Cup of Roasted Coffee

4; *friends theme song*

(note; melissa is probably going to be out of character a lot since we know barely anything about her)

Paul and Emma had been texting for a couple of days now, and every day they would have their regular exchange at Beanies. No, he hadn't told his friends yet. The questioning had abruptly ended one day and he had no idea why. Then again, he wasn't complaining.

Today was just like any other day, except for one thing. When he went to leave for his Beanies break, a group of four had stopped him at the front door of the office. More specifically speaking, Bill, Ted, Charlotte, and Melissa.

"Hey, Paul!" Melissa smiled, her usual cheery voice making a statement.

"Do you mind if we join you on your coffee break? Beanies has been getting some good reviews and I want to try it out," Ted proposed, winking ever so slightly. He clearly hadn't even seen the reviews based on his voice alone. Nevertheless, Paul really couldn't say no.

So five grown adults walked down the sidewalk, chattering like a group of high schoolers. They walked into the coffee shop together and the newcomers stopped to look at the menu.

Emma came out from the back room, flustered and tired, tying her apron and not giving them a look as she spoke. "Hi, can I help you?"

Paul coughed, attempting to avert her attention upwards. When she did, she gasped. "Oh, Paul! The usual?" She didn't let him confirm that thought before she started making some. He didn't need to question how she knew he would say yes.

While the coffee was brewing, Emma took the time to look over everyone else in the small room. They were distracted with the menu and their own conversations. Paul, noticing, cleared his throat to speak. "Oh, these are my friends. Guys," he looked over to the small group, "this is Emma."

She gave a little wave, not wanting to be super social at the moment. The other two women turned their heads at the name Emma. They introduced themselves quickly. Paul watched as Emma went through with the small talk and then turned to the others. "I saw you in here once. What's your name again?"

Bill smiled. "Bill. It's nice to meet you again."

Emma nodded and started her quest to take all of their orders. She even took the extra initiative to had mini illustrations next to their names on the cups. For example, Charlotte had a cat drawing.

The three girls were getting along quite well. Better than Paul was expecting. Their conversation consisted mostly over the topics of makeup brands and tea flavors.

"If I'm being honest, I'd rather get tea from Starbucks than here if I had the money." Emma whispered, sharing a laugh with Melissa.

The three guys were also having conversations of their own, just not ones that were as interesting. Paul would attempt to catch looks at Emma from time to time, but soon stopped after they made eye contact. Apparently she was doing the same.

The two small groups eventually formed to make one large group, sharing one conversation. Emma had turned the store sign to 'closed' since her boss wasn't around and joined them at a table. She knew that if Nora or Zoey walked in she would've been fired on the spot, but honestly, she couldn't find it in her to care that much. It had been a while since she had real friends. This felt nice.

"Wait, so you're telling me you didn't like The Bee Movie?!" Ted exclaimed, standing up as if it would strengthen his argument.

"It was a bad movie, Ted! What kind of kids movie promotes a romantic relationship between a bee and a human?" Melissa fought back. The two were surrounded by endless laughter from Paul, Emma, and Charlotte.

"A good one! That's what-"

"I liked The Lion King!" Bill said, trying to calm everyone down. It only made Emma start to laugh even more, and Paul went to make his own case.

"Are we not going to talk about A Bug's Life? That was an good kids movie!"

"You're only saying that because you don't like musicals! Pick a regular musical kids movie like the rest of us, coward!"

"Woah, wait," Emma quit laughing, the room going silent. "Did you just say that Paul doesn't like musicals?"

"He absolutely hates them!" Melissa commented.

"Ok, I don't hate them. I just don't like them," Paul felt the need to defend himself at the sound of that.

They continued their heated but friendly debate for a while, the topic changing multiple times, like "How can someone not like musicals?" and other questions.

They didn't realise how long they'd been talking(around 2 hours) until a call came in from Mr. Davidson's assistant on Bill's work phone. Everyone went silent as he answered it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Bill? Where are you? Paul, Melissa, Charlotte, and Ted are missing, too! Coffee break was over an hour and a half ago!"

They six of them all exchanged looks. The mood was mainly awkward if only given one word to describe it.

"Sorry, Dianne. We'll be there shortly. Lost track of time."

"Ok well you better be down here in 5 minutes or I'm telling Mr. Davidson!"

After that, the call ended. "Your boss's assistant sounds super mature." Emma commented, starting to clear their table. "Can I get you anything for the walk back? On the house" She offered, looking to each one.

"A coffee wouldn't hurt."

Emma took 2 seconds to pour Paul his drink and scribble something on the sleeve once more. Everyone had gathered at the door and was about ready to go.

They all said their goodbyes. "It was nice meeting you, Emma!" "See you later!" and most notably, "text you tonight."

-♡-

The group of office workers practically ran to their workplace once the door shut behind them. Mr. Davidson was normally laid back, but when he was mad, he could easily become something terrifying.

They (fortunately) got there in time and took a breather at the bottom of the stairs. Just as they were about to go up, Ted stopped everyone. "Wait wait wait wait," he pointed at the cup in Paul's hands. "What's that say?"

They all turned to read the words on the cup from Beanies.

Are you free at 3pm on Saturday?