The guy at the coffee shop was hot.
Hot and he knew her order.
But that didn’t mean ANYTHING. Especially when he seemed to know everyone’s order.
“A jalapeno bagel with chive cream cheese and two shots of espresso with oat milk for the red-headed lawyer.” He said handing her the piping hot cup of coffee and breakfast as she struggled to balance the stack of files in her arms.
“Thank you, you are the BEST.” She grinned, shuffling the stack of witness transcripts she was carrying to grab onto the drink she oh so desperately needed to sustain her through this morning’s hearing.
“That’s what I like to hear from my favourite customer.” He grinned, shooting her a wink that (as always) made her heart thump.
She wished she had a better response other than a grin and a half-hearted roll of her eyes, but if she was late to court, there was no way she was landing a full-time position at the legal fund she was currently interning at.
And besides, she was pretty sure that every customer was his favourite.
The Stag and Hound Café and Bar was directly across from the courthouse, and even if it wasn’t the best coffee in the area, the head barista’s crooked smile and hazel eyes were enough to bring her back.
She started going there every morning during her final year of law school. It was a convenient breakfast before mock trial and the lines were usually not bad at 7AM on a Saturday.
But then she graduated, got her fancy robe and hideous wig, and suddenly had to start lining up with the rest of the weekly court crowd.
“You seem rushed.” He said after her breakfast order (and a pile of coins) tumbled out of her one morning.
“I’m very rushed, I have a pretrial conference in exactly 8 minutes.” She explained, shoving the pile of coins and her bagel into her overcrowded bag. “Not to mention a mountain of paperwork to do before the judge decides whether or not to deport my client back to an active war zone.”
“Jesus you’ve got a day ahead of you.” He said, leaning casually against the counter, ignoring the line of customers that were now giving them both pointed looks.
“What time do you get here in the mornings?”
“About 7AM, and by the time I’m at your counter 7:20.” Lily sighed, she knew she should just make breakfast for herself, but there was a reason most people at the courthouse were willing to wait 20 minutes for the Stag and Hound’s bagel and coffee breakfasts.
“And work starts….?”
“At 7:30.”
“Then tomorrow, when you come in at 7:00AM, your jalapeno bagel with chive cream cheese and two shots of espresso with oat milk will be here at the counter.”
She looked up at him, surprised. “You know my order?”
“I know everyone’s order,” he said quickly, eyes jumping to the line that was now stretched to out the door. “I’ve got to get back to this line, but you’ll see. Tomorrow morning your breakfast will be waiting.”
And the next morning, just like he said her food and drink were there waiting for her. Her bagel in a little paper bag with ‘redheaded lawyer’ scrawled across it.
Hot men should not be allowed to do cute things. Especially because every time she caught sight of the dark-haired café worker her cheeks would burn, and her brain seemed to short-circuit.
Seriously, a hot guy who could make a mean espresso and wore a black leather apron? It should have been illegal. In fact, she was drafting a motion to outlaw hot men in cafès the second she had time.
How as she supposed to get any work done when every five minutes her mind would stray to the way his tanned forearms looked as he worked the coffee press?
How could someone make working a coffee press look that good?
And how was the simple act of saving her breakfast at the front enough to turn her into a little puddle of Lily red goo? Never mind that he didn’t know her name, he could call her red-headed lawyer all he wanted.
She still hadn’t worked up the courage to tell him her name was Lily, something Marlene had been teasing her about endlessly.
“Do you have everything?” Marlene asked as she entered the solicitors lunge, her arms equally full of documents and testimony transcript, “bagel, coffee, testimonies, the name of the coffee shop man you’re in love with?”
“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” She sighed, pushing past a group of overzealous law students.
“You spend money you don’t have, every morning, just so you can catch wave from a guy whose name you don’t know.”
“They are good bagels!” She argued.
“With a good-looking man making them.” Marlene grinned, helping Lily stack the files for their case into the day judge’s mailbox. “Come on Evans, you braved the bar exam you can ask a man for his name and number.”
