thantophobia // hs au

one • 4.98

I walked inside and felt a huge rush of warm comforting air invade my body's senses. I smiled as I smelled the familiar scent of hot coffee and blueberry muffins that crept up my nose everyday. Walking into the backroom, I tossed my blue apron on and tied it around my petite waist. I pulled my hair up into a high pony tail and shoved my bag and coat in my assigned locker, 65.

"Goodmorning Veronica", my sweet old boss, Jean greeted me.

I flashed her my biggest smile and greeted her with a big goodmorning also. I put on some more coffee and restocked the morning pasties and muffins. The bell chimed as I look out of the glass case, holding the delicious cakes and desserts to see a blurry tall figure walk into Jean's Joyful Coffee and Sweets. I went to stand up and hit my head on the inside part of the case.

"Fuck!", I exclaimed and rubbed my head.

"Well thats one way to greet a customer", the dark hair boy chuckled.

I looked up to at the boy and studied his face. His dark chocolate curls were accompanied by a light grey beanie and his vibrant green eyes staring back at me. I felt my cheeks turn a light shade of pink and I looked down.

"What can I get you?", I asked him quietly.

"Can I have a peppermint latte and one of your famous blueberry muffins?", he asked pulling out his wallet.

"Sure", I rang it up on the cash register, "That'll be-"

"4.98. I already know.", he finished for me handing over a crisp 5 dollar bill.

I gave him an odd look and handed him his change accompanied by his receipt. He took a seat in a booth, over by the window and pulled out his white iPhone 5C. I turned around and began steaming the milk for his latte and brewing the expresso. Squirting 4 pumps of the peppermint flavoring into the 16 ounce cup, I add the expresso and steamed milk. I make sure to stir the latte well and top the drink with whip cream.

Filling a small paper bag with his blueberry muffin and throwing a lid on his hot peppermint latte, I walk over to him. "I wasn't sure if you said for here or to-go so I just put your muffin in a bag", I said, placing his drink and to-go bag on the brown marbled table.

The unknown guy flashed me a beautiful smile, revealing a hidden dimple and said, "I didn't say anything but I hope you would join me and this delicious muffin for a chat".

I blushed and sat in the seat across from him, looking back for Jean. She was busy flirting with Frank, a daily customer she had grown attached too. I smiled at their old couple love and turned by to him, "Sure, I have a few".

He smiled and took a sip of his latte. "Great, I'm Harry by the way. Harry Styles and you are?", he asked me.

"Oh, I'm Veronica Myers. Nice to meet you Harry.", I returned his perfect smile with a grin.

Harry unwrapped his muffin and frowned a little. "Seemed I forgot to grab a butter knife. Please excuse me.", Harry said, standing up to ask the cashier who filled in for me while I took a short break.

As he walked to the counter, my eyes traveled along his lengthy body. He had a slim body which was clad in all black. He had black jeans with 2 slits on the knees and a black Ramones tee on. The back of his head was covered with his grey beanie still and his brown curls curved over the back of it. I smiled as I turned back around and relaxed.

I've never seen Harry in here before and I work most mornings. He could've came in during the afternoon but we never serve muffins during lunch hour. Its strange how I've never seen him in here but he seemed to know the cost of his order.

"And I'm back", Harry says sliding into the booth across from me. He smiled at me and finished unwrapping his muffin. Slicing the our famous large muffin into fourths, he placed two parts on a napkin and slid it across the table to me. "Thought I'd share some with you", he explained his actions and took a huge bite of his own piece.

I smiled gratefully at his polite gesture, and took a small bite of my own. "So Harry, I've never seen you around Manchester. Then again, I haven't been here long", I said.

Harry explains the he has been coming here since he was little and knew Jean very well, since his mother and Jean were childhood best friends. Jean always saved him a blueberry muffin if he comes late during the morning rush, which was on most occasions. My hypothesis was correct and he came in during the lunch hour when my shift had ended.

By the end of his little explanation about his cafe life, we both had finished our muffin halves and Harry was half way done with his now warm peppermint latte. "Now what about you Ronnie? What's your life about here in Manchester?", he questioned me, referring to me as Ronnie made a smile grow upon my face. Having been a long time since hearing it.

"Well, I moved to London when I was 17. But transferred over to Manchester when I turned 21 and had made good acquaintances here. I started working for Jean about 6 months ago and I absolutely love it here.", I explained cleaning up our garbage and tossing it.

"That explains the American accent. Where in the US were you at before London?", he asked, finishing his latte and throwing it away in the trash bin. We stood next to the little library a few feet away from where our original seat was in this quiet cafe.

"Oh, I was from Los Angeles California.", I said.

"Thats cool. I've never been. I would love to go to America. I've heard its fun there.", he said.

"Its alright. There was nothing left for me there so I left.", I responded.

Harry slide his iPhone out of his pocket and unlocked it, opening up a new contact page. "Here, put your number in. I'd like to chat with you again if thats fine, love.", he said, blushing a tad.

I smiled and typed in my name with my number. I handed Harry's phone back and said, "Yeah I would like that Harry".

Harry smiled at me, showing me his dimple and walked out the door, bidding a goodbye. He waved to Jean and I continued with my work. Noticing, it had been 20 minutes since I sat down with Harry. I walked to other tables and clearing left over trash and some dishes.

I wiped down all the empty tables and returned to the kitchen, dumping off the dirty dishes and returning the dirty rag to the red bleach bucket.

"Bout' time you returned to the kitchen", Jean joked with me, wrapping up with a customers order. I immediately blushed, knowing she was referring to my little chat with Harry.

I remembered Harry had mentioned he had known Jean for a long time. I grabbed a different white cloth and wiped the back counter down. "Yeah sorry, I just figured I would take my break a little earlier", I responded, shaking out the rag.

"Yeah, Harry is a nice lad.", Jean said, smiling at me.

"Yeah he is.", I said thoughtfully and continued with my work. My thoughts wondering to Harry.

--

So, theres a first chapter! This is going to be a full time fanfic, meaning I won't be working on another book. So be expecting continuous updates!

Instagram: simplyy.katelyn

~Kattie