealing a loose white shirt underneath.
Rita's eyes lingered on the exposed skin of his chest for just a moment too long before she forced herself to look back up at his face. His long dark purple hair was tied up in a messy half bun with loose hair framing his face. And for just a fleeting moment, she was stunned. This guy had no business being that attractive! Her moment of internal panic was cut short as the screen of her laptop turned off in her peripheral. She had no more time to waste!
"Shut up! You're not important right now!" Rita said urgently.
Snatching her power cord off her laptop, she quickly plugged it in before double-clicking on the trackpad. The screen flared to life and she let out a sigh of relief as the little lightning bolt popped up next to her battery icon. Right on time at five percent. Now, where was she…
She had only pulled up one program when the man at the table cleared his throat loudly. Rita promptly ignored him. She was right on the cusp of solving this particular formula before her battery crisis occurred and it absolutely had to get finished. He cleared his throat again which caused her to enter the wrong numbers into her spreadsheet. She furrowed her brow and hit the keys extra hard while fixing her error.
"As lovely as these close quarters are with someone so cute, I'd like space to put my cup down. It's getting hot holding it like this," the man said.
Rita had enough. She growled before snapping her chin up to glare at him. "I don't care how hot you are, you're in front of the only free outlet in this place and I need it!"
He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Well I do appreciate the compliment, but that doesn't solve the problem of your stuff all over my spot,"
"What complime…" A couple of seconds elapsed as her own wording sunk in. She could feel her face rapidly burning up as the realization completely hit her. Ohh this guy was such a jerk! A stupid attractive jerk! "You know what, I have more important things than you to think about right now," she said with a humph, turning back to her screen.
She had only just reopened the file she needed when she was once again interrupted by him. "You know, I can't be held responsible if I drop this alllllll over your things because it was burning my hand,"
Rita jerked her head up. "You wouldn't dare-!"
She was met with a devilish grin that she happened to notice fit his features oh so well before he wiggled his drink above her satchel. "Oh no, I might be losing my grip!"
In a flash, Rita had dove across the table, snatching up her belongings. The motion, however, shifted the table–which was a lot lighter than it appeared in a discovery made too late–towards the man. The corner hit right into the other patron unexpectedly, causing him to drop his drink. With a small pop of the lid coming off, hot chocolate was suddenly strewn across the floor. The two stayed frozen at the events, and Rita burned a bright red at the nearby patrons who were now staring at them.
"...Good job, Mordio," the man said, rolling his eyes.
Rita snapped her attention to him with wide eyes and her jaw dropped. "How…!?"
The man motioned to her laptop. "That handy little 'property of Rita Mordio' you have plastered in obnoxious letters there. I assumed it's your name… unless you stole it."
Right. Of course. Rita had taken a habit of labeling all of her work belongings with large and obnoxious labels in case of thievery. But more importantly, his pointing it out had drawn her attention back to the computer in question. And even more important than that was the bit of spilled drink that hit the table and was now inching its way to her laptop. Before anything else could happen, she made a swift beeline to a nearby island and grabbed as many napkins as she could before making it back to mop up the table before anything could get damaged. In her rush, she almost barreled into the poor employee who had just arrived with a mop to clean up the mess. The man across reached out and had gotten out half of a "thanks" before Rita moved his hand aside and focused on mopping up the spill before her precious work got fried. Sure a little liquid wouldn't completely destroy her laptop, but there was no way she was taking any chances.
"Are you serious?" he asked.
Rita looked at him for a moment before handing him two leftover napkins. "Here."
"Gee thanks, you're so kind,"
With the mess cleaned up and a vibrant wet floor sign now in her peripheral, Rita had just moved back to the chair she claimed and was about to get back to work when she stopped. The man she took the spot from was finishing dabbing off his pants where some of his drink must have spilled. He definitely didn't look too pleased. It was his fault anyway, threatening her stuff like that. So feeling guilty over the event was illogical, wasn't it? It wasn't like she tried to throw the table at him.
"...What did you have?" she asked finally. When he looked up at her quizzically, Rita repeated herself. "Your drink. What did you have? Let me get you a new one,"
The man shrugged, tucking some loose hair behind his ear. "It's not that big of a deal,"
"Don't be stubborn. I'm…sorry, okay? For knocking it over. So just tell me what it was so I can replace it,"
"You're not gonna dump it on me again?"
"Don't be dramatic, most of it hit the floor. Do you want a replacement or not?"
After another long moment, he sighed and conceded. "Hot chocolate, three mocha shots, whole milk, and whipped cream,"
Rita nodded with each specification, shoving any and all thoughts of finding his choice of sweet drink cute to the far corners of her mind. Grabbing her wallet from the pile of items on the table, she made it three steps before she stopped and doubled back. "Err… What's your name? They're gonna ask." she paused for a moment and smirked. "Otherwise you'll get 'that jerk in the corner' in big permanent marker,"
He rolled his eyes. "It's Yuri,"
"Yuri…" Rita nodded, committing his name to memory. She couldn't risk forgetting at the cashier, of course. It certainly wasn't to help her remember him better. "Alright. I'll be right back. Watch my stuff,"
She impatiently joined the line to the barista and let out a long exhale. This was definitely NOT how she anticipated her day to go today. All she wanted was to get some work done in peace. She glanced over at the table she commandeered. Yuri had since pulled out a phone and was looking at it with mild interest. Even from afar, Rita felt mild butterflies flutter around in her stomach. At least she ran into someone attractive.
"...Miss?"
Rita looked back ahead of her to find the line had passed. The barista at the register tilted her head slightly. "Can I help you?"
