61 61- Cafe Meet Cute
The day was cold and overcast. Winter had decided it was here, and everyone in the city was sporting warm coats and cold weather accessories.
Michael rang up two girls at the register after handing over the cookies they'd picked out. He and Scott's folks had hit it off pretty well from their time spent in the hospital supporting Ryan, and one thing led to another, which led to Michael being hired as a seasonal cashier at their bakery.
He still wasn't sure how it came about, or why. He'd effectively quit FedEx the night of Ryan's accident. There was no way he was going back to that place. After his parents found out what happened, they supported him wholeheartedly in his decision, and didn't raise as much of a fuss over him being jobless as he expected them to. He still didn't know why Howard offered him a job here, not that he was complaining.
This was his third shift, and he started right after Ryan was released from the hospital. Mornings came before the sun was up but he was already used to working overnights, so it wasn't that bad. Howard was a fair boss, and the work was easy. The occasional added perk of free baked goods wasn't too bad either. He felt bad that he hadn't actually gone to visit Ryan after he got out of the hospital, but he made sure to call him on the phone once a day. It's just… intruding on his and Scott's private live, it just felt weird, you know? Almost like he'd be in the way.
Another thing he was grateful for was that most of the attention from the media hounds was dying down. The "justice for omegas" movement was definitely A Thing now, and Michael supported it one hundred percent, but having been so intimately tied to it's origin made it exhausting sometimes. In some ways, it was a wonderful thing. Omegas everywhere were sharing their stories of abuse and discrimination online. The only story Michael really had was from his time at FedEx, and he wasn't ready to make that public yet. Ryan didn't want the media attention, and the lawyers on the case had done a very good job of squashing the interview requests. If Michael were to say anything now, there was a good chance someone would try to get to Ryan through him, and he wasn't about to betray his friend's trust like that.
Ryan didn't sound like he'd been handling things all that well. When they talked on the phone he sounded content enough, but through texts he told a different story. Michael could only guess that the disparity had something to do with being overheard by Scott. Being forced to sit still was apparently driving his friend bonkers. Michael couldn't do much to help in that regard, but he was more than happy to be an ear for his friend to vent to. Heaven knows he'd vented to Ryan tons of times in the past. It was the bare minimum he could do!
He hadn't met Edwardo yet.
He tried not to let any of that distract him. He didn't accept this job just for a chance to meet his crush. He still had rent and bills to pay, even if he was living at home. Having one bad thing happen didn't change the fact that life demanded you keep moving. And, staying busy was the only thing he knew to do. Still...
He'd had a couple nightmares since the incident and was honestly really desperate for something good to happen. He wanted a distraction from talking to lawyers and cops, and the whole pending court case thing in general. Not that meeting your crush face to face would necessarily lead to something good happening. It's just, seeing the way Ryan and his fiance interacted, it made him a little jealous, you know? Body pillows don't hug back. His parents were attentive and understanding and all, but he craved something more.
He put a plan in place, hoping to lure Edwardo here sooner rather than later. It didn't match the season, but yesterday, he did a quick photoshoot with a very blatant lemon and raspberry theme and posted the pictures to Instagram this morning, working in the omega symbol to support the movement. He'd painted his nails, but used a wig instead of his natural hair. It was way past time to get it re-dyed, but going without his best friend seemed wrong somehow. He had it presentably styled now, sure, but it was faded and his roots were showing. With everything going on, the thought had even crossed his mind once or twice to simply cut it all off and work with his natural hair color for a while.
He left the nail polish on for once. Normally he'd take it off before going back to work, but the bakery was nowhere near as rough on his hands as FedEx was, and he was curious how long it would last before chipping. He even got compliments on it. He needed the compliments right now, with how life felt like it was going. For the record, painting tiny lemon slices with your non dominant hand was actually really difficult. Doing the dark pink french tips was much easier.
Time ticked on. His shift was nearing completion. Edwardo hadn't shown up. Just when Michael was about to resign himself to the fact that his plan didn't work, a very, very, VERY familiar face walked in the shop's front door, wearing a dashing grey suit and black overcoat, bringing a blast of cold air with him.
CRAP! What was that thing he was supposed to say? That thing for when people walked through the door? Michael's voice caught in his throat as his heart started pounding. Edwardo was so much bigger in person! He was at least a head and shoulders taller than Michael was. Okay, so most people were taller than Michael was, but it's not like he expected THAT MUCH of a height difference! Why was he so gorgeous...? His eyebrows were more impressive in person…
Most frustrating of all? Edwardo was looking down, glued to his phone.
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All he'd done was scroll through Instagram after work like he always did, when he saw his favorite model had posted a new set of photos. Edwardo wasn't sure what prompted this person to follow him, after all he just posted basic sunset and landscape pics, but this person was an amazing artist! He was quick to follow them back, and seeing new posts from them always made his day. He wasn't one hundred percent sure what gender this person was, but he thought they looked very effeminate. They wore an omega collar in every picture, so they were probably an omega, right? The vast majority of omegas were female, right? He tried to think in gender neutral terms, but the sense of "she" stuck with him every time he saw the pictures.
Edwardo loved her use of bright colors! The way she used her whole body as a canvas through makeup and hair and clothing, dios mio! She had such an amazing sensuality to her, without ever showing much skin at all… He'd love to meet this person some day, not that he had any hope of that happening. He was just some boring Mexican guy who got lucky enough to get a broadcasting gig straight out of college. His father was somebody, his brother was working on being somebody, him? Not so much. He was just a photo journalism grad who's career took a sharp left with his first real job.
Someone this cool would probably never be interested in someone like him. Oh well... At least he could look at their photos.
He didn't have a chance to check out the new pics in detail between takes on the set, but now that he was off for the day they had him practically glued to the screen. Could this person have possibly known his absolute favorite dessert flavor combo was lemon and raspberry? Seeing the pics gave him such a craving... He just had to go to the best bakery in the city to get his fix...
His eyes were glued to the phone screen, smile on his face, as he walked into the store. He didn't even notice the person at the counter didn't shout the usual greeting, he was too busy caught up in the details this person managed to fit on a fingernail.
"Eddie! The usual?" Howard greeted from further back in the shop.
Edwardo glanced up for a moment to wave at him. "Of course, Mr. Kranston!" he responded cheerfully.
Edwardo didn't pay much attention to the person at the cash register, preferring instead to continue studying the photos. Whoever he was, he sounded nervous. Maybe he recognized him from TV? He pulled out his wallet to pay, sliding his card through the reader. When he was handed his receipt, his brain did a full stop. He knew those fingernails. What were the odds another person in the city had that same design painted on them?
He looked up at the cashier for the first time. Then back at the picture on his phone, then back to the cashier... Could it be? She- no, they ah… The person in the pictures was a man? They definitely had a masculine voice… The face was the same. This had to be them! Wait, did that mean he was crushing on a guy…? He wasn't gay but… They were so much smaller than he thought they'd be. Wow, their eyes really were as blue as they were in the pictures... So beautiful... Were they blushing? Why were they blushing? Speechless, his phone clattered noisily to the floor. Thank goodness for OtterBox.
