Ari walks up to the coffee shop, grumbling to herself, clearly annoyed that she was asked to clock in so early. As she walks into the employee entrance, she can hear light chatter ang giggling coming from the break room. Not uncommon for this work place, but something about it seems... different today. There's a whiteboard standing in the middle of the room. On it is written "Who will it be?", below is a tally of sorts, split in two. One side reads "Trudy", the other, "Ari". Below that are various co-workers names, with what seem to be dollar amounts next to them. They're mostly on Trudy's side, with only one near incomprehensible one being on Ari's side.
Confused, she walks up to the group huddled around the whiteboard. "What's going on? What is this?", she asks, confused.
"We're placing bets, duh", says Tiffany, the new hire.
"On what?"
"Look out in the lobby"
Ari peeks her head through the door to look out into the lobby, and there, sat in a booth alone, is Bappy, his tan and brown fur blowing slightly in the breeze of the ceiling fan. He's been the subject of her infatuation for years. Though they've known each other for a couple years, he still doesn't know how Ari feels about him.
Starting to feel herself become nervous, she steels her resolve and makes up her mind. Today was going to be the day. She was going to tell him how she feels.
She quickly rushes to his table, snagging a notepad and pencil as she leaves. "H-hey B, I didn't know you ate here.", she says stumbling over her words slightly.
He looks up from his phone, smiling at her. "Oh hey Ari. I don't normally, but I decided to try it out today."
"Oh, uh, nice. A-anyways, what can I get ya?", she squeaks out, remembering that she actually has a job to do.
"Hmm, I don't really know yet. How's the coffee?", he asks after glancing at the menu for a brief moment.
"Honestly? or professionally?" She asks, deadpan.
"Honestly", he chuckles.
"It's kinda bad, but with enough sugar it's tolerable. I doubt you came her just for the coffee though. Anything else I can get you?"
"Heheh, damn. Well now that you say something, I didn't just come here for the coffee."
"Oh really?" She asks, an inflection of hopefulness rising in her voice.
"Yeah, I've heard the burgers and donuts are top tier man", he replies. "Any suggestions?"
"O-oh... Well, our Veggie Burger is really good, and I absolutely love the chocolate eclair's here."
"Oh really? Well in that case, I'll have 2 of each. And a large caramel macchiato, please.", he smiles up at her, putting the menu down.
"Awesome, would that be all?", she asks, jotting the order down on her notepad.
"Nah, that's it. Thanks!", he says cheerily as he hands her the menu.
"Sweet. Comin' right up then!", She says as she takes the menu from him and walks back to the kitchen, heart pounding in her chest.
While entering the kitchen, she see's Trudy leaving. She shoots Ari a mischievous grin, and walks towards B's booth, a slip of paper in one hand, and notepad and pen in the other. Ari hurriedly hands the order to the cooks, and begins preparing the coffee, thumping her feet nervously as she glances looks towards B and Trudy.
"What is she doing? Does she like him too? God there's no way I can compete if she's in the picture. Fuck, what do I do?" She thinks to herself, nervous anticipation written all over her face. Lost in thought, she doesn't notice when she begins spilling milk all over the counter, only snapping to when a gruff voice grabs her attention.
"Ayy Ari. Whatcha doin? Ya gettin milk all ova the counta. I just cleaned there.", growls Shag, a burly brown bear, from behind the window connecting to the grill station.
"I... uh, sorry, I'll clean it up right away.", she stammers, clearly flustered at her mistake. She pours the ruined drink out and grabs a cloth rag to begin cleaning the counter.
She glances up for a moment to notice Trudy slip B the paper she had, as she takes a seat across from him. B looks slightly confused, but continues chatting with her anyway.
"Ayy kid, what's goin on. You're acting different than usual.", rumbles Shag, now right next to Ari. "What? When did he get there?", she thinks to herself for a moment.
"I-I'm fine.", she stammers out, unable to look Shag in the eye.
"You sure? You're not actin yourself. I mean ya dartin around the kitchen like a madman, not listenin when ya called, spillin stuff. What's goin on girl?", he asks, concern creeping into his voice.
She looks up at him, staring into his piercing brown eyes. "I-... I..." She stammers, glancing over the B's booth.
A soft compassionate look washes over Shag's face, a face not too common for the bear to wear. "Ah, I think I see. Boy troubles?", he offers.
She huffs, slightly agitated that he figured her out so fast. "Yeah...", she replies, averting her gaze. The milk begins to drip off the counter and onto the floor.
"Who is it? That cute boy over there, the one talkin to Trudy?"
She nods, unable to speak a word to him now.
"Ah... You ain't got nothin to worry about, I'd say. I been workin here for 25 years, and I ain't never seen Trudy leave this bar with a man. She sure as hell tries though. I see her day in and day out talkin like that to every cute guy she comes int' contact with, and every single one of em aint interested. Don't see why, she's a good lookin kid. But beauty ain't everythin."
She looks back up to him, tears slightly forming in her eyes. "I-I know but... but... What if she gets with him? I've loved him for years. It's not fair."
"Hey, hey, kid, calm down. Look at him. He clearly ain't as interested as when he was talkin to you. You got this. Go out there and git him aight?"
