Cafe Cuties

You poured over your emails hoping to find what you wanted, what you needed. It had been over 2 months of searching the job market, day in and day out. Hoping for anything, you applied yourself to a couple hours of applying each night.

“ Nothing,” you thought disappointedly as you threw your phone on the bed. Rent was due in just over 2 weeks and you had just emptied the last of your savings on groceries. Getting up from your desk chair, you decide to go for a walk, thinking it best to pry your mind off of the issue; you had just spent the last 2 and a half hours applying and desperately needed a break.

Throwing on a jacket and cursing the January weather, you headed out of your one bedroom apartment. A short walk through the busy city did nothing to diminish your stress. All these restaurants and shops, bustling with customers even on a Tuesday evening, surely they needed employees, right?

You’d been walking around for about 20 minutes when you realized you were in an area you’d never been in before. Looking to your right, the coziest cafe shone through all the noise. Not because it was particularly bright or fancy. It was just such a cozy cafe, quite narrow and looked to have seated no more than 12 people. It was also empty, save for a girl sitting at the very last table who seemed to be studying, and the barista.

“What the hell,” you thought, walking inside. What was the difference between having 12 dollars and having 9 in your bank account? Might as well get a coffee, as you walked up to the front counter still deep in thought.

“Sir… um Sir! What do you want!” the lady at the register yelled as you snapped back into reality.

“Oh… sorry,” you muttered as you apologized awkwardly, ordering an iced americano, but also noting how cute the barista was. Short black hair cut into a bob at her jaw accentuated her sharp eyes and soft features as she stared at you.

“Name?” she asked sharply.

What’s with her attitude. Surely she wasn’t actually mad that you spaced out right?

Giving her your name, you stood back, taking in the cafe. An assortment of cakes, all fancily frosted, lined the display fridges around the counter. The menu displayed a good selection of drinks, and the tables were wide and spacious despite the narrowness of the store, accompanied by cushioned seats. “This wouldn’t be a bad place to work,” you thought. “Especially if I get to work with cu-“

“Here you aree– thanks!” the barista smiled, handing you the americano cutely, as if she had not rudely asked for your name a minute before.

“Thanks,” you muttered, taking a sip before heading for the door, when right before opening-

“Sir!” the cute barista called as you turned around. “Come again!” she called as she made a half heart in each of her hands, then placed them on her cheeks as she smiled. Nodding quickly, you left.

“That was an… interesting girl,” you thought as you left, not before stealing a quick glance at the store one more time. Cozy Coffee and Cakes, maybe you’d go there again. After all, three dollars for an americano wasn’t bad in the downtown of a huge city. But the simple thought of money soured your mood as you walked back home, sipping on your coffee.

You awoke the next morning, prepared to do your usual morning routine, when you checked your phone. An email from cozycnc@gmail.com caught your attention. ‘APPLICATION STATUS,’ the title of the email read. Nearly dropping your phone, you open the email, completely forgetting that last night, after visiting Cozy Coffee and Cakes, you had looked them up on Indeed and found they were hiring.

The email seemed to release all of your pent up stress over the past 2 months. Offering a trial shift in place of an interview this afternoon at 2pm, you joyfully reply, saying you’d be delighted to try for the position and thanking the company.

The slow anticipation of getting the chance to finally have some income, 2pm felt so far away. But as the time drew nearer, you threw on some grey sweats and a black T-shirt. After all, that cute cashier dressed pretty casual, so you could only assume these clothes were appropriate.

Opening the door to the cafe, you noticed the same customer that was there last night standing near the entrance. With short blond, slightly curly hair which extended to just past her jaw, she looked like you felt, slightly nervous but doing her best to remain calm and look professional. She too, was extremely pretty, and though appearing nervous, her large brown eyes brightened her entire face, brightened the whole room, and as she looked over to you, making eye contact with you, you noticed her lips curl into a small friendly smile.

“Hi hi, welcome!” a familiar voice called. The same cashier with the odd attitude from yesterday came out of an area you could only assume was a small kitchen behind the barista counter. “Good you’re both here for your trial shifts, come on back and we’ll get started!”

You guessed the blonde girl was also trying out for the job. “Hopefully not as competition,” you thought. You stole a quick glance towards her as she did the same, before approaching the small gap in the counter. You quickly followed, not, however, missing the swaying of the blond girl’s hips as she walked, in a tight pair of black jeans which seemed to hug the girl’s curves perfectly.

Behind the counter, the cashier introduced herself as Chaewon. “I’m so glad you both came. I hired you two specifically because you’re both attractive hehe~” Chaewon winked. “Hopefully you two will help draw in more customers, although I can’t understand why I’m not pretty enough to cause a line out of the doorway…” she said as she scrunched her face up into what was undoubtedly the cutest pouting face you had ever seen. “Hold on, let me get some paperwork for you two,” she said as she disappeared behind a door near the washrooms”.

Now alone with the cute blond, you both shared a bewildered look.

“How did she know what we looked like?” The girl asked. “I mean, I was here yesterday but I applied on indeed…”. You laughed awkwardly. “Anyway, I’m Eunchae,” she introduced herself, as you did the same.

