The Royal Romance - Good To The Last Drop

Passionate

Jen hadn't seen her favourite customer for a week now. He'd only been back once after their unforgettable breakfast dance, and that one time had been a welcome tonic because she'd felt so fed up and homesick that day and he'd just made her remember everything she liked about her new life. Maybe because he was what she liked best about her new life? But since then - radio silence.

She'd thought about sending him a Pictagram message, but had been debating with herself about it a little. Now that she knew he was kind of a big deal, she felt awkward trying to get friendlier with him than he wanted to be. She didn't want him to think she was some sort of gold-digger who wanted to be a lady. (Yes, she'd googled what title one would receive if one married a Lord. She was that embarrassingly invested).

Instead, she'd just liked some of his Pictagram posts. It did look as if he was a bit busy, probably dashing around Cordonia with his powerful friends. And she was busy too, maybe some days she would have been too busy to talk to him. Things had really taken off at NYCoffee this week. Maxwell had been helping her with promotional Pictagram posts last time he was here, and word of mouth seemed to be spreading. The loyalty card scheme had proved a success at getting people to keep coming back through the door. But, maybe not Maxwell any more.

So when he came bustling in that afternoon, her eyes lit up, and she couldn't suppress a smile. "Hey! You're back!"

"I am back, and ready for one of your life-changingly amazing New York cortados." He sat on his usual stool, as if he'd never been away.

"So, what's new with you? Not seen you for what, a week?"

"Ah, well I haven't been to see Meghan and Drake for a while," he explained. "They kind of told me to keep my visits down to one a week."

"Oh." That made sense.

"But, I was passing on my way to see Liam, so... surprise!"

She shook her head. "You're on your way to see the freaking King in his freaking palace, and you thought you'd come and have a coffee here first.."

"Uh-huh." He nodded happily.

She sighed, her heart brimming. "I've missed you."

"Yeah, same. And the coffee. I kept getting headaches due to the caffeine withdrawal." He rubbed his head dramatically. "I was back home in Ramsford. Hey, you could always open up a shop there if you miss me that much."

"Ramsford? That a big place?"

"No idea? It has a wine bar. And a high school."

She smiled. "Okay. A possibility for when I extend my NYCordonia Coffee empire."

"I like that! But to be fair, I'm quite glad I've escaped from Ramsford for now. Did I tell you about my brother?"

"Only that he's a Duke," Jen admitted. "And, my research deduced that he was Cordonia's second most eligible bachelor. So I need you to introduce me, stat."

"Hey!" He pulled a mock-wounded expression. "So you must have seen pictures of him on the web?"

She nodded. "Intense looking guy, awful sweater vest?"

Maxwell pulled up a picture. "That's him. The Bertrand to my Maxwell, Bertrand!"

"Why does he look like he's chewing a wasp?"

"That's normal. Anyway, his girlfriend just moved in with their, um.." He counted on his fingers. "Six... seven... eight month old son? And I love little Bartie to bits. I really do. But Bertrand is driving me up the wall right now. He is overanalysing everything that poor child spits up. He's driving Savannah mad. And, yeah, home's not the funnest place to be right now."

"I can get that," Jen sympathised. "Still, look on the bright side, that must mean you just climbed the charts to Cordonia's third most eligible bachelor?"

"You betcha," he said with a wink. "And talking of that chart, I'm seeing Cordonia's MOST eligible bachelor today. We've got a Gala to plan. Which means..." He drummed on the countertop. "How'd you like your coffee to get a royal seal on it? I thought I'd take some for Liam to try."

She gasped. "Oh.. really... not if it's too much bother... I mean it's not all that great..."

"It is! He's gonna love it! I miiiight even be able to get him down here, y'know, to sample your wares in person.."

This was freaky. "Whoa, like a royal visit?"

"Oh it wouldn't be all official. Hey, unless you want him to do an official opening? Oh, sweet!" His eyes twinkled, and he jumped off his stool. "Why did I never think of that before!"

"Hey, calm down," she said. "That really won't be necessary, especially if he's a terrorist target at the moment."

"Oh yeah.." Maxwell plopped back onto his seat. "True. Don't want to put my favourite barista at risk."

"So tell me about this Gala?" She leaned towards him. "Sounds interesting."

"Yeah. It's one of my favourite events of the year. Very exclusive. Especially this year with all the security, strictly VIP and by invitation only. It's the King's personal event. We dress up.. not so much in fancy dress but more like in fancy suits. And I've got the most amaaaazing suit on order..." He picked his phone up again. "Look!"

She looked at the image on the screen. "That's a very bright blue.. wait.. that bow tie... ohhhhhh..." She laughed. "So you're dressing up as a squid?"

"I know right? Isn't it amazing?"

"Backup to the squid part? I mean, why a squid? What am I missing?"

Turned out she was missing quite a lot. The next ten minutes of her life consisted of Maxwell telling her the tale of his family and their history and customs and how all Cordonian noble "houses" had like a mascot type thing and that theirs was a squid. It seemed he knew a lot about squids... she kept getting shown pictures of little squid things he owned and funny things he'd found on the internet and she loved how enthusiastic he was about this and she also loved the fact that she kept getting to touch his hand when his phone was passed back and forth between them.

"I don't know," she giggled. "You think you know someone and then you find out they're obsessed with squids."

"Not obsessed, Jen. Just passionate." He held her stare at this point, and it did funny things to her. "Passionate about squids. That's me."

"Passionate about dancing too," she reminded him, really wanting to run out from behind the counter and dance with him again, but thinking it might be a little forward.

"Yeah. You know me. And a passion for fashion." He gestured to his shirt. "Check the fibres."

"And a passion for your friends," she added. "You really seem to care about them."

He nodded. "It's easy when you have amazing friends around you. Like Liam, Meghan, Drake, Hana. And you, now."

"Me?" She pointed to herself. "Am I your friend?"

He looked startled. "Uh.. if you're now gonna tell me you see us as having a strict customer-barista relationship, I'm gonna scuttle off and hide under a rock."

"No!" That wasn't what she'd meant. She reached out to touch him. "I just thought that's how you saw us. That's not how I see us. Not at all. You are my friend, Maxwell." She shrugged. "Best one I've got here in Cordonia, actually."

"Only one you've got here in Cordonia," he teased.

"That might be true, but I think I've struck lucky."

"Not as lucky as I did when I first walked in that door."

She blushed, as another customer came in. "Here, let me get those royal coffees sorted for you." As she set to work on them, she said a silent thank you to the skies for bringing her favourite customer back to her.