The Guy at the Coffee Shop

Sitting back down with the guy’s drink, Frank pushed the white cup across the table.

Looking up with a small smile Gerard took it. Bringing it to his face to take a sip, Frank tried to keep his eyes off the guy. Obviously, his attempts proved futile.

His drink placed gently back on the table, Gerard mentioned something that they both knew was true.

“You look at me a lot.”

A small nervous laugh from Frank and his hand on the back of his neck, a quiet nod and a mumbled agreement of ‘yeah’ and Gerard grinned.

“You’ve noticed,” Frank laughed quietly anxiously again.

“Yeah,” Gerard agreed. “I’ve noticed.”

“Didn’t think you would,” Frank admitted then. Slowly, he let his eyes move back to the guy opposite him. He found that when he did, Gerard’s eyes were right on his.

“Why’s that?” Gerard found himself asking then. The gaze that was so powerful on Frank he shifted without another thought as he brought his drink to his mouth again.

“Never really saw you looking at me,” Frank explained shortly.

“Not that you saw,” Gerard smirked after he’d swallowed his mouthful of coffee. “How could I not notice that the guy who worked here was always looking at me?” he added rhetorically.

It was a good thing, because Frank didn’t answer. Instead, he shrugged rather lamely. Daring his eyes to look back to Gerard again, he was relieved to see that Gerard had his eyes to the side as he sipped at his coffee again.

“Good coffee?” Frank enquired curiously.

“Yeah,” Gerard agreed the second he’d swallowed his mouthful, nodding beforehand. “Thanks,” he added.

There was a silence then and Frank spent it just watching as Gerard sat and drank. He’d done it so many times before, but it was different now. It was better in the retrospect that seeing the guy for a longer period of time up close made him even more interesting. It was slightly unnerving in the fact that he was shamelessly looking at him, and it was obvious Gerard knew it. Obviously, he didn’t mind.

Rather bluntly, Frank broke the silence with a thought that had suddenly come to him.

“Are you single?” he asked.

Frank watched as Gerard placed his coffee down and almost laughed; there was a salient grin on his face.

“Do you think I’d spend so many hours of my time here if I had someone to go home to, especially in winter?” he asked. He sounded rather amused. But it wasn’t in a mean way, and Frank liked that. He liked the way he didn’t reply with a ‘Do you think I’d be sitting here talking to you if I wasn’t?’ instead.

“Guess not,” Frank mumbled. He nodded a little; point taken. The corner of his mouth was lifted in a small smile.

“So,” Gerard mumbled then. He placed his coffee down. “Why aren’t you with anyone?” he asked. “I mean, you make coffee and you spend your time with your eyes fixed on people so loyally – who wouldn’t want that?”

Embarrassed in a pleased sort of way, Frank found himself looking down at his hands in his lap.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly, his words a mumble. He looked up then. “Why aren’t you?” he returned the question.

Shrugging easily, Gerard replied with the same words with no more certainty than Frank’s reply but with a tone that obviously made it sound like he wasn’t too worried.

“I don’t know,” he said simply. “But that could change.”

It could’ve just been the fact that Frank was a wishful thinker, but he couldn’t help himself wondering if the guy opposite him was referring to him.

“You know,” Frank said then, his eyes fixed more easily on the eyes across the table than before, his embarrassment gone. “I’ve served you coffee for what, three months now? And I still don’t know your name.”

With a secretive smile, Gerard just nodded.

“I don’t know yours,” was all he said, his eyes fixed on Frank’s.

“You never thought to look at my name badge?” Frank asked.

Gerard shook his head then.

“Nope,” he replied as he brought his coffee again to his mouth. Taking a sip, Frank watched as his eyes dropped to his chest. Obviously, he was searching for the name badge.

“So where is it?” Gerard asked once the cup was no longer touching his lips.

“Took it off,” was Frank’s reply. And before Gerard could ask him flat out for his name, he beat him to it. "So,” he mumbled. “Does ‘ the guy at the coffee shop’ have a name?" he asked.

Smiling at the name Frank had obviously fixed him with for the past three months, Gerard just nodded.

"Yeah," he answered vaguely. But he didn’t reveal his name then. Instead, he had a question in return himself. "Does the guy who works at the coffee shop have one?"

Mirroring Gerard’s smile, Frank lowered his head, looking down before his eyes moved up again.

