Work Text:
Bradely.
Bradlie.
Bradly.
Deadly.
Brady.
Badly.
Breadly.
Beadley.
Badley.
Drapley.
Bradli.
Bradlye.
Braidly.
Beardly.
Drably.
He's pretty sure he's getting trolled by the barista. It's been well over two weeks and his name has never been spelt correctly on his cup. And the guy, Jake, he knows Bradley's name; he says it every morning when Bradley walks in on his way past. He's a regular now, the first one in the store, given that he likes to be the first one in the office just after six.
He doesn't care; it's not like the misspelling of his name effects his day at all. The drink inside the cup is correct and delicious and that's far more important to him. Especially at six in the morning.
With regards to the spelling of his name, he just can't help wondering if Jake is doing it on purpose, or is maybe just a really bad speller. He doesn't want to make the guy feel bad by correcting him. Also, saying anything would involve actually talking to him, which other than the first day, where he'd placed his order and given his name he hasn't said more than two words to him.
Morning. Thanks.
The second morning Jake had just greeted him by name, asked if he wanted the same again and Bradley had just nodded dumbly, because the hot barista remembered his name and his coffee order. And it’s not like he hadn’t noted the name Jake pinned to his shirt, Jake just can't spell his name correctly. Bradley can deal with that. He maybe can’t deal with how hot Jake looks at six in the morning when Bradley still feels half-asleep despite the fact he’s up and dressed and on his way to work. Maybe he should try coming in caffeinated already and try for making proper conversation. Because he seems to have somehow developed a reputation for being mostly silent.
He doesn’t know what else to say in the face of Jake’s cheerful hot overall put-togetherness he presents every morning. It’s intimidating. That and Bradley wouldn’t ever flirt with Jake in his place of work, he remembers his mom complaining about customers flirting with her when she was a server, won’t push that on anyone. If he saw Jake out and about however he might try and talk to him. If his tongue ever decided to cooperate that is.
It’s his fourth Monday entering Rise and Grind, and he enters the spacious shop, heads toward the counter and then stops. It isn’t Jake behind the counter, instead it’s an attractive man smiling cheerfully. Bradley frowns.
“Bradley?”
“Uh. Yeah?”
“You asking me or telling me?” the guy asks, smile growing wider.
“Uh. Telling. Where’s Jake?”
“He’s sick, forced him to take the day off. Man’s a workaholic.”
“Oh. Is he going to be okay?”
“Yeah, just a head cold. But sneezing everywhere isn’t the greatest look, you know?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“Anyway, he gave me instructions on how to make your drink,” the guy says, his nametag reads Javy and Bradley wants to ask him so many questions but he keeps his mouth shut.
When he accepts the cup he notes that his name is spelt correctly, but it also doesn’t taste quite right.
It finally happens about five weeks later.
Jake is behind the counter as usual, almost finished making his drink in silence. They’ve exchanged their customary few words; he feels awkward now with the idea of breaking the silence between them, even though he now wants to make small talk; ask Jake some questions. Although he has extended the length of their conversation to include wishing Jake a good day.
He supposes Jake had to run out of wrong spellings eventually, even after there being some double ups of wrong spellings. Not that he’s keeping a tally at work. However he’s not prepared for it, his quiet observation of Jake competently moving around the space, doing things he doesn’t really understand he watches with heavy-lidded tired eyes. It’s his favourite part of his morning routine. Misses it in the weekends. Has been past in the weekends and only occasionally seen Jake around, doesn’t want to bother him.
He picks up the cup from the service counter, blinks.
Bradley.
“Oh, you spelt it correctly.”
The words are out, his surprise making him unguarded and he lets out a little laugh with it. The friendly look on Jake’s face drops immediately, expression suddenly frosty and Bradley wonders what the problem is.
“I’m dyslexic,” Jake snaps, voice tight and Bradley can tell he’s trying to toe the line between polite customer service and putting Bradley in his place.
“I wasn’t… I’m not… fuck. I wasn’t making fun of you. I was just… surprised. I don’t care how you spell my name. You make the best coffee…”
He doesn’t know what else to say, takes his cup of coffee and leaves with his shoulders up around his ears, feeling self-conscious and awful. He can’t even remember if he thanks Jake for the coffee or not.
The next morning he hesitates before pushing open the door to Rise and Grind, but the idea of not returning feels infinitely more damning than his social faux pas yesterday. He steels himself to apologise.
“Sorry.”
“Sorry.”
“Uh… what? What are you apologizing for?”
“I was a bit short with you yesterday. Didn’t mean to be… rude. I’m…” Jake pulls a face and his nose scrunches in a way that makes Bradley’s heart skitter a little. “I’m a little bit defensive.”
“Little bit?” Bradley blurts and then immediately rubs his forehead. “Fuck. Sorry. Again. Just…”
“You got foot in mouth disease huh?”
“Apparently,” Bradley mutters. “I am sorry though, I didn’t mean to laugh. I was just… surprised. I don’t care whether you can spell.”
“Or read. It’s not something that’s exactly fun for me.”