The rest of the training shift went as well as you would have hoped. It was nice to have someone else to be there with you, alleviating some of the pressure. Chaewon, you noticed, had similar outbursts of anger to the one you saw last night. Simple things, like spilling a bit of coffee on the counter would cause her to sigh angrily or scrunch her face up. In one bizarre moment, Chaewon, while showing you the cafe’s selection of cakes, paused at a particularly well decorated one, and seemed to suppress a fit of anger while staring at the cake. This did nothing to turn you away though. It was actually quite cute the way she expressed herself, and you and Eunchae stole smirks at each other whenever it happened. Still, Chaewon’s cheerful attitude overpowered these seemingly random outbursts.

“You’re both hired!” Chaewon shouted as your 1 hour trial shift came to an end.

You couldn’t help but smile, and you weren’t the only one, Eunchae lit up at this, turned to you and raised her hand. You high fived her before she celebrated (quite unprofessionally) with Chaewon as they jumped up and down holding hands.

Finally, after 2 months, you had a job. And it didn’t hurt that it was with two very cute, very outgoing girls.

The next week went by smoothly.

”Pretty soon you and Eunchae can probably work together without me.” Chaewon told you as she showed you how to make a drink. “You guys both have made just about every drink on the menu. Maybe I’ll finally get a day off,” she sighed.

”We could’ve probably worked alone last week, nobody ever comes in anyway,” you remarked. It was odd, throughout your last week here, customers barely entered. “Anyway, you’ve worked every day since I got here. And me and Eunchae are the only employees, what, were you working day and night before we got here?”

”Mhmm. I know, I’m so tireddd~~” Chaewon exclaimed, stretching her arms in the air revealing her slim belly.

“You deserve a break, you know. Go on, why don’t you go home, we close in an hour anyway, I’ll close up and you can get some rest.”

”No, it’s fine. I still have this marketing report the owner wants me to do,” she says, as her shoulders slump down. “Plus, it’s been fun working with other people for a change.”

”Then at least let me do something for you”

Chaewon looks up at you, almost hesitant, her sharp eyes growing soft as you lock eye contact with her. “You know…actually never mind.”

“Just tell me, you work so hard Chaewon, let me do something for you.”

”Then… if it’s alright,” she turns around showing her back to you. “My back is killing me, I’ve been working morning to night every day for weeks. Think you can just rub my back a little?”

Almost as a reflex, your hand jerked up as if to dig into her slender shoulders, half exposed as her shirt drooped. “Wait, but she’s kinda my boss…” you thought, stopping your hand. A pang of guilt overtook you in your moment of clarity. Was this okay?

Even aside from the fact she was your boss, wouldn’t this be betraying her. No, you guys had been broken up for over a month now. Plus, it wasn’t like she had a problem touching other guys… girls even, all while you were still together.

Chaewon’s head turned back, and you saw her expression shift, from tiredness and want to almost… disappointment? Her shoulders started tensing up as the lack of back rubs revealed your hesitation. But c’mon… here, now, in this moment, not even god could stop you, let alone trivial titles like ‘boss’ or distant memories of ex-girlfriends. What were you thinking? You weren’t going to rub this poor, exhausted girl’s back? When she’s practically begging? Well, she didn’t beg per se, but the smoothness of her shoulders, the definition in her neck as she turned towards you… they definitely called to you. “Oh… sorry I aske-“

Your hands shot up, grasping her slender shoulders. Part of your hands could feel her skin, almost silky in their softness. Of course you were going to do this.

”Mmmm,” she moaned, as all semblance of tension in her body left at your touch, and her head rolled back a little. “Yeah, right there,” she said as if suppressing a groan.

’Shit, might as well try’, you thought as you slid your hands lower down her back.

”MMmph”

”Sorry, I thought that-“

”Shut up and keep going,” she blurted out between deep breaths. Your hands crept under her shirt, using your thumbs to dig into her soft skin. Chaewon leaned back so that her shoulders rested upon your chest as your hands explored her smooth back. Your thumbs dug into her flesh, before slowly moving to the dip, the smooth arch that sloped towards the middle of her back. As she leaned her head back, eyes closed, her slow breath wafted onto your face.

”Fuck,” you thought, looking down at her face, eyes closed in bliss. Your hands instinctually wrapped around her waist to hug her stomach, pulling the rest of her body on you. Her eyes slowly opened, locking with yours as she reached up to touch your face when-

*RING* the bell which signaled the front door rang. Chaewon’s eyes grew into the sharp glare you had come to know so well after working with her for a week. Pushing off of you, all the tension back in her shoulders, Chaewon stood up straight as you followed, albeit much more awkwardly. “Welcome to Cozy’s cafe!” Chaewon said, in a pseudo-cute voice, barely containing the awkwardness. As the customer approached the counter, Chaewon turned, giving you the sharpest glare before approaching the customer.

”Hmmm, what a cute cafe,” the customer, in a soft voice, but one that exuded confidence and elegance. The voice, you thought, could only be described as luxurious. And her clothes did nothing to contradict her extravagant voice. A long overcoat covered her black dress. Classy for sure, but revealing enough to peek your interest, and pure gold hoop earrings to finish the rich girl look. Chaewon, still clearly flustered, seemed to soften at this, assuming the girl did not catch the two of you in the act, but the mysterious girl caught your eye, and with a wink, a slight smile revealed a perfectly placed dimple on her left cheek, before she placed her order.

“Name for the order?” Chaewon asked, with the restored vigor of her usual cheerfulness.