Chapter Text
#1: 8:03 a.m.
“Double shot latte. Please.”
Clarke just started her 8-hour shift at the café, when a customer’s plead got her attention. She’s busy making a very specific order - non-fat latte with caramel drizzle and three pumps of vanilla, when she hears a guy practically beg the cashier, Jasper, for caffeine. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days; his hair all disheveled, dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looking a little pale, highlighting the constellation of freckles on his face. He’s attractive, she can’t deny it.
“Clarke, you’re stalling the production line!” her manager, and best friend, chastises her.
Raven Reyes is all about production and efficiency. She studied every one of her employees and assigned them to the position she knew they were going to be more productive, particularly in the busiest hours of the day – early morning and midafternoon. In Clarke’s case, Raven decided she was most productive and efficient as a barista during these times. Apparently not when there’s an attractive guy half asleep in line, she thinks, taking a peek at said distraction. He looks irritated glancing at his watch while adjusting his backpack.
Clarke continues to work several of the complicated orders o queue before she comes across Jasper’s scrawny handwriting “XX Latte Bellamy”. The dork even drew, or tried to, a bell beside the name, probably trying to make the evidently miserable man smile. She looks again at the handsome customer, who was now glaring at the woman who bumped into him while getting her order.
Smiling, she begins his order, making special effort in the art. She likes to make special designs to people who might need a pick-me-up during her shift. Normally she experiments on designs when there aren’t many customers waiting for their others, but she couldn’t resist. Apparently she was taking too much time, because Raven came to “supervise” her.
“What’s taking so long?” she asks.
“Just trying out something new,” she responds nonchalantly.
“Well, save it for the slow hours,” Raven answers back, taking a peek at Clarke’s work. “Who’s that one for?”
“Hot tall guy. Beautiful freckles. Annoyed expression,” she whispers.
She hears Raven chuckle, while finishing her work of art. She had carefully made a smiley face on his coffee order. Proud of her work, she takes a deep breath before calling its owner.
“Bellamy!” she calls, placing the paper cup on the counter. He walks towards it while fiddling on his phone. “Have a nice day, Bellamy,” she says politely. He grunts something while picking up his cup and walking out of the coffee shop, his attention completely on his phone.
Deflated, Clarke turns back to the espresso machine and continued working. The next customers didn’t get any elaborated art on their coffees.
#2 10:45 am
Clark is returning from her 15-minute break when she sees him again. She is assigned to the register during this hour because Raven believed she should use the slower hours to practice taking a speedy and accurate order. Because apparently she tended to strike up conversations with customers during rush hours.
But she’s still wounded because of his lack of acknowledgement earlier, so she decides it was a good opportunity to practice Raven’s suggestion on time taking orders.
“Welcome to Coffee Grounds. May I take your order?” she asks in the most politely way she could. He’s carrying several books, his attention focused on trying to not to drop them. He looks more alert, but his hair is now hidden underneath a cap. Damn, Clarke thinks, he looks more attractive, the bastard.
“One latte. The biggest one you’ve got,” he answers, while taking his wallet from his back pocket. He stammers something while giving her the cash, but she doesn’t catch what it is. During the whole money exchange, he didn’t even look at her once.
She misspells his name on purpose and smiles politely at the next customer. In her peripheral view, she can see him searching for a table and laying the books and backpack on top of it.
“Hot freckles is back?” Raven asks, carrying several boxes of cups and stirrers.
“Yep,” is her only answer. She didn’t want to give Raven the satisfaction of knowing she was still upset about the whole “he-ignored-the-smiley-face-I-did-for-him” event from this morning.
“Still licking your wounds, I see,” she replies, a mischievous on her face. Clarke doesn’t please her with an answer. She goes back to work as Raven walks back to the supply closet, snickering.
“Jeremy! Jeremy!” her co-worker, Maya, calls out. “Jeremy.” Clarke watches as the source of her irritation looks up from his cellphone and looks confusedly at Maya. “Jeremy? Extra tall latte?” She almost lets out a chuckle when the guy’s shoulder sag and, defeated, walks towards the counter. She’s still fighting the urge to laugh when he glares at her, clearly irritated at her for getting his name wrong.
