Honey & Tea

How May I Help You?

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It was a busy Saturday afternoon, and Karl was in the middle of his shift at a local cafe.

"One large iced americano with extra cream, that'll be $2.79."

The customer shoves three one-dollar bills in his hand and he hands them two dimes and a penny in return. "Your order will be ready in a few minutes. You can pick it up at the other counter." He watches as the customer drops the coins in the tip jar and walks to the pick-up counter.

Karl turns around and gets to work preparing the drink, making a shot of espresso, and filling the to-go cup with ice. While the coffee is brewing, he decides to take another customer, seeing as the line is already going out the door. He plasters a smile on his face and prepares the machine to record and order "Hel-" He looks up and is met with mesmerizing green eyes. "H-hello! What can I get for you today?" Karl stutters but quickly regains his composure.

The customer smiles warmly. "I'll just take a lemon ginger tea, please." He says.

"Alright!" Karl replied, tapping a button on the screen between them. "Can I get a name for the order?"

"Sapnap."

Karl nods. Sapnap hands him some money and goes to sit down at a table in the corner of a cafe.

He gets to work on the two orders. Karl finishes making the americano and puts it on the counter. The customer comes up and grabs it, cursing under his breath about the wait. Karl goes back to his station. He pours boiling water into a mug, grabbing two tea bags and dropping them in the cup. After garnishing with a slice of fresh lemon, the drink is delivered to the pick-up counter. On his way to the station, he makes eye contact with the blond-haired boy and trips over his own feet, the cup of tea leaving his hands.

Karl barely has time to react before he realizes what is happening. Thanks to his lightning-fast reflexes, he ends up grabbing the mug upside down in mid-air and burning his hand on the fresh tea. The embarrassment registers before the pain. His face is red as he sets the empty mug on the counter. "I'm so so sorry. I'll go make you another."

Sapnap nods and goes back to his seat in the corner. Karl gets to work with the mop that they have specifically for spills. Karl goes back to his station and starts on another tea for the customer. His coworker, Alex, taps him on the shoulder. "Karl, maybe you should take a break and take care of your hand."

Karl nods and reluctantly goes to the break room. He looks down at his hand and sees how red it is. There are small blisters on the back of his hand, but he decides it's nothing too bad. Sticking his hand under the cold water in the sink next to him, he thinks about Sapnap. I hope he doesn't call in a complaint about me messing up his order. His boss takes complaints very seriously. Karl didn't think Sapnap was angry enough to do that, but then again some of the nicest people make the worst complaints.

Drying his hand on a towel, Karl walks back out of the room. He sees a mug on the counter next to him. He makes eye contact with Alex and he nods. Karl takes a slice of lemon and puts it in the drink, then grabs a honey vanilla muffin and steps out of the circle of coffee machinery.

He walks over to Sapnap's seat in the corner, setting down the tea and the muffin. The boy looks at him curiously and Karl takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry about spilling your drink earlier. I thought I'd offer you a muffin to make up for it. It's on the house." His face reddens.

Sapnap smiles. "It's okay. Accidents happen." The silence between them is suffocating. The customer gestures to Karl's injury. "Is your hand okay though? That tea must have been hot."

"Yeah, my hand's alright. Just a slight burn, doesn't hurt anymore."

They both run out of things to say. Karl glances down at the table. There are an open textbook and a laptop. College student? "I should probably get back to work." Sapnap nods and Karl goes back to his station.

Over the next few hours, he takes care of the dwindling line of customers while keeping an eye on the new stranger, who stays in his spot until 30 minutes before the cafe closes.

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The next morning, Karl is the first one in the cafe. He quickly gets to putting away the drying dishes from the day before, wiping down tables, and turning on the machines. As soon as he turned the sign out front from "Sorry! Closed" to "We're open!," a slow but steady line of customers started to trickle in.

At exactly 11 o'clock, Karl is in the middle of making a cinnamon latte and sees Sapnap walk in and sit in the corner. They make eye contact from across the room and Karl quickly prepares himself for another disaster.

Suddenly, he's standing in front of Karl, bright and smiling. "Mornin' clumsy." He jokingly greets.

Karl smiles and blushes. "Morning. What can I get for you today?"

"Lemon ginger tea, please."

"Of course. Hopefully, I won't drop it this time."

They both awkwardly laugh. Sapnap pays with cash and puts a five-dollar bill in the tip jar. "Thanks." Karl smiles and the customer nods happily and walks back to his seat.

As Karl steeps the tea, he watches the boy. He takes his textbook out of his bag and starts his computer. He suddenly looks over and makes eye contact with Karl, startling the barista. They both look away.

Karl adds the garnish to the mug and takes it over to the counter. Sapnap takes the mug from his hands, their fingers briefly touching around the warm ceramic. They smile at each other and both go back to their respective places.

The brown-haired boy continues to serve the incoming customers, observing Sapnap as he does. He notices that when Sapnap is reading, he softly mouths the words. He also notices that he rubs his finger against the grooves in the table when he's thinking. At some point, when the line has died down, Sapnap notices Karl staring, and walks over to the ordering counter.

"What can I get you?" He asks brightly.

"Do you have any more of those muffins?"

Karl looks over to the display case. "We only have one left, so you're in luck." He takes it out and puts it on a small plate to give to Sapnap, who pays and returns to his studying.

The brown-haired barista looks at the clock. There's an hour until they close. Chances are, not many more customers will come in, so he decides to clean up some of the machines.

After forty-five minutes and two customers fly by, Sapnap comes up to the register for the third time. "What can I get for you?" Karl asks brightly, setting down the washcloth he had in his hand.

"Can I uh-..." The green-eyed boy hesitates. "Can I get your number?" He looks down at the floor.

It takes a few moments for the request to process in Karl's mind. "Oh... Oh yeah, of course!" He grabbed a napkin and a pen and hastily scribbled out his phone number. He handed it to Sapnap and both boys smiled at each other. The air between them was awkward, but it wasn't bad.

"Thanks. I'll text you mine." After another moment of hesitation, Sapnap slowly turns to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?" He asks just before exiting.

"Of course."

They exchange a wave before Sapnap leaves the cafe. Karl resumes his tidying-up, gently humming and smiling to himself the whole time.

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