Coffee With You

Chapter Two

Chapter 2:

Keith POV

I stretch out on my bed. The morning gleam that I have loved since I was a kid is shining through my bedroom. I look at the sun, her luminous glow washing over me. I grab my phone from where it's charging and open my camera. I snap a few photos of the sun, making it as artsy as possible, and check the time. 9:03. I don't have work until 11, and today is my second day of the week with no classes.

I get out of bed slowly, energised by the amazing amount of sleep I got last night. I crack my back and roll out my yoga mat. Starting with three Sun Salutations on most mornings helps me to stay focused throughout the day. Coming into my final mountain pose, I think about what I have to accomplish today. In all of the classes I did throughout high school, my yoga teacher said one thing frequently, "Never say what you have to do". I like the word accomplish, it puts a positive spin on everything. I need to look over my fluid mech one last time, go to work, take Shay around and get the photos for the website. And maybe, just maybe, see Lance again. Dammit. Why does he keep filling my thoughts?

Hopping in for my routine quick shower, I wonder what if. What if I had learned Spanish as a kid? What if I had a different childhood entirely? I get out and dry off. Checking the time on my phone again, I get dressed and open my computer. Reading through my assignment, I fix minor errors that I made due to fatigue. When I'm done, I look up at the corner of the screen. 10:28. Perfect. I can surprise Pidge and Shiro by coming early for once. Slipping into my jacket and gloves, I walk slowly down the stairs. My mind is filled with thoughts of what the day might hold. Thoughts of what I want it to hold.

I hop onto Quinn, revving her engine. I decide to take the trip over to the coffee shop as fast as I can, while abiding by speed limits. The adrenaline rush is still perfect, the wind pushing back my hair, which is brushed for once. It's all over within a few minutes, when I pull into the alleyway behind the coffee shop. I chain her up, the awning of the street art gallery protecting the glorious bike from and harm that may come, in the form of rain. The gallery once saw my bike, then asked me to leave it around there, as it adds to their vibe. Supposedly. I think that an employee likes to pretend that it's his.

I walk into the back room, hearing voices. "Hey g–" I start to say before I look up. Shiro and Allura had been locked in an embrace, foreheads together, talking quietly, and now spring apart, as if two protons. "Am I, uh, interrupting something?"

"No, nope, ah, nothing is, ah, going on." Shiro stammers, blushing to the color of a beetroot. I look to Allura, who is also blushing, but less.

"Um," she starts, "I should, ah, get back to managing. Doing managing things. Financials." She turns around and walks into the front room, to get to her office.

I raise an eyebrow. "Not a word." Shiro says firmly. I raise it higher. "Not. One. Word."

"I ship it." I say with a smirk as I tie on my apron and head out into the main café. "Hey Pidge." I call as I head to the register. They're preparing an order for someone. Someone comes up, an exoticly beatuiful girl, if you're into that sort of thing. "What can I get you?" I ask her. She looks at me and smiles, slyly, as if she knows something I don't.

"Someone tells me that you have the best latte in Amherst." She says. Lance? "So can I get one?"

"Coming right up." I answer. "Pidge?" I call to them, "Latte."

"Ok," They call back, starting to mix the drink. "It'll be ready in a minute."

We settle into our groove, Shiro eventually coming out to help Pidge with drinks, and I stay at the register, calling out the orders as we go. I love the way we work as a machine, as perfectly oiled parts that don't break down. I take my lunch break around 12:10, so that I have had something to eat before Shay comes in. At 12:15 the bell at the door jingles, and she waltzes in, right on time.