“Yeah, no, I guess not,” Bradley murmurs, wonders what it must be like to not enjoy reading, to be able to escape into a book.
“I thought you’d maybe been laughing at me behind my back all these weeks.”
“What? No! I thought… I mean, I thought maybe in the beginning you were spelling it wrong on purpose to annoy me…”
“You think I’d do that?” Jake asks, and he leans back against the bench behind him and Bradley swallows as he takes in the sight. He looks good, he’d thought that the first day he walked in, and every day since. Keeps that to himself. Thank god for small mercies. This is the most they’ve talked ever, and he’s never been great at small talk with new people. Does Jake even count as new after five weeks?
“I don’t know. Would you?”
“Hmm. Maybe if I knew I was doing it on purpose.”
He’s smirking then, and Bradley tries to figure out if he’s maybe being flirted with. He’s always been terrible at picking up on those types of social cues.
“Well, you don’t even need to write my name on the cup, I’m the only one in here… but, uh, you can do what you want obviously…” Bradley trails off.
The way Jake is looking at him is calculating, like he’s trying to figure out whether he’s being sincere or not. He ducks his head, tries to look as apologetic as he can. Wishes Jake had made his coffee already so he’d have something to do with his hands. And an excuse to leave.
“You want your usual?”
“Yeah. Please.”
He waits patiently as Jake rings him up, notes now that the machine has a lot more pictograms on it than is maybe usual, but that might be normal, he’s never paid any attention to any other coffee shop so has no idea if that’s standard or not. He only feels a little awkward as he accepts the drink from Jake before heading out. As he walks out he looks down at the cup, and where he’s used to seeing his name there’s a little cartoon picture of a sun with its eyes closed and little Zs above it. It’s cute. He takes a picture and walks to work smiling.
It sets off a slightly longer routine, getting his coffee. Now that he’s already awkwardly made an idiot of himself he’s not as scared about talking; Jake seems to realise that he’s maybe open to a little more conversation first thing. So he gets questions. Where is he from? Virginia. What does he do for work? Business Analyst. How long has he lived in San Diego? Two months, nearly three. The last answer gets him a raised eyebrow, because that’s how long he’s been coming to Rise and Grind and he shrugs, because he’s well aware he’s a creature of habit, likes his routines.
Jake seems to take pity on him, realizing Bradley is new to the city and doesn’t have any friends. Tells him all about the night life of the Rise and Grind, which Bradley had had no idea about. Every morning he hears about what is happening at the Rise and Grind that evening. Open Mic night. Poetry Readings. Boardgames for single people. Dungeons and Dragons. Ask an Expert night. He listens intently, wants to ask Jake if he goes to any of the nights. Wants to ask what time he gets off work. Instead, he keeps his mouth shut. It’s got him in enough trouble already.
“You know, you really should use a reusable cup with how often you come in here,” Jake says, and their routine is so smooth Bradley knows he just needs to tap his card to the reader, that Jake rings him up as soon as he sees him coming.
“But then I wouldn’t get your little drawings…” Bradley says, and he’s blushing, he knows he is. Fuck. Surely this type of bullshit was meant to stop when he’d been done with puberty.
“Well, can’t have you missing out on a critical part of your morning routine huh?” Jake teases and Bradley rolls his eyes, because he’s used to Jake teasing him now.
“I’m documenting every single one, it’s an important study…”
That makes Jake laugh and he feels a spark of pride that he made him laugh, lifts the cup up Jake and looks at the little drawing. It’s one of the more elaborate ones today, because it depends on how much time Jake has had to let loose his artistic abilities.
“A rooster?”
“You are our first customer every day. Seems fitting.”
“Thought you were maybe calling me a cock,” Bradley says with a laugh, and then his face is flaming again, barely recovered from just before.
“I’ve never held back calling people names Bradley, if I was going to call you a cock I wouldn’t be subtle about it. Have a good day.”
“You too. Have a good day I mean. Bye Jake.”
He’d like to think he leaves calmly but he feels like he’s fleeing.
“Rise and Grind… it’s a clever name,” Bradley says the next morning as he watches Jake pour his drink.
“Not just about coffee either… you’ve never been here at night.”
“Uh. What?”
“He’s talking about the people who come in and play Dungeons and Dragons. Rising the dead and grinding through levels…” Javy offers with a tired sigh, and Bradley realizes that Jake is probably meant to be having the morning off, yet here he is sitting on the other side of the table and doodling on cups. Oh. He’s likely drawing Bradley’s cup for the day.
“Nope. Still not the rise and grind I’m thinking of,” Jake offers, and he’s looking, smirking, and the only thing Bradley can think of is sexual. He flushes, feels hot suddenly, looks down at the ground before peeking a look at Jake. He’s watching Bradley intently, half-smile on his face and when he catches Bradley’s eye he winks.
Another couple of weeks pass and he’s wondering if he should come along to some of the nights; Jake keeps suggesting them and he keeps on putting it off. This morning Jake’s grin is cheeky, a little sly like he’s got something he thinks is maybe going to annoy Bradley and he wonders when he developed such a weird relationship with his barista of all people. Bradley is just wanting him to maybe be more than his barista.
