The Naughty List | MxM

-6- Work Shift

Caleb awoke with a groan the next morning to the sound of his alarm, he switched it off sitting up with a sigh, he looked down at the floor with a smile seeing Jayden still cocooned up in his sleeping bag snugly sound asleep.

Caleb quietly got out of bed creeping into the bathroom, he placed his work clothes on the windowsill stripping down then stepping into the shower, the warm water stung his exposed cuts and fresh bruises but Caleb ignored the pain washing his bright green hair thoroughly.

Once he was out the shower he got dressed into his work uniform, it was a simple brown shirt, brown pants combo with the cafe logo embroidered into the breast pocket of the button up shirt. Caleb sighed inwardly worried about how Jayden would fair being taken to school by his Dad but being unable to do anything, if he wanted to get out this house sooner rather than later he needed to work for it.

He quietly opened the door setting off for the short walk to his work, the air was bitterly cold his breath visible in the air as he trudged along the snow covered path, it crunched satisfyingly beneath his feet as he made his way along the winding paths and roads cars speeding by from both sides.

By the time Caleb reached the Café his teeth were chattering, he stepped in glad of the heat and walked straight behind the counter into the staff room.

"Shit Caleb, what happened to you?" A girl immediately asked from one of the sofas, she had blonde hair and bright green eyes that shone like emeralds.

"Morning Ebony, fell down the stairs whilst carrying some presents that's all" Caleb explained a quick lie whilst hanging his coat up and taking his gloves off.

"Bullshit, it was him wasn't it?" Ebony replied stonily not taking her gaze off Caleb, they were work besties and she'd previously dropped him off home so knew about his Dads erratic behaviour.

Caleb sighed giving her a small nod, she stood up engulfing him in a hug, Caleb hugged back gladly tears forming in his eyes but he blinked them away hastily "I'm so worried Jayden's gonna get hurt" he confessed guiltily as they stepped back.

"It'll be okay Caleb, once you're out of the house you can protect him" Ebony replied understandingly, she was the only one of his colleagues and people in general he could confide in like this, most of the others were nice but the manager was a piece of work. As if the mere thought of him had summoned him an older man stepped into the room from a side office.

"Ready for another day of work work and more work?" the old man asked way too cheerily for that early in the morning, Caleb and Ebony exchanged a glance and nodded, the old man had silver gray hair that was slowly disappearing and a beard that was messily kept, he was the grumpy manager/owner of the café who seemed to take pleasure in making his employees lives miserable.

The group then walked out back into the café, Caleb flipped the sign from closed to open before walking back up to the counter standing beside Ebony, the old man meanwhile took a seat at one of the tables taking a crossword book out and staring at it inquisitively.

Customers came and went at a steady pace, it was Boxing Day so it wasn't as busy as normal rush hour days but still enough to keep a decent flow of customers, Ebony waited tables and carried food out whilst Caleb took charge of the to go coffees plus sandwiches.

After coming back from his break Caleb was adjusting the pile of coffee cups when a familiar face walked into the café, it was Jason. He was here, and looking good too, he was dressed in a tight black t-shirt paired with skinny black jeans, a gold chain hung round his neck and his hair was combed to perfection rather than greasy like the first time Caleb had met him. He walked up to the counter concentrating more on his phone than the face behind it.

"I'd like an espresso to go please" he asked politely not looking up, Caleb was flustered and hesitated taking a moment to respond, Jason looked up "I said I'd like a- oh, hello" his face changed from slight irritation to a smirk in a heartbeat as his eyes travelled up and down Caleb "never seen you here before, you started recently?"

"Recentlyish yeah" Caleb replied awkwardly not making eye contact and scratching the back of his neck, Jason smirked again and was about to respond when the manager called over.

"Caleb get the man his espresso already, there's a line!" He called gruffly over, Caleb nodded sending a wry smile Jason's way as he got to work on the coffee. He hurriedly slid it across the counter along with the card machine.

Jason scanned his card, picked up his coffee and said teasingly "Thank you barista, when does your shift end?"

"This afternoon, 5:00" Caleb replied hurriedly before beckoning the next customer forward, Jason nodded sending a wink Calebs way flustering him before walking nonchalantly out the door giving a quaint nod to the manager who rolled his eyes.

"Now what was that about?" Ebony asked placing an order note by the kitchen window then leaning on the counter a grin spread across her face.

Caleb was still making the next order as he replied "I- errr, hooked up with him yesterday" he whispered making Ebony gasp and slap him on the elbow with her clipboard.

"You whore" she joked in mock exaggeration "was it good?" She added the smile still on her face.

"Oh yeah" Caleb replied suggestively handing the coffee to the customer waiting and then turning to Ebony.

"Good on you Caleb, good on you, he's a good a catch I'd say" Ebony told him with a teasing shrug. Caleb smirked back, little did she know he'd tried to burgle his house the very day they'd had sex.

Ebony walked away as Caleb looked at the clock, he only had a few more hours then he'd be out, and potentially seeing Jason again too.