"Name?"
"Mason." He said, blushing.
I knew his name really because he had been in here over the last few days and his order is always the same, skinny latte, a dash of vanilla with a chocolate sprinkle on top.
I scribbled Mason on the side of the plastic cup, then with a hint of mischievousness I drew a small heart beside it. I handed it off to Jade and she smirked taking it from me to fill the order.
He had been coming into my dad's shop for a couple of days and he is the shyest boy I've ever known. I guessed he was a couple of years younger than me at sixteen or seventeen, definitely still at school as he usually wore a blazer and had what looked like a school tie on.
In a few years he will be a serious heartbreaker with his stunning hazel coloured eyes and shoulder length strawberry blond tussled hair. He looks like a young Brad Pitt but with freckles, although I cannot imagine the real Brad ever having been anything like as timid and shy as this boy is.
Two minutes later I handed a skinny latte over to Mason while watching for a reaction to my little heart, there it is, his face reddened to a lovely pale pink and he fingered his collar as if trying to cool off. He scurried out of the shop as fast as he could while we burst into fits of giggles.
"The poor kid, you are an evil bitch Candice." She laughed, then placed the next customers cup in the machine.
Sure enough the next morning at the stroke of eight, I saw Mason in the queue. I already had a cup put aside for him, with a wink to Jade, she put his order in place before he even reached the front of the queue. His face was a picture when he asked, "Skinny la...." and I handed it over before he got out the words.
"On me." I said, with a smile.
He stared at the cup, this time it had a red lip-sticked kiss on the side to go along with the small heart and two kisses with a phone number, my number. I did it more as a wind-up but if he responds, who knows I might say yes.
I love his coy manner, his shyness, he is so different than the normal jocks and business men that normally hit on us in this place. The local college boys think we are fair game for their stupid childish remarks, while the older business men think we both need sugar daddies.
This time Mason was really flustered and tried to thank me, but his words came out so jumbled and clumsy that he gave up, feeling totally embarrassed he ran out of the shop.
Jade leant in close to my ear and whispered "Honestly Candy, you will kill that poor boy."
Jade Palmer is, and hopefully will always be my bff.
We went through school together, was as dumb as each other, and left with each other the first moment that we could.
We have been inseparable since our mums first met when we were three years old at nursery.
We have done everything together most of our lives, she was even the one that showed me how to reach my first orgasm with the aid of her sisters rabbit, needless to say we got even closer that night.
We both worked for my father in the coffee shop, part time while still at school, and full time since leaving.
My dad bought out the old hardware store from Mr. Lewis next door, and with the help of my older brother Alan, knocked through and converted it into the thriving business he has today.
Dad has also purchased a small boutique store in the heart of town and is renovating it, hopefully it will open this summer and I will get to run it so at the grand old age of nineteen, I will be the manager of my own place.
I have been fortunate to inherit my mother's looks, she was a much sought after catwalk model until she had me at the age of twenty seven. Dad was a runner for two of the big-name designers in the London shows and they hit it off from day one, he tended to travel with the entourage when they did Milan and Paris.
She still does the odd shoot here and there now, but nothing like she did. Mum travelled all over the world for shoots when she was my age. She has an eye for fashion and knows loads of great contacts that will help us when we open. Dad stayed in the business and worked his way up to become a floor manager for the larger events.
I was a bit sad that Mason didn't appear for the next few days and thought I might have scared him off. I was happy to see him on fourth day, there he was at the rear of the queue. I saw him sneaking peeks at me when he thought I wasn't looking, but I saw.
"Aw, I am sad." I said in my poutiest voice when he reached the front.
I exaggerated the bottom lip as I tilted my head slightly and put on my sad face.
"Why?" he asked, seemingly quite concerned.
"You didn't ring. I waited all night for the call, but you didn't ring." I said, my lip protruding even more.
"S-sorry." He stammered.
I smiled at his concern and took another cup from the countertop writing his name on it, I circled it with a heart and the two kisses just under the point, then wrote my number again.
I stuck my little finger of my right hand to my mouth with my thumb to my ear, "Ring." I mouthed and turned giving the cup to Jade.
By the time I had turned back he had been replaced by another customer, I caught him out of the corner of my eye and sure enough that pink blush had returned in force. He was standing in the corner of the shop wringing his hands and shuffling his feet awkwardly, every now and again he would look up through his long lashes in my direction.
It took him two days to finally pick up the courage to phone me, I was sitting at home in my bedroom when a number appeared that I didn't recognise.
"Hello." I said, waiting for the person to say something. Three seconds, five seconds, nothing. I was just about to end the call when a soft voice said "hi."
"Hello," I said again, "who is this?"
"Mason," he said softly. "Mason Pike."
"Oh hi Mason, I wondered if you would ever ring?"
