barista (a.i)

one: ashton

every morning he would wake up at 6am.

he would get out of bed and the first thing he would do would be to shower. once he got out of the shower he would go into his bedroom and get ready for work.

every morning, after getting dressed, ashton would walk into his kitchen and make himself toast with vegemite, and a coffee.

2 milk, 4 sugar.

but this morning was different.

ashton skipped his after shower routine, and walked out of his house. he had planned to go to work without a breakfast, thinking he would just go out to eat at lunch, but then he spotted something.

on his trek to work, an open sign caught his eye. in the doorway were words written with white marker.

the best coffee in all of australia,
guaranteed.

curiosity got the best of ashton, and he then walked into the small coffee shop.

ashton had never seen this shop before, so he assumed it had just been opened, but when he walked in, he was met with a home-y feel which left him thinking if it had been there since before he left.

as the boy looked around, he walked up to the counter, giving the worker his order. he had not paid attention to the person who was working, as he was staring at the menu. his gaze shifted when he heard a melodic voice.

"4 sugars? isn't that a little too much considering the fact that its 6 in the morning?"

ashton looked over at the barista as she said this, and found that he was astonished by her appearance.

"coffee is usually too bitter for me." he expressed, sighing.

"not here," the girl spoke. he looked on her name tag, learning that her name was aaron. "the sign outside doesn't lie."

ashton smirked. "well then, surprise me with the coffee."

"will do, sir." she smiled, punching the order into the machine. "its on the house."

"no no, don't worry about it, i'll pay." ashton's eyes filled with shock and worry.

"don't worry, its a 3 (whatever the australian currency is) coffee. and i don't even know if you'll like it."

ashton smiled a little and nodded his head. he went over to the part of the coffee place where you receive your order, and didnt take his eyes off of aaron.

he watched while her short black hair moved back and forth as she swiftly walked around, as she wiped her bangs out of her face with her wrist.
turned to look at him and hid his coffee, making sure ashton couldn't see what she was doing with it. once she finished, she put a lid on it and walked over to him.

"here you go." she laughed, her voice smooth.

ashton took the cup from her, his fingers brushing over hers and he watched her face turn pink.

he raised the coffee to his lips and took a sip. aaron bit her lip, awaiting the result.

ashton's eyes grew wide. "holy shit, i think this is the best coffee i've ever had." he said as he took another sip.

aaron's face grew into a wide smile an gave a small cheer. "i told you."

aaron's smile made ashton grin as well, as he looked over at the clock on the wall.

8:15am

"oh god, im sorry but i have to go." he rushed and looked at her.

she looked a little startled but nodded her head, almost seeming disappointed. "oh, alright. have a nice day!"

"oh wait," ashton called before exiting. aaron looked up. "what's in this coffee?"

"it's a secret." she laughed.

he scoffed jokingly and left quickly. he took out his bus pass and hopped on quickly as it was leaving.

the ride to his job was slow, and all he was thinking about was aaron. she was clouding his mind and he wasn't sure if he liked it.

when the bus stopped at the corner of 97th street, he jumped out of his seat, realizing he had missed his stop.

on that day, he ran to work. he pushed past the people covering the streets and heard screams at him when he moved away from them.

finally, he made it. he caught his breath before walking in and starting his shift.

-
hello this is part one hope y'all enjoy my grandfather is in the other room and i think hes snoring so hard hes gonna give himself a sore throat

xx abby