FEBRUARY 28, 2024
7.30 AM
Evan had been silently insulting Remus in his head since his alarm had gone off that morning.
How his best friend had convinced him to take his shift in the morning, when this week he had only been assigned work shifts in the early afternoon, so that he could spend an absolutely- non-romantic day with the boy he had been in love with for years, is not yet clear to him.
He could've said no; he actually wanted to, but after seeing him pine so helplessly for years, it almost felt mean to do so , and Remus is one of those people that Evan could never be mean to.
In the end, he was the one who convinced his boss to hire him after seeing him twice at the bar, talking about him as if they had known each other their whole lives when they barely knew each other's names.
So that's how Evan found himself, working at seven in the morning while still regretting getting out of bed that morning.
He headed towards the counter, where a man was already waiting for him, and put on a kind smile so that he wouldn't scare the customers away.
"Good morning, sir, and welcome to the Oblivion bar. I'm Evan, and I'm going to serve you today. What would you like to get?" he recited as if he had studied lines from a script so many times now that he had them imprinted in his corneas.
Seeming to notice the fakeness of his smile and the tone of boredom in his voice, the man laughed a bit.
"Well, hello Evan. Today, I would like to get a strong black coffee to get me through the day."
Evan grimaced sympathetically, understanding the need for coffee to survive yet another day.
"I'll get that started for you, sir. Is there anything else you'd like to eat along with it?"
The man shook his head and said, "No, thank you. I'm not a big fan of breakfast this early in the morning, but I will likely have something later in the day."
Evan nodded and started entering the order on the cash register.
"Well, if that's all, then your total will be £3.50. Would you prefer to drink it here or take it away?"
The man looked at his watch carefully, calculating the two options meticulously before deciding.
"I would like to take it away. I'll be starting work at a new place today, and it wouldn't be a good impression if I showed up late."
Evan smiled politely, taking the money the man gave him and handing over his coffee.
"I guess not, sir. I hope you have a good day and good luck with work!"
The man smiled back and, without hesitation, left a generous amount of money in the tip jar as he walked towards the door.
"Thank you, Evan! I hope you have a good day as well."
As he left, Evan looked at the door and reviewed the entire interaction in his mind.
The man was extremely handsome; he had stunning black hair with a few green strands and many earrings adorning his ears.
The way he was dressed, though, was very elegant; in fact, he was wearing a white shirt with a dark blue vintage jacket that was the same colour as his tie and trousers.
When he and Remus had shifts together, they loved to play a game in which they tried to guess what jobs all the customers did based on how they were dressed or what they ordered.
Even if Remus was always better at the game than him, who never managed to win, it still became a habit for Evan to analyse the way every customer was dressed or how they acted.
Pandora, his sister, has always told him how easy it is to understand someone by simply watching their habits, but he had never believed her before.
But now he has changed his mind.
The sound of the door opening brought him out of his thoughts and he looked up just in time to see a small group of students entering, all tired with books haphazardly stuffed in their backpacks.
He smiled a bit , thanking all existing entities for the fact that he no longer has to go to school, and went on to take their order.
Maybe morning shifts weren't that bad after all..