Rita uttered a rushed apology before rapidly listing off the replacement drink to the cashier. How long had she just been staring at him like a lovesick puppy? In the middle of a public cafe, too! Ugh! How embarrassing. She forced herself to stare at the hard-working employees as they rushed to make drink after drink. Definitely not back at Yuri, no, she wasn't going to make that mistake again.
…But one glance wouldn't hurt.
After all, she did leave her valuable and expensive work laptop alone. She was just going to check on her belongings. It's not like she wanted to only look at Yuri or anything. Without turning too much to not make it obvious, Rita spared a moment to check on her table. Everything still seemed in place, and Yuri appeared bored, still staring at his phone. Well, whatever. So long as he took action in case anyone walked by with sticky fingers.
The sound of his name being called drew her attention back to the counter, and she took the hot cup with a quick thanks. Rita returned briskly to her table, setting the cup down directly in front of him. "There. I'm going back to my work now," she announced, immediately cringing internally. Why did she feel the need to announce something like that anyway? She had returned to her new chair and pulled her laptop out of sleep mode. All she needed was to focus on her work.
A few minutes had passed before she was interrupted by Yuri.
"Hey," he started. He was ignored. "Hey, Rita."
Aww hell. Why did her name sound so good out of his mouth?
"...What?"
"What are you working on?"
Rita looked over the top of her screen at him with a raised eyebrow. He was looking at her with genuine curiosity. There went the butterflies again. It really was not fair for him to be that handsome without trying.
"You wouldn't understand it," Rita said before turning back to her program.
"Try me."
She froze, her fingers hovering over the keys. She glanced up at him, a playful smirk back on his face. Like he knew exactly what to say and how to say it to get her flustered. The brief thought that maybe he also found her equally attractive crossed her mind, and she immediately threw it out. There was no way, not with how this day was going.
…He did say she was cute earlier though.
She cleared her throat and forced her fingers to work and finish entering the equation she was working on.
"If you must know," she began, praying her voice didn't crack under the pressure, "I'm working on taking the wattage and joules using a modified version of Ohm's Law, finding out the voltage and using that information to work into another formula I've modified, the Rizomata, to take the waste products from energy and convert it into a usable source. I'm trying to use the Anima Law–modified by me of course– because it converts the wattage into a less complex and shorter series, making the process more efficient."
She smirked back, puffing herself up a bit. Rita always took pride in her work, especially when she was able to make it her own. But also she was proud of herself for remaining confident and not choking up in her mini explanation. It was her passion, after all.
Yuri nodded slowly as he took in the information bomb. There was a moment's pause and he brought his cup to his lips. "...Yeah, you were right, you lost me."
Rita rolled her eyes. "Then why did you bother asking anyway?"
"Because you're actually a nice person. It surprised me," he said nonchalantly.
Unsure if she should take that as a compliment or insult, Rita scoffed and went back to her work. But all the same, she couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I can say the same about you," she said with a glance over her screen. And she could swear she saw a smile on his face behind his cup. When she realized she was staring too long, she jumped back into her work, furiously typing away as if that would distract her better. From there, the two fell into a comfortable silence doing their own thing. Rita felt a kind of peace she hadn't felt in a long time. She was able to fully focus on her work even better than her little corner room with the outlet that failed her today.
Well, it didn't exactly fail her, now that she thought about it. It seemed inconvenient at the time. But in the end, it got her to where she was now.
Rita once again looked up over her screen at Yuri. She couldn't help it, it was like there was a magnet in her irises. His head was tilted back as he downed the last of his drink yet angled so he could still look at whatever was on his cell phone. It was adorable.
When he was done, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve before standing up with a stretch. "Well, I've got other stuff to do. I'll see you around," he said with a smile.
"Oh, uhh… yeah, see you," Rita replied slowly.
Her fingers tensed on the keyboard. Should she ask for his contact information? Would that be weird? What if he was just being polite and didn't want to see her again? ….What if he did?
He gave her a small wave and left the table. He tossed his empty cup like a basketball in a trash can before heading out the door. Rita watched after him for a moment, her heart pounding more and more with each of his steps. She didn't want to come off as clingy or a bother, so she should just stay put. The door chimes rang out as he opened the door to leave felt like they were taunting her. Rita tried to distract herself by turning back to her laptop. But now, she couldn't focus. She felt a tugging in her chest and looked back at the door. There was no way she couldn't just let it end like this. With each passing second she could feel her chance rapidly slipping away. It became too much for her to bear any longer.
"Oh…damn it!" Rita hissed, swiftly rising from her chair. Forgetting her belongings, she ran out the door after him. As soon as she stepped on the sidewalk she found herself shouting "Wait, Yuri!" and not caring how desperate she sounded.
But she didn't see him. She looked both ways on the sidewalk, hoping to catch his back somewhere, anywhere. She stood on tiptoes, moving her body to look around the moving cars on the road in front of her in case he crossed the street. To her dismay, he was gone. And as soon as that realization hit her, she felt the crushing weight of regret. Rita slumped forward, still looking up and down the sidewalk in case she missed something to no avail. Yuri was gone.
Defeated, Rita headed back into the cafe and to her stolen table. She tried to get some more work done, but she absolutely couldn't focus. After about ten minutes, Rita threw in the towel and began to pack up her belongings. She was upset with herself for being so hesitant and the more time passed, the more irritated she got with him. Stupid attractive jerk just walking out like that. Shrugging on her bag, Rita sighed. She had already done the math in her head on the odds she'd encounter him again and it didn't look good. As much as she loved numbers and facts, she couldn't help but hold on to hope. For one of the first times in her life, she hoped her calculations would be wrong.
