Eddie knew it was going to be a terrible day when he woke up late for work and was out of coffee. Late for Eddie was early for any rational human, but it still put him in a terrible mood. He had rolled out of bed at 8:30 AM instead of 8 AM and hurried to put on his uniform before rushing into the kitchen only to realize his roommate, Mike, used the last coffee pod.

Mike was sitting at the counter with his steaming cup of coffee and a smirk on his face while he watched Eddie look in the cabinet for the coffee. "You'll have to pick some more pods up at work. I used the last one."

Eddie's shoulders slumped at that information and he let his head fall against the cabinet door. Without turning to look at Mike, he said, "I'll trade you my soul for the rest of your cup."

"Not a chance," said Mike right before downing the last dregs of his cup. "Besides you know the milk I put in mine will upset your stomach."

"What am I supposed to do now? The coffee shop next to my job closed and you know I hate how expensive Starbucks is. I will not make it through 8 hours of smiling without caffeine."

"There's a new place just around the corner from the grocery store, on Robin Road. Try there. A friend of a friend works there, and I've heard the coffee is good, cheap, and strong." Mike got up and started washing off his cup at the sink.

Eddie sighed and finally took his head off the cabinet door. "Fine, but if it's gross, I'm blaming you." He starts walking towards the front door.

Mike just laughs and replies, "don't forget to meet me at Bill and Bev's after work for game night!"

"I'll be there at six with alcohol in tow. Don't you worry."

"Grab something other than wine coolers please! Some of us want a real drink."

"Fuck off," says Eddie before he closes the door.

…

Eddie tapped his foot while waiting in line at the coffee shop. He was due to be at work in thirty minutes and the line of three people felt more like twenty. At least the shop was clean and had a comfortable atmosphere. The seating looked cozy and while it wasn't empty, the shop wasn't loud. It looked like a great place for him to study when he needed to get away from Mike's workout music and off-key singing.

When Eddie finally reached the counter to place his order, he didn't even wait for a greeting before he said, "I'll take a large iced americano with almond milk and how ever many expresso shots I can have before dying."

"How about we stick to three so my soulmate doesn't die before I learn his name," replies the barista.

Eddie looked up and the cutest man he had ever seen was standing behind the counter. His eyes went wide, and he resisted the urge to rub his thumb along the khaki covered soulmark on his right thigh as he said, "three should be fine."

His soulmate laughed and said, "can I get a name for the order? Or should I come up with a scandalous nickname to call out? I'm thinking Honeybear?"

Eddie scowled and said, "Eddie will be fine." He looked down at the barista's name tag and continued, "It's nice to meet you Richie."

"Are you sure you don't want Cutie Pie put on the cup? Not that Eddie isn't a cute name."

"I'm positive."

Richie wrote 'Eddie' on the cup, but he made sure to dot the 'i' with a tiny heart. He turned away from Eddie in order to give his coworker the cup. "Tom, I'm taking off early." When Eddie heard Richie say this, he pulled out his phone.

"You can't just leave me here alone with this line of customers. It's the morning rush!" Eddie called his boss and listened to his soulmate's conversation while the phone rang.

"I just met my soulmate! You can't expect me to pay attention to anything besides him for the next few hours." Tom's shoulders slumped, and he let out a small sigh. "Come on man, isn't there someone else who needs the hours?"

"Congrats, Dude. Cindy can probably come in. You make this drink and I'll go call her."

"Yes!" Richie fist bumped and did a small dance before he spun around to face Eddie. "What do you want to do for the day?" Richie asked right as Eddie's boss picked up.

Eddie held up his finger to tell Richie to wait a minute and told his boss, "I can't come in today. I apologize for not giving a two-hour notice, but I just met my soulmate."

Eddie heard his boss curse on the other end of the line and held his breath while he waited to hear if she is mad. "I understand. Enjoy your day. Would you be willing to pick up a shift later this week if someone can come in for you today?"

That is a better reaction that he was expecting from his normally anal boss, so Eddie just replied, "Of course. I have no other plans this week besides class, so if the shift fits into my availability, I'll take it. Have a good day ma'am."

Eddie looked back over to Richie who was holding out his coffee. He grabbed it and took a long sip. "Thank god! I swear I can feel these expresso shots hitting my blood stream."

"I wouldn't want my soulmate to die of exhaustion, would I?"

Tom came back out and said, "You can go Richie. Cindy will be here soon."

"Thanks Tom. I owe you and Cindy one!" He turned to Eddie and said, "ready to get out of here Love Muffin?"

Eddie threw back his head and laughed. "That's the worst one yet."

"Just you wait, I'm sure there will be plenty of worse ones in your future," Richie said while he held open the door for Eddie. "After you Angel Cake."