pain au chocolat
Regulus awoke to screaming.He could hear his roommates in the other room in a conversation about bees? He just groaned and turned to his side, grabbing his phone, 05:27, it read. He sat his phone down and sat up.
“Hey Rex!” His roommate, Barty, yelled bursting in his room, “Glad you’re up! Quick question?”
“Ughh,” He eyed his best friend, “What?”
“Could you possibly give Ev and I a ride to practice?” He said.
“And I need a ride to the campus!” He heard Dorcas yell from the living room.Regulus just sighed before mumbling a ‘yes’ motioning for Barty to leave.
“You’re the best!” Barty replied walking out the room.Regulus, finally, got out of bed. He walked towards his wardrobe, grabbing some random articles of clothing. He headed to his adjoined bathroom, locking the door. He took his time in the shower, just thinking about his life. He was about to start his third year of university and honestly he couldn’t even believe he had graduated highschool, yet alone almost having a bachelor’s degree. He thought about his friends and how grateful he was for them.He got out of the shower, wrapping his towel around his waist. He brushed his teeth before styling his hair for the day, two low messy buns. Once he was done with his morning routine, he got dressed, finally looking at what clothes he grabbed; a black flowy shirt with small intricate gold designs and light blue high waisted pants. He got dressed, smiling at his reflection, before exiting the bathroom. He grabs his phone and walks into the living room.
“Good morning Rexxie,” Evan smiled at him before returning to his bowl of yogurt.
“Hey Ev, are you guys almost ready? I have to work at 7.” Rex asked.
“Yeah, lemme just go grab dumb and dumber.” He replied, getting up and dropping his bowl in the sink before retreating toward the other rooms. Rex grabbed his boots from the shoe rack, putting them on while he waited.
“Rex!” Dorcas yelled,”Did you forget there was an art meeting this morning?”
“No, I didn’t forget. I already spoke to Pandora and explained I had work this morning. She told me it was fine.”
“Damn,” She sighed,”This is the third meeting you’ve missed.How are you still a club member?”
“Because Dora can’t say no to him,” Barty says walking out the door, “Now let’s go. I’ve got a practice to get to.”
“Welcome to Griff’s!” Rex says as he hears the bell ring. He continues to make the cappuncio in his hand, placing a lid upon it and setting it on the counter after a minute. He looks over to his coworker, Mary, and gives her a head nod and holds his hand up, indicating he’s taking a break. Once he’s in the back office, he takes a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“Whoa there Rex,” He looks up and sees Lily, the shift lead, smiling at him, “You okay? Is Al overworking you? Do I need to have a chat with him? I will if you need-”
“I’m fine!” Rex blurts out, interrupting the ginger.”Sorry, it’s just I really need this job. I really am fine, just a little tired. Barty and Dorcas woke me up this morning because they were arguing about bees.”
“Bees?” Lily laughs.
“Yeah, you know those idiots,” He smiles, his first real smile today. They sit there in a comfortable silence, the only sounds the clicking of Lily’s keyboard as she works.
“Oh! Aren’t you and Mary supposed to be on the way to Reading?” Rex asks.
“Is it 5 already?” She looks down at her watch, “Will you be okay to close?”
“Of course, I’ve done it a million times,” Rex says,”Al should just promote me already.”
“Yeah I don’t see that happening any time soon,” She laughs as she gets up, “He doesn’t want to have to give anyone here a raise.” Soon the two girls leave him alone in the store. Well besides the two regulars sitting in a booth. The shop closed at 6, and they rarely got any customers past 5, so he started cleaning, making small talk with the two eldery men. The men soon left, waving goodbye to the tired barista, who made his way to the office.
“5:40,” Rex read off his phone, “Okay 20 more minutes, you got this.” He walked into the office, looking for the end of day checklist.
“Hello?” A voice called, “Are you guys still open?” Rex quickly ran to the front.
“Yes, I’m sorry, I was just looking for something,” He said, “Now we close in 15 minutes, so I have to tell you we only have tea and past-,” He finally looked up and was stunned. The man in front of him was gorgeous; he had unkempt black hair that covered his forehead, his face looked as if it were sculpted by the Gods, he wasn’t very tall but he was extremely built.
“Pastries?” He asked, finishing Rex’s sentence.
“Oh um yes! So what could I get for you?” Rex blushed.
“I’d just like Earl Grey please, oh and a pain au chocolat.” The man says with an awful French accent.
“A pain au chocolat?” Rex laughs, saying it perfectly.
“Yes! How can you say it so well?”
“I lived in France for 7 years,” he replies, “Plus it was my first language. That’ll be £5.” The man handed him a fiver and smiled at him. Rex quickly took the money and started on the tea.
“So if you lived in France so long, what made you wanna move to Winchester?” The man inquired.
“I’m here for uni,” Rex said, finishing the tea and setting it on the pick up counter. He grabbed a pain au chocolat and put it in a bag.”What about you?”
“I’m also here for uni. I’m originally from Devon.” The man smiled, reaching out to take the bag.
“Here you are,” Rex smiled, “Your tea is down on the other counter.” The man smiled once again and walked to grab his tea.
“Thank you,” He said, reading the name tag, “Rex,may we meet again.” The man then walked out and Regulus could only hope he noticed the number scribbled on the cup.