"No amount of money is worth this." The young man muttered as he watched the mini dance party happening in King's Coffee.

"And here's your starting salary." Mr. Peppy handed him an information packet with a wide smile.

Branch stared at the paper, then mentally reviewed the list of bills back in his apartment.

"Apparently, there is an amount." Sighing heavily, he signed at the bottom.

The older man looked up. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Perfect! Well, let me introduce you to your mentor. Poppy! Come meet our newest employee!"

A girl with a blue dress and shockingly pink hair bounced over. "New employee?! More like, NEW FRIEND!"

Branch blinked. "Yikes."

"Poppy is our best barista. And I don't just say that because she's my little princess." Mr. Peppy smiled and patted the girl on the head.

"Aw, thanks Dad!"

And she's the boss's daughter. Perfect.

"Poppy, you'll be training Branch on the registers first, and then on the machines when it gets slow. Let me know if you need any help!"

"Will do, Dad, but I'm sure we'll have a great time!"

He gave her a look. "We should be training, not partying."

She beamed at him. "Same thing!"

"No it's not." Branch said as he followed her behind the counter.

"Okay, the first rule of King's Coffee is to have fun! The second rule is…" She leaned far closer to him than necessary. "To smile!"

"I don't have fun. And I don't smile. Those are terrible rules for a business."

A new voice chimed in. "Whoa. Who's the party pooper?"

Poppy looked behind her with a smile. "Oh! Of course! Let me introduce you to my friends! Guys, this is Branch."

He eyed the loud group with suspicion. "You mean, they're other employees? Or regulars?"

"Sure! This is Cooper," she pointed to a tall dark-skinned man in a cap. "He works afternoons, same as Guy Diamond. Biggie works in the bakery," (an Indian man and a large, chubby blond waved at him).

"Suki's a DJ, Satin and Chenille are designers at the fashion house around the corner, and-"

"I'm going to stop you there. How about you teach me how the register works first, and you tell me everyone's names later."

Poppy looked a little taken aback. "Oh. Um, I guess."

"Great. That way, we can actually work while at work."

"Right. Okay, first step is to make a killer playlist for training!"

Branch facepalmed. This day was going to last forever.

"And then, when it gets slow, you can work on your latte art!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Latte art?"

"Yeah! Like, little drawings in the foam! Our regulars love them."

"And what about the people who just want to get their coffee as fast as possible? How do they feel about this ten minute delay to draw a leaf?"

"They don't mind! We don't just sell coffee here, Branch, we sell love!"

"Pretty sure that's a different industry altogether." He commented as he leaned against the counter.

"It makes them feel special! Plus, I'm way faster than ten minutes. See?"

With a dramatic flourish, she presented a polka-dotted coffee mug, a pattern clear on the white foam.

She stared at him with her hands clasped under her chin, clearly waiting for his reaction.

He looked at the cup and narrowed his eyes. "What is that?"

"It's… a twig." She told him, rocking back and forth a little.

"You mean a branch?" He asked in a flat tone. "Because my name is Branch?"

"Maybe! Doesn't that make you smile?"

He grabbed the mug. "Nope," he replied, and tried to take a sip.

"Blegh!" He coughed and stuck out his tongue. "Did you put a pump of every syrup we have in here?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "It's the Poppy Special!"

"It's a cavity in a cup!"

"It's delicious!"

"It's disgusting!"

The rest of the day didn't go much better.

Branch, as the newest employee, was dutifully sweeping up after the morning rush when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.

He froze, then waited for proof that he wasn't imagining things. A few seconds went by, and he was about to shake his head and keep cleaning when a tiny fuzzy… thing darted under one of the tables.

"Uh… Poppy."

The pink-haired girl was loudly singing "It's Gonna Be Me" as she cleaned the machines.

"Poppy. Poppy!"

"Huh?"

"What. Is that." He asked tightly, not taking his eyes off the… whatever it was.

"What's what?" She crouched down next to him and gasped loudly. "Mr. Dinkles! What are you doing here?"

As the animal scurried out from under the table to greet Poppy, Branch stepped back in distaste. "Is it a… dog? Or a really big rat?"

"It's Mr. Dinkles!" Poppy told him as if that explained everything.

Just then, Biggie crashed into the coffee shop. "Guys, has anyone seen-"

The jaundiced Chihuahua let out an asthmatic "Mew."

"Mr. Dinkles!" Biggie shouted, then rushed over to Poppy and started cuddling the small dog.

"Please tell me that you know having an animal in a coffee shop is unhygienic?" Branch pleaded.

"It's fine!" Biggie said. "He mostly sleeps under the ovens in the bakery."

