Canine Cyborg Boyfriend

Chapter Seven

Ben decided not to go play basketball with Matteo and Patrick that morning. Instead, he had a date lined up with Cindy. 

Being a tattoo shop owner, Cindy often kept an irregular schedule. Though they were both meeting very early, she still hadn't slept from the night before. She was excited to see Ben again and had just dyed the fringe of her hair purple. She picked out some comfortable, but snug tights and a cute, colorful t-shirt with vector designs.

The latte machine screamed and LB fussed over the steam spout. LB's hair was tied up with a red bandana and today she wore a Rosie the Riveter inspired outfit. She wasn't as used to making lattes as her husband was, but he was playing basketball with Matteo until later in the morning. 

Made With Love had that just opened early morning cafe vibe. It was chill, bright, and also busy. The counters were stocked with raspberry tarts, shortbread cookies, gooey chocolate chip, vegan brownies, and creamy banana puddings; behind all that were racks of freshly glazed donuts and bear claws. You could smell hot kolaches pulled from the ovens. 

Ben liked LB and Patrick, they were self-described 'animal people' who had five 'furbabies' of their own, three guinea pigs and two dogs. When he was Barkly, she'd often chase him around when she saw him outside the shop, it was great fun. The two times she caught him, she took him back to her apartment where he got to meet her dogs Penny and Pixel. Then, she'd hold him down for a bubble bath, feeding and brushing him before taking him back to Karen. Both times, LB had gone to bat for Barkly, the first time she chastised politely. But, the second time put the temporary fear of God in Karen. That whole week he never missed a meal.

LB finished off the latte, capping it and handing it to Ben.

"I heard you're living with Matteo." She leaned against the counter, smiling warmly. "How's that going?"

A few clerks fussed around behind her, making more drinks and getting orders. But, LB always stressed personal service, talking to customers and making people smile.

"It's going great! He's a really good friend, he's done a lot for me. I hope he had a good service last night, I didn't see him this morning." He blew on the slit of his latte and took a drink.

You could occasionally hear the slam of the fridge or the tinkling of coffee mugs or conversational laughter in the background.

"I'm sure he did. I'm glad to see him meeting people. I never see him with friends outside of his work and he's such a good guy. I hated seeing the state he was in when he came back to Stars Fall." Someone handed her two bagged kolaches, piping hot. "Oh! Here you go!"

Cindy walked in lookin' fresh and fine.

"What do you mean? What happened when he got back?" Ben took the kolaches then got distracted when he saw Cindy.

"Hey." She smiled. She was breathless from the bike ride and just her nerves from seeing Ben again.

"Hey." He smiled back.

"Hey Cindy!" LB went back to one of the back ovens, pulling out fresh sourdough bread and putting it out to cool. "Y'all have fun getting your wash on."

"I suppose we're actually doing that." Cindy looked down at Ben's feet, where a bag of dirty laundry rested. 

He handed her the kolaches and then picked up the bag, throwing it over his shoulder.

"Oh, we're doing it all right. Otherwise, Matteo will throw me out." He turned to LB. "Hey, is there any possibility that you might need an extra hand around here?"

"What do you mean, like a job?" She huffed, tossing an oven mitt on the counter. "Aren't you doing work at the flower shop for Karen?"

"Karen is a nut job! Look at this shit she pulled last night." Cindy pulled out her phone. The video of Karen had already gone viral on Twitter. She navigated to it, playing it and showing Ben and LB.