Chapter Text
It was hot. Too hot. Clarke couldn’t believe how hot it was considering it was only June, and yet she was sweating from every pore of her body.
“Griffins!” came a voice from behind her, “Table 13 is still waiting on their drinks.”
Clarke rolled her eyes before turning around and plastering a smile on her face. “Sorry Jaha, was just trying to cool myself off before I faint,” she replied, trying, but not quite succeeding, in keeping the hostility out of her voice.
“Don’t be so dramatic Griffin, it’s not that hot.” Clarke scowled darkly as she watched her boss walk back to his seat near the back of the café where there was a lovely breeze coming from the air conditioning. The man sat down, took a sip from his iced coffee, and looked pointedly back at Clarke who clenched her fists and debated whether to walk over to her boss and punch the smug look off his face. However, she decided it was safer to force a fake smile and make her way back to the barista. The blonde served table 13 with faux cheeriness and continued with her job for another few hours without stopping, in fear she would be called out again.
She wouldn’t say she hated her job; she just had no real passion for it. How could you have passion for your work when that work is serving moody and rude members of the public for hours on end? Clarke worked at a quiet coffee shop near the outskirts of town. The coffee shop was called “Arcadia” which, according to Jaha who was her boss and owner of the café, meant “peaceful wilderness”. Clarke wasn’t sure if this was accurate, but supposed it sort of was a fitting name for her place of work. All kinds of people came in Arcadia, but it was mostly more laid back people who came in to do some college work or to read a book or have a relaxed catch up with a friend. Rowdy and loud groups of people were never present in the café and so in many ways, it really was a peaceful wilderness!
“Hey princess,” came a whisper in Clarke’s ear.
“Oh shit!” the blonde exclaimed, almost dropping her stack of dirty plates and mugs. She turned round and saw her best friend smiling toothily at her, “Fuck sake Raven, you can’t scare me like that while I’m at work!”
Raven Reyes had been one of Clarke’s best friends for a few years now after they met at a freshman college during their first year at Ton District College. They hadn’t really got off to a great start considering they were unintentionally both dating the same boy! But now, years later, they were firm friends and any bad feelings they may have had towards one another were way in the past.
“Sorry Griff, didn’t mean to scare ya,” Raven said as she pouted jokingly.
“Oh please, yes you did!” Clarke replied, smiling slightly and hitting her friend on the arm. “What you doing here anyway?”
“Finished early today, so thought I’d come round and say hey before heading to the gym.”
Clarke raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re going to the gym?” she asked with a voice drenched in shock.
“Excuse you, my body is a temple and I always take extra care to treat it with respect and love!” Raven replied, feigning being insulted.
Clarke laughed sarcastically before stating the obvious, “Octavia’s somehow bribed you in to going with her.”
Octavia was Clarke’s other best friend and they had known each other for almost their whole lives. Clarke had moved to D.C when her dad had died 10 years ago, and had moved next door to the Blakes. The family had two children: Octavia who was Clarke’s age, and Bellamy who was a few years older. Octavia was such a friendly and warm person that it took no time for the two of them to become the best of friends. A friendship which lasted through middle school, high school, college, and into their adult lives. Clarke and Bellamy, however, had had a rocky start as they were both stubborn and fiery personalities, but as they had grown older they had learned to live amicably next door to each other. As long as they were never left alone in a room together they were fine!
“Maybe,” Raven smiled at her friend, she loved that the blonde knew her so well, “but that’s of no real importance. The important thing is that I’ve been here for well over 5 minutes now and yet no one has offered me a nice cold refreshment! I may have to talk to management about the staff here!”
“Fuck off!” the waitress spat jokingly at her friend, “Do that and I will kill you. Jaha’s already moaned at me today for daring to stand by the fan for a few seconds in order to cool me down! It’s so hot in here Raven I think I’m starting to melt.”
“I’m not sure about melt, but you are definitely starting to stink the place out! I’ve already seen 3 different groups of customers run outta here, holding their noses in disgust!” The brunette had to duck and to avoid the towel that was sent hurting towards her.
“Sit down, shut up, and I’ll get you your damned iced frappe. If not, I will chase you out of this stupid café with the mop we use to clean the toilets. Kapeesh?”
Raven chuckled but sat down anyway and awaited her drink thankfully. A few minutes later there was a delicious glass of the girl’s favourite drink in her hands and she took a sip from it, moaning at both the taste and the way it instantly cooled her down. As she sipped her drink she looked around the shop with vague interest. She enjoyed people watching, especially in places like Arcadia, as she loved to make up stories about all the different people she spotted.
Raven was smiling to herself as she concluded that the man in the corner was definitely texting back a crush as he was blushing ferociously with a wide cheesy grin on his face as he looked down at his phone. Suddenly someone entering the café caught the girl’s eye. Raven looked over at the door and her eyes almost popped out of her head! Entering the café was probably the most gorgeous specimen Raven had ever seen. She watched in awe as the woman walked towards the barista and waited in the short queue. The woman was tall with slightly wavy brunette hair that reached her lower back. Beautiful green eyes were enunciated by perfectly winged eyeliner and her jawline may as well been chiselled by the finest sculpture it was so perfect. A noise next to Raven brought her out of her trance, and she looked sideways to see Clarke had sat down next to her. Raven was still in awe and couldn’t help but move her eyes away from her friend and back to the stunning creature who was now being served.
