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 Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 7:27 pm
Jude had been behind the counter since about four in the afternoon, and now it was getting on six -- which might not have seemed like that much, except that he was tired and cranky and thinking not about the cup in his hands but the test in the morning, the noisy bustle of his house during football season, distant memories of youma tentacles.
It meant, in any case, that he wasn't focused. Small and awkward and deferential at the best of times, today he was jittery on top of it. Low-fat soy latte had come out with real milk, and he'd had to remake it twice to make a client happy. Someone's half caf had, apparently, been just a little bit too much caf. How they'd been able to tell, he couldn't imagine but....he'd graciously accepted it as his fault.
This one, at least, had gone right until the end. Coffee and steam had come out as they were supposed to, and Jude was breathing out slowly as he straightened and held up the cup, eyes sweeping around the place. It was going quieter, as it approached the end of his shift.
"...caramel frappe for Aggie -- " He'd hold it up, eyes lifting, young and awkward. And, as she reached for it, to his horror it would slip just a little bit, sending iced coffee sloshing slowly forward and out, across the counter toward the pretty girl --
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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:13 pm
After a long day of incredibly boring classes at St. Magdelena's, Addison decided that tonight she would spend her time at the quaint coffee joint that she liked to spend time in. She wasn't going to meet anyone, she just liked to spend time relaxing and people watching.
That and she may have smoked something before walking off of the seminary's grounds and well, to be honest? She had the munchies with a side of a pasty mouth. Clearly coffee and a snack was in order!
"It's Addi," she said casually as she reached for the cup that he held out for her. Unfortunately, he let go just that split second before she had been able to completely grip it in her own hand. She looked down and stared in horror at the mixture of coffee, whipped cream and caramel that was now splattered on the front half of her body from chest to knees and dripping.
She looked back up at the boy that had handed her her drink and blinked a few times, speechless. He looked awkward and awfully tired. And now he probably felt really guilty about spilling her drink.
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Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 3:01 pm
Worse than just guilty: Jude looked halfway ready to cry. Instead of scrabbling to help, for a moment he just stood there stupidly, staring at the rapidly-spreading stain on her shirt, dripping off the edge of the counter, pooling at her feet. He'd miraculously managed not to get a drop on himself, and really, that made him feel all the worse about it.
They could at least have shared the pain some. That would have been fair.
The flash of thought snapped him back to himself, and all at once he was in motion: grabbing a huge handful of napkins and sliding it across the counter and into her hands, scrabbling to fetch more even as he came around the long way. His boss, frowning beneath his moustache but his eyes brightly amused, snapped him after the mop and stepped in to take orders.
It meant when he came back, it was with a mop and his jacket, Jude flushing almost purple as he offered more napkins into her hands. "I'm...I'm sorry, that was...your blouse..."
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:16 am
"Oh gosh, it's okay! Really! I uh... I hated this shirt anyway, don't worry about it," she offered him a comforting smile. She grabbed the handful of napkins and started to dry herself off as best as she possibly could have.
While he was gone, she dropped a couple of the napkins on the floor and used her foot to wipe up some of the coffee puddle. When he reappeared with the mop and his jacket, Addison's attention turned back to him as opposed to the mess on the floor.
She couldn't help but laugh and her lips turned upwards in a grin at the deep shade of red that his face had turned.
"Hey don't worry about it," she winked at him. "I wear a uniform 99 percent of the time anyway, who needs real clothes?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 6:02 pm
Who needs...his mouth fell open a little, a hundred comments about the import of clothing bubbling at the back of his mind. He could have lectured her about how people had to make a good impression, about how looks were the basis of most peoples' opinions, the standard 'clothing makes the man' speech that a hundred men better than him had addressed before.
Instead he closed it, offering her the jacket on top of some more napkins. It wasn't a whole lot of good, but...
"Um. I'd offer you..." He shrugged, fingers curled through his collar in an awkward kind of demonstration. "I only have one shirt."
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:22 pm
Addison was far from being fashion conscious; Typically she just through on whatever she saw first (and it was usually bright and ridiculous looking anyway).
"Thanks dude," she took the napkins and wiped off whatever last bit of mess she could before stripping off the top layer of her clothing, leaving her in a now coffee-stained bright neon blue tank top. She slipped his jacket on top and looked down at herself.
"Never looked better! But y'know, only one shirt or not, a gentleman would've offered it to me anyway!" She teased him and laughed.
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Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 8:33 am
She teased, and he looked horrified, mouth hanging open just a notch and fingers smoothing over his hair. No vest today, or he could have offered that, too. Instead, Jude had on a pair of buttery suspenders that had been hidden under the weight of his jacket -- not exactly the epitome of modern style, but the looked good, at least. Kids at school would have teased.
"Um. I guess I'm not a gentleman." It was the best he could do at teasing back, and it wasn't a very good attempt. He flushed again, dropping his head down to dig through his pockets in search of pen and paper. "You should keep that, because...because it's cold, and you'll get sick otherwise..."
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Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 6:07 pm
"Wow, you look complete and utterly horrified," she said with a laugh as she did up the jacket to cover the stain. "I'm totally kidding, you're a sweetheart and I don't need your shirt. Or your snazzy suspenders!" She reached forward and snapped one of his suspenders.
She watched as he pulled a pen and paper out of his pockets, head cocked to one side slightly. "Thanks. I'll bring it back, I promise!" Maybe. Addison lied so often she really didn't know when she was telling the truth and when she wasn't. So realistically, there was no way to guarantee he'd get his jacket back.
Hopefully she felt like doing the right thing once she managed to get back to her dorm and change into clean clothes.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 10:25 am
His handwriting was quick and shockingly neat -- not elegant, but efficient. A clerk's handwriting. Practice and care made each letter easily read, printed in a shockingly bright teal pen. Jude was, obviously, a weird one, still blushing from that snap of suspender, helplessly flustered.
He passed it over, his name -- Jude Harrow -- slightly larger than the number below it. No address. He didn't want her coming around his place, definitely. He should have had business cards. "I. Uh. It's okay. I mean. My fault. Whenever you can."
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 1:21 pm
Addison took the piece of paper with a neatly written name and phone number on it. In teal! She approved.
"Jude," she said out loud as she read his name.
"Alrighty Jude, it'll get back to you stain free! Unlike you, I don't dirty other peoples' clothes." She smiled and waved at him before dropping her handfuls of napkins in the garbage and shoving the door open.
She completely forgot that she wanted coffee in the first place.
She would, of course, remember she was thirsty when she got back to the Seminary and would have to settle for a bottle of Soda instead.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 1:51 pm
As soon as she was gone, the teasing kicked in -- his boss and the coworker who'd replaced him, digging at the suspenders and his skill with girls in a friendly, good-natured way that left him helplessly flustered and scowling at them.
Eventually, he'd retreat back toward home, chilly without his jacket and grumbling to himself with his bag over one shoulder.
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