Chapter I
“That sounds horrible,” Jess took a quick sip from her coffee, a cup of joe served as black as her judgement towards my sexual encounter with my new smoking buddy two weeks ago. “Again, you know that I’m not the type that can have sex without love or commitment, so of course it sounds interesting, exciting even. But no kiss? No making out? Just shove it in and go?” Another sip of coffee was taken and she gulped it quick. “A random gloryhole out of a dingy wall in Brooklyn could’ve played the same role.”
“Whoa, Jess, first of all, I am more FDA-approved than dingy gloryholes,” we simultaneously took another sip of coffee. “Second of all, the whole thing’s consensual, vice versa, needs met. Eye for an eye. Hole for a hole. A penis for a vagina.”
“But no kissing.”
“Yeah, and it didn’t seem necessary. He was good with his fingers.” I stared at an orange inflatable man flailing about in the distance. It triggered a memory of how he woke me up with his fingers up my ass. I haven’t decided if the memory is good or not.
“And to top that off, you didn’t ask for his name. And he’s engaged.” Another sip of coffee. Jess seemed to love repeating facts out loud. It acts like circling the same word over and over again with a red pen. Emphasis is important to her when she’s fascinated with stories that she can’t relate to. I sipped the last existing swig of my latte and kept the cup in one hand, mindlessly fiddling the small flimsy plastic cap hanging off of the cover.
“Would love to not give a fuck but he got an interesting story. I wonder what happened to his fiancé in the end.” I started to feel the urge to smoke, but decided to wait for awhile.
“I’ve once read this book about a woman who ran away from her husband and everything, and basically went backpacking across New Zealand. Borderline-kind of shit.” She took another sip. “Maybe his fiancé did something similar. Well at least she did it before she got married.” Her coffee looked bottomless from my perspective. “Anyways, I think I have to go. Pretty sure I went overtime.” Jess scrambled through her tote bag to find her phone and checked the time. “Yikes. Fifteen minutes over. Ketchup with you later, french fries.” I smirked as she walked away, leaving me with the bitter aftertaste of her bad pun. I took a glimpse of my watch. 11.28. What a great morning for a deja vu. I started walking towards the crosswalk, throwing the empty paper cup as I rushed past it during green light.
* * *
It was the fourteenth ding of the day from the vintage doorbell of the shop. "Welcome to Copper Room.” I didn't even bother to take a glance of the new customer even though Martin already reprimanded me multiple times about the protocol. 'Eye to eye for all hellos and goodbyes!' Unfortunately due to how many times I've ignored his reminders, he made a habit of glancing straight at me after he would say that phrase, which I pleasurably replied with a cheeky wink of my own. Still with my eyes fixated on the plate that I've been wiping for the past two minutes, I can sense a male figure hovering across the counter. I kept my routine, waiting for the customer to finish preparing his questions about the menu. Seventeen seconds have passed in silence. It started to feel like a boring competition. I turned to the cabinets behind me to place the clean plate on its pile and took a glance towards the man. A pair of blue eyes stared straight through mine. Martin would've applaud me for keeping the gaze, even if it's by accident like how the current situation is. "Do you need the menu?" I questioned him. He smiled politely. A few friendly wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes as the smile reached them. The wavy strands of his light brown hair distracted me by a tad bit as it framed his blue eyes by the temples.
"Nope. I'm actually here to see Martin. Is he around?" His brown trench coat swiped the edge of the glass counter as he leaned a bit forward, trying to peek through the black linen noren that hangs in the doorway leading to the kitchen.
"He won't be here until the dinner shift today. He texted an hour ago and said he was still on his way from his place upstate." I paused. The man tilted his face slightly, causing the light in his eyes to shift a little. "Business? Personal?"
"Personal,” he paused, glancing to check if I was curious enough to signal for more information. I indulged and tilted my head slightly to the side. “I'm his brother." He made a small nod as he stated the fact. For some reason it seemed so attractive; that firm affirmation in such a simple statement of blood-relation. Or maybe it's because of the rich colours he got in his eyes? Whatever it was, I mentally slapped myself for daydreaming midst conversation. He suddenly stretched his hand across the counter, and I quickly responded by shaking it. "Monday."
"Oh," I exclaimed softly, quickly shifting the meaning of the word from a name of a weekday to a name of an existing person. “That's unique." He smiled again. I felt his hand squeezing mine a tad bit more firmly in a teasing manner. Am I imagining things? "I'm Juniper." Our hands parted, but his gaze stayed.