Clarke continues to stock the counter with sugar packets and stirrers while ignoring the handsome and annoyed guy walking towards his table.
#3 12:09 pm
Clarke is going on her lunch break when she sees him walking towards the counter and standing in line. She could switch with Jasper and go, but she feels the urge to continue irritating him. She takes the order of the two customers before him and just when he’s next she decides it’s a good moment to go have lunch.
“Jasper, take over, please,” she says sweetly to her friend. “I’m going to lunch.” She avoids looking at him while leaving, but doesn’t miss the scoff he throws her way.
#4-5 1:01 pm
Clarke is returning from her lunch when she sees him leaning on the pastry display, coffee cup on his hand, and talking very amiable to a blushing Maya. She can hear his deep voice and Maya’s giggles when she enters the coffee shop.
Just when she walks by him, he turns and collides coffee-first into Clarke. Luckily the hot liquid avoided both of them, but it still made a mess on the floor. He doesn’t apologize to Clarke, and neither does she. The commotion attracts Raven’s attention, who was flirting with one of the regulars. (If you ask her she’ll tell you she was not flirting, she was debating something. She tends to debate a lot with a certain engineer who comes every day at the time Raven is taking orders.)
“What’s going on?” she asks.
Neither of them spoke. They just continue to glare at one another. Clarke doesn’t understand how a small and insignificant event had escalated into glaring at each other. It’s not even uncommon that a customer ignores her latte art. But stubborn as she is, she isn’t going to cave in.
“Let me fill you another one, on the house,” Raven says, signaling Maya to make the order.
“No need, Raven,” he answers. And Clarke eyes widen a bit.
“Come on, Bellamy, is the least I can do. How’s your sister, by the way?” Raven asks, her voice clearly amused with everything that was going on.
Clarke stands frozen for a few seconds, eyes wider now. She’s been bitching about a customer to Raven and sulking all morning, and she knows the guy!
“She’s good. Freshmen at college,” he answers, turning and ignoring Clarke.
She walks to the other side of the counter and puts on her apron while shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Wow, I thought she was still in high school. Times flies,” Raven replies, her voice still laced with amusement. “Still buried in books, I see,” she says signaling the table filled with papers and books.
“Yeah,” he sighs. “I’m TA in two classes and have my thesis defense in a couple of weeks.” Clarke watches as he takes off his cap, runs his fingers through his still messy hair, and puts the cap back on. She begins cleaning the espresso machine, feeling a little guilty of her behavior all morning.
“Here you go,” Raven hands him his fresh coffee. “Well, you always did work your ass off taking care of her all these years. She turned out good.”
“Thanks, Raven. We should catch up. Octavia would love to see you.”
“Bring her anytime.”
“I will,” and he smiles. Clarke had been staring at him for the last minute and his smile has been the best thing she’s seen. When he smiled his whole face lighted up and his eyes sparkled.
His eyes meet hers, and it’s then she realizes how tired they looked. And now, she’s even more ashamed about the way she’s treated him all morning.
#6 3:23 pm
Clark is updating the day’s special on the coffee shop’s Twitter. She been managing the account for a couple of week and loves how the customer share their experiences Coffee Grounds. She even has the shop’s Twitter account on her phone. She’s going over the mentions, answering a couple of tweets, when she saw it:
bllmblke: Having a very crappy morning when I visited @CoffeeGrounds. A nice barista made me this and actually made me J . Have 2 thank her next time. 8:10 am
Attached to the tweet was a photo of the art she created for him that morning: a smiley face.
She hadn’t felt so stupid in a very long time. She bites her lower lip and steals a glance at the author of the tweet. He’s reading a book; his head being supported by his hands. She was sure she sees his head bob and then sits straight, blinking rapidly.