"That is so much worse!"

"Branch," Poppy tried to reason with him. "Biggie loves Mr. Dinkles with his whole heart! You can't just expect him to leave the poor thing home alone all day!"

"Yes I can! This is a place that sells food! Not a doggie daycare! Does your dad know about this?"

"Of course! He loves Mr. Dinkles too!"

Branch smacked his forehead with a heavy sigh. "Of course he does."

He was assigned to work the morning shift with Poppy (of course). It honestly wasn't too bad, since the customers coming in at 5 am just wanted to get their caffeine and go about their day, and thus didn't mind Branch's terse "Order?".

The only downside was-

"GOOD MORNING! Welcome to King's Coffee, my name is Poppy and I'll get that large flat white going right away for you! Isn't this just a fantastic day?!"

"Poppy." Branch groaned, hand over his eyes. "Can you please turn it down?"

She glanced over, confused. "Turn what down?"

"Just… everything."

Blinking, Poppy pointed to the ceiling, "But it's Motown Monday!"

Ignoring the strains of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" coming from the speakers, Branch shook his head.

"Nevermind."

The bell over the door chimed and Branch turned to greet the new customer with a barely contained sigh.

"What can I-"

He was suddenly hip-checked out of the way.

"Good morning Creek! Isn't it beautiful outside?!" Poppy nearly shrieked, sounding even more excited than usual, which Branch didn't think was possible. "I can make you your usual, unless you want something different, because it's great to try new things, but there's such a comfort in having your favorite things, right?!"

Branch could hardly make out individual words within her breathless speech, but the blue-haired customer seemed to take it in stride.

"Namaste, Poppy. I've just come from the most illuminating meditation about our symbiosis with Mother Gaia."

Branch's eyebrows shot up in a mix of disbelief and disdain.

Great. A yoga douche. Just what the morning needed.

"And the only thing more invigorating than a sun salutation is your divine ethical, organic, fair-trade chai."

"It's still dark outside." Branch pointed out. "How can you salute something that's not even-"

"Coming right up!" Poppy interrupted, beaming at Creek as she narrowly missed running over Branch to start the machines.

Branch rolled his eyes and started cleaning the counter as Poppy labored over the drink.

"Here you go!" She announced proudly, and watched Creek eagerly as he took the cup.

"Poppy, this is the best foam forest tableau I've ever seen! Are these little birds?"

"They are! They're bluebirds, greeting the day!"

"This is a perfect complement to my spirit vision from this morning!"

"That's what I was hoping for! You really like it?!"

"I really do." He gave her an overly sweet smile and tapped her nose. "Boop!"

He bowed, then headed for the door. "Namaste, fellow Earth child."

"Hey!" Branch shouted as the door shut. "You still have to pay for that!"

"Shhh! Branch, it's fine. Creek is in here all the time, and plus, he has a morning class to teach."

"Teach? That guy?"

"Yeah! He's a great yoga instructor. We all take his evening class on Wednesdays. You should join us!"

"Never gonna happen." He told her as he cleaned the steamer.

"What? Why?! It's a great way to meet people and strengthen your core and-"

"My core is fine and I don't like meeting people."

"C'mon! How else do you make friends?"

"I don't have any friends."

The mug Poppy was holding dropped to the floor.

"WHAT?!"

Apparently, telling Poppy about his lack of friends (and interest in making them) was the wrong move. She spent the next few days telling everyone else about how he desperately needed friends, and ceaselessly inviting him to every kind of social event she could think of.

"Branch! I'm throwing a Pizza Party on Thursday, and you should come!"

"No thanks."

"Branch! Guy Diamond just had his two year work-a-versary and we're celebrating-"

"Nope."

"Branch! Satin and Chenille are having a fashion show and afterparty-"

"No way."

"Branch! It's Mr. Dinkles' birthday tomorrow-"

"Not gonna happen."

"Branch! We're-"

"No!" He bellowed, and everyone in the coffee shop turned to stare.

"Um…" Poppy looked around and smiled nervously. "We're out of cream. Can you get some from the back?"

"Oh. Uh, sure." Shaking his head as he headed back to the fridge, Branch wondered if he was being too hard on Poppy. She was probably just trying to be nice.

It'd be nice if she actually listened, his internal voice groused.

Sighing, he went to hand Poppy the carton of cream, ready to mumble a half-formed apology.

"Here. And, about… I didn't-"

"Thanks Branch! By the way, it's Cooper's recycling day, so we're all going out tonight! You coming?"

His already fraying temper snapped. "What?! For the hundredth time, no! I don't want to go to any of your parties!"

