3 crowns 50. That wasn’t … too bad. A mere tenth of what she had left. A whole tenth of it. She was just wrestling with the idea of telling him she’d changed her mind when he told her about the special, and her face absolutely lit up, smiling with gratitude and hope and a certain sense of can you believe my luck? She got out the bills and coins and laid them on the counter, smile never faltering, then moved over to look at the display case.
Everything looked to scrumptious, and her mouth started watering almost at once. Her stomach soon joined in with a gurgle she hoped hadn’t been loud enough to hear. Ugh, she needed to get a job and money so she could take care of herself again. But she needed an address before she could do that…
Before she let her mind wander down that path of stress and worry, she turned her focus back to the display. “Ummmmmm… she hemmed as she tried to decide. “Cranberry orange muffin?” It was a question, checking to make sure that was part of the deal, even though he’d said it was anything she’d like. “And I’ll be staying in here.”
She hoped that wasn’t a problem. She knew she looked a mess all the time now, from her hasty haircut to her dirty clothes to her overstuffed satchel. She might not be particularly wise in the world, but she at least understood the basics of what it meant when someone looked shoddy. Her mother had seen to that.
“Please,” she added, on top of everything else. If she was going to be taking up time and space and recourses, the least she could do was be as polite as possible.
She spotted the little tip box on the counter, and though she couldn’t technically afford it, he was being so kind to her. Reaching into her pocket again, she grabbed several coins and poured them into the box, not bothering to see how much she’d just given away.
Oh! Okay, he’d never seen someone get quite that excited about a free snack before. It was like the sun had shone on her face for the first time or something ridiculously poetic like that. Weird.
“Cranberry orange muffin,” he confirmed. “Good choice, that’s a great muffin.” He grabbed the tongs and plucked out the muffin, setting it on a plate before he turned away to start making her drink. “Staying here. You got it, sweetheart. One caramel-nut latte to drink in2 à la Flynn, coming up,” he called over his shoulder, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the coffee machine. Ha. He liked the way that rhymed. No, it wasn’t the first time he’d used it, and it wouldn’t be the last.
It didn’t bother him too much that his flirting had gone pretty much over her head. It was mostly instinct at this point, anyway, rather than anything truly intentional. He tended to prefer flirting with more put-together, wealthy people rather than small homeless girls who got super excited by muffins. It was sad, really. He deliberately didn’t think about a time when he’d only had a handful of coins to his name, too. Those days were long behind him. Flynn Rider was a master thief, thank you very much, charming and handsome and happy.
Yes, maybe he was a part-time barista now, too, but at least he looked great in the uniform. The clink of money caught his attention and he turned to see her tipping more coins into the tip box. Was she not as poor as he’d assumed? Or did she just not understand that you really shouldn’t be tipping a bunch of coins when you could barely afford the coffee in the first place?
He opened his mouth to protest, then quickly closed it again. Who cared? She wasn’t his problem. If she wanted to tip him, fine, she could tip him. He was a pro at getting a ton of tips.
Coffee made, he turned back to her and placed the drink and muffin on a little tray. “Thank you! Very generous. Enjoy, huh? Let me know if you need anything else,” he told her in his warmest voice with his most charming smile and - yeah, why not? - a little wink at the end.
There. With an interaction like that, he was pretty sure he’d just secured another regular. Really, he didn’t get paid nearly enough for all the business he brought in just by being him. It was a tragedy.