“I have bigger things to think about.” She waved the case file in her friends face to emphasize her point.
This case was big. Big enough that if they got the right ruling from the right judge, they could potentially set in motion a series of cases that would set a legal president in regards to deportation and extradition. And doing that was a sure-fire way that all the junior solicitors on this case would be looking at a full-time contract with the firm.
So really, the hot guy at the café she frequented should absolutely not be on her mind.
But, as they sat waiting for their case to be presented all she could think about was how Marlene was right.
Lily didn’t even know the guy’s name. All she knew was that he made a good bagel and was exactly her type. God forbid he had an ugly name like Nigel.
But all thoughts of hot bagel guy were pushed to the backburner when their case number was called.
And all thoughts of hot bagel guy continued to be pushed to the back burner as their case was pushed to a jury trial instead of a judge trial.
In some cases, trial by jury was more desirable. But given the current state of affairs, and the view that many currently held on immigrants and their rights no one on the team was optimistic.
She stewed and stewed all the way home. And then stewed and stewed some more once she got home.
Her mind was going a mile a minute, weighing the teams’ options and outcomes. The preliminary trial had resulted in a decision for trial by jury. An outcome no one on the team thought would happen.
It wasn’t necessarily a bad outcome, but it certainly wasn’t a good one.
A trial by jury meant that they would have to build their case based on their ability to argue with idiots.
Lily had spent years arguing with idiots.
She argued with her sister’s idiot husband, with her best friend/ roommate’s idiot homophobic parents, and with the idiots in her law school that didn’t seem to think anyone from a working-class background deserved a place at the table.
But arguing with idiots when someone’s livelihood and right to safety was on the line was enough to make her hurl whatever she was holding at the wall. Which at that moment happened to be the celery she was chopping for that evenings dinner.
“Jesus, what did the celery do to you?” Remus, her roommate asked, looking bewildered at the celery that was now flung halfway across the room.
“I hate everything.”
“Especially celery?”
“No especially bigots who want to deport CHILDREN to war zones.” She huffed, placing her kitchen knife in the sink before she threw that as well. “My case got moved to trial by jury.”
“And that’s bad?”
“It’s not great.”
She moved away from the kitchen island and flopped into the armchair next to him, “if we don’t get the result, we want…”
Lily trailed off, trying not to let her mind race with terrible outcomes.
“I think you need to not think about your job for a few hours.” Remus said, reaching over to lightly rap his knuckles against the side of her forehead, “lets go get a pint.”
“But this case is important.”
“And so is your mental health,” he argued, gesturing to the limp stalk of celery laying against their baseboards “people who are mentally sound do not chuck celery at the wall.”
She was hard pressed to disagree with that statement.
“Fine, one pint.”
Remus tried to keep her mind off her case the whole walk to the pub, chattering away about his research, his supervisor, really anything that wasn’t the law.
“And then, the professor says, ‘Mr. Lupin, while I don’t doubt that the cultural scene you experienced in Amsterdam was an anthropological experience there is no way that the department would fund a week for you there to ‘research’ it further!’” He laughed, tugging her arm which was looped through his. “But jokes on him my proposal got all the way to the revisionary board!”
She laughed, shaking her head. Remus’s anthropology research on underground queer spaces had been turning heads in his faculty for years, and his recent adventures in the red-light district in Amsterdam had resulted in a eyebrow raising paper.
“I should have stayed in school, done chemistry or something less migraine inducing.” She leaned her head against his shoulder as they turned the corner towards the pub.
“But you’re helping people!” He insisted, tugging her arm again, “and weren’t we not supposed to be thinking about your work?”
“Yeah but”
“No but’s!” Remus interrupted, shaking his shaggy head. “I can’t have you throwing any more veg at our walls. I want our security deposit back.”