She looks out towards Trudy and B once again, noting how his face bares a mildly bored and annoyed expression, despite Trudy's yammering on. She sniffles, wiping her eyes with a nearby napkin. "Heheh, your right. I'm probably just being stupid."
"Eh, your not stupid. It's alright to feel like that. Now, get that order finished and clean up that milk, alright?", he smiles down at her.
"Alright, I will", she says, her mood brightening as she reaches for another rag to clean the counter.
"Alright kid. I'll git them burgers done now.", he states, walking back into the kitchen.
She finishes the drinks in a flash, now more confident in herself, as she puts the lids on. She brings the drinks to B's table, smiling to herself as she does.
Reaching the table, she sets the drinks down. "Here ya go B. Burgers are gonna be done in a minute.", she says, smiling at Bappy.
"Hey, thanks." he says, smiling up at her. She blushes slightly as she meets his gaze.
"N-no problem... I'll go check on the burgers now." She says, walking towards the kitchen, not noticing how he watches her go.
"Hey Shag, those burgers done yet?" She yells into the kitchen window.
"Just about!", growls the reply from inside.
She sits behind the counter and pulls out her phone, lazily playing on it as she waits. Thankfully, this time of day is pretty dead, so there aren't many other customers. Looking around, there aren't any. Her thoughts drift off to Bappy, yet again. It's not the first time she's let herself do this. Before long she hears the distinct ding of the counter bell, and Shag growling out "Order up! 2 Veggie burgers for table 6!"
Shooting up, she eagerly grabs the tray from Shag before he even has the chance to set it down completely, and races over to B's table.
She puts down the tray before Bappy, blushing hard. "Here ya go. 2 Veggie Burgers."
"Thanks." He says cheerily, smiling up at her once again. "Say, when do you get off of work?"
"At arou--", Trudy begins.
"9. But I'm free in 15 if if that would be better.", you interrupt. Trudy dons a scowl upon her face, visibly annoyed at being interrupted.
"Sweet. See you in 15 then.", he says.
"Y-yeah, see you in 15", she says, happily. "Enjoy your meal"
She turns around and heads back into the kitchen, happily smiling to herself as she does so.
"So, how'd it go?", Shag says, smiling at her.
"Well, not much happened. He want's to see me during my break, though. I think I'm gonna tell him then."
"Hell yeah girl. I'm sure it'll go great, I know it.", he replies cheerily.
"I hope so", Ari replies. She continues to watch, noticing Trudy begin to get more and more annoyed at B's lack of interest, until she stands up and walks away in a huff.
She waits, minutes ticking by like hours as she waits for her break. Eventually the moment comes when she's finally free. She happily walks over to his table.
"Hey, so, uhh... My breaks started, if your still interested. What did you have in mind?", she asks, blushing once more.
"Well for starters, how bout some lunch?", he says, handing her a coffee and a veggie burger. "Then I was thinking we take a bit of a drive."
"O-oh... Thank you...", she stammers out, accepting the food from him. "Where are we going exactly?"
"You'll see.", he says, leading her to his car, and opening the door for her. She blushes as she gets in.
They start chatting in the car, laughing and having a good time as they drive off. Before long, B stops the car, and gets out, sitting on the hood of the car. They've stopped on the top of a hill overlooking their town. She gets out, joining him.
"Y'know Ari, you were right.", he begins.
"Huh? What do you mean?
"Earlier. You said you didn't think I went there just for the coffee. You were right. I came to see you."
"O-oh... I... uhmm....", she stammers out.
He stares out at the city for a while, silent, before speaking again. "I... I know you like me, Ari."
She sits there, silent, anticipating his next words.
"Truth be told, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like you back... I just wanna know why you haven't told me yet. I've liked you for years, ever since I met you. I-i like everything about you. I mean... we've known each other for years, you'd think we wouldn't keep something like this from each oth-"
Without another word, she leans forward and kisses him. After a moment, she breaks it off, looking into his eyes. She never noticed how deep and blue they were. "There... That say enough for ya? God I've been wanting to do that forever"
He's speechless for a moment, staring dumbly into her eyes before saying, "Y-yeah, that said plenty... uhm..."
They stare awkwardly at each other for a moment, silence between them.
Ari perks up, shaking her head slightly. "Uh... My- my breaks almost over, so I-i should probably get back soon"
"Y-yeah. Sure. Hey, uhh, I'll drive you, if you want.", he offers, blushing.
"Yeah, that'd be nice.", she smiles at him. They both get in the car as they begin driving back to the coffee shop. After a bit, they make it back, and she exits the car.
"Hey, uh, I got a question though." He says, stopping her before she can make it inside. "Someone left this under my tray. Any idea who it belongs to?" He pulls out a small slip of paper. Ari inspects it, her face going beet red as she realizes what it is. On it is written her phone number, with a little heart next to it.
"It's ,uh.... my phone number... But I don't remember putting it there.", she says, confused.
"Ah well, least I finally got it. Hey, you said you get off at 9 right? I'll pick you up then, and we can chill some more.", he says, smiling at her once more.
"Y-yeah, that'd be nice. See you at 9.", she smiles back, and happily runs back into the kitchen.
Upon entering, she notices Shag pocket a fairly big wad of cash as he smiles slyly at her.
