Color My Life with the Chaos of Trouble

“We’re out of soy today,” is the first thing Ash says to Lucian when he walks into the shop one afternoon.

“Oh? Bummer,” Lucian says, pouting, and even then his eyes retain their usual bright glow so the expression isn’t convincing at all (it is, however, very endearing). He seems to think for a moment before grinning cheerily again, “I’ll just have an iced tea, then.”

Ash arches an eyebrow at Lucian and says, “We have milk, you know. You could always have a regular latte.”

Lucian shakes his head no. “I’m lactose intolerant,” he says by way of explanation.
Ash hums thoughtfully and gets the iced tea for Lucian. He slides it across the counter to him and says, “That’ll be two-sixty-five.”

Lucian fishes around in his wallet and hands Ash three dollars and tells him to keep the change. “For putting up with my daily ramblings,” Lucian says when Ash tries to refuse the tip. “The last guy who worked this shift hated me because I wouldn’t shut up.”

Ash highly doubts that it’s possible for anyone to truly hate Lucian, but he keeps the change anyways, because it’s a little hard to say no to that carefree smile and soft laugh.

-

There’s this one day when Lucian doesn’t show up at the shop, and Ash, being a creature of habit and entirely too pathetic and deprived of a normal social life, as between school and homework and his job and sleeping, he has virtually no free time, worries about Lucian and actually finds himself missing him.

He waits for three-thirty and when the time comes and goes and Lucian still isn’t there, Ash gets restless. He wonders if something’s happened to Lucian, if he’s been caught up in some sort of accident or something. He begins to get nervous on Lucian’s behalf and then quickly tells himself he’s being silly and makes a conscious effort to stop worrying about it (it doesn’t work). He drums his fingers on the countertop and frowns at the clock, as if it’s lying to him and maybe if he plays the bad cop and glares at it, it’ll admit that it’s actually only three-twenty-five and Lucian will be here at any moment. Ash isn’t entirely sure his mind makes sense sometimes.

At three-forty-two, a twenty-something brunette girl who looks like she’s in a hurry comes rushing into Jitters. Ash has never seen her before. There’s nothing too remarkable about her; wavy, brown hair, large brown eyes that make her look a little naïve and innocent and a swing in her step that says otherwise, pale cheeks flushed from either excitement or exertion or both. She’s kind of cute, perhaps, but nothing special. Except then she orders:

“One medium iced cappuccino,” she says all on one breath, words jumbling together in her haste, “And one medium soy latte, please.”

And it’s actually really pathetic that her order makes him think of Lucian, but seriously okay, not a whole lot of people order the soy latte, and Lucian is, well, memorable, to say the least. Ash nods and tells her the price and goes to make the coffees for her, and she squints at Ash’s nametag and then his face for a moment before an expression of realization passes over her features.

“You’re Ash?” she asks with an air of familiarity that’s a little startling.

Ash hesitates before answering that yes, he is, wondering if he’s met this girl before and just forgot. That would be awkward, not to mention slightly embarrassing. The girl makes a hmm sound, and as goes to look for the proper amount of money in her wallet to pay for the coffee, she says something that almost makes Ash drop the coffee he’s making.

“Lucian wanted me to tell you that he’s sorry he couldn’t make it today,” the girl says, lips curling up into a smile that’s a little too knowing. “He’s really busy with work, and he wanted me to convey his most sincere apologies to you.”

Ash catches himself before his composure falls completely apart and says to her in what he likes to think is a completely calm and level voice, “‘Convey his most sincere apologies’?”

The girl shrugs and laughs. “His words, not mine,” she says.

Ash indulges in a half-smirk, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, and says, “You can tell him that I won’t hold a grudge against him. It’s not like I plan my day around our five minute conversations, anyways.”

That last part may not be, strictly speaking, the truth but this girl doesn’t need to know that. Ash slides the two drinks over to her and tells her again that her total comes to six-sixty-five. She hands the money over to him and he wishes her a good day as is customary and wants to ask her to say hello to Lucian for him but then decides against it because he thinks it’ll make him look too desperate and probably slightly creepy.

-

Lucian arrives at his usual time the next day and smiles at Ash. He orders his medium soy latte and fiddles with the headphones dangling around his neck. He looks cheery, as always, and Ash wonders if Lucian ever gets upset about anything because from what he’s seen, it almost seems impossible. But then again, Ash is just a barista at the coffee shop Lucian likes to come to every day, and that’s not exactly enough for Ash to claim he knows Lucian well at all.

“I bet you missed me yesterday,” Lucian teases around a grin as Ash goes to make his coffee.

Ash snorts. “Oh yeah, definitely,” he says in a dramatic tone. “I’m lost without you.”

Lucian laughs, eyes curving into crescent shapes. Ash notices the large sketchpad Lucian has tucked under his arm and nods towards it.

“You’re an artist?” he asks.

Lucian shrugs. “I try,” he says. “Haven’t quite made it yet, though.”

Ash hums contemplatively. “Will you show me your artwork sometime?” he asks, more to continue the conversation than for the actual answer. He likes hearing Lucian talk; he has this air of eloquence about him, never short of witty comments and comebacks.

Lucian makes a face at Ash’s request, like he’s not sure but he could be persuaded to do so. “I don’t know,” he says. “Some of the stuff I bring to work on here isn’t all that great.”

“Show me something you’re proud of, then,” Ash offers, sliding Lucian’s coffee across the counter to him.

Lucian pays for his coffee and takes a sip. He chews thoughtfully on the lid for a moment before agreeing, “Yeah, okay. I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t forget,” Ash says with an implied or else in his voice, though or else what, he really doesn’t know (people never really know what the or else means, though, so it’s not like Ash is committing some heinous crime here).

Lucian grins. “I won’t,” he promises in that mock serious voice he likes to use sometimes.

And Ash, sad as it may be, believes him and makes a mental note to remind him about it sometime.