By the time they turned onto the street of their local pub, Lily was craving a pint and some greasy chips. She wanted to pretend like she was back in uni. Just her, Remus, and no real-world issues looming over their heads.
But all hopes for a pint were dashed when they noticed the fire brigade outside of the old brick and stone building.
“What happened?” She gaped, looking in horror at the scene in front of them. There was no smoke, but there were throngs of fire fighters and what looked like local officials buzzing around the place.
“Gas leak.” A man with a clip board said, his jacket read ‘hazards crew’, “gonna be closed for a few weeks I reckon.”
“I’m going to throw carrots at the wall this time.”
“No you’re not!” Remus frowned, shooting her an annoyed look. “We’re close to the Stag and Hound, we can grab a drink there.”
“It’s a café Remus.”
“Café and Bar” he corrected, tugging her along. “Besides, the bar tender is super good looking.”
Lily’s cheeks coloured, thinking of the gorgeous man that always had her bagel and coffee ready for her.
“I was there for breakfast!” She argued, suddenly nervous about seeing her mystery barista in a more informal setting. Lily was wearing one of her da’s old rugby shirts, she was not sure she wanted to be seen by a good-looking man wearing it.
“And now you’re going for dinner.” Her friend grinned, keeping a tight grip on her arm, “besides, I’ve been meaning to ask the bartender for his name.”
You and me both she thought.
The Stag and Hound transformed after 17:00, turning from the town’s best bagel spot to its most hipster worthy bar.
It’s normally open store front windows closed, giving the space a cozier and a more intimate feel.
With the lights dimmed, and soft crackle of vinyl from the record player that was kept behind the bar she almost didn’t recognize her normal breakfast spot.
But she certainly didn’t recognize the black-haired man behind the bar.
He had long silky locks of black hair, a myriad of piercings and tattoos, and fingers full of silver rings. Much more Remus’s type than the curly haired, spec faced barista who always had her breakfast waiting for her.
“Alright you two?” The bar tender asked as they entered, “bar or table?”
“Bar.” She said quickly, before Remus could speak, sensing that he was chickening out of asking the other man’s name.
“Bar it is.” He grinned, gesturing to two empty seats infront of him.
He handed them both menus before zooming off to the other side of the bar to the two giggling uni students who were flagging him down.
“I’m guessing he’s the cute bar tender you were talking about?” She grinned, looking down at the liquor menu. The drinks here were pricier than a pint at the local, but the charred pineapple margarita was peaking her interest.
“Yes, and thank you so much for seating us right in front of him” Remus sniffed, trying his best to lounge casually on the backless wire bar seat.
“Oh come on, this is absolutely taking my mind off of work.” She assured him, leaning her head on his shoulders and batting here eyelashes at him.
Remus seemed to have worse luck with boys than she did. How that was even possible, neither of them were sure.
Especially considering that the basis of Remus’s research was on the anthropological structure of queer spaces in post soviet Europe. He was sort of supposed to be an expert in navigating what he referred to as ‘the gay day to day’.
But he had the same bad habit Lily did, clamming up, and not making a move of any kind.
“Promise you’ll ask his name?” She whispered, the both of them watching the man at the other of the bar.
“Only if you ask coffee guy his name tomorrow.” Remus shot back.
“If the opportunity presents itself to ask I will.” She promised, knowing damn well that ‘coffee guy’ was going to be too busy tomorrow for an in-depth chat.
Was asking someone their name an in-depth chat? No, not in the slightest, but given that Lily was a lawyer she was sort of the queen of excuses.
“What can I get for you two?” The mystery bartender asked, an easy smile gracing his angular face.
“A charred pineapple margarita please.” Lily said, elbowing Remus as discreetly as possible.
“Just a pint of the red lager please.”
“Margarita and a pint, coming right up.” He said moving away from them to get their drinks.
“Remus,” she hissed, shooting him a look.
“He was just taking our drink order, calm down Evans.”
It took another two rounds of pints and pineapple Margaritas for the bar tender to strike up an actual conversation with them.
