"Whatcha doodlin', Allie?"
I slightly look back at Dinnie who's dangerously leaning his chair backwards just behind my own to peer at my notebook.
Dinor's his actual name.
He says he doesn't like it so he opts with Dinnie instead so now, there's two people here whose names end with -ie and everybody ends up thinking that my name is a nickname too even though it isn't.
Pushing his chair forward a little bit so he won't fall backwards, -since he probably would've based on the angle he was at- I show him the sketch that I made.
"It's a pretty little thing Dad was crafting earlier. Gorgeous baby's due today so he stayed up to finish it. Probably a rushed order or something, old man tends to overestimate himself."
He takes the notebook off of my hands- which he tends to do with pretty much anything instead of just looking at it like a normal person- and hums to himself, eyeing the sketch before flipping back to the other pages. I snatch the notebook off of his hands with a huff.
"You're not bad at drawing yourself. Why don't you try crafting some of those 'babies' too?" he lifts his hands to do air quotes and I roll my eyes at him. Those are two completely different things and they're no way near each other.
"What?" Have you ever tried to make one? I think you can make some extra cash with those," he snickers, rubbing his index finger and thumb together. "Nah, I don't think I'll ever have the time and dedication," I say as I stand up and motion to the clock, making my way out of the back room while tying my apron on.
Lunch time's almost here which means there will be an influx of customers in the coffee shop soon: Mostly students from the nearby college who'll want a caffeine fix either before afternoon classes or after just waking up.
I stand behind the second counter and remove the next cashier please sign in stylized cursive letters. Dinnie greets the other staff who just started cleaning and starts collecting used mugs from tables, making a group of girls who were looking at him giggle with a million-dollar smile.
Grace, who's standing behind the first counter beside me groans and rolls her eyes. "There he goes again. Now they'll stay for a little bit more and the students will have less seats to have for themselves," she grumbles under her breath as she fiddles with her phone. I huff out a laugh.
"Just have him show them the new cakes of something. They'll either buy one out of Dinnie magic or leave. Win-win," I say, fishing out the fresh laminated flyer from under the counter. She takes it and half throws it at Dinnie who has just returned to set down the few used mugs he collected by the coffee machine.
He winks at us and I hear a faint 'ugh' from Grace before he sets out to approach the girls' seats with a little skip in his step, ready to cast his 'Dinnie Magic' to unsuspecting prey.
To be fair: Dinnie's actually quite physically attractive. It's just that his dreamy, coffee prince charming effect wears off after a few hours- or minutes- after you see him hopping all over the place and realize how energy-draining his antics and personality can be for the average of patience.
From afar, dismissed students start to walk down the stairs of the college entrance. We straighten our uniforms out of habit and check our ribbons on the cashier screens' faint reflections. The door chime rings as a new customer comes in.
"Welcome to Wonderland!" the staff chimes in unison.
♤ ♡ ♢ ♧
The sun is about to set when Grace elbows my arm.
"Shift's almost over. You going overtime today?" she asks, punching in a caramel macchiato for someone named 'Not a Deadweight'. I huff in amusement at the cup before handing a receipt to my customer.
"Nah, I'm going to go home early to check on my dad."
Grace lets out a loud exhale from her nose and frowns. "Why? What is it?" I ask and she shrugs. "Was supposed to go to a movie thing with my sister tonight but she can't make it. I don't want to waste the other ticket," she says.
I point at Dinnie and she recoils with a disgusted face, making said guy laugh. "Nah, I'm taking somebody else's shift for today. You, however-" Dinnie puts a cup on the counter near her and- does he never get tired of doing that- winks playfully.
"-Might already have someone to go with," he finishes and points at a table beside the glass. A small guy in a sweater sheepishly smiles at her. Aww, how cute.
Ol' six foot four tall Grace Anne Lee looks stunned for a few seconds before trying to kick Dinnie, except she's kind of forgotten that they're separated by a counter. The two's antics get a few laughs from the regulars.
"I'm not like you," Grace pointedly huffs at him before giving a slightly panicked wave at the guy. I let out a poorly suppressed snort. "Haha, off with you," she sarcastically laughs and gives me a push. I walk off with her to the backroom while untying my apron, nodding at the guys who'll take over.
