same time tomorrow (part i)

About this short story: coffee shop, non-binary lead, female wheelchair user lead

It was getting low-key ridiculous how much Haze looked forward to 8:32 a.m. every day.

Like now, for example. It was 8:31, and Haze was already biting back a smile and checking their reflection in one of the silver espresso machines.

Basically, Haze was a giant dork with a massive crush on a regular named Bella. It’d been months since Bella had first come into Joe’s Joe the Sunday morning of the Pride Parade and promptly stolen Haze’s heart. Bella had been decked out in full rainbow gear—rainbow sundress, rainbow sneakers, and a rainbow pin on the bodice of her dress that had read “she/her.”

She’d wheeled herself into the café slowly, maneuvering around full tables to get to the counter. And Haze had tried not to stare because they’d known what it would have looked like, but Bella was gorgeous. She was sunshine personified—riotous dark curls that faded into blue ombré, sparkling dark eyes, and full lips in a warm uptilt—and Haze had desperately wanted to be within her glow.

When Bella had given Haze her order, Haze’s intention had been to turn the charm all the way up. Instead, they’d stammered through a greeting, made a dumb comment about Bella having the same name as the girl in Twilight, and promptly spilled milk down the front of their apron.

“Haze, what the hell?” Their coworker Eric had hurried over and pressed napkins into Haze’s hands, looking like he was trying very hard not to laugh. “C’mon, I’ll make her drink. Go change your apron.”

So. That had been June, and now it was November, and Haze was no closer to getting anywhere with Bella than they’d been all those months ago. Well, they were sort of friends now, inasmuch as you became “friends” with someone by making small talk about the weather and memorizing their unchanging drink order.

“You’re an idiot,” Eric had informed them several times, very fondly. “Just ask her out. You literally have a chance to do that every day.”

Haze had decided that today was the day they would go beyond small talk and ask Bella what she liked to do. And also if she was single and wanted to do something with them.

Then, the clock ticked firmly to 8:32, and Haze’s palms broke into a sweat, their heart rate kicking up. No, this was a fucking awful idea. They were not going to do that and would instead throw up and go home and never try to speak to a human again.

The café door opened and Bella wheeled in, looking a little more frazzled than usual. Her curls were pulled into a haphazard topknot, and there were dark circles under her eyes. It was enough to make Haze forget about their anxiety.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Haze asked as soon as Bella got to the counter.

Bella reached up self-consciously to touch her hair. “That bad, huh? I knew I was doing a shit job of hiding it.”

“Hiding what?” Haze asked.

Bella grimaced, holding her phone out to the reader so Haze could charge her for her usual medium iced caramel macchiato. “Just a bad day. Everything hurts. Life sucks and then you die. You know the drill.”

Haze waved Bella’s phone away. “Your coffee’s on me today. Can I get you anything else? A croissant, maybe? We have these chocolate ones that are to die for.”

“Stop being so nice to me. I’ll be fine,” Bella said, finally cracking a smile. “Thanks for the drink.”

She wheeled over to the waiting area before Haze could say another word, and the next customer in line stepped up. The customer waggled their eyebrows. “Can I have a free croissant?”

“Obviously not,” Haze said. They took the customer’s order then sent Eric a look that said, ‘come the fuck over here and serve the next person, please.’ Eric, bless him, sped over and nudged Haze in Bella’s direction with his hip.

Haze busied themselves making Bella’s drink, standing as close as they could to where Bella was waiting.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Bella said suddenly. Haze didn’t drop the cup they were holding, but it was a close thing.

“Yeah, of course,” Haze said, trying not to sound as flustered as they felt.

“You’re here every morning, right?” Bella wheeled a little nearer. “Do you work at night too? Or…?”

“I go to night classes some nights,” Haze offered. “But I’m free, like, tonight.”

Oh my God. They had not just said that. Haze refused to look over at Eric, from whose direction a choked laugh had just sounded.

“Oh!” Bella said, lips twitching with amusement. “Yeah, I was wondering if—there’s this bar trivia night thing I go to with some friends, and we need another team member tonight.”

“Oh, I’m super dumb,” Haze blurted out.

Bella was laughing again, and it was making Haze’s chest squeeze with pleasure. What they’d said hadn’t actually been a joke—mostly—but if they could make Bella forget about her pain for even, like, one second, then that was a win.

“Um, I talk to you every day. I know you’re not dumb,” Bella reminded them. She reached up to fiddle with a curl that had come loose from her bun. “But even if you were, it would be fine. We’re not a great team. Competitive, yes. Actually knowledgeable, no.”

“That’s my kind of team.” Haze smiled. “Yeah, I’d be up for that.”

“Awesome!” Bella set her phone on the counter. “Could you put your number in? I’ll text you the details.”

Haze traded Bella her drink for her phone and typed their number in, then triple-checked that it was the right number. They came around the counter to place the phone back in Bella’s hand. “Thanks for inviting me. That sounds fun.”

“Yeah, I—“ Bella bit her lip, then went on, “I didn’t feel like going tonight. Life sucks, et cetera, you know? But I think maybe if you’re coming, it’ll give me something to look forward to.”

Haze blinked, stunned. A smile spread slowly across their face. “Damn, Bella, you got game.”

Bella burst out laughing, shaking her head. “Oh my God, literally no. Just come, okay? And I promise we’ll have fun.”

Haze couldn’t stop smiling. “Yeah, okay. Thanks again.”

“Thanks again for the coffee.” Bella lifted her cup in salute, grinning. “See you tonight, Haze.”

As Bella turned and started wheeling towards the door, Haze ran up to Eric, who was in the process of taking an order, and squealed right in his ear.

“Full debrief in five minutes,” Eric demanded, and Haze squeezed his arm and danced into the break room.