The Emeryville Coffee Shop Owner

I woke up the next late the next morning and quickly ran downstairs to open up Coffee Corner. I opened up and five minutes later Katy arrived.

"Sorry! I know I'm late but my car broke down yesterday and had to get towed so I had to take the bus this morning!" She told me pleadingly, trying to catch her breath. I just smiled.

"That's okay. I woke up late today and was afraid that you'd be here, waiting for me to unlock the door." I said and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought you were going to fire me!" She informed me and I laughed. "What? It's not funny!" She claimed.

"I know, but I would never fire you for something so small and that you've only done once. I can't afford to do that." I explained. She looked puzzled.

"Why not?"

"Because you were the first employee I've ever had that didn't spill hot coffee on their first customer and you are the only person I've ever met who worked the Frappacino machine correctly on their first time, without past experience." I said and she smiled.

"Well, that's a relief. If you don't fire me for being a tiny bit late then what do you fire for?" She asked.

"Not calling me to let me know when you aren't going to be here. Repeatedly asking for a raise even when you know business is tight. Forgetting to turn the coffee pot off at closing every single time you close up shop and last but not least, being a pain in the ass." I said and she laughed.

"Don't worry. If I'm a pain you can kick my ass." She said with a smile that I returned. The door opened and in walked Mike, Billie Joe, and Tre. I walked over to them.

"Hey guys, what would you like? The usual?" I asked smiling at them.

"Hey Roni, well Billie and I want the usual, but Tre... " Mike started and Tre looked at me.

"Starbuck's stopped making Orange Mocha Frappacinos! Please say you've still got them!" Tre told me and I laughed.

"Of course we still have it Tre. By saying it in Bullet In A Bible, with all your fans we couldn't afford to not have it." I said and he sighed.

"Good!"

"Katy will whip one up for you." I said, gesturing toward Katy. He nodded and walked over.

"Thanks." He told me. As soon as he was out of earshot I turned toward Mike and Billie.

"Did I really just have a conversation with Tre in which he didn't make one single perverted joke?" I asked them, disbelieving as I started their coffees. Billie chuckled.

"Yeah, he was really upset after hearing Starbuck's got rid of his drink." Billie explained.

"You don't really have any fans coming in here asking for that drink, do you?" Mike asked me.

"No, we only have it for Tre but the other reason sounded better." I said with a smirk. Mike rolled his eyes.

"You going to be ready to leave in an hour?" Mike asked me and I nodded.

"Yeah, there is only one more thing I have to do before we leave." I replied and turned toward Katy. "Katy, I'm going to be out of town for a while. You want to run the place alone for a while or should I just close down while I'm gone?" I asked her and she smiled at me.

"Of course I can run it. No problem, have fun." She said with a smile and I turned back to Mike.

"I've done everything I need to. So I'll see you in an hour?" I said as Tre and Billie walked out. He nodded and left.

"Hey, if you're out of town you'll miss the Grammy's! I wouldn't miss the Grammy's. Are you going to watch them anyway?" She asked and I held back a laugh.

"Something like that." I said with a smile.

***

4 hours later I was in a limo, on my way from the airport to the hotel with the guys, turns out Mike and Tre didn't have dates so I was every ones date. Tre and I were playing 10 points to hit a pedestrian.

"So ten points to hit a pedestrian, 20 points for a couple." Tre decided.

"40 points for a senior citizen, 50 points if they have a walker. 60 points for a baby and 100 points for Bush." I finished, getting a chuckle out of Billie, a smirk from Mike, and a hi-five from Tre.

"Well, we're here." The driver said and we piled out in front of the hotel.

"Wow... " I whispered, stunned at how expensive the hotel just looked. I felt like I should be paying to look at it. We walked in and Mike approached the front desk.

"Hi, we have three rooms under Frank Wright." He said and the lady typed something in at her computer.

"We don't have three separate rooms but we have two suites, with two king sized beds in each under that name." She said and looked up at us. Mike sighed.

"Okay." He said, not wanting to start up a huge argument.

"I don't mind sharing a room with some one because there are two beds." I volunteered when we stepped into the elevator.

"No, it's okay. One of us can sleep on the couch." Billie said and I shook my head.

"That's silly. Why make one of you uncomfortable when there is an extra bed? Not to mention you're paying for it." I reasoned. It looked like Mike and Tre agreed with me.

"Yeah, we can draw straws to see which one of us will share with you." Mike said and Tre nodded. Billie agreed and we stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway. I grabbed three pencils from my purse, broke on in half before mix them up and holding them out to the guys to pick.

"Long." Tre said. Billie reached out and grabbed one.

"Short." He said and I tried to hide the fact that my heart skipped a beat.

"Come on." I walked into our suite and Billie followed me in. I quickly grabbed my pajamas from my suitcase and walked into the bathroom to change. I walked out to see Billie was already asleep in his bed. I rolled my eyes and laid down in my bed.

***

My eyes snapped open as I felt nothing below me.

"Eep!" I said as a realized I was falling off my bed. I hit the floor hard. "Oof!" I moaned and then I heard someone moving around.

"Are you okay?" I heard Billie's voice ask worriedly. I rolled over to see him looking down at me.

"I'm fine." I said "Ow." I muttered as soon as I tried to sit up. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, fine right." He said with a chuckle and held out a hand, which I gratefully took. He helped me stand up.

"I am fine! I just got a small bruise." I said. "I didn't wake you up when I fell did I?" I said, feeling bad.

"No, I woke up when you were having a bad dream. You kept thrashing in your sleep and it woke me up. It was your thrashing that caused you to fall off the bed." He explained.

"Sorry that I woke you up. I can't even remember the dream now." I told him and looked him in the eye. It was then I realized how close we were standing.

"No problem... " He said and leaned in. I turned my head away before his lips could get any closer and he pulled back. I know I have a crush on him, but something that small won't be the reason he has marriage problems. If I cause the problems then who would he go to for advice on how to fix it?

"Well goodnight Billie." I said and climbed back into my bed.

"Yeah... Goodnight." He replied and got in his own bed.