Deadly Pleasure

Chapter 1

I stared at Lucia as she made the regular large black coffee with little sweetener and cream and a ham sandwich for the weird but most regular customer we had. My gaze shifted to the male who sat at his ordinary and fixed seat beside the window and back at Lucia who was preparing herself to take his order to him.

It was unsaid but known; this man scared the shit out of both of us. Lucia gulped and threw me a glance. We served him his breakfast everyday alternately. This man frequented us since last month and we still haven't gotten used to his smoldering glare and tense profile. Today was Wednesday and hence it was Lucia's turn. I smiled at her and turned back to my accounts site.

The café was running since past two years but recently the profits have lowered. I blamed the newly opened Starbucks right in front of our café. We were now barely covering our expenses having lost a huge portion of our customer base to the overpriced coffee chain. I glared at the shop from the window knowing it was childish and useless.

Sighing I shut the laptop and saw Lucia serving an order to an elderly woman. She was new. I went towards her after five minutes with a huge grin and said, "Hello ma'am. I'm Holly-," before I could finish she cut me off rudely and said, "Next time, I'm going to Starbucks. They don't hassle their customers at the very least." The wretched woman made sure to speak very loudly.

My eye twitched but I managed to keep a smile on my face. "Sorry to bother you," I said softly and threw a sheepish glance at Lucia who struggled to keep the grin off her face. I glanced around if any of the other three customers noticed my fall from grace when I eye contacted Mr. Dark and Dangerous. He wasn't glowering or frowning anymore but had a very subtle smirk on his face. Quickly I whipped my face away as I grew even more embarrassed and went inside the store room.

"Holly, come out," Lucia teased in a low tone from outside the door.

"In a while," I snapped back at her and decided to do a routinely storeroom check. We didn't need to do it often since we barely kept huge amount of supplies. And ever since that Starbucks opened, our supplies had reduced even more. I snarled internally at the revolting steep coffee shop but continued my work. The inside of that coffee shop at least wasn't that revolting, I realised as I looked at my own café. Sure the paint now looked dull and the wallpaper was peeling off but it still had its cute café charm right?

Lucia interrupted my thoughts as she entered the store room and said grinning, "There's another new customer. Do you want to handle?"

I threw a dirty napkin at her and she shut the door laughing before it got to her.

We were closed now and Lucia had already left. I was wiping down the already clean tables seeking to pass my time before I had to return to my dreadful and tiny apartment. The chime attached to the door alerted me of someone and without turning back I said, "We're closed!"

The person just shuffled closer and didn't pay any heed to my words. In a huff, I turned and saw Mr. Dark and Dangerous. I grew silent immediately, halting some rude words of irritation in my mouth. He was tired, I could see that, and he still managed to glower at me. Maybe it was the eyes. They were so dark that I could see my reflection if I tried. I didn't though.

"Ummm, Sir? We're closed now."

He snapped, "Get me my regular coffee. Nothing else." What a bastard. And it was then I noticed he had a very distinct accent. Obviously I never caught it before since he never spoke.

"We're closed, Sir," I maintained my initial statement.

"Bloody woman," he breathed to himself and my eye twitched. For some reason the slang he used seemed foreign on his tongue and he frowned slightly as if he himself didn't expect it would sound this way. But whatever.

I was about to resort to harsher tone when he offered, "I'll pay triple the amount. Just get me some coffee." He groaned in annoyance and sat down on his original seat. My hands itched in impatience but I swallowed my complaints down. Triple the amount. Triple the amount.

I repeated the mantra as I prepared his coffee. It was already eight and I looked out the window as a police car sped by with siren as loud as a 5 year old child. I flinched back at the noise and continued to wait till the cup was filled. Adding a little more sugar than what he preferred, I deliberated whether he would get angry at that or not.

As I brought his order to him, I couldn't help but say, "Drinking coffee at night is pretty bad for health." My mother always said that I interfered everywhere I wasn't needed and didn't bother to get my own life in tracks.

He rolled his eyes and took out a pack of cigarettes and said, "My health is pretty much fucked up already."

I quickly jumped when he was about to light the cigarette, "No smoking here!"

"Bacha ma culo," he grunted under his breath and kept the cig back in his pocket. I was sure he insulted me again and this time in Italian/French or Spanish. I didn't bother to learn any foreign language when I got the chance back in school.

"What did you say?"

The man smiled but didn't reply. He sipped on his coffee and kept on ignoring me. I knew I was red in the face by now. Something came over me and ignoring my mother's warnings in my head, I did what was least expected of me. Without his permission, I sat in front of him. I didn't know why but something about this man irked me so much and I can't help but poke the bear. Until this morning, I was shit scared of his glare and now I'm sitting in front of him. Without thinking of the consequences, I settled in comfortably.

He too didn't expect my blatant display of 'no fear' as his eyes widened and then a moment later, cooled. "No wonder everyone prefers to go to Starbucks with employees like you," he said dryly hinting at the morning's embarrassment. I flushed again but focused on his accent.

"You're not from here. Where are you from?"

He said deadpanned and began taking in huge gulps from the cup. It was still hot enough to burn the tongue. "Please tell me how you deduced that bambino. Non vedo l'ora."

My lips pressed in a hard line. It felt like he was being sarcastic. Maybe he was.

"What does bambino mean? And whatever you said after that?"

The man rolled his eyes and finished his coffee. "I didn't come here for your interrogation. Nice chat culo. But I'm not interested. Stai provando troppo."

I frowned. "Interested in what? And please quit talking in some shitty foreign language. It's rude."

"I'm not interested in you. Please cut the desperation out."

I sputtered and said, "I am so fucking not interested in you. How did you come to that conclusion culo?"

At that, the man threw his head back and laughed and I was taken aback. It was so delicious to hear and I clenched my thighs to stop the quiver that passed through my body.

"It's funny to see Americans use Italian words. They're so fucking annoying," he said his tone displeased.

"You don't sound amused if it's funny," I replied wryly looking up at him.

"I am not. Now goodbye," he said slowly as if he was practicing in conversing in English which seems plausible.

"Addio," I said sassily and he grinned before leaving my café.

I smiled a little to myself when I froze. Triple the amount my ass. He didn't even pay!

***

Glossary: 

a) Bacha ma culo - Kiss my ass. (how nice)
b) bambino - child.
c) Non vedo l'ora - I can't wait.
d) Stai provando troppo - You're trying too hard.
e) Addio - goodbye.

Note - I'll try to use as less of Italian conversation as possible. I have non existent Italian and hence I rely on Google translate and random websites. Please forgive me if I made any mistakes.