Crismes Short Stories

a certain barista

There are perks of being a regular at a coffee shop. You come in enough and the barista knows what you want before you get to the counter. And if you get a certain hot barista each time, he gets to know your name and sometimes doodles silly things on your cup.

James tells himself that Cristiano doodles on all the regulars' cups, but in reality it's just his cups that get hearts doodles next to his name, stars drawn across the cup to make little constellations, and the seemingly playful winks when he gets the cup handed to him. He stays longer at the coffee shop than he should. His drinks are finished, whatever he's working on on his laptop is either finished or abandoned, so he goes for zoning out and day dreaming while staring in Cristiano's direction.

One day when James walked in, Cristiano was leaning on the counter with a smirk, waiting.

"Hey James, can I interest you in the special we're having today?" Cristiano asked when James walked up.

Looking at the special of the day board, James seen that it was turned so he couldn't see what was even on there. Before he could ask, Cristiano turned it around so he could read.

Good day, today's special is: Your barista. Cristiano Ronaldo. He is...

1. Hella gay.

2. Incredibly desperate.

3. In need of your number for a date.

It was even complete with a small stick person drawing o Cristiano at the bottom, and James couldn't help but laugh.

"I suppose I can't ask you to a coffee date, huh?" James asked when he was done laughing.

Shrugging and laughing a little of his own, Cristiano answered, "Eh, I dunno, I mean I can get discounts here."

"Do I get a discount on today's special?" James asked.

"Only if you follow step number three." Cristiano said, tapping the sign and winking.

"I can do that." Pulling out a marker from his bag, James moved to grab Cristiano' arm to write his number down.

"You know," Cristiano started, "you could write this on a napkin?" he suggested.

"Nah, you might lose the napking." James rolled up Cristiano's sleeve and wrote his number down. "Just don't sweat too much, okay?" he joked when he was done.

"Alright, alright, I'll try hard. So do you want your regular drink?" Cristiano asked.

"Yeah, and the special after your shift is done, maybe?"