Coffee Shop AU
The bell above the door of Carolina Coffee Shop jingled, signaling the arrival of a new customer. Taylor Swift inhaled deeply as she walked in, letting the strong scent of freshly-brewed coffee wash over her. She went to her favorite corner booth and set up her laptop, ready to write the next chapter of her ongoing story.
"Is there anything I can get you?" asked a light, male voice with a British accent.
Taylor looked up to see an unfamiliar dark-haired man wearing a black apron and standing next to her table. "Do you... work here?"
"Yeah." He chuckled slightly at her confusion. "I'm the new barista. Name's Harry."
"I'm Taylor. Nice to meet you. I'll just have a coffee, please. Cream and sugar."
"It'll be right out." He shot her a smile and went behind the counter to make her drink.
Taylor placed her fingers on the keyboard, prepared to continue writing when she was once again interrupted by the British barista. He sat in the seat across from her and folded his hands. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes?" she asked, slowly.
He took a deep breath and declared, "We've run out of cream."
"I'm sorry?" This is a coffee shop. How are they out of cream?
"Well, you probably know that we make our own cream. We take the base milk, add condensed milk and a little vanilla- and you don't care. Anyway, the milk has expired. Our supplier is behind on deliveries and we aren't set to get any milk until tomorrow. That wouldn't normally be a problem, except that the milk expired yesterday. So, we don't have cream," he rambled.
"That's okay, I'll just have sugar. I don't need cream," Taylor responded, turning her attention back to her unfinished story.
Harry didn't leave, though. Instead, he seemed to be pondering what she said, a troubled expression on his face. He banged his hands onto the table, making Taylor jump.
"You asked for cream. I'm getting you cream."
"I'm perfectly fine with just sugar. Don't worry about it."
Her protests fell on deaf ears. He was already up and heading to the door.
"Oi, Ed, mind covering my shift for a bit? I'll be back soon," he called to the other barista.
Ed turned to Taylor, a silent question in his eyes. She shrugged in response, having no answer for him.
Ten minutes later, Harry burst into the coffee shop, holding a carton of creamer, a victorious grin on his face. He strode over to the counter and returned to Taylor, holding a coffee with cream and sugar.
"One coffee with cream and sugar for the lady." He presented it to her, the smile never leaving his face.
Taylor tried to fight the grin that was threatening to play across her features. "So, let me get this straight. You abandoned your shift, went to the grocery store, bought some creamer with your own money, and brought it back to make my coffee all because I said I wanted cream?"
"Pretty much."
Taylor laughed- longer than she had laughed in a while. Harry started chuckling along with her, realizing the ridiculousness of what he had just done.
"I think that's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me," she told him, once her laughter had subsided.
He blushed slightly and shrugged. "Umm, enjoy," he said, quickly, and turned on his heel to head back to the counter.
"Wait," Taylor called to him.
Harry to back to her, brow furrowed.
"You did all of that for me. The least I can do is buy you a coffee."
"You needn't do that. I have to get back to my shift, anyway," he said, motioning to the counter behind him.
"You see anyone else in here, mate?" Ed asked him, rhetorically. The shop was empty, except for them. "Have a coffee with the pretty lady." He turned to Taylor, "It'll be out in a minute."
She smiled at her long-time friend. "Thanks, Ed."
She turned her smile to the British man sitting across from her. "So, Harry, how long have you been working here?"
"Today's Wednesday? I started two days ago. How do you reckon I'm doing so far?"
Taylor bit her lip in mock concentration. "Well, you abandoned your shift to go shopping, forcing your poor co-worker to take care of the whole shop." She tsk-ed in disapproval and shook her head. "It's not looking good for you."
Harry scoffed, faking offense. "Maybe, but I did so with honorable intentions," he protested.
Ed interrupted their conversation by setting Harry's coffee in front of them. "Enjoy," he said, habitually, before leaving to tidy up the shop.
Taylor peered at Harry's disposable cup and frowned. "It says 'Hazza' on it. Either Ed doesn't know your name or he's really bad at spelling."
Harry laughed and shook his head. "It's an inside joke. Hazza is a nickname of sorts."
She nodded, understanding. "How long have you and Ed known each other?"
"Quite a while, actually. Our families were close back in England. The Sheerans moved to the states before Ed and I started school, but we kept in touch. A couple months ago, I made the decision to move to the states, as well, and Ed offered me this job."
"Well, what do you think of good, ol' America?" Taylor asked, a teasing lilt to her voice.
"I enjoy the company," Harry replied, as he winked at her.
He drained his coffee and set the cup back on the table. "I best be going, Miss..."
"Swift."
"Miss Taylor Swift, it was nice talking with you. See you around?"
"I hope. Before you leave, one more thing." Taylor grabbed her notebook and tore out a piece of blank paper. She scribbled down her phone number and handed it to him. "In case you'd like to talk more."
She put a five dollar bill on the table, gathered her things, and left the coffee shop, leaving a grinning Harry Styles staring after her.