“Date night?” He asked, eyeing them both curiously.
They got that question a lot. And sometimes leaned into it depending on the part of town they were in.
“Oh god no.” Lily laughed, “just old friends who are both suffering through a bad week, thank god it’s nearly the weekend.”
“No better way to cure a bad week than with a pint.” He grinned, eyes flicking to Remus for a moment, eyes skimming her friend’s features in a way that made her smile into her drink.
“Are you a lawyer?” The bartender asked turning back to Lily, he was looking at her strangely, like they had met before.
“Yeah I am, how did you know?”
“We get a big legal crowd around here, especially in the mornings.”
“I’m one of your frequent bagel buyers.” She grinned, leaning against the counter. The warmth of her third pineapple margarita spreading down her spine.
“You might have met my brother then; he works the Café shift.”
Remus coughed into his drink, staring at her with the most obvious ‘oh my god’ eyes she’d ever seen.
“Oh, yeah I must have.” She was trying to come of as indifferent, but her heart had started beating an uncomfortably fast rhythm.
“Tall, messy hair, glasses?” he held his thumbs and index fingers put together as circle up to his eyes, mimicking his brothers round wire frames.
“Yeah… yeah I’ve come across him.”
She really hoped the dim light of the place was hiding the monstruous blush that was creeping it’s way up her neck.
“I’ll let him know you stopped in.” He said nonchalantly, though his smile was cheeky.
By the time they left the bar they had learned that their bartenders name was Sirius, and that his brother, James, worked the morning shift.
They owned and operated the place together, and when the first opened it they hadn’t been able to decide whether it should be a café or a bar. So, they settled on it being both.
“I’d count tonight as a success,” Remus said somewhat tipsily as they made their way back to their flat.
A success for him, sure.
Sirius had written his number on the back of one of the places business cards, sliding it directly to Remus with a wink that made her best friend nearly fall off of the bar stool.
But whatever Sirius had meant by letting his brother know she had stopped by swirled through her mind the whole walk back.
And it swirled through her mind as she nervously approached the coffee counter of the Stag and Hound bar, where her usual bagel and coffee should have been waiting.
Except this time, it wasn’t waiting for her.
Lily groaned internally, she must have said or done something last night that had caused his brother to warn him.
But just as she was making her way to the back of the line a voice called out from behind the counter.
“Hey! Wait!”
She turned, heart beating in her chest as the barista, or rather, James waved a paper bag at her.
“Sorry, took a little longer this morning.” He said somewhat sheepishly as he handed her her breakfast.
“No worries,” Lily shrugged, doing her best to hide her delight that she had not been forgotten.
“Big day?” He asked, fingers drumming against the countertop.
“How could you tell?”
“You’ve got quite the serious look about you.”
She did indeed with her black robes slung over her shoulder and her bag full of files. They had decided to attend the follow up meeting in full uniform, give the impression to the opposition that they would not be backing down or taking a deal.
“Well, you have to be a serious professional for serious situations.” She grinned, handing him a five-pound note for her breakfast.
“Of course,” he agreed, fingers still tapping an anxious rhythm against the bar counter. “Good luck today.”
“Thank you.” She raised her bag in sort of an odd cheers, feeling the same nervous rush she always did whenever they spoke. “Gotta run, court and all.”
“Of course,” He said, hand jumping to his hair. “I’ve also gotta run, line and all.”
Lily was halfway out the door before he called out after her.
“Oi!”
She turned back, wondering if she’d forgotten something.
“Make sure you get everything out of the bag before you toss it!” He called, a nervous smile pulling at his features.
She arched a confused eyebrow but nodded, she wasn’t about to throw out her breakfast.
It wasn’t until she was sitting in the solicitor’s lounge having pulled out her breakfast to find a slip of receipt paper under the napkins did she realize what he meant.
Dear red headed lawyer, I’m so sorry I still don’t know your name. My brother could only remember your roommates name.
