Calum Hood One Shots

Lucky Shot in Paradise [Bartender!Calum]

Summary: There's a beautiful new waitress in the diner across from Calum's bar. Calum can't wait to get to know her.

First, They Meet. (Paradise)

Calum's favorite diner had a new waitress. He'd been going to Paradise Diner for a few years now, grabbing his morning coffee before school or work or breakfast on Sundays with the boys. He was on first name basis with all of the waitresses, was always given a free slice of cheesecake on his birthday despite him offering to pay for it every year. It had seemed like fate when he and one of his best friends managed to open up their own bar right across the two way street from Paradise. Getting morning coffee had never been easier.

He got to the diner, same time as always, just forty minutes or so before noon for his cup of coffee. He'd worked til last call last night, until about five in the morning, got about four and a half hours of sleep in before needing to wake up to head to the bar. There was a football game on and the bar would be packed with men who didn't have work or had a break from their jobs to come to the bar and yell at the TVs over drinks. The cup of coffee he'd had after his shower this morning wouldn't hold him over—he needed a bigger one of the diner's finest.

"What can I get for you?"

Calum glanced up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice from where he'd been bracing himself on the front counter of the diner. A young woman stood on the other side, probably around his age; Calum had never seen her there before, yet he felt the wind getting knocked out of him at the sight of her. She was pretty, stunningly so, with skin just a shade lighter than his, warm brown eyes and hair dark enough to be mistaken for black. And, somehow, she looked unexpectedly attractive in the sunny yellow and white collared dress of the diner uniform, the color appealing against her skin.

"Uh." Calum blinked, off guard for a brief moment before his hunched shoulders straightened. She looked at him, patient with a friendly smile on her face, hands braced on the counter. "Just a large coffee to go, black. Thanks."

She nodded, reaching for the to go cups on the shelf in the back before grabbing the freshly made pot of coffee. Calum couldn't help but keep his gaze on her, her dark hair tied back into a ponytail with thin tendrils loose to frame her face, pink lips mouthing something until Calum realized she was singing along to the song playing through the diner. It made his lips curl up into a small smile.

"Haven't seen you here before. Are you new around here?" Calum wanted to face palm after the words slipped out of his mouth. Are you new? Of course she was fucking new if he hadn't seen her before today.

Fortunately, she didn't find his inquiry strange or invasive as her dark eyes met his, a smile stretching across her lips. "Mhm," she nodded, pouring the drink in the cup before backtracking. "Well, I'm new here, obviously," she added with a breathy chuckle, gesturing to the diner. "But I've lived in the city for most of my life."

Calum nodded, feeling slightly betrayed by the universe that he never ran into her before. But it was a big city, so it wasn't at all surprising. Still, just one look at the girl in front of him and Calum was wishing he'd ran into her sooner. "Me too," he offered, arms folded on the counter top as she grabbed a black lid for the cup. Calum nodded towards the doorway. "I work at the bar across the street. Lucky Shot."

Recognition flashed across her dark eyes as she came back to stand in front of him, handing his hot cup. "I've been meaning to drop by for a while," she confessed with a smile. She did that a lot—smile; it was something Calum found himself liking the sight of. "But between working here and my other job and school, it gets a bit busy."

"Where else do you work?" Calum inquired as he pulled out his wallet, before pausing as his head snapped up at her. "You don't have to answer that, I mean, if it's too, like, invasive or—"