“I got you something…”
“Uh. Thanks?”
Jake is shaking his head and smiling at him, tossing him a reusable cup and his stomach twists uncomfortably. It’s a nice cup, black with a steel rim, a clear lid, and holy shit, it’s got his name embossed on the side along with the Rise and Grind logo.
“Jeez, you look like I took your pet out back and shot it. Just… trust me.”
“Okay… I guess I need to give this back to you then. Just my usual…”
“Mmm. And fifty cents off because you brought your own cup. Think of the savings. Think of the environment!”
Bradley smiles weakly, already mourning his collection of pictures. The routine of taking a photo of each picture each morning. He’s collected seventeen pictures now and Jake has yet to repeat an image, and he may have a folder on his phone of photos which he’ll never mention to anyone. And he won’t be adding to it anymore. Jake is focussed on making Bradley’s drink, and he watches, his triple shot espresso topped off with hot water and then he watches as Jake puts a small pump of something into the cup.
“What was that? That you just added?”
“A half-pump of butterscotch. Just to soften the tar you insist on drinking every morning,” Jake says, winking at him and Bradley really wants to hang around and see if Jake is like this with all his customers. Needs to know. “Here you go.”
Oh. Jake’s still drawn on the cup, whatever pen he’s used is bright white on the black cup and he brushes his finger over it, noting the slightly chalky texture. It’s a sunflower this morning and he smiles at it.
“Told you to trust me.”
“Thanks…” he murmurs, pulling out his phone to take a photo, looking up to find Jake watching him with a quizzical look on his face.
“Do you take a photo every morning?”
“I… yeah. I did say I was documenting them.”
“I thought you were joking…” Jake says, and he’s looking determined. Bradley takes a sip of his drink, realizes he can very faintly taste the butterscotch under the coffee, but it is definitely erasing the worst of the bitterness. “I have to ask. You ever going to ask me out?”
Bradley chokes on his drink, coughs and splutters.
“You did that on purpose!”
“Maybe. You gonna answer my question?”
“Uh…”
“I’ve seen you looking.”
Bradley doesn’t know what to say to that, knows he’s likely gone bright red.
“I… this is your place of work. I didn’t want to…”
“Oh… you’re sweet. But I own this place of work. I toss jerks out regularly.”
“You haven’t tossed me out.”
“You haven’t been a jerk.”
“I haven’t?” Bradley asks, a little surprised, although his social faux pas was several weeks ago now, and he immediately apologized.
“Not the type I want to kick out.”
“Oh,” Bradley says quietly, pleased for no real reason. “Are you single?”
“You think I’d be flirting with you like this if I wasn’t?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? Wait. So you have been flirting?”
“Damn… Javy said I was laying it on too thick but apparently I could have been more obvious.”
“Shut up… Sorry. I mean, will you go on a date with me?” Bradley asks, feeling elated and a little mystified that Jake seems to be interested in him.
“Only been waiting several weeks for you to ask me…”
“That’s not an answer.”
“If you think my answer is going to be anything other than yes you’re an idiot…”
“I mean… I didn’t notice you flirting with me.”
“Mmm. Makes me think you don’t notice anyone flirting with you. Which works for me, because we,” Jake waves a hand between them, “are going on a date.”
Bradley laughs, nerves morphing to relief and he’s nodding, takes another sip of his drink, because that’s easy.
“And then, assuming it goes well, we’ll go on a second date…”
“I, yeah, no, it’ll be good…” Oh fuck, his stomach is immediately in knots again. Now he has to think of a good first date idea.
“Wow… you look… panicked. You realise you could buy me a coffee from here and sit with me and talk for a couple of hours and it’d be a good date because I got to spend it with you… so… keep that in mind.”
“Can I get your number?” Bradley blurts.
Jake blinks at him, reaches for one of the disposable cups and Bradley wonders if he’s missed something. Then Jake is tapping the contact details printed on the cup.
“That’s my number. You’ve had it since day one.”
“Oh… I suppose I have. You prefer a call or… a message?”
“A call to organise details, but feel free to send me as many emojis as you want,” Jake says, and he’s winking and Bradley rolls his eyes, because he’s getting the feeling that Jake is entertained by making him blush. Or annoying him. Bradley really likes him. “Maybe save the more suggestive emojis for after the first few dates. But I’m not a great texter. Voice to text and text to voice are the best inventions ever.”
“Tomorrow night?”
“Something wrong with tonight?” Jake asks, and Bradley is going to be so late for work, but he doesn’t care.
“I mean… I kind of need to tidy up my apartment.”
“Bold of you to assume we’d be going back to your apartment.”
“Uh, sorry, I wasn’t assuming anything, I just…”
“I more meant, bold of you to assume we’d go to your place when my place is just upstairs. Have a good day at work Bradley. I look forward to hearing from you.”
“It’s already a good day. I’ll talk to you later.”