And while I should be cursing him for that he did at least have the gal to bully me into writing this, though maybe you won’t respond and I’ll be cursing him for making me lose my favourite customer.
I’m sorry it this is a bit forward, and I’m deeply sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but would you be interested in getting a drink tomorrow with me?
If you’re not interested, please ignore this note and we’ll pretend this never happened. Your breakfast will still be waiting as always, no hard feelings.
x James
She sat there, starring like a giddy idiot at the note for far too long.
Long enough that she attracted the attention of Marlene who snatched it out of her hands and read it out loud with a shit eating grin.
“Oh my god his name is JAMES.”
“Marlene!” She hissed, snatching it back from her, trying to ignore the blush that was tingling across her cheeks, “that’s private!”
“I’ve had to hear about hot bagel guy every morning for the past two months you are not keeping this one private missy.” Her friend grinned, handing a disgruntled lily the not back.
“So?”
“So what?”
“So are you going to go get a drink with him tomorrow?”
Lily shrugged, the blush on her face must look tremendous by now. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Marlene cried, staring at her in disbelief, “What do you mean you don’t know? I’ve had to hear about every small interaction between the two of you, what he was wearing, how he smiled at you. And now you’re telling me you don’t know?”
She shrugged again, unable to articulate her thoughts.
Lily had spent weeks trying not to get her hopes up, telling herself it was just a little crush.
But with any small crush she had built him up in her head so much that she was worried the real person would disappoint.
“I’m just worried it will go badly.”
“And you’ll have to find a new bagel spot?”
“I mean… partly.” She sighed, leaning back and staring at the note. “I just don’t want to be disappointed by him.”
“Lily, darling, a man will always disappoint you. But at least give him a chance to do so.”
By the end of the day, when she walked out of the courthouse it took one look at the Stag and Hound for her heart to start thumping and her nerves to spike.
But when she walked into the Stag and Hound, it wasn’t James behind the counter but Sirius, who grinned at her as she nervously approached the front.
“Err is James here?”
“Nope.” He popped the end of the word, his canine smile telling her he knew exactly why she was here. “Anything I can pass along to him?”
Lily was beet red, she could feel it. While part of her was glad that James wasn’t behind the counter, she was wishing on every star she’d ever seen that Sirius would drop the smug, and overly pleased grin he was shooting her way.
She pulled her business card out of her wallet, on which she had scratched out her work phone and added her personal cell.
“Could you give him this please?”
He took it, examining it with mock scrutiny. Eyes scrunched and lips pursed. “Lily Evans, Solicitor. Immigration and Refugee legal specialist.” He read out, “and this is for James?”
“Yes.” She was blushing so hard her cheeks hurt.
“And what should I tell him?”
He was teasing her and they both know it. If she wasn’t so wound up and nervous, she would have probably teased him back. She knew for a fact he responded within seconds of Remus texting him last night.
“Er… that I’d like it if he texted me?”
“Ah yes, I will pass on the message.” He pocketed the card with a wink. Laughing when she turned, if possible, even redder.
And even though she knew that it might take a little bit for him to text her, she jumped at every ding her phone let out on the walk home.
Remus didn’t do anything to help her nerves either. He kept re-reading the note James had slipped her out loud. Using different voices.
“You know I hope you and Sirius don’t end up working out because you are both clearly out to annoy the living shit out of me.” She finally snapped, snatching the note back when he launched into a Shakespearean rendition.
“Oh come on Lily.” Remus laughed, “This is so tooth achingly sweet I’m 90% sure I’m in some cheesy romance book.”
She rolled her eyes, turning back to the casefile in front of her.
Lily normally had a rule that once she was home, she didn’t look at work. But she was doing everything in her power to ignore the fact that he still had not texted her, and that she was most definitely freaking out about it.
“Do you think I was too forward?” she asked, sitting back from her case file and chewing on her fingernail nervously.
