Private - Caffeine Break

Caffeine Break

12:17 pm. Nannette had been here since... 5:30 AM? Another opening shift that she'd picked up, even if she hated them with a burning passion, it seemed to be better to play Terra at night. She'd wake up, go to work if she had work that day, head home, get on Terra, sleep for a measly few hours. Rinse. Repeat. She had taken a couple months break due to her health declining and her work picking up, but now that she was doing better again, she was back on track and picking up the speed- Sort of.

A small yawn escaped her lips as she poured the hot milk from her pitcher into the cup below her, swirling it up just right so that the small layer of foam the top formed a perfect little heart- Until she almost knocked the drink over,"Awh merde." Looks like no one, not even the customer, had noticed. Only she noticed her mess up and the little swiggly heart that was now the top of the cappuccino. Letting out an exhausted sigh and taking one swift glance towards the clock, she checked the time again, 12:20 am. Had it really taken her that long to finish the drink?... Well, it was no matter, 10 more minutes and she'd be home free.

Disappearing into the back as she found the cafe busy for a hot minute, she was joined by her other co-worker, who looked up at her curiously as she whipped out her phone and began taping away at the screen. There was silence for a couple minutes before she suddenly spoke up, "You look tired, Nannette. Started playing that game again?"

Looking up from her place against the wall, Nannette almost hesitated. She mentioned the game once to her co-workers and had been instantly questioned by one of them. She didn't seem like the gaming type. But, of course, as she got sicker they had noticed. It can't happen again. "Awh, no~ Why would I ever play something that silly again? Y'know me, girl~" She replied cheerily, lips splitting into a wide smile as her blue eyes looked up at the girl ion the other side of the small back room. This was interrupted, however, by the ring of the door to the cafe, and Nannette pushed herself away from the wall while quickly tightening her ponytail, "Don't worry, I got this~" How many times had she said that today?

She hurried out to the cash register to meet the customer, giving him a grin as he approached the counter, oozing cheeriness that was neither fake nor was it real, "Hiya there, what can I get for you?" Another glance at the clock. 12:25 pm. Merde.

@Helios​

 

"Are you gonna do it?"

Helios' gaze diverted from a crystal blue sky to a man, slightly taller than he was, with long dark hair. He said nothing, only turned his head to stare downwards. Beneath him, there was no ground; only a a glass-like floor that stretched out for miles and miles. In fact, it was all he could see, other than the white clouds that complimented the beautiful background. The charcoal-haired man spoke again.

"You gonna jump this time?"

He was confused. What did the man mean by his words? Helios spun around to meet his stare, however there was no one to be seen. The individual had vanished. The lad tried speaking, but no words were able to escape. Suddenly, the glass under him shattered, leaving him to fall into a black void.

Then his eyes opened. He adjusted himself, looking up at his bed with a confused expression spread across his face. "A dream..." He mumbled, picking himself up from the ground. A few drips of sweat dripped down from his cheeks and hair. Not a dream, he thought, it was a nightmare.

Before he could even stand, the man began to hear a ringing coming from his cell phone, which sat on the table next to him. He picked it up to check the caller ID.

Mom

Without a word, he placed it back down and allowed it to continue ringing, until it eventually switched to his voice mail. He listened to his mother's words as she began to speak. "Isaac... Give me a call when you get this. We need to talk." Isaac ignored the message and walked towards the bathroom. If he was going to go out, he'd need to clean himself up first. A shower and shave, at least.

It didn't take him long to get ready. His hair had been cut short recently, making it easier for him to deal with in the mornings and he was good at taking quick showers. He put on the first things he could find; a casual blue shirt and a pair of black jeans. Everything goes well with black jeans, of course. Usually, he wasn't a big coffee drinker, but on this particular day he was oddly tired. Despite sleeping in later than normal, he was still out of energy. Not a good sign.

"Maybe I'm getting sick or something." Isaac sighed, slipping on his shoes and stepping out the front door of his apartment room. New York City was as busy as usual. It was as if the people who lived there never slept. He took a look at his phone, seeing that the time was just past 12:10. Perfect time for a hot drink.

Isaac stepped into a cafe, one he'd never been to before and scanned the room. He didn't really care how good the coffee was, so long as he was getting what he ordered and they gave him a clean cup. He stepped up to the counter, where a woman met him. "Hiya there, what can I get for you?" The cheerful cafe employee asked him.

