Chapter Text
Oscar was someone who was particularly calm. Even when the arm of the coffee machine he was using to make the hot chocolates stayed jammed. Again. And even when he smelled a batch of burned croissant, only to find out that Charles had forgotten to not make out with Max on the job. So, yes, Oscar was calm enough for someone who was being paid to third wheel a married couple who opened a coffee shop five years ago. And he was surviving to this hell since he got out of high school, so almost three years now.
“Hi, what can I get you today ?”
A regular named Kimi was standing on the other side of the counter. He was an Italian who was currently surviving his first year in college on some…engineering…thing ? Anyway, Oscar’s knowledge was stopping there, apart from the order of the young man. He only asked to be sure. You always have to be sure, Oscar learned.
“The usual, but I’ll want whipped cream on top. You can do that ?”
“Yep. That’s an extra, though,” answered Oscar, popping the «p» and entering the order. “Anything else ?” he asked for good measure.
“Uhm, actually, yes ! Is Max here ?”
Oh, yeah, right. Oscar forgot that Kimi is basically Max and Charles adopted kid.
“Uh, yeah, of course. I…think he’s upstairs. I’ll text him while I make your mocha with extra whipped cream.”
He let Kimi swipe his debit card, then took his phone.
Oscar Piastri
Kimi’s here. He wants to see you.
Oscar just has the time to start making the mocha that his phone buzzed and illuminated on the counter.
Scary boss
k
He finished making Kimi’s coffee, then placed the glass in front of him.
“I guess you’ll drink it here ? I didn’t ask, sorry…”
“Oh, yeah, I’ve got work that I want to show Max, so…yeah,” the youngest nodded awkwardly.
Oscar watched him walk over the nearest table from the counter, the one he was always taking. Just after he seated himself and opened his laptop, footsteps made themselves known behind Oscar, coming from the man who came out of the kitchen door.
“Hey, Oscar, good to see you,” said Max without even looking at him before getting around the counter to approach Kimi. “Hey kid ! How is school going ?”
“Very good, Max ! Look, that’s a homework I finished last night ! It was so…”
Oscar’s mind disconnected himself from the conversation when the bell at the entrance of the café chimed. And right there, Oscar saw the most gorgeous man that he had been able to lay eyes on. Usually, Oscar didn’t really pay attention to the clients, except the regulars ; and again, it wasn’t in a way where he was almost frozen in place, hit by the energy that the young man gave off.
The first thing that caught his attention was the slight smile that was already ghosting his lips, accentuated by his hazel eyes. He was wearing black baggy jeans, a simple white t-shirt with a logo on it, a backward cap from which was escaping some stray curls, and then some accessories (a silver neck chain, plenty of bracelets, a watch and even several rings). He was beautiful, even if he was carrying a bright papaya ochimede backpack on his right shoulder and seemed to not really fit into the calm atmosphere of the café.
“Hi !”
Oh, God. His voice was even better than what Oscar imagined. It was British, round, and so warm.
It took a moment for Oscar to reboot and realise that the man was now standing right before him.
“Uh…yeah, hi, sorry. What can I get for you ?”
“Uuuuh…” let the man trail before unconsciously licking his lips while looking at the menu on the wall behind Oscar. “I’ll take– uh…do you have smoothies ?”
The requests took Oscar aback. He frowned, then turned to look at the menu.
“Uhm…no, sir, we don’t have smoothies.”
“Oh…” the man let out, before his eyes returned to the menu.
But Oscar didn’t say his last words.
“Max ?” he called out.
Max made an acknowledgement sound.
“Why don’t we make smoothies ?”
Max turned his head in his direction and snorted.
“You’ll check the name of the shop.”
Oscar sighed.
“We literally have hot chocolate and matcha. Those don’t contain coffee, as far as I know.”
“Charles’ fault,” mumbled Max while returning to Kimi.
Yes ! That was the solution !
Oscar returned toward the very handsome customer.
“Well, sir, we don’t have smoothies yet, but I’m sure I’ll be able to convince my second boss to make some.”
The man chuckled.
“Wow, it’s fine, I’m not gonna die if I don’t have my smoothie, mate. I’ll take you a latte with extra caramel, I can do that ?”
“Of course, to take with you or drink here ?”
“Take with me, thanks.”
“And…nothing else ?” Oscar asked as he tapped the order.
“Nope.”
“Coming right up.”
Oscar tried his best not to look at him while he was preparing the latte, but failed nonetheless. While he was finally letting the coffee fill the cup, the kitchen door behind him opened.
“Hi Oscar, everything’s alright ?”
“Perfect. I’m actually surprised there’s not more people.”
“Well, Maxie would disagree if I say that it’s better like that, but who cares,” whispers the new arrival.
He then looked at the customer.
“Hi ! Is it your first time coming here ?”
The man seemed mildly surprised.
“Uh, yes, actually ! It’s very nice, I might come back.”
“You didn’t even taste what we had to offer you ! Oscar here could be making poor coffee, and you wouldn't know !” chuckled Charles.
The man blushed, and Oscar looked at Charles, offended.
“Hey, my coffees are better than yours, it was not for nothing that you needed a barista !”
“Of course, of course…anyway, serve this latte.”
He then got around the counter toward Max and Kimi.
Oscar put the coffee on the counter before…Oscar was definitely not calling him Latte-extra-caramel guy. He doesn’t even know if he’ll like that. Smoothie guy is probably more appropriate.
“There you go. I’ll try to negotiate for the smoothie until you come back.”
