Customer of the Month

Chapter 9

A few days turns into eight, and somehow they've felt insufferably longer than the seven months it took Liam to make his move in the first place.

He's continued to serve Zayn his ten o'clock flat white just like the older man's continued to sporadically nap and grant Liam a few minutes of conversation whenever appropriate. But once the weekend came around, Liam felt more lost than ever. An emotion he didn't expect to feel considering he's spent every weekend over the past year as a single man. Sleeping in, going for a run, playing around with his aeropress, third wheeling in the evening. He's become well acquainted with that rotation and its inability to upset. Until now, when it's driven him to arrive earlier for the Monday morning staff meeting than he has in years, ready to be swallowed in the hecticness that comes with managing one of the city's premiere coffee shops. But not before taking his time appreciating the wagon of pink in Harry's shadow.

Upon first glance, the orchid arrangements look identical to cherry blossoms. So much so, that Liam has to double check with Harry that he hadn't somehow found a way to forage the seasonal flower in the middle of summer. And he wasn't the only one.

"Are these cherry blossoms?" Zayn asks of the arrangement on his side table sometime around ten, when Liam's bringing him over his flat white in a Doncaster Rovers mug.

"Orchids. I was about three months too late for the real things."

Zayn's instant, face-splitting, bridge-of-the-nose-scrunching smile, blew any reaction that Liam had thought up as a possibility out of the water. And the fact that it's still just as bright when he takes his corner seat the next day with a mug from Trinity College gives Liam the strength he needs to stick out waiting for their second date a bit longer. If only the smile worked on easing the pain of financial breakdowns.

"You alright?" Zayn checks, taking a break from pulling his own hair out to accept his afternoon refill that's being handed over.

"Frustrated." Liam shoves his hands in his apron pocket, "We've got to order next month's special roast by the end of the week for there to be enough leeway with the shipping and I've done just about everything other than take a pen to my eye from staring at numbers for the entire day, trying to get them to make sense. I've been doing this for years, it should be a walk in the park by now."

"What'd I say before? You've got other skills that are more valuable than calculation." Without warning, Zayn's tired eyes spark with an idea. "What are your plans for tonight?"

"Anything other than maths," Liam gripes.

"Good, then you can come over to mine for dinner."

Liam looks down at the laptop out on display, his hopes rising at double their normal speed, "Have you finished?"

"No, but I owe you a second date." Zayn's tone switches to one of shame, "I owed you one about five days ago."

But Liam doesn't care about the extension, he's too giddy at the prospect of it being over. "Well, technically I was the one who wanted to take you out."

"Then dinner at your place. I'll bring the drinks."

In a matter of seconds Liam turns from excited to horrified. He'd come over to get his daily hit of dopamine from hearing Zayn compliment his brewing skills, not agree to cook an impromptu meal for two.

"Great," he replies, trying to sound as confident as possible. "I'll um, write down my address for you when I get the chance."

Before he somehow winds up hosting a full on dinner party, Liam turns around and goes back to the counter.