Charmed by a Hum

Regular

[Office Worker!Rio x Barista!Kaori AU]

☆☆☆

The creaking noise of the café's entrance is by far the most annoying thing Rio heard every morning, but who is she to complain when she has to grab her morning grub and go to work almost ten minutes late? She paid for the brunch yet they haven't repaired the door― at least her head is the best place to vent away her problem. The cranky blonde lined and groaned, today's queue seemed longer than the usual noon shift, leaving her on the very last line of service and it stirs the frustration and curiosity inside of her mind.

"What's taking them so long? Ugh, I'm about to run late again―"

She finally stepped forward after gruesome minutes of waiting, but instead of greeted by the usual flirty barista whom consumed her time and being the major reason why she is late for most of the time, the front counter was filled by a young woman around her age, with a series of neatly-tied braids tucked around under her hair and a pair of jade eyes which captures her attention,

and at that moment Rio knows a woman more charming that her exists and it's the new face she saw this morning. A game changer to her rough start.

"Good morning! What would you like for today?"

"Er," Rio dumbfoundedly glanced up to the menu, her ruby eyes constantly shifting inbetween the menu board, the new barista, and her nametag hoping she could take a glance and knows her name, for the very least, "I'll take.. the french vanilla frappe with extra shot. Oh, with less sugar and ice, if you could."

"Sure thing! Anything else?"

Rio was looking onto the menu board again, glancing back at the smiling barista and feeling her heart just skipped a beat to the smile she saw before Rio snapped back to reality and ordered her brunch.

"...O-One breakfast wrap and cheese croissant."

"Gladly!"

The woman's kind demeanor really answered her question on why does the line seemed to be packed than the usual before went back to watched closely for her nametag, a minute of struggle and finally she found out about her name― her fullname, to be exact, ―and spelt it underneath her breath;

"Sakura..mori... Ka..ori..."

"Oh, right!"

The barista― namely Kaori, ―turned around and almost made Rio jumped out in shock.

"I forgot about something important, your name?"

"...Mine?"

"Uh-huh. Who else?"

Rio gulped. She thought this Kaori woman would scold her to peek onto her nametag and take a note of her name, but turns out she's just forgetting about her name for her cup.

"...Momose Rio."

"Miss Rio?"

"Uh-huh. Momose Rio, make it fullname."

"Okay.." Kaori's handwriting was cute and tidy, with the dot on the "i" replaced by a small heart shape. Soon after that Kaori brewed and blended Rio's order, thus packing the wrap and croissant inside a brown paper bag and handing the items to her.