❁starbucks❁

❁ four ❁

Nini hadn't been back to Starbucks in nearly three weeks.

Or, 19 days. 14 hours.

But who was counting? Not Nini, that was for sure.

She genuinely was planning to go back (when her embarrassment wore off).

Ricky had never texted her.

She had been doing her work in the campus library for the past three weeks and going to a local Tim Hortons to get her caffeine.

With the support of Kourtney, she decided to return to Starbucks that night. Finals were the next day, and although Nini had been studying for the past three weeks and truly didn't need to study, she felt it would be more excusable to go during finals week and it would be packed with students.

Nini's hypothesis was correct.

She got to Starbucks at around 7:30, and the restaurant was filled with stressed college (and high school) students trying to cram for their finals. Nini felt butterflies in her stomach as she stepped up in line.

Ricky was at the register, punching in numbers and reciting totals with a monotone voice.

Nini gulped. She couldn't leave now, not when she was already here.

"Nini!" Ricky's eyes lit up when he saw her face in front of him. He grinned as he enthusiastically told her her order was taken care of.

With this, all of Nini's nerves melted away. It felt as if she had never been gone.

"Missed you." Ricky mumbled, writing Nini's name on a cup, accompanied with a couple quick doodles.

Stunned, Nini laughed. "What was that?"

"Ugh, you heard me, Nina." Ricky said, peering behind her to notice a potential Karen giving him a death glare. "We'll talk later."

Nini smiled and stepped out of line, finding a spot nearby her usual one. She set her bags down. She felt at home.

"Nini?" A redheaded woman called from behind the counter. "Welcome back!" She smiled, handing her the drink. "Ashlyn. I have heard all about you because that one," she said, pointing at Ricky, "has never been able to shut about your arrivals."

Nini flushed. "Thanks, Ashlyn." Ashlyn nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. With that, Nini sat down and got to work on studying.

The hours she was there flew by in a blink as Nini studied furiously for the finals she had the next day. She felt almost over prepared, as she had been studying for these finals for nearly a month. Because of this, Nini found that her eyes were drifting away from her expensive textbooks and towards Ricky. She peered up at the clock.

9:56.

The baristas were cleaning up the counters and the customers were slowly shuffling out of their seats and out the door. Nini began putting her computer and books away into her bag

"Nini!"

Startled, Nini jolted up to find Ricky about 6 centimeters away from her face. She felt her face get hot and moved back instinctively.

"Ricky." Nini laughed.

"Where were you?" Ricky asked, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her like a rag doll.

"Busy!" Nini recited her pre-rehearsed excuse, lying through her teeth. "Did I sign a contract that didn't allow me to visit any other coffee shop?"

"Yes." Ricky groaned. "Work is boring, Neeners, I thought someone would at least entertain me while I make money."

"Sorry my whole life doesn't revolve around Starbucks. Or entertaining you." Nini giggled.

"Don't tell anyone, but I missed you." Ricky whispered, leaning in closer to Nini.

"I won't tell a soul." Nini said, leaning in as well.

Nini looked at Ricky's gorgeous, caramel brown eyes.

Ricky looked at Nini's pink lips.

Distance decreased. Breathing synced.

Nini's eyes fluttered closed. He was so close, she could nearly taste him. And she suspected she was about to.

"Ricky!" A voice barked from behind the counter. Ricky almost jumped back, and Nini's eyes snapped open.

"Yep!" Ricky said, looking at Big Red rolling his eyes at him from behind the counter. He leaned in to Nini. "Wait two more minutes until closing. I'm dying to catch up." Nini just smiled and nodded.

Did that really just happen? Did they almost just kiss?

Two minutes came and went, and Ricky came up to her again, sans apron.

"Hey." He gulped. Nini smiled.

She decided it was best to ignore what had just happened based on how nervous he seemed.

"Hi. So what did you wanna catch up on me with?" She said perkily, trying to ignore and suppress the butterflies in her stomach.

"What were you busy with?"

"Work. And, um..." she wracked her brain, trying to think. "School. Had lots of big projects to work on."

"Smarty pants." Ricky smiled.

"Not really, but I try." Nini blushed at the compliment.

"Please." Ricky rolled his eyes. "But now that your projects are done, does this mean you'll come back?"

Nini nodded. "Yeah, I'll be back like normal now."

"Good." He said, watching his coworkers leave, one by one. "I'm seriously glad. This job is fairly uneventful."

"Dude. I work in a grocery store. I would know."

"Really? Which?"

"I work in a Meijer. I wanna quit soon, but it's money."

"I thought you would've been doing some fancy internship by now."

"Please. I'm only a freshman. And again, money's money."

"You're a freshman? I would've thought you were a sophomore or something. I'm a sophomore."

"I'm not sure what to make of that." Nini laughed.

"Hey, Meijer's just down the street from here! I'm gonna visit you all the time!" Ricky said excitedly.

"It's a pretty big store."

"Well, I am a dedicated person. I have a cause, I fight to achieve it."

"Sure." Nini laughed. She suddenly looked at the clock, which read 10:45. All Ricky's coworkers were long gone. "I should be going soon. It was really good to talk to you for more than three minutes."

"I feel the same way, and yeah, I should probably get going now."

Nini picked up her bag. "Jesus. This is so heavy." She muttered under her breath.

With apparent ease, Ricky lifted it up and put it on her back.

"Aren't you just the strongest person in the world." Nini laughed, and began to walk out.

"Nah, you're just weak!" He yelled at her retreating form. Nini giggled and waved at him once more before leaving.

What had just happened?

a/n: I am out of school for three weeks bc it's corona time 😎😎😎 so I will probably be updating more lol. to make up for the time since the last chapter here's a nice fat one for you all lol