RP: Saturday afternoon coffee. Date: June 16, 2012 Characters: Caleb Hirsh, Jo (NPC), OPEN Location: Starbucks, Dallas Status: Public Rating: PG Summary: Caleb goes out to write and socialize. Completion: Complete
Caleb was at this Starbuck's more than he would admit to anyone. The service was good though, and he’s managed to make friends with one of the barista’s; her name was Jo, he met her the first time he came in, she recognized him from a picture on his blog and almost immediately started a conversation with him. She’s the type he thinks would look perfect in vintage clothing, if the victory rolls and bright red lipstick she wears are anything to go by, he’s never actually seen her out of her uniform though so it’s just speculation. She knows her fashion too, and sometimes if she’s not too busy she’ll take her break when he comes in and pick his brain about the latest trends and see if she can get inside information on what he’s planning for his blog.
She’s swamped today though, so he only gets in a ‘hey’ before he orders and she’s on to the next customer with a mouthed ‘sorry’, like she owed Caleb more of a conversation, and yeah, it would have been nice to talk but she does have to work. He appreciated the sentiment behind it; he doesn't know that many people in Dallas, so he liked that there was at least one person outside of his sister who was usually happy to see him.
He took his drink to a table by the window and pulled his laptop out of his bag. He doesn’t always bring it with him, but he was going stir crazy trying to write up a blog post at home. And he was out of coffee. He’s pretty sure Ahna stole what little he had left in the cupboard the last time she was at his place. Probably he’ll have to tell her again that his pantry isn’t her own personal market. It’s just one of the few things that make him wonder why he left New York when Ahna asked him to; if he had stayed in his tiny apartment in the city he wouldn’t have to deal with his baby sister stealing his food. But he didn’t really miss it either, the city, it had always been just the place he was. Sure, it was closer to the fashion community than Dallas, but he’d learned that Texas had a community of its own, albeit different than New York.
He glanced up when someone kicked his boot, effectively pulling him from is own thoughts, and caught Jo sliding into the seat across from him.
“Hey,” Jo said when she sure he was looking at her, smiling wide, and not for the first time Caleb wondered how she kept her lipstick so perfectly in place. “I like your boots, are they new?”
“New last fall,” Caleb answered. They had been a gift from a friend, an old peer from Parsons. “Haven’t worn them much.”
“They work for you.”
"Thanks."
He noticed her hand inching across the table towards his laptop and raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything. She thought she was being sneaky probably.
“You on break?”
“Nope, just making up for the counter. Gotta get back behind there soon.” She jerked her thumb back towards the register. “Thought I could get you to tell me what you’re doing.”
“Oh, absolutely. Why should I make you wait like the rest of my readership?” Caleb asked dryly and batted her hand away. He can’t hear her laugh, but can tell by her body language and the movement of her mouth that it’s what she’s doing.
“Ah, c’mon sweetheart.”
His resolve's not easily broken, and he’s sure she knows it, but if she had more than a couple minutes he figured she would try harder to get a peak at his next entry. He shook his head 'no', stone faced.
“Break my heart why don’t you, and even after I complimented your footwear.” She’s laughing again, softer this time he guesses; her movements aren't as animated as they were.
“Sorry.” He’s really not, but the apology makes her laugh again.
A couple more minutes passed by and finally she gives him another smile and motions silently back toward the counter.
“If I send the next adorable customer over to sit with you will you think about letting me see?” Jo asked as she stood, her brown eyes wide.
“Maybe.”
“I can work with that.”
Caleb watched her sashay back behind the coffee counter before he focused back on the laptop and trying to piece together all the ideas he had in his head. He liked variety for his blog, which occasionally made it difficult to create content for fear that he’d done something already. Probably Jo would hold true to her word and send someone over to his table, or the seat would be taken without her doing it. It was pretty busy today; not so busy that he felt like he couldn’t think, but there was a steady stream of people coming and going. He tried to take up as little space as possible; just to make sure that it didn’t come off like he would mind company. He really wouldn’t mind company.