Chapter One

An impatient man in the corner of the coffeehouse loudly snapped his fingers. I cracked my neck in annoyance as I tried to tune him out so I could take the customer’s orders. He continued to snap as I walked behind the counter making the drinks for the couple. 

A hand slapped the counter loudly with an exaggerated scoff. I jumped at the sound, nearly dropping the cups. 

“EXCUSE ME!” The man spat out “I’ve been calling you”

I gave him the best fake smile I could muster, scrunching my nose a bit. “No you were snapping at me like I was a dog. I will be with you as soon as I can though.”

He scoffed again, clearly taken back at my words. “Do you know who I work for?” He gritted his teeth as he leaned over the counter. "His time is more vaulable then this entire establishment"

I leaned towards him, lowering my voice so Mrs. Reynolds couldn’t hear me. “No. Nor do I care. As you can see we’re clearly busy, so like I said. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”

“ASSISTANT!” Someone called the man from the corner. He scurried back there,but not before shooting me daggers with his eyes. I gave him another fake smile and lifted the cups in a returning gesture. 

I took the couple their order and made my rounds again before Mrs. Reynolds stopped me.

“I need you to take over the table in the corner for Amber… She’s not as… tough as you.” 

Amber hurried past us, sniffling and holding her head in her hands. I looked where Mrs. Reynolds gestured and it was no surprise to me that the man from earlier sat at the table. He was accompanied by another, but I could only see his back. 

I rolled my eyes, took a deep breath and made my way to them. While Amber was a bit sensitive when it came to rude customers, my previous encounterment with him I knew he was more than you're usual jackass.

The man looked up at me, but said nothing as I approached the table. It seemed his high horse attitude was only when he wasnt around his boss. I disliked people like that. If you're going to go around tooting your horn, dont be shy in front of the conductor. 

“Is there anything I can help you gentlemen with?” I said, my voice practically dripping with honey, but shooting draggers to the rude man. 

“Pen.” The mysterious man demanded. His face was obscured by multiple folders full of paper. 

The angry man from earlier scrambled around a bag to the left of him, desperately trying to find a pen. 

I held the pen in my hand out within his eyelevel and he took it without looking up from his papers. 

“No it has to be blue” He said, throwing the pen on the table in annoyance.

“Oookay” I dragged out, handing the blue paper from my apron.

There was a bit of silence as he aggressively scribbled on the papers. 

I reached over grabbing my discarded pen, asking again if there was anything I could help them with. 

“What time is it in England right now?” 

“I- uhh- let me look, sir” the once angry man stumbled. 

“Around 5pm. Is there anything I can get you from the coffeehouse? Otherwise my talents are needed elsewhere” I said annoyed. 

The mysterious man paused what he was doing and looked across the table. 

“The waitress is more useful than you. Leave” He said, waving his hand dismissively. 

I could hear and see the man visibly swallow. He hung his head, collecting his stuff and leaving the table without a word. He didnt even make eyecontact and was very careful to avoid touching me at all.

“Well that was a bit rude.” I stated, putting my hands on my hips. After working multiple dead end jobs to make money, I knew how it felt to be treated like you're nothing. 

He put down his papers, turning to meet my eyes.

My heart skipped a beat as I stared at the gorgeous man in front of me. His eyes were crystal blue like the colors you see on the pamphlets for cruises. His jaw line was so pronounced I would have sworn it was photoshopped if I saw it online. His brown hair was smoothed back, nothing out of place and his light blue suit was perfectly tailored to him. 

“He gets paid to do a job. If he can’t do it, then he’s not worth the money.” He flashed a smile, showing off his perfect white teeth.  

He pushed the papers to the side, turning his body to face me more. 

“You were more prepared than him and you simply appeared before us less than 5 minutes ago.” 

I squinted my eyes, unable to control my grimace, squashing the attraction towards him almost instantly.  “I didn’t appear. I work here and you made Amber cry, so I was told to come here.” 

He cocked his eyebrow, another smile crossed his face. His tone was mischevious . “Is that so? And you were sent because you would not cry?” 

I crossed my arms, shifting my weight to my other foot. “Is there something you need? Other than the need to humiliate people.” I narrowed my eyes at him, making sure he knew exactly how I felt about it. He might be good-looking but his personality was certainly ugly. 

He chuckled now, his smile breaking out to a full grin. “Do you always talk to your customers like this?”

Returning his smile with one of my fake ones, I shrugged. “You haven't bought anything. Technically you're not a customer”

He glanced at his watch, chuckling to himself. “I’ll have Linda send over the paperwork. You can start tomorrow.”

“Start what?” I asked, confused.

“Your new job. As my assistant.” He said, blatantly. 

My face scrunched up at the thought. “I didn't agree to that. Nor would I ever. Plus I’ve never been an assistant.”

He sighed, glancing at his vibrating phone he pulled out of his jacket pocket. “Well you cost me an assistant. So you can replace him or I can buy this piece of shit coffeehouse and force them to fire you, then you can work for me.”

My mouth opened. “You can’t just buy the coffeehouse.” I muttered, in shock.

He looked at me, annoyance flashed in his eyes as he narrowed them. “Do you want to take the chance? Make me buy it and I’ll fire the entire staff.”

My chest felt heavy at his words. I had no idea if he could buy the place, but I had a nagging feeling he wasn’t lying. Well I wasn't a big fan of Mrs Reynolds and truly did not care what happened to her, it was a sad thought and feeling if I was the cause of their unemployment.

He got up from the table, pulling all his papers into a neat pile. I stepped to the side, careful to avoid touching him. 

“See you tomorrow...” He leaned over towards me, looking at my name tag intently. “Avery.”