"Just a cappuccino, thanks." He responded with a smile. Look's like coffee's not the only hot thing here.​

 

The customer at the counter was a boy. He seemed to be about Nannette's age, maybe a little older, but nonetheless- He was kinda cute. Her lips pulled into a sweet smile at his order, nodding so her blonde ponytail swang back and forth behind her head, fingers carefully dancing across the register screen, "The total is $2.50," she said, before taking the total from him and handing him whatever change he need, then leaning over the counter slightly to point to the end, "If you can just head over there and wait for your drink, that'd be fantastic~" While she spoke, she glanced at the clock,obviously kind of distracted. 12:27.

She hurried over to the coffee machine and set to work, measuring out the milk and steaming it carefully, adding more foam than usual, then letting it heat up while she cued in her espresso shots into two little shot glasses. Grabbing a cup from behind her, she pulled a sharpie from her pocket and raised the cup, closing one eye as she concentrated on writing a cute little saying on the side in silly little cursive, 'Cutest guy in the cafe~ ;)'. Then, she dumped the shots into the cup and poured in the milk, leaving the right amount of foam on the top and setting it down carefully in front of him with a smile that was rushed, "Enjoy your drink!" Another glance at the clock. 12:30. Finally.

She headed to the back, untying her apron as she went and grabbing her name tag, throwing the apron into the bin as her coworker looked up from where she was still sitting, scrolling through her phone, "Oh, done already?"

Nannette hardly even stopped into reply. She let out a small laugh and threw on her jacket and grabbed her purse, sticking her tongue out at her as she passed, "I've been here since 5:30, silly~ I'll see you later."

This was it. She was home free. She could go and waste the next few hours on Terra, and she had a day off tomorrow, didn't she? That meant more time to game, some time to watch some anime, do anything she really wanted. However, as she was walking out, she didn't even notice that one of the chairs caught onto her purse, catching and pulling her slightly as she walked. Unfortunately, this was enough to yank the purse that was lazily tossed onto her arm off, and the contents to spill everywhere, "Ahh, putain de merde." she exclaimed tiredly, dropping to her knees and begging to collect all her little bits and bobs off the ground to stuff into her bag, especially the small japanese tokens. One thing she did miss, however, was a little folded up paper, the only thing on it that was visible being the logo of 'TerraSphere'.​

 

Isaac handed the woman the change, intentionally grazing her hand as he let the coins drop into her palm. He read the name tag she wore on her chest. Nannette. Pretty name. He thought, proceeding to the spot she had directed him towards. In no time at all, the cappuccino was done. The employee placed it gently on the counter before heading back in a hurry. Isaac only watched as she steered away, her blonde ponytail swaying from side to side.

"Damn." He mumbled, accidentally audible.

The man had almost completely forgotten about his coffee. Isaac picked it up and took a sip. It was warm and more enjoyable than the other cafes he'd been to. Bringing the cup down from his lips, he noticed the writing on it's side. He must have looked odd, smiling at what others would have assumed was nothing. Eventually, he regained the ability to think straight and moved forwards to find himself a seat. The shop was surprisingly empty. In fact, there were only a couple other people around at that moment.

As he struggled to decide on which well-crafted wooden tables he'd sit at, he noticed the cute girl step out from the back room, looking as though she was about to leave.

Normally, he wasn't one to stare. However, there was something about her that caught his eye, although he couldn't quite figure out what that was. The scene was quickly changed as her purse became caught on a chair, causing everything inside to fall out onto the open floor. Instinctively, Isaac began to move towards her, placing his cup of coffee on the table next to them. She was efficient at picking up the items that had fallen, however one thing seemed to be out of her vision.

The raven-haired man bent down, picking up the small piece of paper that she'd missed. His eyes widened as he noticed the logo. He'd seen it somewhere, he was sure of it. But where?

Without another thought of the matter, Isaac handed the paper to Nannette. "Here. You alright?"

 

Nannette looked up from her mess on the ground, only a few couple items laying out on the floor now being a pen, a little hello kitty shaped eraser, a hair tie, and a gift card to a froyo place. She blinked up at the man before her, which just happened to be the cute guy she had made the cappucino for earlier, Oh gosh, how embarrassing. She didn't even think about him seeing that, not that it really mattered, but any girl would embarrassed messing up in front of a guy that they hit on. Nonetheless, her lips one again turned up into a sweet smile, cheeks lighting up a soft pink colour in embarrassment.