“Dude what are you looking at?” came her friends voice as she felt a hand slightly shake her.
“Huh?” she asked dumbly, not bothering to tear her eyes away from the woman.
“Raven!” Clarke called loudly, making a few people near them look over in curiosity. This made Raven finally turn away and focus on her friend.
“What?...Oh sorry! Were you saying something?” she asked dumbly, still in a slight haze.
“Yeah, I was asking what time you’re meeting Octavia. I know she’s due to start her late shift this evening so I thought if you’re not heading to the gym too soon I could come with you,” Clarke stated with exasperation.
“Uhm…no. No sorry, we’re going pretty much now. She’s meeting me there in a few minutes actually,” Raven responded, her attention finally fully on her blonde friend.
“Oh okay, never mind,” Clarke sighed. She wasn’t exactly upset as she hated going to the gym or doing any kind of exercise really, but she knew she needed to get some in if she wanted her summer body ready before her trip to Cyprus in a few months’ time. “What were you so fixated on anyway?” she asked after a few seconds pause.
Raven blushed slightly but wasn’t really embarrassed to admit the truth. She hadn’t been out of the closet for long, so it was all quite new to her, but at the same time she was the type of person who really didn’t care if her friends knew she was checking a fit girl out. “I just saw the most perfectly sculptured human being to grace this earth,” the girl exclaimed dramatically.
Clarke laughed lightly. Raven was always getting infatuated by people. Boys and girls alike. She would see a good looking person and be obsessed with them for a couple of minutes but would then forget all about them.
“Alright where is she or he? Point them out to me, I wanna see if your taste has improved since Toupee Guy!” Clarke teased, bringing up the moment when her friend had made her and Octavia follow this guy around in a club a few months back, because he was “the sexiest man after Ryan Gosling”, but when they had finally found him he turned out to be more of a Donald Trump considering he had a very obvious toupee on his head.
“Oh very funny Griffin,” the brunette replied dryly, “trust me on this one. Even you’re gonna wet your pants!” Raven scanned the café, looking for the beautiful girl and found her sitting by herself in a corner of the café, sipping a drink and looking at several pieces of paper that were sprawled across the table. Raven smiled dopily and slyly pointed her out to Clarke. “There. She’s over there. The one with brown hair wearing that suit. Oh man I love a woman in a suit!”
Clarke followed her friend’s finger and her eyes settled on the girl. She looked her over, taking in her appearance and she smiled lightly as she realised who it was. Raven looked back with wide eyes, nodding her head as if to say “See? Told you she was hot!” The blonde laughed at her friends antics and shook her head.
“You’re impossible! You do realise you’re gonna have forgotten all about her before the day is over right?”
“That’s not the point Clarke. The point is holy hell she’s hot!” Raven exclaimed, a little too loudly. Clarke shushed her, reminding her friend that this was her place of work.
“Yes Raven, she is pretty darn hot. Bit stuck up, but yeah she’s got the whole business woman vibe going on, I’ll give you that.”
“Wait. How do you know she’s stuck up?” Raven asked. “Do you know her? Like personally? Like you’ve talked to her?”
“Yes of course I’ve talked to her. I’m surprised you’ve never seen her before to be honest considering she’s here all the time. She’s one of our regulars,” Clarke explained.
At that moment Jaha came over to them and tapped on his watch, clearly telling Clarke that her break was over and it was time to go back to work. Clarke rolled her eyes and made a rude gesture at the man once his back was turned, but then sighed dejectedly and got up.
“Guess that’s my cue then Reyes. I’ll see you at home after my shift. I probably won’t be back before Octavia has to leave for her shift so tell her I say hi.”
“Yeah will do. I really wish you two weren’t working these stupid shifts. You’re always working all day and she’s working nights and it’s never the three of us together anymore. The 3 musketeers are falling apart and it’s breaking my fragile little heart!” Raven dramatically grabbed at her chest as she exclaimed these words.
“I know, it sucks. It’s not our fault though. It’s our evil boss who’s to blame, he’s purposefully put us on different shifts all month because apparently we never get work done when we’re together,” the blonde explained sadly. “Anyway, I’ll catch you later. Have fun!”
“See you,” the brunette replied, giving Clarke a quick hug before heading out of the shop to meet their other friend. Clarke sighed long and loud, stretching as she made to get back to work. 3 more hours she thought to herself. Just 3 more hours, then she could leave this place and go have a nice hot bath at home before attempting to get back to her painting. She heard a cling as the door to the café opened and looked up to see the beautiful girl leaving. Clarke sighed again. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she loved it when the beautiful brunette came in to Arcadia. Something about her drew Clarke in. Maybe it was the air of dominance she gave off, or perhaps it was the mysteriousness of her. Clarke, like Raven, loved to people watch and make up stories about all the different people she saw. It was one of the only things that got her through her job each day. And she was pretty good at it, always coming up with exciting stories for each person, which every now and then turned out to be pretty close to their reality.
However, when it came to the brunette, Clarke was always stuck. She figured the girl was a business woman of sorts and took her job seriously, but other than that, and the fact that she appeared to have no friends or family as she was never seen with anyone else or seen talking amicably on the phone to anyone, Clarke really couldn’t figure the girl out. The blonde watched as the mysterious girl pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her bag and started walking away from the café.
“Till next time Alexandria”, she whispered to herself before getting back to serving her other customers.