safe place || k.v.m

two

"you look tired."

something between a heavy sigh and a groan escapes nari. her arms are shaped like a nest on top of the counter and without lifting her head up from where it's resting within it, she answers, "oh, you don't say?" there's just a light chuckle and suddenly, she feels bad for the snarky comment; settling her chin on one of her arms, she looks up at her co-worker with an apologetic smile, "sorry."

jacob is facing the floral display fridge, busy tidying up among the flowers behind the glass but even so, she can already imagine the gentle smile on his lips as he speaks, "it's fine, we all have our bad days."

nari returns to the bouquet she had taken a pause from arranging, not all too pleased about the ridiculously specific order from a customer. "what makes you think I'm having a bad day?"

"hmm, let's see," jacob hums, "I don't know, I mean it's not like you've been sighing ever since we opened the shop, pretty clearly forcing a smile at the customers, complaining about annoying orders when we're alone and all in all look like a corpse."

"alright, that last one was definitely not needed."

when he finishes the cleaning up, he heads to join her behind the counter and fills a small vase with water from the tap. he slightly chuckles again, "I'm just kidding, nari; do you want to talk about it?"

"thanks, cobie, but it's really not that ba–" nari cuts herself short the moment she turns around to face him, surprised to see him holding out the vase to her, a single yellow lily inside. "what's this?"

"really? one would think you know your flowers after working her for almost two years?"

she rolls her eyes at his joking answer but is unable to hold back a grin. nevertheless, as she questions it once again, jacob explains, "it's kind of smaller so it didn't look so good among the other lilies – consider it a gift."

the grin on her lips softens into a smile. for a moment, she remembers the meaning behind the yellow flower and despite receiving it from him, she says, "how ironic, I'm the one who should be thanking you, not vice versa."

"that's not true! I'm just saying thank you for being such a nice co-worker. besides," jacob laughs and with his hand now free, he reaches out to tenderly ruffle the top of her head, "that's what your name means anyway. lilies, right?"

"true, true." nari places the vase on the small table next to the tap behind them, making a mental note to not forget it before going home a while later. still smiling, she goes on, "thank you."

she glances at the clock, feeling more than relieved to see it's finally time for her break. she leaves the counter but before making her way to the door, she makes sure to ask, "I'm getting some coffee, want anything?"

"the usual, please."
"got it!"

• • •

nari awkwardly stares up at the menus on the wall, pretending like she's still contemplating on what to order even though she already knows just fine, all for the pure sake of hopefully–

"oh, you're from that time!"

avoiding the barista from a few days ago. truthfully.

she's not sure why; perhaps out of guilt in case he had noticed how they had just left their drinks? or even worse, witnessed how what was supposedly a date had ended up? had it become a topic for gossiping like in most places? in one way or another, it shouldn't matter, especially since it's perhaps not an all too uncommon thing to happen in a coffee shop. however,

"wait, it is you, right?"

when that same barista calls out to her from the other side of the counter, she internally curses, the smile she's met by making her anxious about whether it's a genuine or a mocking one. nevertheless, she returns the smile, though hers rather stiff – forced, like jacob had described it just a little while ago.

"yeah, that's... that's me."

the barista just nods before going on, much to her relief changing topic, "how can I help you today?"

"right, I'd like a pumpkin latte with extra whipped cream, an iced coffee and two avocado salads, take-away, please."

he repeats the order, mostly for himself as he enters it in the register. before long, the request is paid, a waiting time of five minutes is announced and nari heads a bit further away, keeping herself busy with her phone in the meantime.

"who the hell drinks iced coffee in october?"