That One Crazy Summer-Reader X Kylo Ren

He's No Johnny Cash

Since you're a new hire at Coffee Castle, you get the worst shift of the day. Evenings are slow, and that means little to no tips. You're open until nine at night, and you don't really know why when nobody comes in. But, you think to yourself, that just means more hours which means more pay.

It's been about a week, and you've figured out your way around the little coffee bar. You've mixed so many practice orders that you're sure you could make anything at this point.

You're wiping down the bar area around eight-thirty in the evening when a little bell rings, signaling a customer has entered. You have your back turned as you put away some clean dishes then turn around, ready to greet the customer. Your greeting, however, gets stuck in your throat, and you're fairly certain you may never speak again after this moment.

This man—this extremely tall and broad man—is standing in front of you. His gaze is so intense that the hair stands up on the back of your neck. You can't look away due to his beautiful chocolate eyes and his long mane of shiny black hair.

On top of that, he's dressed rather...interestingly. Yes—interesting—that's the word. Everything is black, and he has a cloak that hangs down behind him like a cape. He reminds you of Johnny Cash and his all black ensemble, just a whole lot weirder. You try to remember if you've ever seen someone wear a cape, and the only instance you can think of is when you went with a high school group to the Fox Theater to see Phantom of the Opera.

You realize you're mouth is hanging open, so you quickly swallow and try your greeting again.

"Good evening, welcome to Coffee Castle," you say, but it comes out like a rat squeaking.

"Good evening," the deliciously dark man says back. His voice...oh my. His voice is unlike anything you've ever heard before. Hux always sounded so high-pitched and whiny.

"What can I get for you?" Slowly sound is returning to your throat.

The man stares at you for much longer than is normal, and you start to fidget with your navy blue apron. You can't look away.

"What is your name?" the could-be phantom of the opera asks you. Well, this is odd.

"Y/N," you answer as confidently as you can. All of your peppiness is gone now, so you decide to use your bold voice instead of your intimidating voice. You don't sense danger at the moment, so you'll keep your intimidating voice in your back pocket.

You then realize you sound like you have a multiple personality disorder. You're thankful the man can't read your mind.

He's staring again. What do you do? Do you run away? Call the cops? Press a Life Alert button?

"I'll have a coffee. Make it strong." There's his voice again.

"Do you want anything in it?"

"No, just plain." Is this guy in the military? Maybe he's a Marine. That would be awesome. It wouldn't explain any of this, but you'll take what you can get in this town.

"I'm on it!" You flash a smile and force your body to turn away from him. Suddenly you're very aware of how you look. Is your hair okay? Did it go flat again? Oh no, your lipstick. You bet it's completely gone now.

You can feel the man staring into your back. He hasn't made a sound since you turned around. You pour a hot cup of dark coffee into one of the shop's eclectic mugs and turn back around. You gasp quietly as you realize he is now leaning forward, elbows on the counter.

Arms can't be that big. No, that's definitely impossible. Who looks like this? The closest you can think is Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was the terminator, but even that doesn't do this man justice.