"I'm fine, just my luck to have to catch my purse on the way out. Embarrassing, isn't it?~" She said with a small sheepish smile, eyes moving to the paper in his hand. Her eyes widened as she recognized what it was, grabbing it quickly from him and stuffing it into her bag, "Merci- I mean, thank you~" However, her reply was absent minded, both from the fact she didn't want to expose the game as it was supposed to be a secret, and her secret of how she actually lived her life.

She eye'd up the little Hello Kitty on the ground and grabbed it as quick as possible, her cheeks growing increasingly red as she put everything away, using the chair to help pull herself to her feet, eyes setting back on the man in front of her as she did so. Well, she couldn't just leave him here now... And part of her honestly wanted to speak to him. It was sweet he had actually approached her to help, you didn't meet a lot of people like that anymore.

She fixed her purse on her arm and gave him a warm smile, pushing some blonde hair out of her face so that she could try and hide the fact she was trying to drop the blush, "I really appreciate your help," she thanked, before raising her hand to her face as if shielding off what she was going to say from anyone else in the cafe, "Not a lot of people really know how to be nice now adays, no?~" she whispered in a teasing way, a small giggle escaping her throat as she winked at him playfully, quite satisfied at her ability to play off the situation.​

 

Isaac found it sort of cute how quickly the girl put away the small Hello Kitty shaped eraser, as if she were embarrassed by it. "Don't mention it. It would be rude not to help you after you made me a coffee this good." He laughed. Her change in outfit gave Isaac the idea that she had just gotten off of work, giving him the opportunity to strike up a conversation.

"So, you speak French?" The man asked, remembering how she had initially thanked him in the foreign language, instead of English. Although he knew next to no French, he had taken multiple highschool Spanish classes, so he'd at least understand some words.

It didn't take him long to realize how long it had been since he had done this. Isaac had flirted with plenty of girls during his lifetime and he had dated a few girls as well, although nothing had lasted long. It had been quite a while since he'd taken interest in anyone at all. He shook the thoughts away, knowing he'd become nervous if he started to worry about how the woman portrayed him. Running a hand through his charcoal hair, Isaac realized he hadn't even given her his name. "Sorry, I'm Isaac." He told the cafe employee with a friendly smile, expecting her to give her name in return. Likely, she was unaware that the dark-haired man had already read her name tag and knew what to call her prior to beginning their conversation.

Of course, it'd be weird if he approached her and said, "Hey there, Nannette," especially when she had no clue who he was. So instead, Isaac would let the blonde tell him herself, if she so pleased to continue their talk.

Looking back at his morning, Isaac was more than glad he had decided to take a shower before leaving the apartment. If not for his incredible will to wake up, he would have completely missed this opportunity. Luck seemed to be on his side today.

 

As he introduced herself, Nannette's eyebrows raised as curiousity danced across her face, evident in her eyes as she studied Isaac. Normally, she was curious about everything, but didn't rarely stop to investigate, especially when it came to boys. She liked innocent flirting, but most of the city boys around here seemed to be only into one thing, and we all know what that is. Nannette, on the other hand, wasn't your typical hoe and learned quickly to not give men the time of day. Isaac seemed, however... Somewhat more innocent, and sweet. Maybe she was jumping the gun, but the only thing she'd really regret from this interaction was the fact it was cutting into her gaming time... She really needed to get out and socialize more often.

"I'm Nannette~ It's nice to meet you, Isaac," she replied sweetly, crossing her arms over her chest and letting her purse handle slide down to the middle of her arm. She may be standing here for a little while, "And to answer your question, qui~ That means yes. French is my second native language next to English, although it's spoken normally where I'm from, although I don't hear much of it down here." Mooseland, multiple of her American friends liked to call it. She didn't understand why Canada was seen as such a mystical land most of the time, but it was fun to play along- Even if some could consider it racist.

Her eyes turned to his coffee, eyeing it up. He had made a comment on how nice it was, which honestly made Nannette smile to herself in a giddy way subconciously, as if was proud of her work. Making her customers happy was her goal, and hearing feedback was her prize. So when that compliment left his lips, it filled her with sheer happiness, "I'm glad you're enjoying your cappucino. I was rushing a little to get out, so I'm afraid it may have tasted a little soggy~" she giggled as if her attitude betrayed her apology, but she seemed to be somewhat sincere... Somewhat.

"Speaking of coffee, what brings you here to our cafe? I don't think you've been here before... I would've remembered a cute face like yours." She said as nonchalantly as possible, moving to sit on the seat that she had got caught on not a couple minutes before as if it was natural. How sly was she? Mentally, she gave herself a nice pat on the back, quite proud of her flirting success, Nice one, Nannette~​