"Nice to finally meet you, Juniper. Martin mentioned you a couple of times for the past month. Compliments and lots of remarks about you being overqualified for the job," he chuckled. "He said that with a lot of gratitude, though."
"Glad to know." I smiled accordingly, feeling a bit embarrassed since I was, apparently, a part of someone's conversation out there. I guess there's a reason why Martin is nicer to her compared to other female employees. Being professionally useful kept his gay-related cynicism away from my vicinity.
"Well, anyways," he dropped his gaze and threw it out the window. "I guess I'll come back another day. Was meaning to surprise him but maybe next time." I followed his stare out the window, mindlessly. Our eyes met again as he was about to speak, but he seemed a bit surprised that our timing matched. The moment paused, and he seemed to be weighing a decision. "Err-- yeah. I guess that's that. See you around, Juniper." He walked towards the entrance and the bell dinged. I nodded and smiled at him as he was exiting. What a curious one, I thought. He looked like someone that I would be interested to fuck with. Before my mind created its own soft porn starring my own boss' brother, I took the chance to distract myself by wiping another plate that needs drying.
* * *
It was the fourteenth ding of the day from the vintage doorbell of the shop. "Welcome to Copper Room.” I didn't even bother to take a glance of the new customer even though Martin already reprimanded me multiple times about the protocol. 'Eye to eye for all hellos and goodbyes!' Unfortunately due to how many times I've ignored his reminders, he made a habit of glancing straight at me after he would say that phrase, which I pleasurably replied with a cheeky wink of my own. Still with my eyes fixated on the plate that I've been wiping for the past two minutes, I can sense a male figure hovering across the counter. I kept my routine, waiting for the customer to finish preparing his questions about the menu. Seventeen seconds have passed in silence. It started to feel like a boring competition. I turned to the cabinets behind me to place the clean plate on its pile and took a glance towards the man. A pair of blue eyes stared straight through mine. Martin would've applaud me for keeping the gaze, even if it's by accident like how the current situation is. "Do you need the menu?" I questioned him. He smiled politely. A few friendly wrinkles formed at the corners of his eyes as the smile reached them. The wavy strands of his light brown hair distracted me by a tad bit as it framed his blue eyes by the temples.
"Nope. I'm actually here to see Martin. Is he around?" His brown trench coat swiped the edge of the glass counter as he leaned a bit forward, trying to peek through the black linen noren that hangs in the doorway leading to the kitchen.
"He won't be here until the dinner shift today. He texted an hour ago and said he was still on his way from his place upstate." I paused. The man tilted his face slightly, causing the light in his eyes to shift a little. "Business? Personal?"
"Personal,” he paused, glancing to check if I was curious enough to signal for more information. I indulged and tilted my head slightly to the side. “I'm his brother." He made a small nod as he stated the fact. For some reason it seemed so attractive; that firm affirmation in such a simple statement of blood-relation. Or maybe it's because of the rich colours he got in his eyes? Whatever it was, I mentally slapped myself for daydreaming midst conversation. He suddenly stretched his hand across the counter, and I quickly responded by shaking it. "Monday."
"Oh," I exclaimed softly, quickly shifting the meaning of the word from a name of a weekday to a name of an existing person. “That's unique." He smiled again. I felt his hand squeezing mine a tad bit more firmly in a teasing manner. Am I imagining things? "I'm Juniper." Our hands parted, but his gaze stayed.
"Nice to finally meet you, Juniper. Martin mentioned you a couple of times for the past month. Compliments and lots of remarks about you being overqualified for the job," he chuckled. "He said that with a lot of gratitude, though."
"Glad to know." I smiled accordingly, feeling a bit embarrassed since I was, apparently, a part of someone's conversation out there. I guess there's a reason why Martin is nicer to her compared to other female employees. Being professionally useful kept his gay-related cynicism away from my vicinity.
"Well, anyways," he dropped his gaze and threw it out the window. "I guess I'll come back another day. Was meaning to surprise him but maybe next time." I followed his stare out the window, mindlessly. Our eyes met again as he was about to speak, but he seemed a bit surprised that our timing matched. The moment paused, and he seemed to be weighing a decision. "Err-- yeah. I guess that's that. See you around, Juniper." He walked towards the entrance and the bell dinged. I nodded and smiled at him as he was exiting. What a curious one, I thought. He looked like someone that I would be interested to fuck with. Before my mind created its own soft porn starring my own boss' brother, I took the chance to distract myself by wiping another plate that needs drying.
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