Forelsket [newmann]

chapter one: a change of scenery

In the early hours of the morning, not many people were awake, especially on a Saturday. Things were different for a certain Hermann Gottileb. He had been up for at least an hour on his laptop (in bed of course), and he was more than a little frustrated.
This thesis paper shouldn't be this hard to do, he thought as he stared at his laptop. Applied science is easy.. why can't I do this? The damn thing is due in a few months, and all I have is basic research..

He sighed. This definitely wouldn't work. His small apartment was far too quiet for his liking, but music wouldn't help him focus. It would actually make him focus less. The clock on his laptop read 7:43 a.m., and even though he had worked on his paper before, he barely had a third of it done. Maybe it was time for a change of scenery.
He saved where he was at and decided to get dressed.

Getting dressed certainly took longer than he would've liked it to, but his hip did complicate things. As always, he wore an "old-fashioned" sweater (it wasn't his fault that they were comfortable, thank you very much), some slacks, and, well, dress shoes. He combed his hair after, and as soon as he was in the kitchen, he went to the fridge and grabbed an orange. Well, actually a few oranges. He put at least three in his messenger bag as well as a granola bar.

He peeled and ate the orange in his hand, and after that, he took his painkillers. He shoved the bottle in his bag right after. He checked that he had, laptop, laptop charger, which were both in his bag, phone, and glasses before he headed out. He, of course, locked the door behind him. He would've been stupid not to.

Now, he didn't know the exact location of the coffee shop his "friend" had told him about (truth be told, she was just someone he had met in his classes), but he had a general idea. Somewhere downtown, past the bank, across from a Chinese restaurant with a name he couldn't pronounce. The little adventure took him all of twenty minutes, mainly because he had to stop to ask for directions twice.

Why did I ask for directions if I don't know the name of the bloody place?

It turned out its name was "Java the Hutt", which Hermann appreciated a little. Star Wars (and Star Trek for that matter) references were always nice. The sign outside the door even had a chalk drawing of R2-D2 and the words "Coffee that's simply out of this world!"
Surely this would be a good place to write his paper.

He entered inside, set his bag down at a table by the window (which conveniently had a power outlet by it), and glanced around once. It was certainly cozy to say the least. There was a bookshelf by the counter, and it appeared that one could buy a book if they so desired. There were little fairy lights hanging from the ceiling, a few small couches with tables in front of them, soft music playing from somewhere..
It was perfect for writing his thesis.

Once he finally looked around enough, Hermann walked up to the counter and looked over the menu. He would need something strong, but nothing too bitter. Maybe he'd try one of their specialties?
"Hey there!" a voice greeted him. "This your first time here dude?"

Hermann had jumped a bit whenever he was spoken to so suddenly, and he hoped that the person speaking to him didn't notice. He blinked, then recovered as best as he could.
"Uh, yes," he answered. "Do you have any recommendations..?"

He paused to get a better look at whoever he was talking to. The barista was messy haired, about his age, arms littered with tattoos, short, glasses slightly askew, and just.. smiling. Hermann wasn't sure if it was forced or if he was naturally this enthusiastic. The small name tag that he was wearing read 'Newton'.
His parents named him after a scientist...ironic, he definitely doesn't seem like the type of man, he thought with some amusement.

"Oh, dude, definitely. The lattes here are amazing," Newton said, tapping his fingers against the counter as he talked. "We make 'em iced too if you're into that. Though, personally, I'm a macchiato kinda guy. It's whatever you want though."

Hermann frowned. He didn't really know all of these coffee terms at all. He just wanted something to wake him up and get him through a few hours.
It took a few moments, but he came up with something. He pulled out his wallet and flashed Newton a smile.
"One iced toffee latte please," he said.

"Regular?"

"Yes. And um-"
He looked to his right at a display case that had a few muffins in it.
"One of the.. blueberry muffins?"

Newton wrote down his order with a small chuckle, though Hermann wasn't sure how he wanted to react to that. So, naturally, he just sort of frowned again.
Once they made eye contact again, which was after the muffin was retrieved, Hermann opened up his wallet and took out his credit card.

"That'll be six dollars and ninety seven cents, including tax...oh, you have a card! Let me.."
Newton took the card out of his hand and swiped it across the card reader, then handed it back.
"Okay! I'll need a name, 'cause I don't think we wanna mix up your coffee with someone else's, yeah?"

There were only three other customers in there, but Hermann wasn't going to say no. He didn't think he could anyways. He cleared his throat quietly as he put his card back into his wallet.
"Hermann, with two n's," he said. "This won't take long, will it?"

Newton shook his head.
"Nah, give it five minutes man. Go enjoy your muffin for now."

Hermann smiled out of sheer politeness, grabbed his muffin, and returned to his seat. He sat down awkwardly, and as he was pulling out his laptop, he heard Newton repeat his order to another one of the baristas. Seems like he was the cashier until more people decided to come in.

It actually took about six minutes for his coffee because that's when he heard Newton say "Hermann!". He sighed a little and grabbed his cane, making the trip up to the counter yet again. He thanked him for the coffee, though he was more grateful to be sitting down again.
It wasn't until he was halfway done with it that he noticed his name on the cup was literally "Herman with two n's".
Newton.

Well, it also seemed like Newton was a bit of a joker too. Hopefully he would actually get his name "correct" next time.
One muffin and orange later, he had finished his coffee. He had also gotten something done with his paper. Thank god. He checked the time. It was only 10:32, he could just get another coffee...

And that's exactly what he did. He ordered the same thing, and this time, Hermann's name was spelled as "Horton". It was at this point where he knew he wouldn't have it spelled right even if he begged. That's how it was sometimes.

Four hours later, he decided to stop working. All he did was research and write a few sentences down for his paper. Even though that was progress, it was going so slow.
Oh well, there was always tomorrow.
Slightly stressed but still hyped up on caffeine, he packed up all of his things, threw his muffin wrapper and orange peels away (he had eaten all of them), and grabbed his cane. Once finished, he stood up and exited the café.

He would definitely come back tomorrow, even if Newton insisted on spelling his name wrong.