“He asked you out through your breakfast, I hardly think you were the forward one.”
“But giving his brother my number to give to him?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Remus said waving his hand at her anxious rambles dismissively, “Sirius is going to make sure he texts you.”
“And you know this how?” She asked, raising her eyebrow at the secretive smile her shot her.
“Trust me my dear Lily, all will become clear after Saturday night.” He grinned.
Remus’s teasing and elusive comments did nothing to stop her anxious thoughts. But James did eventually text her.
Right as she was about to go to bed.
Hair curlers in, face mask on, she launched herself out of her bed when her phone dinged.
Unknown Number: Hi Lily, this is James. Sorry for the late text, my brother decided to hold your number hostage. He’s quite the nuisance if you haven’t already picked up on that.”
If Mary was here, she would have ripped the phone out of her hands and told her to wait at least five minutes.
‘You don’t want to appear desperate’ she could hear her friend saying with indignation. But her excitement threw that bit of advice out the window, and she texted back immediately after saving his number.
Lily E: And here I was thinking you put your invitation to drinks in the wrong red headed lawyers breakfast bag
James (Stag and Hound): You’re the only person who gets the special breakfast treatment, no chance on me mixing that one up.
Her heart thudded in her chest stupidly. She was the only one who had breakfast waiting for her?
Lily E: I guess this is the part where I say I would love to grab a drink with you tomorrow.
She stared at her screen, chewing her lip nervously as his typing bubbles started, stopped, started and stopped.
James (Stag and Hound): Really?
Lily E: Yes, really
She laughed at his surprise
Lily E: Where and what time? I get off of work at 17:00.
James (Stag and Hound): Have you been to the common room? It’s not too far from the courthouse, plus it’s Sirius free.
Lily E: Sirius free and close by? Sounds perfect.
She barely slept that night. Going over everything in her head ten million different times in ten million different ways
They were meeting at the common room tomorrow at 20:00, she was pretty sure she was going to wear that green turtleneck that made her eyes pop, it was most definitely a date, right?
She could hear Mary in the back of her head. ‘You absolute dumbass of course it’s a date he wrote you a NOTE!’
But even still, when she woke up the next morning and spread her case file out on the kitchen counter and stared at it like she’d never seen a legal document before.
Lily barely got any work done that day. She’d start working on the case, and the next thing she knew she was pulling different things out of her closet, going over the Google Maps directions to the common room a million different times.
She was practically useless. Her mind seemed only able to focus on that coming evening. She got ready two hours before she was supposed to go and spent the next two hours annoying Remus with her ‘what if’ scenarios.
She was just as jittery on the walk there. Remus had to stop her from leaving thirty minutes early.
Lily couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this nervous for a first date. And by the time she reached the old stone building that housed the common room her heart was beating in her throat like a drum.
The common room was an old rum distillery turned lounge. With low tables, squashy red armchairs, and roaring fire in a giant stone hearth it reminded her of the kind of place her dad would have loved.
She looked around nervously, before spotting him at a table close to the fireplace.
He was hunched over his phone, looking up every so often to scan the room. When his eyes finally found her he stood up waving her over.
“So your name is Lily.” Was the first thing she said as she sat down across from him.
It was weird seeing him out of their usual bubble of normality. There was no counter separating them, only a small glass table and the confines of having to get to know one another.
“And your name is James.”
He grinned. He had a lopsided smile that screamed mischief, it pulled at his cheeks forming a single dimple. Eyes crinkling behind his wire frames.
“I’m sorry if Sirius was weird yesterday, and on Thursday night when you and Remus stopped by.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “He wasn’t weird, it just felt like he already knew who I was.”
“Cause he did.” James admitted sheepishly, hand jumping to the mess of dark curls at the nape of his neck, “I might have mentioned once or twice that there was a pretty red headed lawyer who stopped in every morning.”
“Once or twice?” She teased, remembering the knowing look Sirius had given her.
“Maybe a few more times than that.”
