"I just- I don't know how to go about it." Alegander Jamfoot, a young barista, began explaining to his coworker. "I can't just ask her out, that would be.. weird-"

His slightly younger coworker blew some of their hair out of their face, glancing over at Alegander. They had tried to block out his endless rambling, but they had failed. They leaned further into the counter, raising their brow.

"And you're telling me, why?" They retorted, clearly not caring, much to the black-furred grumpuses annoyance.

"Because, Jashua, I was hoping you could help me?! You have a girlfriend, don't you??-" He huffed, waving his hands around like a mad grump, probably confusing the coffee shop patrons around them.

Jashua just shrugged in response, not knowing what to tell their coworker.

"Yeah, but she asked me out, man. I can't help you." They also didn't really care enough to help, but they chose to leave that part out.

Alegander sighed in defeat, slumping against the counter, muttering a quiet 'damnit' under his breath.

Jashua glanced over at him, pausing, before heavily sighing. They didn't really care, but they also didn't want to deal with their coworker sulking all day.

"Listen, Al, if you like her, just like.. give her your number or something!-" The moment they mentioned this, the grumpus' blue eyes lit up from under his glasses.

He quickly stood up straight, lightly slapping the counter as he did so, causing his coworker to glare at him with confusion.

"That's it! I'll write her a note telling her to call me, and give it to her the next time she comes in!" He laughed proudly at his idea. "It's genius!"

Jashua rolled their eyes, huffing another strand of hair out of their face as Alegander began to plan out his note, out loud.

"That's nice, Al." They muttered, not really paying attention.

For minutes, Alegander paced around behind the counter. Thankfully for him, there were barely any customers, so he could do this without being looked at like he was insane.

However, soon enough, a familiar pink furred Grumpus walked through the front doors. Jashua raised their brows, letting out a 'hm'.

"Hey, isn't that her?" They questioned, causing their older coworker to stop dead in his tracks.

"Pardon-" Alegander mumbled, his eyes IMMEDIATELY darting to the door.

And there she was. That brown eyed beauty that had snuck her way into his every thought.

Alegander could feel his heart jump into his throat. She was just as beautiful as last time she came in, and the time before that…

He quickly straightened himself out, adjusting his glasses, and trying to make sure he didn't look like a complete wreck. Afterall, he had to look presentable for this plan to hopefully work.

After a moment, she stepped up to the counter, a small smile on her face as she spoke.

"Oh, you again! Hi!" She had recognized him, almost sounding excited to see him. She.. she was happy to see him!

Alegander cleared his throat, a nervous smile forcing itself onto his lips.

"Yes, hello!- Welcome to Tim Grumptons, what can I get you?-" He managed to say, without sounding too anxious, much to his own delight.

"Oh, just the usual!-" She began to blurt out, before shaking her head slightly. "Sorry- Uhh- One small ice-" She was cut off by Alegander nodding with a grin.

"Small iced coffee with one pump of caramel?" He asked.

She seemed a little surprised that he had memorized her coffee order.. but it appeared to be a pleasant surprise, so that's good!

"Oh!- Uhh.. yeah, actually-!" She sort of laughed, covering her grinning mouth with her paw. Her laugh was so lovely.. like a chiming bell. Just another thing Alegander found enticing.

The black-furred grumpus grinned sheepishly, a little embarrassed at the fact he was able to memorize something so random.

He was horrid when it came to remembering things. Only reason he knew his coworkers' names was because they had name tags! So the fact he was able to remember that?

Just went to show how much this woman crossed his mind.

"Alright, one moment-! Coming right up, madam!-" He gave a quick thumbs up, before scurrying to the back to whip up the best grump damn iced coffee he ever made.

If he was gonna ask her out with a note, than he was going to make sure he impressed her aswell. He just wanted to make a good impression, that's all!

Whilst the coffee brewed, he began to write out his note. It had to be short, yet witty and charming enough to get her to give him even a slight chance.

He tapped his pen on the counter, staring down at the sticky note. Well, grump. He couldn't think of anything!

Alegander's mind raced, yet blanked all at the same time. He internally cursed himself for not being able to think of something, and went back to tending to the coffee.

All throughout the process of making the sweet, iced drink, the black-furred grump wracked his brain, trying to think of something, anything.

That's when it hit him. It was.. a little boring, a little too simple, but.. it just might work!

He placed the coffee cup down beside the post-it note, before he hurriedly jotted down his foolish attempt at a proposition.

Alegander soon strutted back out to the counter, trying to hide his nervousness, though it was obvious to anyone.

He cleared his throat, extending his paw to hand the pink woman her coffee.

"Here you go, ma'am-!" He grinned sheepishly, adjusting the collar of his shirt with his free paw.

The pink grumpus smiled, gently grabbing the cup from him. She didn't seem to notice the note yet. Oh no-

"Thank you-!" She pulled the coffee towards herself, pulling some money out of her purse, placing it on the counter. "Have a wonderful day!"