Fuck, what was he doing !? The most logical thing was that he would not come back. They literally didn’t have what he liked !
But Smoothie guy just blushed and took the cup.
“Sure. See you again, Oscar,” he said while waving his free hand.
The bell chimed and the door closed. Oscar was so fucked.
~+++~
During lunchtime, Oscar made his best to survive the slight rush. Usually, it wasn’t a problem (the big rush was in the morning, most of the time), but, right now, his mind was occupied elsewhere. He forgot several things, and made little mistakes in things he had since a long time mastered. And to add to his bad luck, the brewing arm of the coffee machine was acting again.
He even got to the point where, past 12 pm, he texted Max.
Oscar Piastri
Hey, boss, I would need a little help at the counter. Charles is watching a batch of pistachio croissants, he’s busy.
Scary boss
coming
“Hi, what can I get you ?” asked Oscar to the weekly regular Double-espresso-with-a-little-sugar guy who was standing on the other side of the counter.
He had a skate in his right hand, dark curly hair under a cap, and both of his arms covered in tattoos. This was generally the hour where he was coming to take his coffee on mondays only, and he was always ordering a different sandwich with it. He was a nice regular, and Oscar knew he owned the tattoo shop further on the street. But today, he was just reminding Oscar of Smoothie guy.
“Hi, double espresso with a little sugar and…a different sandwich ? From usually, I mean. I don’t know which one to take…”
Oscar smirked, happy to see that he remembered well the order of the skater and that he was willing to try something different.
“Well, we have this one with prosciutto, this one with tomatoes, this one with mixed cheese… I think those are the ones you never took. I’d personally take the tomato one, but I’m not really a sandwich guy, so…” he said, pointing to each one while he was talking.
The guy thought for a second.
“I’ll take the cheese one. Is it made with strong cheese ?”
“I’ll say they are mild, but it’s probably stronger than what you usually buy.”
“Nice ! Yeah, I’ll take that.”
“To eat here or to take with you ?”
“Take with me, thank you.”
Oscar tapped the order, made him pay, then started preparing the coffee. He was lucky, because that’s the moment where Max decided to walk out of the kitchen.
“Could you put one cheese sandwich in a bag, please, Max ?”
“‘Course. Nothing else ?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Max put the bag on the counter before the man, and waited for Oscar to finish the coffee. Max then easily started a conversation. Oscar knew it wasn’t really for the gossip or for the life of their customer (this was more something Charles was doing), but more for the profit and the marketing. Oscar guessed it was also pretty easy to talk to the regulars because of the seemingly incredible memory Max had.
“So, you’re a regular, right ?”
“Oh, yeah, your place is my treat for my Monday lunchtime. The only day where I don’t take my coffee at home and don’t pack a lunch. I’m a little lazy on Saturday night, you know…” the man chuckled.
Max nodded.
“Cool. I’m happy you like the place my husband and I own. He’s currently in the kitchen, though, but you probably saw him before.”
The curly hair man nodded awkwardly. Oscar saved him by handing him his double espresso.
“Thank you both.”
And he got away.
~+++~
At the end of the day, Charles turned the “open” panel on the front door to “close” while Oscar cleaned the counter and the coffee machine. It was the exact right moment.
“Charles ?”
“Yes ?”
“A customer asked for…a smoothie, today. Do you think we can try to make some ?”
Charles frowned while also taking a wet cloth and cleaning the tables.
“For one customer ?”
“Well he…it was the first thing he asked. Even if there weren't any smoothies on the menu.”
“Oscar, he’ll not come back, we don’t have what he wants, it’ll be a waste of time.
“He told me he’ll come back !”
It was unnecessarily vehement, and Charles seemed to understand that. He looked suspiciously at Oscar.
“He told you ? You never make conversation with customers, not even regulars…what’s going on, Oscar ? Was it someone from your family ? Or a friend ?”
Charles tried to keep it casual, even if Oscar knew he was secretly enjoying this.
“No, no, it was…”
The words died in his mouth.
“Yes ?”
Charles came closer, joining him behind the counter now that he had finished with the tables.
“He was handsome…” mumbled Oscar, concentrating on one particularly stubborn coffee stain on the counter.
He saw Charles’ face light up with a triumphant smile in his peripheral vision.
“Ouuuh, my Oscar a un crush !”
“Shut up…” blushed the younger.
“Well, that’s a way to talk to your boss !”
“I don't have a crush.”
“Yet !” giggled Charles. “Anyway, if you think the smoothie will help you talk more to this guy, you can try by elaborating recipes, I give you the go. I think I have an unused mixer somewhere, I’ll try to find it. Anyway, you’ll think about that tomorrow, go home, now. Good night Oscar !”
He disappeared by the kitchen door, probably to go upstairs in his apartment with Max for the night.
Oscar checked that everything was in place, then stepped outside in the rarely hot May air. The sun was slowly setting, even if it would take another hour and a half for it to disappear behind the horizon line.
He locked the door with the coffee shop’s key, then walked the usual way to his apartment. He passed before the flower shop, the tattoo and piercing one, the vet, and some others. While he was walking, Oscar found his mind already full of smoothie ideas. The thing was…Smoothie guy had to like them ! If there were smoothies but he loved any of them, it would be a real shame !
After fifteen minutes of brainstorming, Oscar arrived before his apartment building. He entered, climbed the stairs to the third floor, walked to his door, and opened it. He sighed. What a mess.
The first thing he did after closing the door and throwing his backpack on the floor was to take his recipe notebook, and start writing his ideas. Making smoothies shouldn’t be that complicated, right ?