Carulia Oneshots

Coffee Shop AU

Day 4 of Carulia Week! - "AU"

Carulia coffee shop au where character A gets stood up by a date and character B saves them from public humiliation but they end up falling for each other :D

~words: 1139

....

Half an hour late. 

My date was thirty minutes late, and I was almost completely sure that he had stood me up. I was getting tired of the pitying way the baristas—and pretty much everyone in the crowded cafe—had been glancing at me. Why did I always seem to be the one that got stood up, time after time? And why was it always in front of a crowded room?

I sighed and glanced at my watch for the upteenth time. I should never have suggested my favorite cafe. Now I would be remembered as 'the customer who got stood up' each day I came in for my morning tea. Great.

Thirty five minutes late.

I was going to have some choice words with Mr. Egotistical next week at the faculty meeting. Why did every guy I date turn out to be the same? I propped up my head with a hand and stared out the window from my seat at the bar, and idly wondered if I could choose to be exclusively attracted to women. How did that work exactly?

I sighed again as the bell above the door chimed, signaling yet another person to witness my embarrassment. But there was really no point in sitting around and taking everyone's pity glances for another minute. I might as well leave.

But before I could make my escape, the barista came my way. I watched her approach warily.

"Your date isn't here yet? Anything else I can get you?"

I smiled, but it felt a bit forced. "No. No thank you. I was just about to—"

"Hey, there you are! So sorry I'm late."

I turned. A stunning woman dressed casually with red accents—whom I had never seen before in my life—put her arm around me and kissed my cheek. She was tall, with warm caramel toned skin, dark auburn hair up in a messy bun and stunning grey eyes that I was sure I could get lost in. I was willing to bet she worked out on a daily basis too, I could feel the well defined muscles of her arms wrapped around me. Who was this beautiful stranger? 

My eyes flickered to the barista, who was now staring at the lady in red with an expression of shock and something that looked a little bit like jealousy. From the looks of it, I wasn't the first girl the mysterious woman in red had charmed, and I certainly wouldn't be the last.

I sat there, a bit stunned as she made herself at home on the barstool next to me and ordered a drink. At last when the barista had left—or rather stalked away—to make her drink, she turned to me.

"I'm Carmen. Carmen Sandiego. Sorry about that whole thing, I just felt like it was necessary to throw everyone off of our scent."

Shoot, she expected an answer from me.

"If you wanted to know if I was gay, you could have asked," I said. Oh my god, I actually said that.

Her red painted lips turned up in a grin. "Sassy, I like it. And you would be?"

"Julia." I offered her a smile.

"So, Jules. Since this is our 'first date"—she made air quotes with her fingers—"tell me something about yourself. What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a librarian as of right now, but I really want to be somewhere else."

"Don't like your job, huh?" God, she had an attractive voice.

"No, no, I love my job." I was quick to reassure her. "Who wouldn't want to be surrounded with hundreds and hundreds of books every day?"

She laughed. "You're the first person I've met who would make that kind of statement."

I felt a warm blush creep up my cheeks. "What about you?" I was quick to change the subject. Why did I always get so flustered around pretty girls? I was never this way with men.

But before she could answer my question, the barista came back with Carmen's coffee and she accepted it with a small thanks. Polite and attractive, I noted. Sooner than I had anticipated, she turned her luminous silver eyes back on me.

"I run a small charity for abandoned orphans with my mother. We basically raise funds to help get the children to good homes, where they'll be safe and well cared for."

I could feel myself falling hard for the lady in red but couldn't seem to stop it. If you asked me, I fell for people way too easily. It was annoying. Then I realized that she was staring at me curiously, and had been for some time. My face went hot in embarrassment.

"Jules?" She seemed to realize that I hadn't been paying attention and chuckled. "I asked you what you hoped to move on to, you mentioned something of the sort?"

I cleared my throat. "Oh. Right. I've been studying to teach a class in ancient history, and I hope to someday be able to teach ancient history as a professor in a university. Of course," I chuckled, "I have no experience in teaching, so this will be far in the future."

Carmen gave me that smirk again. "I'm sure you know far more than you give yourself credit for, Jules."

I smiled at her, somewhat shyly. Carmen had known me for under an hour, yet she knew how to  get to me like she had known me since I was born. But before I could answer, her phone rang and she cursed quietly when she saw the display.

"I thought I told Zack and Ivy to leave me be for a day," she grumbled. Carmen slid off her barstool and walked outside to take the call.

I chuckled lightly. Carmen was cute when she was annoyed, less of an unattainable goddess and definitely more human.

When she came back in, Carmen had a slight frown on her face. "I'm so sorry Jules, I'm going to have to cut this short. But can we do this again? I'm not in England a lot, but I could be...for you."

I smiled, a bit sadly. I had just met this woman half an hour ago but yet I felt all the sadness of her leaving like I had known her for years. "It's alright Carmen, go."

She paused and nodded hesitantly, turning to the door. I'm probably never going to see her again , I realized with a pang of sadness. But just as soon as the pang had come, Carmen had turned back to me and pulled me close, her lips next to my ear.

"Until next time, Jules," she whispered.

Then she pressed her lips to my temple and left me standing there, red faced and wondering how I had fallen for such a woman in under an hour.