So appreciative for the first comments that have come in for this story! It's really been heart warming to read the positive feedback and I can't wait to hear what you all think of the rest of this story! Thank you for that!

And without further ado...here is the latest update!

When Laetecia hears about his agreement, she seems more amused than anything. This does little to calm Albaird's growing irritation with it, but he's grateful that she seems to agree with the arrangement.

Upon his return, he'd found her in the backroom of the Divine Force, picking out new travel mugs to display on the front counter.

"Raymond's…a nice guy," the café owner had said thoughtfully. "He's around our age as well, so you could consider it a new friendship."

Albaird couldn't resist rolling his eyes at that proposal.

"As if I could ever be friends with such a brute…"

Laetecia had hummed thoughtfully before responding.

"Well, things don't always have to lead to friendship," she'd said before heading back to the front of the shop, leaving him to ponder what she'd actually meant.

Still, a promise was a promise. And with that in mind, Albaird found himself trudging to the Lawrence Family merchant shop with a peach latte in one hand and a protein bar (Laetecia had convinced him to take it for good measure) in the other.

It was a dewy morning and he'd gotten up early to take care of the matter before diving into financial planning for the café. It would probably take about a week for him to complete his initial reports, so he didn't want to waste too much time on anything else. Especially things he wasn't enthusiastic about doing in the first place.

True to his word, however, Raymond was late.

Albaird had figured he might have been, since the oaf had gone out of his way to warn him, but it was aggravating nonetheless. Standing outside the shop as the town began to wake and seeing people notice him loitering was uncomfortable. He didn't want people to get the wrong idea - the only reason he was doing this was to ensure he resolved the mistake he'd made.

When five minutes turned to fifteen (the town had a beautiful clock tower that he could see from where he stood waiting), he had half a mind to throw the drink at the store window and leave the protein bar to settle in the liquid that ran down the glass. That would certainly send a message, but he would definitely be fired.

Luckily, before he could ponder that option any longer, loud footsteps coming from the opposite direction grabbed his attention.

He turned to see Raymond, whose hair was soaking wet, jogging over in a matching red two-piece athletic set that was tight enough to show just how much he worked out.

Wow.

Deciding to ignore why he even noticed that, Albaird chose to instead focus on the merchant's tardiness.

"You're late," he stated irritably.

"Sorry about that," Raymond replied from behind his wet mop of sandy blonde hair. "I got here as fast as I could when Laetecia told me you were actually coming."

If irritation was a meter, Albaird's had gone from a seven to at least a twenty now.

"Why would you think I wasn't coming?" he asked angrily, squeezing the latte in his hand tighter than he probably should have. "I told you I would yesterday."

"Yeah, but I didn't think…nevermind," Raymond started. "My bad, okay?"

To his credit, he seemed sincere. Albaird tried to bite back some of his previous irritation, especially when he remembered why he was there.

Before he could get to that, however, he was met with an alluring scent. He recognized it as an expensive, off-world hair product brand he'd only seen a couple of times. It had a subtle but potent smell that carried notes of cardamom and cedarwood. If he was being honest, it was positively captivating.

"T-that smell.." he vocalized before he could stop himself. Raymond, who had been unlocking the front door to the shop, heard what he said and perked up.

"Oh! That's probably my shampoo," he replied. "It's a brand I picked up on my last trip with my brother. Is it too strong?"

"N-no! It's..." Albaird stammered, unsure why he was fumbling his words or feeling hot all of a sudden. Instead of responding, he shoved the latte and protein bar in Raymond's direction.

It was way too early for this.

"Here!" he finally said. Raymond looked down and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh wow, thanks!" he replied, accepting the drink and protein bar.

"You know, you really don't have to do this," he continued with a smile before taking a sip of the frothy drink.

"A promise is a promise," Albaird replied amicably, trying to regain the composure he'd almost lost a moment ago.

"Still, I appreciate it," Raymond said with a smile. He hummed appreciatively before continuing. "This is pretty good!"

Albaird stopped himself from smiling in response to the man's enthusiasm.

"Of course it is. The Divine Force has the best coffee around. Partly because of your family, I guess," he offered.

"You're right," Raymond agreed. "Thanks for coming out."

"You're welcome," Albaird said with a huff, beginning to turn away from Raymond. "Try not to be late tomorrow."

"Hey, I told you I was going to sleep in!" Raymond argued, still smiling as he did. "I rushed over when I heard you were waiting."

"You did but…" Albaird started before remembering it probably wasn't a good idea to go back and forth with the person doing him a favour. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Come whenever you please, I didn't wait that long."

"Nah, I'll be on time tomorrow," Raymond promised. "Wouldn't want to keep the cute delivery boy waiting again." He had the nerve to smirk and wink as he finished his statement, which only served to enrage said delivery boy in front of him.

