Chapter Text
"Hey Eddie! I’m leaving for the day. See you tomorrow!” There was only one customer in the shop. And you had already brought him his check. Just to be nice you checked on him after you grabbed your bag.
“Hi, can I get you anything else?”
The man with the baseball hat and beard looked up at you with stunning blue eyes and smiled, “No thanks, I was getting ready to head home. Thanks for everything, it was great, I love coming here, I’ve been away a lot on business and haven’t been around much. Eddie is a great guy.”
“Yes he is, I’ve been working here for about 5 months and he treats me like a daughter.”
“Aww that’s great, have you always lived in LA?” Mr. Charming blue-eyes asked.
“No, I lived in the Midwest for most of my life.” You shifted your bag on your shoulder and tried to look away from those incredible eyes.
“I’m sorry, you’re probably in a hurry. I didn’t mean to keep you, thank you again for your great service.” he said smiling up at you.
“No problem, Eddie can settle your check, have a great rest of your day.” You smiled and waved your hand as you turned to go out the door. You felt yourself blushing as you walked around to the back of the building and going up a single flight of stairs to your small, but cozy apartment above the coffee shop. When you moved and had found this job, Eddie offered you this apartment when you came in looking for a job. You ended up sharing your whole story, which not many people knew. You had “trust issues” because of your past.
You were grateful but guarded about starting a whole new life in LA. You ended up here through a hard year of stop and go travel through the southwest. You didn’t have any family and you had barely escaped an abusive relationship a little over a year ago. Eddie’s coffee shop was there when you were down to your last five dollars in your pocket. You had been sleeping in your car since you got to LA and spending your days looking for a job. You had parked in Eddie’s lot by the shop and he had tapped on you window and scared you one morning. He brought you in and offered you a job and the apartment above the shop. He was a great judge of character and as you worked, he took you under his wing and you had slowly opened up to him. Unknown to you, he felt quite protective of you. You were so grateful to him.
A week later, you were working and the bell over the door jingled. You called out, “Feel free to sit anywhere, I’ll be right with you.” As you came out around the counter, you looked straight into Mr. Charming Blue-Eyes himself. You fumbled in your apron for your pen and order pad as you tried to catch your breath.
“Good Morning, what can I get for you?”
“I would love a large house coffee and a little company if you’re not busy”
“Okay, would you like any cream or sugar?” You stuttered as he looked at you with those stunning eyes.
“I like it black, thank you.”
You took deep breaths as you stepped behind the counter and poured his coffee. What in the world was wrong with you? You were feeling all flustered and light-headed. You took the mug of coffee over to his table and put it down in front of him. He looked up and smiled at you, “I would love for you to sit down and join me if you have a few minutes.”
“Umm, okay,” you stuttered as you sat down.
I’m Chris,” he introduced himself.
“I’m y/n,” you said as you sat down across from him.
“You mentioned the other day that you haven’t been in LA very long. Did you come here to get into acting?”
“Nope, I just ended up here.” You weren’t trying to be short with him, but you didn’t open up to many people when you first met them.
You shifted in your seat uncomfortably and he put his hand over yours gently and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I love meeting people and tend to get up in their business.”
“It’s okay, I’m pretty guarded. I guess you’d say that I have trust issues.” you giggled awkwardly as you air-quoted with your fingers. You immediately put your hand over your face and said “I can’t believe I just made air-quotes, I guess you could say I don’t get out much...”
When you took your hand off your face and looked at him across the table, he was grinning and his eyes were twinkling. “You’re adorable and I hope maybe I can change the fact that you don’t get out much. I’m totally a homebody but I love to get outside and enjoy nature. Do you like hiking?”
“I do enjoy it, but I don’t get out to do it much. I’ve read about some of the awesome trails around here, but I don’t know many people outside of Eddie and I’m not sure I want to go by myself. Not that I’m scared, I do have some martial arts training, but just don’t want to get lost or caught somewhere with wild animals alone.”
“Do you have a dog?”
“No, I would love one, but I’ve never been in a great situation with living arrangements that would allow me to take care of an animal the way that it would deserve. Do you have any pets?”
His face lit up as he started talking about his rescue dog that he’d adopted in 2016. You could see he was passionate about his sweet dog. He explained how he gave him the name Dodger because he looked like the character in the Disney movie, Oliver and Company. Your heart opened a crack while you watched him talk animatedly about his dog. ‘Who is this guy?’ you thought to yourself.