Hesitant, her finger hovers on his username, curiosity screaming at her. She caves in and opens his profile. Soon enough his freckled face is looking back at her, smiling. She can’t help but smile back. It all feels very stalker-ish, and she reasons that that is better to just go back to her work. But one of the most recent tweets catches her attention.
bllmble: I don’t know how to make this pretty barista smile. My usual asshole self in not working. I wonder why. #ISuckAtThis 1:17 p.m.
Clarke feels the blush start on her cheeks and rapidly spread through her whole face. She scrolls down to the coffee pic tweet and reads his feed.
bllmblke: Having a very crappy morning when I visited @CoffeeGrounds. A nice barista made me this and actually made me J . Have 2 thank her next time. 8:10 am
bllmblke: Just finished my meeting with my thesis advisor. Why does he hate me? #INeedCoffee #1001Corrections 10:03am
bllmblke: omw 2 @CoffeeGrounds. #ThesisTime 10:10 am
oisthebestblake: @bllmblke remember 2 thank the barista & don’t be an ass!
bllmblke: @oisthebestblake I’m not an ass.
oisthebestblake: @bllmblke ur always an ass to girls you find pretty
bllmblke: @oisthebestblake Who told you I find her pretty?
oisthebestblake: @bllmblke u did idiot, when u call me before ur meeting. “a pretty barista made me a smiley face” #dork #keepmeposted
bllmblke: @oisthebestblake Shut up, O.
bllmblke: Tried to thank the barista for the coffee. Ended up stammering like an idiot. #WhatsWrongWithMe
oisthebestblake: @bllmblke she probably thinks u r an ass #way2godork
bllmblke: @oisthebestblake O, I’m going to block you
oisthebestblake: @bllmblke maybe i have 2 go 2 that coffee shop n see what got ur panties in a bunch #moodybellamy
bllmblke: @oisthebestblake Fuck off.
oisthebestblake: @bllmblke <3 I love u 2 brother
bllmble: I don’t know how to make this pretty barista smile. My usual asshole self in not working. I wonder why. #ISuckAtThis 1:17 p.m.
Clarke stares blankly at her phone. Jasper drops something, making her jump out of her stupor. She locks her phone stands behind the pastry counter, sorting the freshly baked cinnamon rolls into the display. She sneaks a peek to who has been her torment all day and watches him fight falling asleep. As a truce, she serves one cinnamon roll and makes fresh coffee. She takes three deep breaths and walks towards his table. His eyes are half closed and staring blankly at a page. Slowly she places the symbolic olive branch on his table, far from the books and papers, but still on his eye range.
“I didn’t order anything,” he says, staring at the cinnamon roll and then at Clarke. When he registers who she is, he sits straight and looks at her suspiciously.
“I know,” she shrugs. “It just looks like you needed one. It’s on me.”
She smiles at him and is rewarded with the most genuine expression she’s seen on him all day. His eyes are sleepy but his smile is bright. Maybe that’s what he looks like when he wakes up, she muses and quickly chastises her brain for going that way. She turns around and walks back to the counter, where a couple of customers are waiting for her. She hears his laugh. He saw the smiley face on his coffee.
#7 4:54 pm
Her shift is almost over and she’s busy cleaning a mess she made serving a customer. For the hour and a half, she has been distracted glancing to the hot freckled guy. Several times he’s caught her staring. And to her satisfaction, she’s caught him staring a couple of times too. She glances again to the table and sees him typing forcefully on his phone.
“So, going home soon?” Raven says beside her, making her jump. Her voice was a little louder than it needed to.
“Um, yeah. Got a class early tomorrow morning.” She goes to clean the machines before clocking out.
“I got this. Why don’t you take a couple of orders before you go?” Raven insists, while pushing Clarke towards the register.
When she gains back her balance she is face to face with Mr. Freckles.
“Um, can I get another one?” he asks shyly.
“Um, sure. Regular?”
“Yeah.”
“Name?” Clarke asks almost automatically, grabbing the Sharpie and an empty cup.
“Bellamy.”
