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Viney’s day was rapidly going downhill. First, her dog, Puddles, dug a hole in the backyard trying to get outside of the fence. Then, her coffee machine broke, forcing her to go to a coffee shop instead of making her own. Lastly, possibly the worst of all: it was Valentine’s Day.
It’s not like she hated Valentine’s Day, she just… never had a reason to celebrate it.
Viney always found it hard to date. Her worst experience was a girl in high school dating her as a joke . She of course found out on Valentine’s Day, of all days. So, excuse her for being a bit bitter over the holiday made for lovers.
She sighed, braced herself for seeing all the couples, and walked into a coffee shop called The Owl House. The bell above the door made a small ding! , signaling her arrival.
The shop was cozy, booths pushed against the right wall and a few tables scattered about the rest of the café. There was even a couch and chairs placed by a nook with a window looking outside. A song she didn’t recognize played over the speakers.
It was surprisingly empty. There was only a group of friends sitting in a booth, two chairs pulled up in order to fit everyone. No obvious couples in sight.
There was a girl - the barista, she assumed - cleaning off one of the tables. She looked at the door once Viney walked in.
“Oh! Welcome to The Owl House! I’ll be with you in just a second!” Viney nodded and walked up to the counter, taking the time to look over the menu.
As soon as she decided what she wanted, the barista showed up. “Sorry about the wait, it’s a slow day, and Luz,” she nodded over to someone in the group of friends, “is on her break.”
Viney waved her off. “I don’t mind.”
“That’s good,” She smiled, and - oh no - she was beautiful. The barista had tan skin and short, curly hair that she dyed an almost turquoise color. It was incredibly fluffy, to the point that she could probably hide something in there.
“Now, what can I get you?”
“Uh-“ She scanned the menu again, forgetting what she wanted. “The Lavender Lemonade..? Please.”
The barista - her name tag said Juliette - nodded, writing down the order on a cup. “And your name?”
“Viney.”
“A beautiful name for a beautiful customer.” Juliette winked before turning around to get started on Viney’s order. Viney blushed and looked away.
“So,” Juliette said, snapping Viney out of her trance, “what brings you here on Valentine’s Day?”
“Oh, uh… my coffee machine broke…”
She hummed. “Your coffee machine broke, so you came to a café to order… not coffee?”
“Wait, what?” Juliette looked at Viney over her shoulder and laughed. God, Viney thought, her laugh is so cute.
“You got a Lavender Lemonade. There’s no coffee in it.”
“Oh.” Viney blushed again. She doesn’t even like that drink. Stupid hot barista making her order a stupid drink she didn’t even like.
“Is not-coffee all you came here for? No dates to meet up with?”
She cringed, “definitely not.”
“Jules! Can you warm up a cookie for Hunter?” Someone from the group of friends called, startling Viney.
“Fine, but this time someone has to pay for it!”
“I’ve got it!” Another voice from the group chimed in.
“Wait, Willow-“ A boy - probably Hunter - tried to protest.
“Oh, please.” Juliette (Jules?) said. “I can’t believe you actually think you would have to pay for it. You know Mom would have my head if I made any of you guys pay.”
“And that’s why Eda’s the best!” The boy from earlier said. Viney thinks he was the one that asked for Hunter’s cookie.
Juliette chuckled and grabbed some cookies to warm up. “So, Viney, are you not a Valentine’s person?”
“What?” Viney looked back at Juliette who stared at her. Viney noticed that her eyes were a strange yellow color, like an owl.
“You said you “definitely weren’t” meeting up with a date. I assume you’re not a big fan of Valentine’s Day?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s not my favorite holiday. I’m surprised there aren’t more couples here.”
She hummed and leaned against the counter. “My mom used to hate the holiday, so she would keep the store closed on it every year to keep the lovey-dovey people away. People now are just so used to the store being closed they don’t bother trying to come in.”
“What happened? