Who: Caroline Forbes & Julia Wicker What: Waiting forever for a coffee When: 25th May, morning Where: Coffee shop Rating/Warnings: Low Status: Complete!
Caroline got home late from an event. Which wasn’t unusual for the blonde. It was her career after all. Just like scheduling clients for morning meetings was also part of her job. She usually tried not to to d that back to back, but ever since everything with Tyler had gone down Caroline began taking on more events to keep herself busy. Just because things were good with them again, didn’t mean she was going to slow down any. Especially with him out of town.
Which meant coffee on her way to the meeting. Not that it really did all that much for her but it helped a little, and having one made her feel more human anyway. She stopped at a coffee shop on her way to the office ordering herself an iced vanilla latte before making her way over to the other counter to wait for her drink.
There were a few other people waiting as well. Caroline was never one to wait in silence. She usually talked to whoever she was around, today was no different. She gave the girl next to her a small, warm, smile. “Sometimes I feel like this part takes longer than the whole standing in line to order part.”
Julia tilted her head when someone spoke to her and her eyebrows briefly lifted before she was nodding her agreement. “Honestly, there’s about half a dozen ways I could see them making the whole process more efficient,” she said, eyes tracking the chaos behind the counter. This part of the process was a bottleneck; it needed to be improved because people wouldn’t have to wait as long in that case. She shrugged her shoulders. “I think it’s part of an overall scheme to force people to talk to each other while they’re waiting.”
Her lips twitched up a little and held out a hand. “Julia.”
“Caroline,” she replied shaking Julia’s hand. “I mean, that part isn’t the worst thing ever,” she added as she released Julia’s hand. “It’s better than people just staring at their phones the whole time.” Which there were a few of those not far from them also waiting for their orders. Caroline wasn’t judging though. She had definitely been known to get caught up replying to emails on her phone to notice much of the world around her.
“I don’t know,” Julia said with an upward quirk of her lips, expression impish. “Some of the people that you meet in places like this leave a lot to be desired.” She glanced around them, looking to see if there was anyone that fitted the description.
She tucked her hair behind her ear and folded her arms, unfolding them a moment later because she’d been told before about watching her body language. Having resting bitch face was bad enough without shutting the world out by folding her arms. It did leave her not quite knowing what to do with her hands, so she twisted her thumb ring and then reached out for a wooden stirrer, twirling it between her fingers idly.
“Some people only come in here, I think, for the wireless chargers.”
“And the free wifi,” Caroline agreed though she found herself glancing around as well. She didn’t see anyone that fit Julia’s description. But then Caroline was also the type of person that saw the good in everything and everyone.
“Or,” Caroline replied going back to Julia’s first comment. “They are just people waiting for their coffee to start the day.” That was why she was here at least.
Julia laughed softly, “Yeah,” she agreed, “or leaving their office to prove to someone that they haven’t turned into a vampire since getting their new job,” which was her reason for being there. She needed to be out and about otherwise she’d forget what the sun looked like. And Quentin would never have let her live that down.
“But the free wifi is definitely a big draw.”
Caroline was literally a vampire. So of course she zoned in on that comment. “I’m going to guess that someone is you?” Caroline replied focussing more on the new job part than the vampire part. You never knew around Orange County, but the way Julia said it, Caroline could tell it was clearly more a figure of speech than anything.
Julia ducked her head, glancing at her feet before she lifted her eyes to look at Caroline again. “Guilty,” she admitted. “I recently got a new job and I’ve been kind of a hermit.” She couldn’t help it; it was so fascinating and they had a huge backlog of things that needed translating anyway so she was consistently busy. But it did mean that she was neglecting important things like sleep. She still met Q for breakfast - or lunch - as regularly as they could (at least once a day) but she was in that place where she was lost to the challenge of learning something new. “I’d not survive without coffee.”
“I totally get that,” Caroline replied with a reassuring smile. “I tend to get caught up in my job too. I’m just lucky that mine actually requires me to like go places.” Caroline was almost always on the go, from meeting with clients to caterers to florists to location scouting. There was always somewhere she needed to be.
“What do you do?” She asked with a quick glance at her watch. She still had some time but she really needed that coffee already.
“I’m a historical researcher,” Julia said quickly, the words tumbling out of her mouth and she caught herself before she started rambling about translations and manuscripts and document verification. “I work at one of the universities.” She tipped her head, “You?”
Someone leaned between them to grab their coffee which had been called, muttering something about her name being spelt wrong into the phone that looked surgically attached to her face. Julia’s fingers twitched.
That sounded pretty boring to Caroline. But she didn’t have a passion for history. With the way Julia’s face lit up at the mention of it, Caroline could tell that she really was passionate about. And that was the important thing. “That sounds like it could be interesting,” Caroline replied giving Julia another warm smile. “If you’re like into history and stuff. Which it seems like you are.”
