Chapter Text
Prologue:
Jeff stared miserably ahead, groaning as his hands tightly gripped the steering wheel. How could he have forgotten that today was the first day of the remodel of his Starbucks. He was already running late, hungover, and not in the mood to go to the office without some sort of pick me up.
“I swear...” he mumbled, fishing his phone out of his pocket and opening his maps. The nearest Starbucks was (thankfully) only a few blocks away, and also (again, thankfully) on the way to the office. It was not, however, a drive thru, and Jeff grumbled to himself as he sped off towards his destination.
He walked into the small store (so small, in fact, he’d nearly driven by it) and was nearly overpowered by the aroma. Had he really not been in a cafe in that long that he forgot what coffee smelled like? He shook his head and skulked to the counter, patting his pockets for his wallet as the brunette at the grinder shut the machine off and turned to look at him over her shoulder, “Hey there! Be right with you.”
He grunted softly as he finally located his wallet and looked up to meet the small barista’s gaze after she found her way to the register, and it took everything in him not to go slack jawed. Her bright blue eyes were almost as brilliant as her smile, and when she quirked her head to acknowledge him, he finally found it within himself to mutter, “Hey.”
“Good morning!” She laughed, leaning forward which gave him, at his height, the perfect view down her shirt (he was sure that it wasn’t to her knowledge). “You seem like you definitely need some Monday mojo.”
“Yeah, um, a tall americano with hazelnut.”
“No problem.” Her smile was so genuine he almost thought he was getting punked. Like... everyone was always nice but this girl seemed to be genuinely... happy? Excited? Was she in charge? Why would anyone be so genuine and pleased to work this early in the morning, let alone at a job as thankless as a barista? “Sir?”
“Huh?”
“I asked for your name,” she laughed, still smiling. “You sure you don’t want a grande? You seem pretty tired.”
“No, I’m good, thanks. And my names Jeff. What’s yours?”
She stopped short of what she was doing (presumably typing his name in for his order) and looked up at him as if no one had ever asked her before.
“Annie.”
“Hi Annie.” He seemed to suddenly remember that he knew how to interact like a human being, especially with attractive women. “And if it’s not too late, I will take a grande.”
“It’s never too late, Jeff,” her smile returned, and Jeff thought she batted her eyelashes. “You’ve never been here before. Were you displaced from the drive thru on main?”
“Yeah,” he laughed, handing her a five. “Is it that obvious?”
“Mmm just a little.” She handed him back his change and straightened up a bit, “but we’ll make regulars out of all of you soon enough. We actually know how to make drinks.”
“Then this better be the best damn americano of my life.”
“Please, Jeff,” she smirked at him and made her way to the bar, “I’m making it. You’ll never go back.”
He couldn’t help but smiling and thought maybe the drive thru being closed wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.
Chapter One:
The following days it became part of Jeff's morning routine to stop by his new Starbucks for his americano and, if he felt particularly cheery, some egg bites. Annie wasn't always there (of course, he thought, because people had days off) but the days she was were definitely better. The coffee was better, the mood was better, the conversation was better. After a while he had long forgotten about his former drive thru, which reopened Wednesday the week after it had closed, and he realized that the experience of conversation was really worth getting out of the car. Well coffee, conversation, and pretty women were worth getting out of the car, but that was neither here nor there.
He walked in to see that Annie was making drinks today, and he smiled knowing his drink would be delicious (he thought that maybe she put an extra pump of hazelnut in his drink, or that everyone else just made it wrong-which was honestly more likely). He noticed her smile out of the corner of his eye as he ordered, never looking up from her row of drinks. Jeff gave a friendly smile to Vicky, the girl working the cashier, and slipped his change into the tip jar before heading over to wait by the handoff.
"Britta?" Annie called out, placing a giant drink in front of him. "Eight shot iced Oatmilk latte in a trenta cup, extra ice?"
She made eye contact with him before giving him a small smirk and pointing at a hot cup, "That one is yours, m'lord."
"Ah, thank you m'lady. Didn't even need a sticker huh?"
"You haven't surprised me yet." She smiled with a shrug. He wasn't sure if he was offended or not. He shook his head and leaned against the wall, waiting for his eggs as a frazzled blonde ran up to the counter.
"Hey Britta." Annie said nicely, still not looking up from her drinks. "I'll see you in class."
"Right, hopefully this keeps me up!" She sighed, gripping the massive dose of caffeine. Jeff smirked and nodded at her (and, consequently) her drink. "Hey Britta-"
She looked up at him, alarmed and put off, "Yeah?"
"You really should just do coke."
A loud clattering sound rang out as Annie dropped a steaming pitcher on the floor. Trying not to laugh she quickly scooped it up and put it in a sink behind her, looking wide eyed at the exchange in front of her as she continued to make her drinks.
"For your information, I wouldn't ever do coke. It's immoral to partake when so many people who process, bag, and drug mule it here are abused and forced against their will to do it!"
