“Is that why you work here?” he asks, sounding as though he’s genuinely curious.
“Sure,” I agree so I don’t need to explain the reason I work is actually for the money. “Do you know what you’d like?” I glance over his shoulder, but frustratingly, no one else has joined the line during this unnecessarily long exchange about caffeine.
“Any recommendations? I like vanilla. What do you usually get?”
“How about an iced vanilla latte?” I suggest. “Those are pretty standard.”
His smile gets even bigger. “Sounds great! Did you want anything? I’m not sure if you get it for free since you work here, but if not, you can add something to my order, and I can bring it to a table.”
“You want to buy me coffee?” I clarify, confused by the offer. “Why?”
“Why not,” he insists. “I’ll have a drink while we work on this project. You should, too. If you want one.”
I normally hate feeling like I owe anyone. It took over a year with Josie as my best friend before I let her buy me anything, and I still feel guilty about how much she spends on me even though she insists there’s no point in having money if you can’t spend it on other people. I make sure to keep our apartment spotless as a thank you for all her kindness.
I’ve learned that when there’s not much I can contribute financially, doing other things to make people’s lives easier is the next best thing. Growing up, keeping things running smoothly at home was the one thing I could actually control, and I guess I still do it now too.
But Will did technically ask me for the favor by meeting with him in person when we probably could have messaged about it, so maybe I don’t need to feel guilty about him paying for a coffee… Besides, he owes me a lot more than that.
“Okay, yeah. Thanks.” I add my favorite salted caramel coldbrew to his order. I could get it for half price at the end of my shift, but free is better than half.
“No problem.” He pays and pulls out a twenty-dollar bill to add to the nearly empty tip jar.
“What, do you think a big tip is going to get me to do the project for you? I’m not that easy,” I add, only half joking, because damn, I’ve never seen someone put a twenty in the tip jar before. I’m guessing money might not be as tight for him as it is for me since he does it with a smile.
“Nah, I’m not afraid to put in the work,” he replies easily with a laugh, and then he fucking winks.
Oh my god, who is this guy? I can’t ignore it, I have to say something. “Did you just wink at me? For someone who was very quick to point out he’s straight, that seemed pretty flirty.”
He laughs louder this time before he shrugs. “Huh. Yeah, I guess it did. Well, I’ll go find us a table and see you in a few.”
Will is not at all like the version I’ve built up of him in my head. Maybe he’s changed? No, that can’t be right. I shake off that thought as the next customer approaches and focus on the last few minutes of my shift.
My replacement shows up, and as I’m heading around the corner, Dom stops me. “I saw that tip. Will doesn’t seem so bad.”
“He’s probably just rich. That doesn’t make him a good person.”
Dom shrugs. “Either way, tell him to keep coming here if he’s going to tip us like that.”
“Sure,” I agree with a laugh before joining Will at his table. He’s got his laptop open in front of him, and his coffee is already half gone. Mine is waiting for me across from him.
“Hey, you’re done.” He greets me with another huge smile. It’s easy to see how so many girls fall for him when he looks at people like that. “How was your shift?”
“Uh, fine. Thanks again for the coffee.” I take a big sip and close my eyes to savor the taste, urging the caffeine to take effectquickly. Sunday morning shifts are not my favorite, and I’d much rather be headed home to nap right now, so I need all the help I can get to move through this quickly and go home.
“Don’t mention it. I appreciate you doing this in person. It’s a lot easier for me to process things by talking through them rather than attempting an email or text.”
I nod and take another sip of my coffee. “So, what do we need to do today?”
Will turns his laptop so I can see his screen. “I think we can start by listing out some talking points we can research the different sides of. If there’s any you can think of now, we can talk through them a little so we can anticipate what the other will say to try to counter it.”
I read what he has so far. They’re all pros, which I guess makes sense since that’s the side he’s taking.
Expand knowledge of their community