She looks up and finds him smiling at her. She blushes and smiles back.
Right then Clarke decides to make a bold move. She writes his name, correctly, on the cup and adds her phone number. She hands the cup to Raven, who throws her a knowing smile, and heads towards the employee’s break room. She retrieved her messenger bag and her jacket from her locker and heads out.
When she goes back to the counter, she says good-bye to Raven, who’s smiling like the cat that ate the canary. Ignoring her she scans the room for Bellamy, but he’s nowhere to be seen. His table is clear of all his things.
She looks back to Raven who is purposely avoiding her eyes while cleaning the espresso machine. Sighing she heads outside, thinking that maybe he wasn’t as interested as she thought. When she turns towards her car, there he is standing on the sidewalk, while nervously holding his books with one arm, and his coffee cup with his free hand.
“Hey,” she says, blushing.
“Hey,” he answers back, while tapping rapidly his foot on the ground.
“I thought you left,” she pathetically states.
“Raven kicked me out.”
“Why? You’re like the day’s most valuable customer,” she kids, and is satisfied to get a smile back.
“I know, right,” he blushes. He’s practically bouncing on his feet. “She said that if I wanted to flirt with her employees, to do it outside.”
Clarke feels a smile forming, while her cheeks get warm and she swears it matches his blush.
“Well, I think Maya left hours ago, and Jasper, well…he’s really into Maya,” she teases. She continues to walk to her car hoping he’ll follow her. He does.
“I’m not talking about them,” she hears him say, and when she turns with a witty remark on her tongue he’s standing close behind her. Like i-can-feel-your-breath-on-my-face type of close. Her eyes glance at his lips, mere inches from her, and dart back to his eyes. He smiles when he noticed what caught her attention, and teases her looking at her lips. She concentrates on trying to count the freckles on the bridge of his nose.
“Oh,” it’s the only thing her brain can process.
The moment is cut short when he suddenly jumps and takes a deep breath.
“Are…are you okay?”
“Um…yeah…yeah. I might be having a heart attack or that seventh cup of coffee was a big mistake.”
They both laugh.
“So, I guess inviting you for coffee right now might not be the best idea,” Clarke says.
“Maybe not.” He’s still smiling. “Do you work tomorrow?”
“No, I’ve got classes the whole day.”
“Oh,” he says, looking at the sidewalk.
“Maybe we can grab a coffee after last class. I’m out at five.”
His face lights up. “Sounds good. Here?”
“Um, I would prefer it if my boss and co-workers aren’t watching us the whole time.” Because they will.
“Yeah, you’re right. There’s a place near campus. The Ark, I think.”
“Great, I’ll meet you there after 5.”
“Perfect.”
He’s smiling and walking backwards.
“See you tomorrow, Clarke.”
“Until tomorrow, Bellamy.”
He begins to turn, when she remembers.
“Hey, Bellamy. Those last two coffee cups, they were decaf,” she smiles.
He sheepishly smiles back, and even from where she’s standing she can see he’s blushing.
She’s still smiling when she reaches her car. It takes her a moment to notice that she didn’t tell him her name, but somehow, he knew. Then she notices her name tag clipped to her shirt and smiles. She looks back and watches him walk, turns and winks at her. Thank every that’s powerful in the universe that he’s far, because that wink cause Clarke to blush profusely. She watches him throw the coffee up in a nearby trash can and take out his phone from his back pocket. She’s a little disappointed that there was a possibility that he didn’t see her phone number written on the cup, but she’ll see him tomorrow and will give it to him. And definitely get his number, too.
She gets in her car and gets out her phone to plug it in. She sees she has a few text message notifications. One is from Raven (He’s hot. And totally into you. DON’T MESS IT UP!), one from Wells (I need a study buddy. Been trying to write an essay all day. I’ve got pizza.), and one from an unknown number (Thanks for keeping caffeinated all day. It really did make me smile. – Jeremy J ).
She laughs; because of course he would remember the name she gave him. She saves the number under Bellamy, with happy face and coffee cup emoji.