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

Chapter Five: A Typical Sunday Night

Bella had mixed feelings towards working on Sunday.

She didn't mind the work itself -- she loved her job with her entire being, and she got paid for her overtime, so working on the weekend never bothered her. The problems were that business on Sunday was slow, and while that did wonders for the mental health of every barista there, it meant less pay. Additionally, people would come in and just complain about their jobs while getting a drink. A few would order something alcoholic, each for their own reasons.

Nikki was one such person.

It was late on a Sunday afternoon, the day after the mall trip Bella had been on with Gigi and Nikki, and she was at the register, waiting for someone to walk in. She knew that Nikki was going to come in at some point -- she did every Sunday, and Bella always had a batch of oneshots ready for her. A few regulars would come in for a cup of coffee or tea, but that was usually it. The café was unusually calm on Sundays.

The bell on the door rang, and Bella looked up -- one of the regulars had come in. She gave him the usual, smut enemies to lovers, and watched him sit down. He seemed perfectly fine in solitude, and Bella wondered why he wouldn't come talk to her instead of sitting alone. She sighed and went back to micromanaging the space at the register.

The bell rang again, and Bella turned to the door, expecting another regular or wayward person...but she was surprised to find a bunch of teenagers and pre-teens rushing into the café instead. She braced for the onslaught of orders. She was used to gaggles of children running in excitedly, but not on Sundays. They were usually present on Fridays, or on weekdays after school had ended.

One by one, the kids went up to the counter, forming a long line. Bella cleared her throat, looking at the first girl waiting. "Welcome to the Fanfic Café!" she said in her customer-service voice. "What can I get for you?"

The girl broke an ecstatic toothy grin, then handed Bella a card. The neon pink color caught the barista's attention immediately, Ah. They had all come from Ships R Us. She looked at the card and saw that it was marked as an OT3 -- Bakugou x Todoroki x Midoriya. She gave a small smile and set the card down, grabbing a notepad.

"And what would you like in your fic?"

"Ahhh, ummm..." The girl was bouncing on her toes, frantically scanning the menu. "Oh! You guys are half-off on enemies to lovers this week, right? Can I get one of those with missing scenes?"

"Ooooh, missing scenes," Bella chuckled, writing the order down. "You have quite the taste. Alright, what rating?"

"G-rated, please," the girl chirped, still bouncing and clearly anxious to get her order. "I don't want anything too mature."

"Not a problem at all." Bella finished writing. "Alright, go ahead and take a seat, your order will be ready in a little while."

And so the barista went down the line, taking everyone's order. They all had cards from Ships R Us -- every last one of them -- so the only problem was figuring out what fic type they wanted. She was patient with the ones who had never ordered, she was chatty and cheerful with the ones who knew what they were doing, and she was even calm with the two eleven-year-olds that tried to order smut. Things were good, and finally, all of the orders were taken.

Bella darted into the back of the café and began making some of the drinks. She knew that not many other people were going to come in, but she tried to move quickly. The newer barista looked at her.

"Do you...need help?" they asked carefully, eyeing the list. Bella looked at them.

"You know, this is a good opportunity to teach you about brewing the drinks. If you want to help, you can."