EMERY MAKES one final tug at her loose ponytail, securing it at the nape of her neck. Scrubbing her hands with the neutral scented soap, she begins brewing coffee. Customers begin trudging in, anticipating their afternoon drink.
Emery has been working at Dahlia's since sophomore year, a small book and coffee shop, which seemed like a perfect job for her. It's usually pretty quiet, and she's not a terrible baker.
Adding the last drop of cream to an expresso, she slides it across the bar, serving to a tall man. He returns cash and a grateful smile. That's her favorite part of the job, when people smile and you know they appreciated it. A small satisfaction.
The brass bell sounds. Indicating a new customer. When she glances up, she takes a double look, seeing her boyfriend. She smiles as he makes his way over, sitting at the closest table.
They exchange their normal hellos.
"I'm bummed you can't make it to the festival this year, just so you know." She juts her bottom lip out, removing croissants from the oven.
He looks down at the table, "I know, Em. But you know baseball is important. May would do the same for ballet." Ethan cocks his head, watching her work.
She pairs a white cloth with each treat, "I know. I know it's important, I'm just sulking." She gives him a wry smile, shaking her head. He nods.
"I just wanted to stop by and see you. We haven't really talked." He says, shrugging.
She does that thing with her eyebrows again, pausing her work for a split second.
"We haven't, you seem so busy, E." She says, resuming with vigor. She twist the cloth around them in knots that are a bit too tight.
"Yeah, sorry. It's just sports you know?" He looks off. She didn't know, she doesn't play sports.
"Um- of course, I understand." She smiles, brushing it off in a way she wished she could do with Harven. When it's silent, she continues taking orders and tying knots. She realizes he left, probably minutes ago.
The rest of her day is busy, but it keeps her mind going, which is ideal. Nothing to focus on but coffee beans and bread.
___________
Emery arrives home, stepping out of her car. Walking up the driveway, her step starts to slow, and take longer to lift her foot. Eventually, she's barely moving, struggling to make it to the door.
She lifts her foot to look at it this time, finding pink gooey gum across the entire bottom of her Loafers. She furrows her eyebrows, wondering how she could've missed this uncomfortably large amount of bubble gum.
She knows immediately that this wasn't a coincidence, because rock sized amounts of bubble gum don't just make its way to your driveway. She huffs, badly just wanting to get to bed.
Taking off her shoes, she glances over to the form across the lawn, which is no other than her delinquent neighbor. His broad chest is moving, obviously in laughter.
He makes his way over to the fast moving Emery, now barefoot.
She turns around, "You'll never give it up, Harven. I just got off of work, was this necessary?" She grumbles. Her eyebrows are no doubt going threw the roof.
"Oh, Emery. It's never necessary, just fun. How was your day?" He cocks his head, mouth still in a line holding back laughter.
YOU ARE READING
Temporary✔️
Teen Fiction𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍 𝙎𝙄𝙉𝘾𝙀 Harven Aller stole her soccer ball as children, Emery has sworn to hate him. Now, as petty as that sounds, He never apologized. He even denied ever stealing it, even after her seeing it in his back yard, with "EMERY" in bold, slo...