Soon, the back door slammed shut and you heard Eddie come back from his grocery run. You excused yourself from the table and ran to the back to help. “Any customers this morning?” he asked.
“That guy Chris is here. He says you know him.”
“Oh okay,” he paused and looked at you, “he is a good guy. He would benefit from a good woman.”
You blushed and said, “We were just talking for a while, he seems nice.”
Eddie smiled and said, “Well, let’s not keep our customer waiting,” winking at you as he walked away.
You fanned your face with a towel and took a deep breath before returning to the table. “How’s Eddie?” Chris asked you.
“He’s good, just back from the store, sometimes he let’s me open while he runs errands before he gets here. His wife has some health issues and he takes care of her. She’s the sweetest.”
“Oh man, I didn’t know that. That stinks.” Chris stood up as he said, “Well, I really enjoyed talking with you, I don’t want to keep you much longer. I hope I can catch you another time, I don’t have to travel for work for awhile.” He opened his wallet and dropped a bill on the table as he laid his hand on your arm. “See you soon,” he squeezed your arm and pulled his hat lower and walked out of the door.
You sighed and leaned against the table as you looked down to find he left a twenty dollar bill for a three dollar cup of coffee. You took the bill in your hand and held it to your heart as you smiled for a minute. Then you shook your head, laughed at your silliness and tucked the money into your apron pocket.
Chris came into the shop regularly and found a way to talk with you each time. After about a month of friendly conversation, he asked you if you would like to take a hike with him. He was really sweet and offered to pick you up after work at the coffee shop and then you could both grab a very casual meal before you head back. You accepted and today was the day. You had run upstairs and gotten changed into exercise leggings and a tank top over a sports bra. You added a lightweight hoodie in case it got breezy later. You went downstairs to the shop to wait. You helped Eddie close out the shop while you waited.
“Where are you two heading off to?” Eddie asked you as you were putting chairs up onto the tables.
“He’s taking me hiking on a trail close by. I’m excited to get to know some trails around here. I’ve wanted to, but have been nervous about going by myself. Then we’re going to get some yummy food truck dinner and sit on the beach to enjoy.”
“Well, I hope you have a great time. He is a good guy, but you make sure you take care of yourself. I’m happy that you’re getting out.”
“Eddie, I’m just going out with a new friend, I’m not getting married. You’re freaking me out a little bit.”
“Okay, okay, I just care about you and want good things for you.”
“Thanks Eddie, I love you too.”
Just then the door jingled and you looked up to see Mr. Blue Eyes himself walk in.
“Hi.” you said.
“Hi,” he said.
“I’m excited to get outside today. Do you want a bottle of water or something else to drink before we leave?” you asked sweetly.
“I would love a water and a coffee to go.”
“Sure no problem. Let me go get that for you.”
Chris leaned up against the counter and smiled at Eddie. “How are you?”
Eddie replied, “Real good, man.” He looked at Chris and then towards the back where you had disappeared. “Hey, I just want you to know that woman means a lot to me and my wife. Please take care of her and be kind to her heart. She’s been through so much.”
“I understand. I hoping to spend some more time with her.”
You came out and handed Chris a water bottle and a small coffee. “I’m ready to go.”
Chris looked at the coffee cup and back at you and Eddie and said, “I hope you didn’t make a whole fresh pot for me. I didn’t even think about the shop being closed.”
“It’s all good, we have a small coffee machine in the back that we keep fresh.” You walked over to Eddie and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks Eddie, I’ll see you tomorrow. Please give Emma a kiss for me.”
“Will do. You kids have fun.” Eddie said as he followed you to the door to lock the shop.
Chris walked beside you to his SUV. He opened your door for you and shut it after he made sure you were safe inside. “I’m excited to spend some time with you today.”
“Thank you for asking me. I’m excited to get outside and see for myself what all the fuss is about. Tell me about where we are going.”
“I want to take you up into Hollywood Hills, but not on the trail to the sign. It’s called Briar Summit. It’s a shorter trail, but that will give us time to grab something to eat before the sun sets. Does that sound okay?”
“Sure that sounds nice, I didn’t realize that there was a trail to hike up to the Hollywood sign.”
“Yeah, we could do that sometime but it’s better to start early in the morning. There’s not much shade and it’s usually more crowded.”
Chris drove for about 20 minutes and pulled into a parking lot. He put sunglasses on and a baseball cap. You tried not to stare at his arms loaded with muscles. He turned to you and smiled, “Ready?”
“Let’s go,” you smiled back at him.