inkspresso

voluntarily and wholeheartedly

The bell ringing was hardly heard inside the bustling café. Zach furrows his eyebrows. Sure, it was busy during the afternoon, but never this filled with people.

Zach looks at the counter and sees that Jack's working alongside Kristin. He moves to the side of the counter and waits for Jack to notice his presence.

The curly head looks to the side and has to take a double look. A smile grows on his face. "Hey." He greets. "How was that final?"

"Hey, uhm, do you guys need help?" He asks worriedly. "There's a lot of people in here."

"Uhmm..."Jack looks at the small crowd. "How good are you at making coffees?"

"I'm a quick learner." He smiles. "I do have some experience with a register."

"Hired!" Jack points to the side of the counter.

Zach rushes to their side. Jack throws him an apron. He quickly ties it around his waist as he reads what's on the register.

The brunet starts taking orders and scribbling them down so he doesn't forget anyone. He takes six orders, and only then does he tell Jack and Kristin what they should make.

He reads the labels. "Frappe for Eva. Decaf for Grayson and Galão for Bea."

He quickly distributes them. "Thank you for coming, see you soon!" He bids them goodbye.

"Hey, uhm, can I get your number?" A woman asks.

Zach blinks.

"Babe, we have more orders for you."

"Oh, you... have a uhm... boyfriend."

Zach nods. "Yeah." He points at the back. "I should get back to work." With that, he turns his back to her as his face warms up.

Jack presses a kiss onto his cheek. "You alright?"

"I'll tell you later."

Zach keeps taking orders and serving clients to the best of his abilities. The rush hour eventually dies down, and Zach starts helping with the cleaning part.

Jack was about to let him go when Zach started cleaning out the tables quickly. He moved fast and made sure to separate each small platter carefully.

Once it becomes a bit more empty, Jack wraps his arms around him and presses a kiss onto his lips. "Hey there."

"Hey." Zach smiles. "To answer your question, the final went great."

Jack hugs him. "That's amazing."

Zach pats his back. "How was your day? Apart from this rush hour?"

"Much better now that you're here." He confesses as they part the kiss. "Are you feeling alright? You served a lot of people."

Zach nods. "A few people asked for my number."

"Oh, like that girl?" Jack questions. "You should know, I totally did it on purpose to get her off your back."

"Thanks, I never know how to let people down gently." He admits.

Kristin gets in between them and hands Zach a fifty dollar bill. His eyes widen. "I can't accept this."

"Yes, you can. You didn't have to help us, but you did, not only that, but you proved yourself to be a fantastic helper." She reasons. "Consider it a thank you from us."

Zach sets the dollar back in her own hands. "Thank you, but I did it voluntarily. I chose to do it, not expecting anything but a hug in exchange."

Kristin sends Jack a look and then looks back at Zach. "You are the sweetest thing." She squeezes him in a hug. "I'm so glad my Jack asked you to be his."