She blinked at him in surprise. "Why?"

"Why? Why?! Because one, I don't care if it's Cooper's recycling day, two, that's not a reason to throw a party, and three, all your parties are giant and loud and crazy!"

Cooper and Guy Diamond, who had been hanging out until their shift started, stared at him in unison.

"But that's what makes her parties so great!" Cooper told him.

Guy Diamond nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Remember the Suki's Niece Got Her First Tooth party? That was insanely fun!"

"Yeah! We had like, two hundred people in here!"

Branch stared at them all, then practically shouted, "These are not real reasons to-"

The bell chimed above the door and a new voice suddenly interrupted, "Whoa, whoa, what's with all the negative auras?"

"Just when I thought this day couldn't get worse." Branch muttered as he went to refill the pastry tray.

"Branch doesn't want to go to the Recycling Day party." Cooper announced traitorously.

Guy Diamond added, "He says it's not a real reason for a party."

"It's not!"

Creek waved his hand serenely. "Now, Branch, just because you enjoy being mean to people does not give you permission to dampen everyone else's spirits."

Branch stopped suddenly. "I don't enjoy being mean to people."

Everyone stared at him.

"I don't!" He protested, realizing they didn't believe him. "I'm not a mean person."

"You yelled at an old lady earlier." Cooper pointed out.

"She was paying for three drinks in change! There was a line out the door!"

"You told a bunch of kids to go to the end of the line." Guy Diamond added.

"They stood there saying 'Um' for five minutes! Don't get in line if you don't know your order!"

Biggie stepped into view, cuddling his pet protectively. "You kicked Mr. Dinkles this morning."

"I didn't kick him, I tripped when he ran across- there shouldn't be a dog in the bakery!"

Poppy glanced between everyone and bit her lip as Cooper and Guy shook their heads.

Creek crossed his arms with a satisfied smirk. "How about, instead of being mean, you try some positivity! Some positivity would really go with that vest."

"I'm not… that's makes no…" Branch forced himself to unclench his fists. "I'm taking my break." He growled as he marched outside, and trying to ignore the laughter behind him.

He was attempting to calm his breathing when the back door creaked open.

"Branch?"

"What do you want, Poppy?" He asked in a flat tone.

"I wanted to see if you were okay." She ventured as she made her way over to him.

"Why do you care?" He spat out, then winced.

No wonder they think you enjoy being mean, his internal voice commented.

She sat down slowly next to him. "I care because you're my friend."

He turned to look at her, brows furrowed.

"Even if I'm not yours." The pink-haired girl added quickly.

Branch didn't know how to respond to that.

After a few moments, Poppy peeked at him. "I don't think you're a mean person."

He sighed. "I did all those things though."

"Well, yeah, but not because you like being mean. You just get frustrated sometimes."

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"You care about the people in line, and getting their drinks out on time. And you care about keeping everything clean, and Biggie promised to wash his hands before he bakes anything, especially after playing with Mr. Dinkles. That's why my dad said it was okay."

She took a breath, then continued, "I mean, I still don't get why you don't like my parties, but that's okay, I just have to find the right kind of party, with the right kind of people-"

"No people."

"Huh?"

"That's the kind of party I like."

"But how can you have a party with no people?" Poppy asked, then after a second, gave him a look. "Oh. I see. You don't like parties."

"Nope."

"Okay, we'll come back to that. The point is…" She scooched closer and bumped his shoulder. "The point is you're not a mean person. I know that, and I'm sure the other guys will figure-"

"I don't care what they think." He interrupted, then winced as he saw her stance droop.

"Oh. Okay. Well, I should go." She started towards the door, and Branch knew he had to say something.

"Poppy, wait." When she turned back, he told her, "You're wrong, you know."

Confused, she tilted her head at him.

"About not being my friend." He clarified slowly, and was rewarded by watching her whole face light up.

"Really?!"

"Really." He had a sudden thought. "Just don't tell anyone. I've got a rep to keep up."

Poppy was practically bouncing with glee. "I won't. I promise." She opened the door, then stuck her head back out. "It's pretty slow in there, so take all the time you need."

Before the door could close, he called out, "Hey."

"Yeah?" And for a moment, after looking into her eyes, seeing her smile, he couldn't speak.

"Thanks." He finally got out, and saw her small grin turn into a million-watt smile.

"Anytime, friend!"

And as the door closed, it felt like part of his chest was pulled with it. His stomach maybe? He hadn't eaten anything in awhile, but it felt higher than that. Not his lungs, or his stomach, but something in between-

His head shot up with the sudden realization that it felt like Poppy had left with his heart.

Ah, crap.