"You too!" Alegander nodded as she walked out, sipping her iced drink. He just hoped she would notice his note…

---------------------------------------------------

Al's shift was coming to an end, so he and Jashua were cleaning up. He had been waiting all day for that pink-furred grump to send him a text, call him, anything!

He sighed sadly, wiping down the counter with a washcloth. His coworker glanced over at him.

"The grump are you so sad about?-" Jashua raised a brow, glancing at their black-furred colleague.

Alegander shrugged, frowning to himself. He felt so embarrassed, he knew it was a stupid idea-

"Hm. Still haven't gotten a call?" They asked, knowing for a fact he didn't get a call.

"Mmmmhm." The older barista nodded, just sort of leaning against the counter. He just looked kinda just.. done. "I knew it was a foolish idea-"

Jashua just shrugged back at him, giving him some half-assed words of encouragement as they walked out to the back, to take out the trash.

"Better luck next time." They scooped up a trash bag, before walking out to the dumpster.

Alegander huffed, tossing the damp washcloth into a bucket.

"Wow, thanks." He muttered, rolling his blue eyes. Just then, he heard his phone vibrate from his apron pocket.

His face lit up as he scrambled to pull it out, hoping, praying that it was her. Though, of course, he knew he was just getting his hopes up.

"Hello, this is Alegander Jamfoot- To whom am I speaking to?-" He sputtered out, not even bothering to read the caller ID.

If it wasn't her, than he'd just tell them he's busy at work, and he'll call them ba-

"Uhh, hi!- This is the girl who ordered the iced caramel coffee today?- And every other day-" She cleared her throat. "You wrote me a note, telling me to call you?-"

Alegander couldn't believe his ears. It- It was really her! She actually read it, she didn't throw it out-

But why was she just calling now? It was hours later, what took her so long?! He didn't care much, though, he was just happy his plan worked!

"Hello? I-Is this the wrong number?- Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I must've miss-typed something-! My apol-" Alegander had realized he forgot to respond.

"Ah! N-No, no no! This is the right number! Sorry, I'm just- I'm surprised you actually called-" He let out a laugh, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Oh, good!-" She laughed aswell. That beautiful, chiming laugh. Al could feel his very soul melt right then and there. "You know, I had to hype myself up for like- 10 minutes before I called you, ehehe-! Is- Is that weird?-"

"No, I don't believe that's weird at all!-" He knew he would've done the same. "I mean, definitely not as weird as a barista randomly leaving you a note on your coffee-"

"Ohhh, I thought it was sweet!" Sweet? Oh, my.. that was definitely good!

Alegander couldn't help but grin like a giddy school boy. Jashua saw this as they walked back in, but they chose not to acknowledge it, simply walking past.

"Ah, good, good-!" He cleared his throat, before deciding to get to the point. "Soooo, ahh.. pardon me if this is a little forward, but.. are you free this Saturday..?-"

There was a short silence, filling Alegander with a sense of anxiety. Ohhhh no, he had screwed something up, for sure-

"... Are you asking me out on a date?-" The woman asked, after a few moments. Al's face dropped. He had definitely gone about this wrong-

"AH, UHM- WELL- I-It doesn't need to be a date, if you don't want-! I just think you seem rather nice, and I just- I want to try to get to know you more! Doesn't need to be anything special, just-" As he rambled on, he heard the woman begin to laugh again.

"Alegander-" She spoke softly, reassuringly. This made him stop his ongoing word spew.

"Y-Yes, ma'am..?-" He asked cautiously after a moment.

"I'm free on Saturday, yes.. maybe we can meet up and grab some lunch?" She suggested. It was like she had read his thoughts.

"Oh! Oh, good!" Alegander let out a sigh of relief.

"And please, call me Edyth!" Edyth… it was the most beautiful name he had ever heard. It suited her perfectly! It was like she was too good to be true!

His goofy grin returned to him as he leaned against the freshly cleaned and dried counter.

"Well, Edyth…" It just rolled off his tongue so perfectly… "Shall we discuss details over text?- I need to finish closing up, but I'll be done in about.."

He glanced at the clock, though it didn't really matter much.

"I'd say about 10 minutes! Sound good?" He questioned, pushing himself up off the counter.

"Sounds wonderful! I'm looking forward to it." Edyth chirped.

Alegander could see Jashua glaring at him from the corner of his eye, so he decided to try to wrap it up quickly.

"As am I! Now, as much as I enjoy this, my coworker looks about ready to take my head off-" He laughed. "So.. goodbye for now!"

"Alright, bye Al!" As if it couldn't get any better! She called him Al! Who knew such a simple nickname could send his heart aflutter?!

"Yes, yes, bye-bye-" He sputtered out, quickly hanging up. He felt bad for hanging up so swiftly, but he had panicked-

What a wonderful conversation! His mind raced with all the possible places they could meet up… he shouldn't get too excited, though. This would be a one-time thing, and they become friends, nothing more, nothing less.