Nicholas has been Leo's best friend since middle school. They have a very close friendship, that type of friendship in which you never tell how much you care about the other person, only rarely, because it's self explanatory.
When they first met Nicholas was trying to win a fight against high school boys that bullied his older brother. He ended up being beat up but proud that he at least tried to stand up for what is right and protected his brother more or less. Leo thought that he was crazy at first but then understood and appreciated his courage and his strong will to always succeed in whatever he wanted to do. He can still remember to this day how badly beat up Nicholas was but he was still cursing at the bullies under his breath. Leo had to carry him to the nurse's office and at first didn't want to have anything more to do with him because he thought that the boy is trouble. However Nicholas kept wanting to repay him for his help and followed him everywhere. At one point Leo finally gave in and before they knew it they were best friends.
Lucas is three years older than Nicholas but even though he is the older brother he is the one being protected most of the time. He is not very fond of violence and can cry easily if someone talks to him harshly. Even though people call him too sensitive, his younger brother is always there to take care of him and shut up everyone who says anything bad about him.
During all these years Leo realized something. Lucas is more like their father, gentle and sensitive. He has a calm voice and you can talk to him about anything without him getting angry or judging you. When Leo first met him he thought that he is some prince from a fairytale and was shocked by how gentle and loving he was.
Nicholas, however, is more like their mother. She is very energetic and straightforward. People often consider her rude. For example, Leo went shopping with her and Nicholas once and she ended up fighting over the last box of cereals and yelling profanities at the poor woman she was fighting with.
What's worse is that instead of holding her back like he should, Nicholas was encouraging her to punch harder. They've been banned from a lot of shops and also restaurants because they have the bad habit of talking loudly and disturbing other people. Leo can't imagine how it must be like to be this woman's enemy and he doesn't want to find out.
Now Nicholas is in law school but still hasn't forgot about his passion for reading and has decided on getting a part time job at a library close to the café Naomi works at.
"Hello. What's my favorite person doing?" Leo taps on the piece of paper in front of Nicholas.
He looks up and his eyes become as wide as two golf balls. Leo bites his lip trying to prevent a smile from making its way onto his face.
"Jesus Christ! I haven't seen you since yesterday! That's a record"
"Oh c'mon... I know you missed me... Now tell me what's the best book I can read when I'm stressed and I have an essay to write but can't do it because I have no idea what I'm doing"
"I would recommend reading the Bible because you know damn well that God is coming for your sinful ass"
"You're calling me sinful? The guy that can't say a full sentence without swearing?"
"For your information I'm keeping that under control!" Nicholas shows Leo his wrist and painfully smiles.
"Is that a rubber band?" Leo looks at his hand carefully and holds back a laugh.
"Mom suggested it. Whenever I feel de need to swear I stretch it and let it hit me. I feel like the fires of hell are upon me"
"Is 'hell' also a curse word?"
"No I don't think-"
"Well I think it is. You should be punished" Leo stops Nicholas mid sentence and before the other can process what's happening, he grabs the rubber band and stretches it before letting it go.
The sound of the rubber band hitting Nicholas' wrist echoes through the empty library and Leo throws his head back laughing.
"Fucking hell! That hurt! You're so evil"
Nicholas throws a punch at his desk and wipes his tears while painfully holding his wrist.
"You swore again! Do it! Be fair and do it!"
"Forget it! You're as crazy as my mom!"
"You still haven't told me a book recommendation besides the Bible, which I don't need right now"
"Read Shakespeare or something and leave me alone! I'm angry at you now"
"Would you still be angry if I bought you dinner?"
"Hmmm.....wait.... I'm thinking about it now.... Maybe I'm not so angry anymore"
If Leo learned anything else during these years, besides getting to know Nicholas' family, it's that Nicholas can be bribed with any type of food.
"It doesn't matter as long as it's edible" is Nicholas' personal motto and Leo finds it weird how he survived these many years without dying either from getting beat up or from food intoxication.
"So dinner?"
"Sure. My shift ends in half an hour so make yourself comfortable your majesty" Nicholas mocks doing a bow in front of Leo and then catches up with him throwing his arms around his neck from behind.
"Stop you moron! You're going to kill me" Leo struggles but Nicholas only laughs out loud.
"Don't worry! I have plenty of space to hide the body!"
"You-" before Leo can continue his sentence someone enters the library and looks at them with a raised eyebrow.
"Um- hey" Nicholas says nervously while slowly taking two steps away from Leo who only smirks in response.
"You're scared of her aren't you?" He says and mocks a chicken.
Naomi looks unimpressed and sighs looking at the ceiling before lifting both her arms.
"God please give me patience"
Now that's a rare sight. Naomi, who's an atheist, praying to God. That's when Nicholas and Leo know something happened.
"What's wrong?" Nicholas finally breaks the silence that was in the air for almost a whole minute as Naomi sits down on a chair holding her face in her hands.
"They want to hire another waiter because they say that we're too busy and can't keep up with the customers during the week. Also because some lady got angry at me and started shouting even though I told her like a million times that we don't accept coupons"
"How is the angry lady related to any of this?" Leo asks while sitting down next to Naomi.
"My boss said that I have to be nice to costumers and that maybe I'm too stressed without realizing! I hate when people told me things that I know aren't true!"
"Well maybe the new barista is nice and you can make a new friend" Nicholas says.
"I don't need a new friend! I need my fucking money! I hate the fact that my boss thinks that I can't handle this!"
Leo's eyes starts twitching again and he puts his hand on Naomi's shoulder, his lips forming a thin line.
"Maybe you do need a break from all that.... Working shorter shifts can help you feel more calm"
"I.AM.CALM" Naomi stands up and starts biting her nails aggressively before Leo grabs her hands gently and stops her.
"Hey.... Let's forget about work for a while.... Me and Nicholas are planning to grab dinner after this... Wanna hang out with us?"
Naomi looks at Nicholas that smiles back at her and she lets out a long sigh while nodding.
"Fine... I guess going out can make me feel a bit better"
YOU ARE READING
Pumpkin Spice Mocha
General FictionLeo doesn't need much except a good book and a coffee to relax. He always puts his family and friends first no matter what and he never had trouble getting close to new people. That was until an anxious boy, Aaron, that has trouble opening up, appea...