As for her? “I’m an event planner,” Caroline replied. “Keeps me pretty busy.” Especially if she was dealing with a difficult client. Though lately Caroline was working with a lot of charities and non profits and they all seemed to be on the more relaxed side of things when it came to events. It was the bridezillas that caused her stress.
“Jeez,” Julia said, leaning back as another coffee was placed in a to-go cup on the counter. It wasn’t hers, or Caroline’s though. “I imagine that’s stressful. The worst thing I have to worry about is dropping or spilling coffee on artefacts that are at least nine hundred years old. I don’t have to deal with people.”
“It has it’s moments,” Caroline replied honestly. “Are you sure getting coffee is the best idea?” she teased cracking a smile given Julia’s comment.
Julia snorted, “Well, it’s either a shot of caffeine or I fall asleep on the fifteenth-century Judeo-Christian manuscript I’ve been working on for the past three days…”
“That is way too much time for a Judeo-Christian manuscript.” Or any manuscript if you asked Caroline. She was way too much of a people person to keep her head in a book for more than a few hours. “Or any manuscript.”
Julia chuckled, “It’s taking a while to translate. It’s a mixture of an old Hebrew dialect and Latin, which makes it slightly more complicated than some of the others that I’ve worked on.” She waved her hand, “Sorry- you didn’t need to know that. I’m just sleep deprived so prone to oversharing.”
Just hearing all those different languages made Caroline’s head hurt. Even if it was only two. “Oh it’s fine,” Caroline replied the reassuring smile back on her face. “If I was working on the same thing for three days it’d probably be all I talked about.”
Julia waved her hand again, “I accepted a while ago that I’ve got the kind of job that most people would get that glassy-eyed look if I talked too long,” she reassured, “it’s not quite as exciting as archeology.” But she was good at learning, remembering, applying her knowledge to things and making them make sense. And she loved it, probably a little too much.
Another coffee was put down and she sighed, stepping to the side again and glancing over at Caroline. “I’m pretty sure he was in line after us.”
“As long as you don’t get that glassy eyed look,” Caroline teased again. She gave a small nose at Julia’s comment. “You know I think you’re right. You think they’d at least try and go in order.” Even Caroline’s usual optimism was beginning to falter at the wait. Although she was at least enjoying talking to Julia.
“I didn’t even ask for anything complicated,” Julia said with something approaching a pout. It was unfair that their coffee was being withheld from them. She was resisting the urge to drum her fingers on the counter, but when another order was brought forward she caught the barista's eye. “Look, I get that you’re busy with your mocha-soy-latte-half-caf-frappuccinos, but some of us have been waiting for plain coffee and-” she glanced at Caroline, the opening there for her to speak her order.
“Iced vanilla latte,” Caroline told the barista. Which granted was a little more complicated than a plain coffee, but it still wasn’t all that complicated. Especially considering Caroline just ordered it how it came. She didn’t ask for different kinds of milk or any other substitutions.
“Sorry it’s a little crazy today,” the barista replied with a sheepish smile and a shrug just as she grabbed the next order. “Plain coffee for Julie!” she called out looking over at the brunette. “Yours?”
Julia lifted her eyebrows and reached out to take the cup as it was placed down. “Yeah,” she answered, with a polite smile. Julie was better than some of the things that had been scrawled down. “Thank you.”
She glanced at Caroline. “Hopefully that means yours is up next.”
Caroline didn’t understand why coffee places always seemed to get names wrong. But oh well. At least Julia had finally gotten her coffee. “Hopefully,” Caroline agreed.
But then of course another name was called and it wasn’t hers. Caroline had to suppress an eyeroll. This was getting to be too much for the usual optimist. “How long were you waiting before I came over?” she asked Julia. Not that it mattered it didn’t seem like they were going in any particular order.
“About six minutes,” Julia said, hip cocked to the side and obnoxiously deciding she would stay right where she was until Caroline had her coffee, wooden stirred in the to-go cup as she added sugar and creamer. “I’m confused by their system.”
“Maybe it will only be another six minutes then,” though Caroline doubted it. Good thing she had vampire speed. She was going to need it to get to her meeting on time. She noticed that Julia hadn’t moved, Caroline assumed that meant she was going to wait with her. “You don’t have to wait,” Caroline assured her. “I know you have that manuscript to get back to.”
“Are you sure?” Julia asked, nose wrinkled slightly. “I’d not want to abandon my fellow queuer.”
“I’m sure,” Caroline replied with a small nod. “No point both of us being stuck here, really.” She gave Julia a reassuring smile. “It was nice meeting you.”
“I probably should get back,” she agreed, with a sigh, “maybe I’ll run into you again, when we’re both less busy?” Julia smiled, fixing the lid back onto her cup and lifting it to her face, breathing in the hot coffee and closing her eyes, just for a moment. “It was nice to meet you too,” she said with a nod. “I- yeah, it was.”
“I hope so!” As far as people to wait for coffee with, Julia was a pretty good one. “See you,” she added just as her own name was called. Finally.