She laughed, settling back into the armchair, all anxiety about the evening rapidly dissolving as they fell into an easy rhythm.
He was easy to talk to. Kind and funny with an easy-going cheeky nature that would have made her uptight sister instantly hate him.
(and made her instantly like him)
She learned that he and Sirius, while not biological brothers had been best friends since they were eleven. Sirius had moved in with James’s family when they were sixteen and the rest was history.
“When our parents passed they left us the building across from the courthouse.” James explained, stirring in the ice in his drink. “I went to business school and Sirius went to culinary school, so we knew we wanted to do something fun with the building.”
“And you didn’t want to just run the business side?” Lily asked, she couldn’t imagine him in a suit. He really didn’t seem like the business school type.
“Nah I’m a hands-on kinda guy.” He said, “Plus my cream cheese to bagel application skills are far too good to waste.”
“Too true, the bagels are the only reason I go to the Stag and Hound.”
“Not the amazing customer service and handsome baristas?”
“That’s also a significant plus.”
He grinned, leaning forward so their knees brushed. “I’m really happy you said yes to tonight. I was worried I might have scared you off.”
“Your note was pretty tame; it takes a lot more than that to scare me off.” She said, leaning in closer.
Their knees were pressed together, she could feel the warmth of him through her tights. And his cologne seemed to be clouding her every thought.
He laughed, shaking his head. “I have no intentions of scaring you off.”
“No?”
“No.”
10 Months Later
She was running late. AGAIN
Under normal circumstances she would already have been out the door by this point, but she was running around like a chicken without its head. She couldn’t find her case overview file anywhere.
But at this point she was just praying to whatever God was listening that she had left it in in the locker she and Marlene rented in the courthouse basement.
Losing a casefile was a big no no.
“Lily shouldn’t you be gone by now?” Remus asked sticking his head out his bedroom, hair still rumpled with sleep and wandering hands.
“I really should be gone.” She said, looking through the papers scattered across their kitchen one last time. “You haven’t seen a yellow folder anywhere, have you?”
“We have yellow folders all over this flat, you’ll have to be more specific.”
“Oh never mind.” She huffed, slinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing her keys, “I’ll see you later.”
That mornings walk to the courthouse was more of a light jog, and not an enjoyable one at that.
October rain had plastered slimy leaves to the cobblestone streets, and she nearly fell on her face more than once.
If she didn’t have ten million things to worry about, she might have admired the bright leaves that framed the stone streets with a pop of colour. October had truly arrived, and she didn’t even have time to enjoy it.
By the time she skittered into the Stage and Hound she was well and truly late. She was going to have to hope she remembered everything for their brief because there was no way she was going to have time to run to the courthouse basement.
Could she have maybe skipped her breakfast run? Perhaps. But then again, it sort of was the best part of her weekday.
Her bagel and coffee were waiting at the front like always, and so was James. Smirking at her dishevelled appearance.
“Running late Evans?”
“Oh don’t you start.” She huffed, shoving her food into her bag. “I spent an hour looking for my casefile for today and couldn’t find it anywhere.”
“Case file? What’s it look like.”
“Yellow, plain, has a sticker on the front that says ‘Case H.P. 100-”
“468?” He cut her off, pulling the folder out from behind the counter, “You left it at mine.”
“And you didn’t say anything!” She gasped, snatching it out of his hands.
“I love when you run in here all flustered.” He shrugged, shooting her that cheeky grin he reserved for when he knew he was on her nerves.
She rolled her eyes, shoving the bagel into her bag.
“Oi!” A man called from the back of the line, starring at her angrily. “How come she gets to cut the line?”
“Cause we share a bed on the weekends mate.” James called back good naturedly, “though my weekdays are still open if you want to skip the line too.”
She smacked him, but laughed when he leaned over the counter to kiss her cheek.
“I’ll see you tonight?” He asked, still leaning over the counter.
“See you tonight.” She agreed.