❁starbucks❁

❁ one ❁

Nini was exhausted.

Out of all days, why did her shitty 2012 Honda Civic have to break down today? Today she had just sat through a three hour lecture, worked a four hour shift at a job she hated, and now she was about to be drenched in pouring rain from the storm churning outside. She groaned as the car sputtered to a stop at the side of the road.

"Ugh!" Nini cried in frustration as she pulled out her phone, which was nearly dead, to call for help from some company that would inevitably charge her too much money that would drain her already dry bank account. After hanging up and having convinced some middle aged man to pick up her car despite it being late at night in the city of Minneapolis, Nini closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to think of even one positive to get her through the rest of this trying day.

She looked around and spotted a Starbucks restaurant lighting up the sidewalk across the street. It appeared to be deserted, but the lights were still on, so Nini figured it was still open. She ran through the rain to the Starbucks and opened the door. The soft jingle of the doorbell was a welcoming sound to Nini's ears, and the warmth of the heating system was a welcoming feeling to Nini's wet body. She sat down at a random table, toying with her phone, calling an Uber back to her college dorm.

Eventually, Nini felt compelled to order something. It felt weird to just sit there without buying anything, so she went up the register and picked the first thing her eyes landed on (which turned out to be something called a Blonde Roast), her own spontaneity surprising herself.

At this moment, she looked up and recognized the barista.

He was tall and tan, with big brown eyes and wild, unkempt brown curls in his hair. His beauty alone made Nini feel self conscious of the fact that she was standing in front of him with soaking wet clothes and hair and everything else. He reminded her of some kind of stuffed teddy bear-puppy dog hybrid. And she couldn't get enough. A puppy bear.

"Name for the order?" He suddenly asked, breaking Nini out of her trance. Maybe it was just policy, but Nini found it strange that this insanely attractive barista was asking for her name when she was the only one in the whole store.

"Nini." She said. The barista smirked.

"Cool name."

"Thanks." Nini blurted out as he wrote her name on the cup, not knowing his name to properly address him. She watched him stand up straight and eyed his name tag.

Ricky.

The name fit.

So, Nini sat there in her soaked hoodie and sweats, waiting for her expensive drink (that she honestly could end up hating) that Ricky was making for her.

"Nini?" Ricky smirked and called out to the otherwise-empty store. Nini stood up to receive her drink. She smiled at Ricky and went to sit back down.

Nini was in her seat, looking at her Uber's arrival time, when she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

"You even gonna drink that?"

Puppy bear was right behind her, smirking at her.

"Um, yeah." Nini said. Both of them watched each other intently while Nini took a tentative sip of the drink. Huh. Not that bad.

"So. Nini." Ricky said, propping his head on his elbow. "What's your story?"

"What do you mean," she looked down at his name tag. "Ricky?"

"Well, you did walk in here soaking wet less than five minutes before we close for the night." Ricky said, staring. "Not typical behavior."

"My car broke down in the pouring rain when I was on my way back to my dorm." Nini sighed. "It was bound to happen eventually, tonight was just a bad time for it." She was surprised how easily she was talking to this complete stranger. Normally, Nini would be apprehensive about this type of behavior. She was typically painfully shy. Maybe it was the Blonde Roast. Nah, who was she kidding? This barista was the cutest she'd ever seen.

"Well that sucks." He said, genuinely sympathetic. "Do you have a ride back home?"

"Yeah. Called an Uber." Nini smiled.

"You from around here? I've never seen you here." Ricky asked, fully sitting down at the table with her, fully ignoring his task of closing.

"Not originally. Just here for school." Nini said, taking another sip of her coffee. "You?"

"Oh, I'm born and raised here." Ricky smirked. Nini's phone chimed. Ricky craned his neck to look.

"My Uber's here." Nini said, smiling at him.

"Oh. Okay." Ricky said, moving up from the table. "I should probably get going too. The restaurant is closed and everyone else left."

"It was nice to meet you, Ricky." Nini called from the doorway. He smiled and waved.

"You too, Nini."

The door chimed again, and Nini was gone.

Ricky wondered if she would ever be back.

Meanwhile, sitting in her Uber, Nini knew she would.