Coffee sometime? is written on the coffee cup in clean cursive writing. Probably asked help from Dinnie.
"He's cute. If you're not fast, I might get him first," the devil peeks into the backroom. "Christ, Dinnie," Grace throws her apron at his face and he barely manages to snatch it before it hits. He laughs and tosses it back, receiving a half-hearted eyeroll from Grace as she dumps the apron in her bag.
Dinnie waves me off as I leave, Grace staying behind to have coffee in the coffee shop she works in. I shake my head in amusement before heading off.
A few blocks away from the shop, I contemplate going for a shortcut when an uneasy feeling settles in my gut.
I turn around. Nothing.
Nodding to myself, I decide to take my normal route and ditch the shortcut. I was about to forget the weird feeling that abruptly took over me earlier when something white walks by the corner of my eye.
My body freezes-
-Except for my eyes that reflexively follow the movement despite my heart almost stopping.
There's nothing there. I blink and- just in case- don't move my whole body as I look around, ready to dart in the opposite direction if something happens. Hoho, boy- I saw something earlier. I swear I saw something.
I swiftly look at my watch and then up at the sky to look for the sun as if it meant something. The sun's set but I can still see streaks of orange.
Woah- okay- hold up. The mood was so cheesy earlier, what the hell happened? I do a full, slow 360 and there's only a few people around, none of them donning the abnormally bright white that looks as if it just jumped out of one of those CGI laundry soap commercials.
The street lights flicker open one by one and I slowly exhale in shallow relief. That must've just been a street light that flickered too early. Yeah, that's it. Boy, that gave me a fright. I speed walk to a more crowded place and somehow end up taking the long way home.
I reach our residential complex longer than usual and give a forced smile as the old neighbors that were talking outside greet me. Noticing that the lights inside of our place is off, I blink. Is dad out?
Right, he did say he was going to a jeweler. The thought gets thrown out of the window when I reach the kitchen and is greeted by an undisturbed breakfast, the plastic cover I placed over it so the heat won't escape fast still there.
"Dad?"
I call out. No on answers. "Dad??" I shout louder as I run up the stairs, slamming the door open. He startles awake with a shout that surprised me back, making me jump up like a squirrel.
"..."
"..."
"...Daaaaaaad!!!!" I groan exasperatedly, sliding down the door frame as my dad slowly reconnects with reality, sitting like a lost raccoon on his bed. "You look like you just got disconnected from your mothership! What time did you sleep?" I motion at him with both hands and he blinks at me a couple of times as if he doesn't believe I'm here. He still looks like he hasn't gotten enough rest and I feel like my soul just exited the universe.
"You- you're here. You're home, what- what time is it?" He starts, frantically looking around. "It's a little over seven," I helpfully fill in as I stand up and rest my hands over my hips. "S-seven, seven-" he throws his legs over the bed and I immediately go to him.
"Hey, hey, easy there! Connect your soul to your body first, geez!" I say. My eyes meet the finished pocketwatch cover on the table as Dad reaches out to it and stops. "Al, can you see if it's dry?" he asks and I peer at it before nodding.
He takes it and attaches it to the pocketwatch, adjusting the time on it before closing the case and standing up. "Wait, you're going to the jeweler?? Now?? Like that??" I block his way and he frowns. I frown back at seeing the tired lines on his face.
Grunting in our little stand-off, I shake my head before sighing to myself. What did I say about overestimating and overworking?
"You know what, I'll do it," I say as I reach my hand out. He stills before donning an expression that looks as if he just saw me punch a baby in-front of him. "No. No, no, no-" he points at me, looking around for his jacket. I huff and snatch it off of the bedpost before he could get to it, hanging it on one of the hooks behind the door to his room.
"I just got home, I'm still in my work clothes and I'm still good and ready to go," I tell him, motioning to myself before I reach my hand out again, resting my other hand on my hip. "Just tell me where the jeweler's shop is and I'll be off. Oh, and the delivery address too. It's due today, isn't it?" I remind him.
He grumbles before scratching the back of his head, not knowing what bullet to shoot back with. Finally, with a defeated sigh, he hands me the case. I blink at the weight it packs despite its small appearance. Must be the box and the clockwork parts.
"Alright! Where do I go and how do I get there?"
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