Ninja Ferg

Chapter 1

Fergie stood in the line at the café, taking in the alluring smell of fresh espresso and baked goods while the warmth imprinted a steamy pattern on the windows. The perky red-headed cashier smiled in his direction.

"What can I get you, sir?"

Fergie smiled back. He always found red heads attractive.

"Could I just get a green tea?"

The cashier smiled back flirtatiously, "Of course. Can I get a name?"

"Fergie," he said with a goofy grin.

The barista pouted her lips seductively. "That's a great name," she cooed, pointing to her own nametag. "I'm Kayla. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you, hun."

Fergie just nodded, feeling the flutter of butterflies from the interaction.

"What kind of pansy just orders green tea at a coffee shop?" sneered a voice behind Fergie, snapping him out of his trance.

He turned around quickly, ready to retort, when his gaze fell upon caramel eyes that stopped him in his tracks.

She twirled her long chestnut hair and pursed her lips. "You got something to say?" she challenged.

Fergie let out a surprised chuckle. "What do you have against tea?"

"Nothing, but like, go to a tea house. Not a coffee shop, you pompous hipster."

Fergie was so shocked by this girl's brazenness that he didn't hear the barista calling his name.

"Your girlfriend has your tea, Casanova," the brunette taunted with a sly smile.

Fergie grabbed the tea, but never removed his shocked gaze from the girl. He couldn't believe someone so abrasive could be real.

"Why don't you show me what's appropriate to order then?" he challenged back.

With a satisfied smirk, she stepped up to the barista, who was not quite as perky now. "I'll take two caramel macchiatos," she chirped much more pleasantly than she had spoken to Fergie.

The barista nodded, but not before shooting a glare at the girl stepping on her territory.

The girl shrugged and the sound of espresso machines and coffee grinders filled the space as the barista made the drinks. The girl smiled back at Fergie deviously.

Fergie was in disbelief. He was simply stopping in for a quick tea before heading into work, but somehow the morning had taken a much more interesting turn. He looked down at his watch; 8:46. He was going to be late, but this was far too entertaining to miss.

With a disgruntled scowl, the barista handed the drinks to the girl, who hastily handed on to Fergie.

"This is the moment that will change your life forever," she smirked.

Fergie paused and looked at her quizzically. "What if I'm perfectly content with my life. Maybe I don't want anything to change."

The girl laughed. "Please," she taunted, grabbing the tea out of his hand. She analyzed the cup, finding Kayla's name and a phone number. "Would you look at that, you got some digits."

Fergie glanced over at the red head, watching very curiously at the progression of events.

The brunette looked at him in amusement. "This is your matrix crossroads moment. Do you take the green tea and the story ends and you continue your boring life as is, or do you drink the fun drink and go all the way down the rabbit hole?"

Fergie arched an eyebrow. "So you're pretty theatrical, huh?"

"You're stalling," she pressed with a giggle.

Fergie analyzed the two drinks, finding it absurd that he was entertaining this stranger's game, but then at the same time, finding it completely exciting. His eyes darted between the two drinks as she hummed the Jeopardy theme. As the tune ended, he found him drawing the coffee to his lips, forcing the widest grin on the girl's face.

He took a sip and the pleasant bitter sweet beverage went down easily and he found himself enjoying it much more than he could have ever anticipated.

The red head barista huffed and headed to the back while the brunette grabbed the green tea and tossed it in the trash. "Good choice," she murmured, now heading for the door.

Fergie felt the panic rise inside him as he realized the encounter was about to end just as abrupty as it began.

"Hey, wait!" he called out.

She paused in the doorway and turned around with a look of curiosity in her eyes.

"After all that, you're about to take off?"

She cocked her head as if to think about it for a moment and then shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much."

Fergie laughed in disbelief. "Well, can I at least get your name."

She paused, taking a moment to think about it. Then a wide grin drew across her face. "Nope!" she chirped before rushing out the door.

Fergie just stood there shocked, snapping out of it only when his phone began to buzz. He looked down at the screen that read Lars calling...

He sighed at the sight of his boss calling. Late again, Lars would not be pleased.