#part time

In the US, the baseline for FULL-time work is 40 hours, though it's generally defined by individual employers and it's not uncommon for 36-hour work weeks to also be considered full-time depending on the type of job. (Longer hours are also common, but that's not the focus here.) If the standard is different in your country, feel free to share what it's like there!

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๑ A CITRUS HAZE VALENTINES જ⁀ ♡ ˖ ˚ ◞ 𝗋𝖾𝖽𝖾𝖻𝗎𝗍

this was a terrible ideaーif not one of the worstーshe let her friends convince her to follow through with. she had hoped to pass it off as anxiety, shyness even, but now that she was only two people behind from reaching the counter, it wasn't like she couldn't make a dramatic exit without drawing attention to herself.

or making an absolute fool of herself right. in front. of her crush.

specifically the super cute barista who only worked shifts on weekends, lucky her, right? haha, maybe not for her heart. this wasn't good for her heart at all. oh, would you look at that. the two people in front of her just so happened to be a couple. and now she was face-to-face with the very person whose name tag spelled: aether. it wasn't as if they were complete strangers either, in fact they have been friends for some time... it was more like she didn't want to ruin what they already had.

and considering it was valentine's day too. she could not win today. even if she wanted to.

aether noticed.

of course he noticed.

he propped his chin upright with his fist, pink lips tugging upwards into what suspiciously resembled a smug expression. a little too smug for her likingーshe really hoped she was seeing thingsーsadly, no. she wasn't and that wasn't helping her situation at all.

"do you want your usual or would you prefer staring at me like you definitely don't have an obvious crush on me?"

"whaーsays you!"

he shrugged, grinning as he decided toying with the ends of her hair with his pointer and thumbーwas far more interesting than working his shift. "guilty."

aether cocked his headーlike an innocent puppy, almost (he in fact, was not innocent). "so, are you going to ask me out?"

an accusing (but playful) finger was brandished at him, which unfortunately for her, only seemed to spur him on rather than deter him from teasing her any further. "you. you're too cheeky for your own good."

"but you like that about me, don't you?"

"... sadly." she acquiesced.

he giggled, leaning in close enoughーleaving almost little to no space between them both while disregarding the counter's existenceーto deliver a chaste kiss to her cheek. "i'll pick you up around three, there's this new cafe down the street i wanted to take you to."

she blinked, a dazed smile plastered on her face, "does this mean...?"