The Lunar Café

by lovelunarchron

Note: This is meant to be a fun, fluffy, rom-com type of fic. Because of that, that there is some intentional OOC-ness, especially for Cinder and Cress.

The Lunar Café was still moderately crowded, but it was much more manageable than the other evening shifts that Cinder worked. At this time on a Friday night, most of the local college students who frequented the joint during the week were getting ready to go out to a party—at least that's where Cinder assumed they went. Since she was trying to pay her way through school, she didn't have much time to go to social events.

Ringing up a customer, she sighed happily at how few people would still be here in just over an hour. She would probably even be able to pull out her notes and get a head start for her test next week. Only the regulars would be here, and they were fairly low-maintenance. They couldn't be bothered by what day of the week it was or if Cinder did her homework so long as they got enough refills on their coffee.

One of her favorites was a slightly scatter-brained psychology major named Winter. She was always consumed by notes and massive books that seemed to never end. She'd scribble furiously and mutter to herself without fail. Cinder's favorite part about observing Winter, though, was when her boyfriend, Jacin, came in to visit her. He wasn't always around, because Winter was fairly engrossed in her studies, but when he did come in she would always look at him as if nothing in the world could tear her eyes away from his face.

Jacin would kiss her on the forehead and take off her coat, as if she'd forgotten to do it herself in the two hours she'd already been sitting there. Then he'd stroll up to the register and order two double skinny macchiatos. Even though by now Cinder knew their names, he'd always insist that she write "Trouble" on Winter's cup instead. On Friday nights, he'd sometimes convince Winter to sit with him in one of the couches and they'd take turns poking each other and just being so cute that it made Cinder want to throw up sometimes. In a good way.

Wolf was also there tonight, like he always was, in the right-hand corner by the window. She'd been trying to figure him out for a long time, but his presence had grown on her. Wolf certainly had an air of mystery about him; he frequently sat hidden behind a newspaper or magazine and an absurdly large plate of donuts. But Cinder had been observing him and could tell that he often watched the other customers intently. He never smiled, but he was never rude, so Cinder wasn't exactly put-off by him.

She'd seen the way his features softened whenever a certain red-head came into The Lunar Café. The name she always gave for her coffee cup was Scarlet, but Cinder was pretty sure that Wolf didn't know that. They'd never talked. But Cinder had the distinct feeling that he sat in the coffee shop so often because he was somehow waiting for Scarlet to show up. She didn't have regular times like the others, though, so lately Wolf was almost always at the Lunar Café in the evenings, probably waiting for her. It was slightly creepy, if she thought about it too much, but maybe he was just shy. At least he was a decent tipper.

"Cinder! Did you lose track of time or something? He's almost here!"

Thorne, the only other barista on duty with her Friday nights, nudged her with his hip and smiled suggestively. Cinder blushed furiously, but without hesitation, she checked her watch. Thorne was right. 5:35 P.M. He'd be here in precisely ten minutes. After finishing the latest order in a hurry, she ducked into the bathroom briefly to inspect her appearance.

She sighed when she saw herself in her work uniform—a black apron that covered practically anything she could show off. Which wasn't much, in her opinion. Her hair was messy as usual, so she tried to smooth it back into a loose ponytail to give her face a softer look. She didn't have any coffee grinds on her face tonight, though, which tended to be almost a constant after making so many drinks. She just wasn't good at looking put together. This was as good as it was going to get.

At 5:42 P.M., she began busying herself with as many orders as possible. It was important for her to look busy. Like she hadn't been waiting for him to come back to the coffee shop since Wednesday. He always came in Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays at 5:45 P.M. And he always got a white chocolate mocha. She added a little extra whip cream to his drink free of charge, and she liked seeing his content expression every time he tasted it. He sometimes told her that she made the best coffee in town.

She remembered the first time she'd met him, about two months ago, on a particularly blustery night.

"Love to the moon and back, eh?" he commented when she took his order.

"Huh?"

He pointed to the sign above her, which bore The Lunar Café's slogan: You'll love your coffee to the moon and back. Then he gave her an easy, dazzling smile that nearly took her breath away.

Their interactions since he'd started coming back regularly hadn't been too bad. Sometimes they said hi. Sometimes he asked her how her day was going. Sometimes he commented on the weather or the new decorations in the shop. Cinder tried to think of intelligent things to say when he wasn't around that she could impress him with, but whenever he finally showed up and smiled at her she would just get too flustered.

When the bell above the door jingled at 5:45 P.M., she acted as though she were scribbling something on an order list. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him approach the counter and greet Thorne. Thorne excused himself and said he realized that he forgot an order for the drive-thru, and suggested that perhaps Cinder would be able to take care of his order.

Cinder looked up from her fake scribbles and grabbed the cup on which she'd already scrawled his name pre-emptively. Kai.

"White chocolate mocha, 2% milk?" she asked, beginning to write it on the cup.

"You remembered," he said, smiling.

"Of course!" she said excitedly, then realized she needed to tone it down a notch. "I mean, I remember my regular customers."

He continued to smile, and she began to feel breathless. Why couldn't she just work up the courage to ask him a few questions? She stared at him for a moment until Thorne came up next to her.

"Any big weekend plans?" he asked, likely realizing that she was stuck being dazzled. Thorne was always rescuing her from embarrassing herself completely.

Kai didn't take his eyes off Cinder. "Maybe going to the game, not really sure. What about you?"

"I have a date with a lucky lady," said Thorne, winking at him.

"Ah, of course," said Kai knowingly.

Cinder busied herself with Kai's order as they continued making small talk and she scolded herself internally as she realized that Thorne knew more about Kai than she did. When she'd finished his order, she set it on the counter for him.

"I hope you have a great weekend!" she said a little too enthusiastically.

Kai took his drink and sipped it appreciatively. "Just the way I like it. Thanks, Cinder. See you Monday?"

"See you Monday," she said quietly as he turned to walk out the door again. Then she slumped against the counter.

"Mamma mia, you are so in love with that boy," Thorne said in his accented drawl. "When are you going to let me help you with your love life?"

Thorne asked her that every Friday night after Kai had gone, when they repeated the same game of him trying to give her tips and telling Cinder that she was hopeless when she refused to implement any of them. Thorne was an Italian who had decided to study in the U.S. for his graduate degree. He considered himself a master of love, a thief of hearts. To Cinder, he was mostly just a hopeless flirt.

Thorne said it was in his nature. According to him, it was the job of every Italian man to romance a woman the best way he could. Apparently, that entailed a string of so-called romantic yet cheesy lines that were loosely translated from his native language. His way with words was too flowery for Cinder, but she could tell that most of the girls swooned at this handsome "Italian Stallion." Some of them even requested him specially. It did help keep the tip jar pretty full, though.

She was pretty embarrassed that Thorne knew all about how pathetic her non-existent love life was. He liked to tease her about her hopeless crush on Kai often. He also insisted that she needed to experience more of the dolce vita, and to let loose a bit and just have fun like he did. Regardless, she was usually happy for his company during the slower hours and even happier when he interceded on her behalf to make her look less ridiculous in front of Kai.

Kai had looked so great tonight, though. He always did. How could she not feel the way she did every time she saw him?