Jeff shrugged as Vicky walked his egg bites over, giving her a nod of thanks and a smile before turning back to Britta, "It's ok to just say you can't afford it."
A screeching sound now came from the milk Annie was steaming as she jerked the wand into it. He heard her softly mutter under her breath before wiping her hands on her apron and running off to wash her hands.
"What's your name?"
"Jeff."
"Well Jeff it wasn't a pleasure to meet you and I hope I don't see you around." The blonde huffed at him before turning around to leave. "I'll see you later, Annie."
"Bye..." She choked out, doing her best not to laugh until Britta was all the way out the door. She chuckled and admonished Jeff with a smile, "Jeff! Why'd you do that?"
"Because no one needs eight shots, Annie. God clearly didn't want her to wake up, and she somehow defied him and made her way here to order that monstrosity."
"Alright, we can't all be Mr. Americano."
"Right, but we won't all soon be dead from a caffeine infused heart attack."
Annie rolled her eyes, "She throws most of it away anyway."
"Even worse. She deserved to be called out."
"Aren't you late for something?" She teased, pretending to be annoyed with him as she cleaned up her mess.
"Most likely." He shrugged, looking at his watch. "What are you studying?"
"Forensics, at GCC."
"Huh. I didn't peg you for that."
"Well," she smiled sweetly, grabbing a bucket off the floor, "maybe next time you're here you can tell me... how you pegged me."
His smile disappeared and his eyes went a little hazy as she tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and walked the bucket to the back, never once turning to look at him (which of course drove him absolutely crazy).
*.*.*.*
Jeff lounged in the leather armchair in his boss's office, absently running his fingers over the rivets in the arms. He hated being called into Ted's office, even if it was usually just because he wanted to shoot the shit and have a glass of scotch. It always felt like trouble, and trouble generally bored (and frightened) Jeff.
"Look Winger, I wanted to talk to you because I know the last couple of years you've really worked your ass off."
"And we just wanted to talk about that NOW? Ted, you're on your own timeline or something buddy."
Ted waved a hand at him dismissively, looking at an email on his laptop as he disregarded Jeff's sarcasm. "And I know you want to make partner. And YOU know I want you to make partner."
"Wonderful, we're on the same page."
"You're a hell of a defense attorney, Jeff. One of the best I've ever known. You're also, by far, the least educated."
Jeff scowled and opened his mouth to retort when he was cut off, "And I already know the story; you got your bachelor's in California and just took the bar like a champ. It's great, you practiced there, moved here, passed the bar again, but it still doesn't change the fact that you just have your BA. Thompson has his master's from Yale and his BA from Harvard for Pete's sake so you gotta give me something to pitch to the guys upstairs."
"Uh, what about 'Hasn't lost a case in three years'?"
"I'm just saying man, they want some backing on their investment."
Jeff was now visibly annoyed, his eyebrows furrowed together and his lips downturned. Who cared if he was "less educated" if he did the job better than anyone else? The politics of it all made him sick, and he began to slowly rub his temples as he thought. His head was starting to hurt, and he'd kill for another glass of scotch or hell, even a coffee-
Coffee. That was it. Well, not exactly, but the train of thought was that coffee was made by Annie who goes to Greendale Community College and is getting a degree in forensics and was wearing what seemed to be a dangerously low cut shirt this morning. He shook his head, trying to remove those thoughts from his brain, (or at the very least, bury them for the time being).
"I'm only 6 units shy of a bachelor's in psychology." Jeff mumbled, still pondering if he could swing this like he'd swung basically everything else in his life. Ted slowly peeled his eyes from the computer and gave Jeff an intrigued glance.
"Hmm?"
"Well," Jeff sighed, sinking further into the plush chair, "I couldn't decide on a major, so I kept taking classes for both. Finally criminal justice won out just because there were less courses and I had to declare a major to even graduate. But if I go for my last 6 units, I'll have another bachelor's in criminal psychology. Would that be enough to pitch? An understanding of the minds of our clients and our juries? Because let's face it, who among us is truly innocent."
Ted chewed on his lip for a moment, seemingly thinking of his spin on Jeff's account. 'California lawyers don't need master's degrees, he's clearly invested to go back to get another BA, hasn't lost a case since being with the firm, blah blah blah'. He sighed deeply as he wondered if it could be enough, and if anything, it couldn't hurt.
"Man, I don't know, but I think it's worth a shot. Where and when-"
"I have a... an acquaintance who works at Greendale community college. He's actually the head of the psych department. I can ask him which classes will fulfill the requirements and when I can take them. Could I... work something out? Still work? Take a 'vacation'?"
"I mean as long as you get your shit done you know I don't really care. But if it's gonna eat up too much time, you have a ton of PTO. It's something to think about."
Jeff looked past his boss, his eyes hazy as he began to think, "I'll let you know; I'll call Duncan right now."