Rose threw her coffee stained apron to the side and sat down at the back table. She stole a quick glance at the clock- two minutes to closing time. She didn't really mind her job, in fact she enjoyed the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the variation of people besides, the pay wasn't too bad.
She kicked her legs up on the chair across from her and covered her eyes with her hands. She was exhausted from the busy nine-hour shift, the only downside to working in a popular downtown coffee shop, and didn't realize one last customer had joined her until he spoke directly to her.
"Uh… Excuse me, miss, is the shop still open?" She jumped at his voice and scrambled to a standing position. Another look at the clock told her it was a few minutes past closing time, but she figured one last customer wouldn't do any harm
"Actually no" She said with a nervous smile "But don't worry about it, it's no trouble to make one more quick cup."
"You don't have to do that, really," she cut him off with a wave of her hand and moved behind the counter tying her wavy red hair up out of her face. She honestly didn't mind taking his order, it was a distraction, and more time here meant the longer she could wait to return home to her heathen of a roommate, who likely was doing unspeakable things with a guy she didn't know at this very moment.
The last minute customer placed his order and Rose went to start the brew. He had gone off to a nearby table and was standing with his back to her, trying to shake the rain off his coat. She allowed herself a moment to examine him and realized he was, in fact, quite good looking. She usually would have thought it rude to gawk at a stranger as she was, but now that she was looking, she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. Besides, when a man came in this late at night for a coffee, when she was the only one working, it was her duty to survey him for possible threats, right? Even if he was gorgeous. He was tall and lean and the rain had made his fair hair fall into his eyes and his clothes cling to his body. When he turned to the side she could see from his profile that he had a sharp, angular jaw line and the kind of lips that made you long for a kiss. She probably could have continued openly staring at him for hours, but the buzz of the coffee maker pulled her into reality and she blushed when they made eye contact. He offered her a small smile, which made her blush even more.
She prepared the drink in a rhythmic, almost robotic way and handed it across the counter to him. She dared to look up for a moment and her fierce hazel eyes were met by soft silver that took her breath away. "Um, well I should probably be going then, don't want to keep you any longer than I already have." He said as he picked up the coffee and ran a hand through his damp hair.
"No! No you can stay." Rose said before she could stop herself. "I just mean, um it's still raining and you have to already be cold, and I'm sure you would make better company than the roommate I have waiting for me at home and... I'm rambling… but the point is, you can stay as long as you like." She could feel her face practically glowing red and started to turn and run for the hills when he spoke again. "Oh that's very considerate of you. Thank you for the coffee and the company… Rose." She was startled by his use of her name but even more surprised by how much she liked the way it sounded coming from his mouth. He had obviously taken her silence for something that it wasn't because he looked slightly uncomfortable and quickly moved to correct himself "Your name is Rose right? I just noticed that's what your nametag said and I'm fairly certain I read it correctly- not that I was looking particularly at that part of your body I just happened to notice and—" He looked so flustered that she couldn't help herself from bursting into hysterical laughter, which she was quite sure sounded very unattractive, but she couldn't help finding humor in the situation. Here she had been thinking this guy must be some kind of millionaire, model-type, and here he was stumbling over his words trying to make conversation with her. Before she knew it he had joined in and she realized his laugh didn't match his demeanor at all. It was a honking, snorting kind of laugh that made her giggle until her eyes watered.
When they eventually settled down, the room felt lighter somehow and he attempted to revamp the conversation "I'm sorry, I'm really bad at this, pretty girls make me really nervous," He started, and paused to collect himself and noticed that he had gotten a small smile, and yet another blush out of the cute redhead, "So I'll just start over. Hello my name is Scorpius, no I'm not kidding, my parents actually named me Scorpius." She laughed at his lame joke and he realized he quite liked making her laugh.
"Scorpius…" She said "I think I'm going to like you." Hazel once again clashed with grey and they both knew the night in the coffee shop could only get better from there. If only she knew the whirlwind of rain and sunshine those stormy grey eyes would bring to her from that moment on.