“Yeah, he has one,” he answered just as vaguely.

Nodding, Gerard seemed unfazed by the fact he still didn’t know the name of the guy sitting opposite him.

“We should do this again,” was all he said as he finished off his drink.

Hiding a smile at what the guy at the coffee shop just said, Frank agreed with a slow nod and a slow agreement of ‘yeah’.

“Winter’s almost over,” Frank found himself mumbling.

Gerard nodded slowly to fit the mood. “Yeah,” he agreed. “But it’s not over yet,” he added. “So, you know… if you’re worried that ‘the guy at the coffee shop’ still won’t be interested after winter, you’re wrong, but we can go somewhere else, do something else.”

Admittedly, Frank had no idea what the guy across from him was suggesting but at the same time, he liked the idea.

“You’ve got me interested,” he admitted.

“Yeah?” Gerard asked with a slight smirk.

Frank just nodded simply then. A quiet moment or two later and Gerard’s wandering gaze over the empty coffee shop had returned back to the guy in front of him.

“You’ve gone all quiet,” he stated suddenly.

Smiling just a bit, Frank offered up a reason.

“I want to know your name, guy at the coffee shop,” he said.

Grinning, Gerard sat back lazily. He didn’t feel like going just yet.

“You really want to know,” he mumbled. His eyes were fixed on Frank.

“You don’t want to know mine?” Frank counteracted.

“No,” Gerard disagreed. “I do… I’m just trying to figure it out,” he said. “You should’ve worn your name badge.”

“You should’ve looked before,” Frank said playfully, a daring smile on his face.

“Yeah,” Gerard agreed then. “I should’ve.” His train of thoughts shifted then and he smirked. “Bet it’s sexy,” he mumbled then.

Properly confused for the first time, Frank stared at Gerard. “What?” he asked.

“Your name,” was Gerard’s reply. “Bet it’s sexy.”

Laughing, Frank disagreed.

“Not really," he said. And from there, his own thoughts stood at wondering if the name of the guy opposite him was just as attractive as him.

“Well then it’s cute,” Gerard offered. His eyes were narrowed as he tried uselessly trying to figure out the guy’s name just by looking at him.

Laughing once more, Frank shook his head.

“That doesn’t work you know,” he offered helpfully. “I’ve tried it.”

“Yeah?” was Gerard’s distracted reply. “And what names did you come up with for me?” he asked.

A pause before he replied and Frank mumbled his lame reply.

“The guy at the coffee shop.”

Gerard laughed then and sitting up a bit more, he gave up on the game of trying to figure out the name of the person opposite him.

“Tell me your name,” Gerard said simply then.

“What?” Frank asked. “First, last, middle or full name?”

Smirking, Gerard easily replied. “First for now.”

Shaking his head, Frank’s eyes stayed on Gerard’s mouth.

“I asked first,” he said simply. “So you tell me yours.”

Licking his lips just because Frank’s gaze was still fixed on his mouth, Gerard shrugged and gave up.

“Gerard,” he disclosed.

Of course, it was a name Frank would’ve never guessed for the guy. And of course, it suited him so well. He sat back and smiled because of it. The guy at the coffee shop was now Gerard.

“Gerard,” Frank repeated the name slowly; carefully. “I’m Frank,” he said with a bit of a nod. “Nothing sexy about that name.”

“No,” Gerard agreed. But he smiled a bit and it was a hint of what he said next. “But it’s kind of cute.”

“No,” Frank disagreed bluntly.

“Yes,” Gerard disagreed again just as stubbornly. “And the customer’s always right.”

Grinning as he looked down at his hands in his lap again, Frank mumbled his reply downwards too: “Can’t argue with that.”

“No,” Gerard agreed, his eyes watching the way Frank looked down each time he was quietly embarrassed. Gerard sat up a bit more then.

“So,” he said suddenly. “You still single?” Gerard asked.

Looking up to meet Gerard’s gaze, Frank had a look of confusion on his face that mixed with a questioning smile.

“I don’t know – depends how this thing right now ends,” he said honestly. “Good or bad – depends on which one of those outcomes.”

Nodding seriously, Gerard mumbled an ‘okay’. “So,” he went on. “If it ends well – you’re not single. And if it ends badly – you still are?” he asked, just to make sure he had it right. A small smile was on his face; he hid it terribly and Frank liked that.