"W-what?!" Albaird exclaimed, probably waking up families in the neighboring homes. "I am no delivery boy! This is an extenuating circumstance!"

He took his leave after that, stomping away as he tried to ignore Raymond's laughter.

This was going to be a miserable two weeks.

Raymond was on time the next day, but Albaird made himself scarce once he'd handed the brute his latte (and an apple instead of a protein bar, since they were out). The last thing he wanted to do was spend an unnecessary amount of time chatting with someone he was meeting purely out of obligation. He'd spent a total of thirty five minutes (he'd counted) with the merchant the day before and did not plan to make a habit of that.

Raymond didn't seem to mind, waving him off as he left (or fled, really) and telling him not to be a stranger. It would have been touching if Albaird actually cared, but he obviously didn't. He also didn't want to ruminate on the compliments Raymond had sprinkled into their first two conversations. They made him feel strange inside and distracted him from the arm's length agreement they had.

This worked until the end of the week, when Raymond held him up before he could head back to the Divine Force.

"So…this isn't going to work," the blonde had started, wincing slightly as he spoke.

What?! Albaird had thought, a million arguments forming in his head at the thought of Raymond reneging on their agreement.

Thankfully, reason prevailed and Albaird settled for requesting clarification before losing his cool.

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, his eyebrow twitching slightly as he did.

"Well, I can't have the same drink everyday. It kind of ruins how special it is, you know?" Raymond explained, completely missing the death glare Albaird was sending his way.

It made sense though, and Albaird had to admit he hadn't thought to ask what else Raymond might want - probably because he was trying to limit their interactions as much as possible.

"That's…true," he admitted, crossing his arms over his chest. "What would you like starting next week? I can bring you something else if you tell me now."

"Well, I could do that…" Raymond started before trailing off, looking up in thought.

"But?" Albaird gritted out, continuing the merchant's sentence for him.

"What if I wanted something different everyday? Kind of makes it hard to plan that out in advance," Raymond finally explained with a goofy grin. "I'm a little more spontaneous than that."

"I'm sure you are," Albaird said sarcastically.

"Hey, no need to be like that," Raymond replied with a laugh. "Don't worry, I have a solution."

"And that solution would be?" Albaird asked slowly, wary of where this conversation was going.

"Your number," Raymond offered.

"My what?" Albaird asked, eyes widened.

"Your phone number," Raymond confirmed, though he seemed a little less confident. "That way, I could just text you my requests? It would make it easier for both of us, I think."

Albaird huffed. He didn't really have a reason to disagree, but this would bridge the distance he was trying to maintain between them. Still, if it kept him in Raymond's (and eventually Antonio's) good books…

"I-if you're not comfortable, d-don't worry about it!" Raymond stammered, face turning red as he did. "It was just an idea, forget about-"

"Here," Albaird interrupted, offering his cell phone. "Just add your number and I'll text you."

"R-right, okay," Raymond replied, his hand shaking as he took the phone from him.

Albaird wasn't sure why Raymond seemed so nervous, especially when he'd been the one to suggest the idea in the first place.

He didn't have time to worry about that, however, given that he still had that report to submit to Laetecia.

An hour later, when he returned to the newly renovated office Laetecia had created for him within the Divine Force, Albaird heard a ping! noise coming from his phone.

A notification for a message from "Call me Ray" (which he planned to change expeditiously) scrolled across his screen. Before leaving the merchant shop, Albaird had sent a short, succinct text to Raymond asking for his next order. It hadn't taken long for the merchant to respond back with multiple messages. They'd had a bit of a conversation that Albaird hadn't hated, but it didn't mean he wanted to keep having to check his phone for additional messages. Groaning as he reached for it, he unlocked the phone and scrolled to his message app.

"All the best with your report! I'll send you my drink order later today. Have a great weekend 😄"

That was…nice. And it left a warm feeling in his chest that was hard to ignore.

Laetecia walked in at that moment, causing Albaird to instinctively slam his phone down.

"A-Albaird?"

"S-sorry!" he quickly stated, feeling his cheeks heat up. "It was just a text!"

"A text?" Laetecia asked. "You rarely use your phone, who's texting you?"

"Just that stupid oaf…" he muttered. Laetecia had raised an eyebrow before realizing who he was referring to.

"Oh, Raymond?"

"Yes," Albaird confirmed with a nod. "He'll be sending me his orders in advance now."

"Could he not just call the café?" his friend asked with her head tilted slightly to this side.

"It matters not as long as it keeps him out of my hair," he waved off.

"Right…" Laetecia replied slowly before changing the subject.

Hope you enjoyed this update! Things "heat" up in unexpected ways next chapter so stay tuned! Plus, there are some cameos you'll hopefully be seeing (so I can justify the tags I used 😅).

Going to try and release chapters on a weekly basis (in a way that hopefully isn't anxiety-provoking for me lol). See you soon!