Another Dumb Romance Fic || ColeyDoesThings (Barista/Employee)

Chapter Two: Chemistry Conundrum

The morning was simply beautiful. Bella was in the coffee shop at about 6:10 a.m, getting all of her supplies in order while the other baristas cleaned the tables and baked donuts. She organized her personal stock, which included all of the crucial ships and characters that each person loved to have in their drink.

"Let's see..." Bella mused aloud, checking all of the labels in the MLM section. "Logan Sanders x Roman Sanders... Todoroki x Midoriya... Papyrus x Mettaton... Wait."

The barista carefully took a bottle off of the shelf -- one that was close to the front, as it was used often. The weight in her hands was...lighter...than expected. She shook the container gently...and discovered that the bottle was empty.

She checked the label and was horrified to find out that the empty bottle was, in fact, her supply of the Drarry dynamic. Always in popular demand, there were at least three orders for a Drarry fic every day. She always had some in stock -- except for today, apparently.

She had to get some more from Ships R Us.

Groaning, Bella walked out of the back room and passed another employee on her way to the front door. "I'll be right back, I need to get to Ships R Us. We're out of the Drarry dynamic."

The employee, who was new to the Fanfic Cafe, raised an eyebrow out of confusion. Whether she was confused by the destination, by the "Drarry dynamic" explanation, or by Bella's annoyance was unknown.

The barista skipped out of the cafe, trying to keep a pep in her step. She knew that she'd likely have to deal with Nikki when she arrived, but she brushed it off -- even though Nikki was always sour and put a damper on Bella's good mood daily, it was nothing she couldn't handle. She dealt with angry and belligerent customers every day, Nikki among them. She'd be fine. Right?

Entering the store, Bella's expression faltered slightly as she noticed Nikki at the register. The woman was scrolling through something on her phone, leaning back in her chair and resting her feet on the counter. She heard Bella come in and looked up, then scowled. As usual.

Bella inhaled slowly and stepped up to the counter. "Hi, um, I need another few bottles of the Drarry dynamic. We're all out at the cafe, and we need some more before we open."

Nikki grunted and didn't say much, standing up and heading to the back room. Bella followed, as per company custom. She also kind of wanted to make sure that Nikki actually did her job correctly.

Watching the employee, the barista took a moment to study her movements. She was fluid, very good at her job and working as though it were a habit. She was slow, so definitely tired. She almost seemed to be refusing to turn her back to Bella, as if she were apprehensive.

"Alright, what do we need for Drarry... Let's see... Sexual tension, that's for sure, and a lot of it..." Nikki mumbled as she worked, grabbing several vials of various chemicals. She used a dropper to take quite a bit of the sexual tension chemical and add it to the bottle. "What else...? Hmm... Snarky comments, that's for sure... Quite a bit of magical prowess, as well as some classic stubbornness and tsundere attitude..." The employee shook up the mixture as Bella watched intensely. "Aaaand there you go. Drarry dynamic, just for you. Enjoy."

Nikki's monotone voice made the barista's eye twitch. "I...need several bottles. Could you make two more, please?"

"Two more? God, you're difficult..." Nikki turned back to the chemicals and started working again. Bella tried not to grimace at her.

"Difficult? I told you I needed a few when I walked in."

"That would've been nice for you to clarify when you came back here. Don't expect me to just read your mind -- a few could be three or seven, depending on the person."

"You've dealt with me before, you should've been able to guess."

Nikki growled a little in frustration and tried not to lose her temper. She finished the second bottle and moved on to the third. "Bella, I'd rather not snap at you this early in the morning, so would you kindly shut your mouth and keep your annoying comments to yourself?"

Feeling her own annoyance rising, Bella exhaled sharply and folded her arms, waiting for Nikki to finish. She'd already had a bad start to the day, and Nikki's cross attitude was only making it worse. The sooner she could just get the mixture, the sooner she could leave the musty store.

Finally, Nikki finished the third bottle and packaged all three up in a nice, neat container that was slipped into a little paper bag. "Will that be all, ma'am?"

"Yes, thank you," the barista responded, gritting her teeth as she spoke. "Though I'd appreciate warmer reception the next time I have to come here."

"Oh, what?" Nikki chuckled dryly, clearly not intimidated by the hostility. "You gonna give me a bad Yelp review? One star? Please, like I care."

"Well, I ought to, since you're asking for it," Bella retorted, snatching the bag. "Or maybe I'll just cancel that weekly one-shot order."

"You do that and I'm gonna lose my damn mind."

"That's kind of the point," the barista remarked hotly, already marching out the back door and towards the front. She was more than fed up with Nikki at this point -- as was the usual when they met up. "Or, you know, maybe I'll just include some Dead Dove: Do Not Eat in your next batch. That oughta teach you not to drink so much."

"It's not like I drink on the daily," Nikki drawled, resuming her position at the desk. "It's just a weekend thing, you know this."

Bella's only response was a huff as she stormed out of Ships R Us, bag in hand.

The newer barista was still by the door when Bella came back in, quite surprised by the uncharacteristically sour mood that she was in. They watched as she power-walked into the storeroom, carefully putting the Drarry bottles on the shelf in preparation for her shift.

"Honestly, that girl... Grrr, I could just...." Bella mumbled to herself, preparing her own drink to calm down. She used lighter ingredients -- comfort, mutual pining, and fluff -- as well as the Scorfuma dynamic that they had plenty of. She stirred it all up, took a sip, and then sighed gratefully. Almost immediately, she was soothed. Her temper didn't take much to cool down.

The barista took the money out of her own pocket to pay for her own drink, which wasn't too expensive due to the slightly basic nature and abundance of ingredients. Then, lifting her cup again, she was reminded of the previous night.

Nikki, the sour-faced and consistently bitter employee from Ships R Us, who usually ordered sharp oneshots on the weekend and darker fics after a long day, had ordered hurt/comfort. And this was after she ordered something a bit more usual for her behavior. Staring at her own face reflected in the coffee, Bella wondered exactly why the employee had asked for something like that. Maybe it was just a bad day? Or maybe she had a preference to softer fics and just didn't want to admit it?

It was an interesting train of thought, and it took Bella a few moments to realize what exactly she was wondering about. Shaking her head, she continued stocking the storeroom, writing down how much of each ingredient and dynamic they had so that she wouldn't have to run to Ships R Us early in the morning again. The more she could avoid Nikki, the better.

Although, she thought, based on the fic she ordered last night...there could be more to the employee. Finishing the stocking and grabbing a broom to sweep the floor, she began to wonder if Nikki would come to the café that night. A part of her secretly hoped that she would. After all, she and Nikki might've clashed constantly, but that didn't mean Bella would refuse to serve her. Especially when the employee asked for something so gentle.

Bringing her sweeping to the front counter, Bella hummed quietly before finishing up and putting the broom away. She made sure everything was in its rightful place, and she set the ingredients for an enemies to lovers fic on the counter (they were the special that week). The golden sunlight streamed through the windows, and she sighed.

Even if Nikki came by that night, she'd keep her chin up and serve her whatever she asked for. It was her job, after all.