Coffee and Cigarettes

What'd I Miss?

"Nous vous aimons, Joooohhhhnn (We love you, Joooohhhhnn)!" Lafayette laughed and followed the other two to find a table.
Hercules spotted a boy sitting by himself at a pretty big table, with a coffee up sitting by the seat across from him. He nudged Lafayette and they nodded, moving quickly and taking a seat by the dark-skinned boy.
"Bonjour, James!"
The boy, James, looked over at the three and put on a smile. "Hello!" he greeted. Alex eyed him reluctantly and stood by Hercules side awkwardly.
     "Now what's a guy like yourself doing all alone huh?" Hercules joked as he flashed a grin. As the two smiled, Alex noticed, they had a bit of resemblance. Perhaps it was just him, though.
     "Well I wouldn't say I'm all alone..." Alexander saw James glance quickly at the coffee mug sitting across from himself and giving a shortly lived fond smile.
     "Ah right. He never really let's you be, hm?"
     At that, James moved a bit in his chair, uncomfortably. "I suppose not really..."
     "Who...?" Alexander mouthed the question to Lafayette, as they both watched the exchange between the two.
     Laf opened their mouth to reply but was cut off by a fairly tall man with corkscrew curls aghast walking over. He was dressed in an admittedly flashy magenta-colored jacket with pants that seemed should have been too tight but fit anyway.
     "Lafayette! Mon cher!" the man grinned and Lafayette smiled back at him.
     "Thomas!" they stood and exchanged quick kisses on the cheeks with the man.
     "Comment les choses ont été (How have things been)?" Thomas pulled back, smile still gracing his face.
     "Ils ont été bons (They have been good)."
     "Magnifique," the man's attention turned to James and he grinned. "Jemmy! Did you miss me?"
     "Tom, you were gone for about 10 minutes," James sighed but Alex could clearly see the smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. "But, to feed your ego, yes. I did."
     Thomas pretended to be offended, but soon smiled again. He greeted Hercules ("Mulligan! Long time, no see?" "Short time, all see. I saw you literally an hour ago, Thomas.") then his eyes landed on Alexander.
     "Well well. A new face around?" Thomas took a seat across from James, smirking a bit as the boy frantically worked to get back to focusing on his book. "Hm. 10 minutes and you get replaced... Jemmy, what'd I miss?"
     James made an effort to answer, but, realizing he hadn't been formally introduced to Alex either, just shrugged and turned to Hercules as Thomas looked at Lafayette.
     "This guy," Hercules put his hands on Alex's shoulders again and shook him lightly. "Is Alexander Hamilton!"
     "Hi."
With all the attention of the small group, Alex couldn't help but answer with nothing but awkwardness in his voice.
"Hey," the two replied bluntly in unison, Thomas raising his hand in a lazy wave. There was a few moments of uncomfortable silence that fell upon the group before (Thank god, Alex thought) John came over.
     "Heeeyyyy here you go!" The barista grinned and held out the tray to the three. He looked at James and Thomas and the two nodded in acknowledgement.
     "Thanks Jacky," Hercules grinned and took his and Lafayette's cup, handing it to them.
      "Thank you, John," Alex smiled and grabbed his as well.
     "It's what I get paid for, after all," John grinned. "Hey, James, you clocking in any time soon?"
     The dark-skinned boy looked at a nearby clock and shrugged. "Sure. The afternoon rush should be coming in soon anyway." James closed his book and slid it across to Thomas as he stood. "It was nice to meet you, Alexander."
     "As it was you," Alex nodded as James smiled and waved to the others, walking off towards the door behind the counter.
     "Byeeeeeee Jemmmyyyy!" Thomas called out, grinning.
     James simply rolled his eyes.