“Yeah,” Frank agreed.

“Can you do that though?” Gerard asked then.

“Do what?”

“Get with a customer.”

Frank laughed then. “I’m a barista, not a doctor,” he reminded Gerard.

Grinning, Gerard nodded. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind if you were my doctor.”

“Do I look like a doctor to you?” Frank asked.

“No,” Gerard agreed. Shaking his head, he went back to what he was saying before. “So can you?” he asked. “Can you get with a customer?”

Shrugging, Frank nodded. “I guess so,” he said. “I mean… even if there was a rule against it, it’s not like anyone’s here to see it.”

Smirking at the way Frank put their ‘date’, Gerard had a loaded question. “See what?” he asked suggestively.

Shaking his head at how Gerard took what he said, Frank hid another smile on his face by looking down.

“Just so you know,” he answered, “I don’t do anything on the first date.”

Shrugging, Gerard seemed unfazed in the act he still had up.

“We can have our second date now if you want,” he said.

Laughing again, Frank just smiled.

“I gotta close this place up in a second and unless you want to get locked in, you should probably go.”

Grinning all over again, Gerard just stared at Frank.

“What would happen if I got locked in?” he asked. “Would you be here too or would I be alone all night?”

Smiling at Gerard’s consistent suggestiveness, Frank just shrugged.

“You seem to be fine on your own,” he said.

“Yeah,” Gerard agreed initially. “But that was with coffee. And I’m all out now. And I can’t work a machine. And you wouldn’t be here to show me how.”

His voice lowering in a quiet, pleased seriousness, Frank just smiled then.

“You really want me here,” he mumbled.

Dropping his suggestive act, Gerard agreed with a mumbled ‘yeah’. Then moving to stand up, he picked up the coffee Frank had given him in his right hand. “Thanks,” he said as he gestured the empty drink to Frank.

“Oh,” Frank realised then. “You’re going now?” he asked what already appeared obvious.

“Yeah,” Gerard nodded. “Head home before it gets dark,” he said. A smile later and he spoke again. “Thanks for the coffee though. And the conversation. It was fun.”

“Yeah,” Frank agreed a little more quietly. “We should do this again.”

Nodding, Gerard moved out from where he’d sat for so long and headed for the closest bin. Tossing his empty cup away, he headed back towards Frank. Frank was standing then.

“I know you said you don’t do anything on the first date,” Gerard started. “But…” he trailed off then and stepping forward, he leant forward and pressed his lips to the side of Frank’s face.

Frank’s reaction was exactly what he had expected: he looked down as he tried to hide the smile on his face.

Stepping back, Gerard spoke again when Frank had said nothing.

“So, can I get your number or something then?”

A quiet realisation of ‘oh’ and Frank was nodding. “Yeah,” he said. And with that, he headed back over to the counter he’d been standing at all day. Gerard followed him, and it was there with the same barrier between them that they exchanged something other than coffee and money.

Spinning around and looking around as he went, Frank moved to grab a pen before he leant down on the counter to write his number down. It was on a serviette but when he handed it over, Gerard didn’t seem to mind.

Nodding his silent thank you, Gerard’s gaze lingered a moment before he turned to go, leaving Frank to (finally) close up the shop.

It was only when he was outside that Gerard actually looked down at the napkin in his hand. Before he shoved it in his back pocket, his eyes glanced over what was scrawled in black pen on the serviette. There was a number - obviously - but above that Frank had written ‘To the guy at the coffee shop, I don’t think I’m single anymore - from the guy who works at the coffee shop’. It was a messed up-sounding sentence but it made Gerard laugh a little, stop and turn back around.

Looking back to the coffee shop, he just grinned. It faded into a smile and then he was left with a feeling of quiet happiness. He couldn’t see Frank from where he was, but turning back around and heading back home he could still see the way Frank smiled and looked down when he was embarrassed clear in his mind’s eye. It felt nice. And it felt even nicer to know that the guy who worked at the coffee shop had somehow turned out to be his.

He’d always looked nice, Gerard thought, and Frank had always been the cute, attractive guy who worked at the coffee shop to him, but winding up with him was something else. Because even after the many times he’d wondered if the guy was single or not, he just didn’t at all expect to walk out of there on the last day of his winter-only Sunday habitual outing as a taken man who left ‘the guy who worked at the coffee shop’ newly taken too.