for day two of @thetheatergremlin's boyf riends week
Working at a shitty, overpriced coffee shop in New York sucked ass in one Michael Mell's opinion.
Sure he worked with his best friends Brooke and Jake, but the horribleness of having to put up with shitty hipster dudes and middle-aged white women made the cons of his barista job far outweigh the pros.
Except for one tiny thing that made his shitty days a bit better, the 'Cardigan Kid' as Jake so wonderfully named because of the kid's signature blue cardigan he wore every day.
Cardigan Kid came every single day and ordered a hot chocolate with a lot of stuttering and blushing, which in turn made Michael stutter and blush. He'd then sit at the table in the leftmost corner and write and/or study on his laptop for an hour, then he'd get up and leave.
Jake and Brooke agreed that watching this kid and memorizing his schedule was 'stalker-ish' but in Michael's defense, the guy was adorable. He had fluffy, short brown hair that was permanently ruffled. He was almost as tall as Jake (who was a mighty 6'2) but he curled in on himself which Michael found positively adorable. Even Chloe, Brooke's terrifying, lesbian, fashion design major girlfriend said, "Yeah, he's cute, but like the way a sad cat is." Which Michael took as a win in his case for not being a stalker.
So that was Michael's life as a college student; Take classes, work his crappy barista job, and stare at a cute boy.
It was a Saturday when his usual routine of staring at Cardigan Kid was broken when he walked in with someone he knew, Christine.
Michael knew Christine because he had classes with his friend and Christine's roommate, Jenna. Him and Christine had gotten along surprisingly well and for the past month had been trying to set him up with her friend Jeremy. Jeremy was a Theater major like Christine, who Christine claimed was the best singer ever and forced Michael to listen to him sing show tune covers, and honestly? Michael had to agree, Jeremy had the voice of an angel.
Wait, is Cardigan Kid the same guy as Jeremy? Michael asked himself. Before he could dwell on that, Christine walked up to the counter towing Cardigan Kid behind her.
"Hi Michael!" She greeted. "Hi Christine, what would you like to order?" Michael asked, his job having drained him of any emotion. "Oh! Yeah, I need to order, I'll get Chamomile Tea for me and Jeremy'll get a hot chocolate!"
Just when Michael was trying to process the fact that he'd been crushing one for months was the same guy Christine was trying to set him up with, Jake appeared behind him. "Yo! Cardigan Kid is Christine's Jeremy?"
Jeremy started to turn red, "I'm-I'm sorry? Cardigan Kid?" He asked incredulously. "Yeah!" Jake said, grinning, "That's what Michael's been calling you!"
Michael turned to Jake to shoot him an accusatory glare while a blush started creeping up his neck. A sly grin was slowly spreading across Christine's face. Michael started shooing Christine off with his hands, "Don't hold up the line! There are other people!"
Jeremy turned to look behind him, his eyes widening slightly, before turning back to Michael. "There is literally no one in line except for us," Jeremy accused. Christine kept smirking at Michael while she pulled Jeremy to his usual table.
Brooke came up behind him and patted his shoulder sympathetically. "I'm screwed," Michael groaned, watching as Jeremy burst into laughter that he tried to cover up with his hand. "You are," She agreed, "But if you ask for his number it's not going to hurt anyone,"
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yup! Here, I'll take the counter while you go get his number."
Michael gasped, "Brooke, you are literally amazing and I love you more than video games,"
Brooke just laughed and slightly shoved him towards Jeremy's direction, "Go get your man!"
When Michael started to approach Jeremy and Christine's table, the latter spotted him and got up to make their way to the bathrooms.
Great, Michael thought, Just me and guy I've been crushing on for months. Yippee.
Jeremy looked up at him, "Um, you could sit?" He asked hesitantly. When Michael didn't make any motion to move, he said "Of course you don't have to if you don't want to!"
Michael shook himself from his stupor. "Yeah no it's good, I, uh, just wanted to know if I could get your number?" He asked, nervously rubbing his neck.
Jeremy looked like someone Michael had just spontaneously combusted. "Oh. Yeah! Sure!" Jeremy stammered out, scribbling with a pen onto a spare napkin.
Jeremy grinned and handed the napkin to Michael.
Michael took it and walked back to the counter in a daze.
Jake spotted him and held his fist for a fist pump. "Mikey got a guy's number!" He hooted as Michael blushed in embarrassment.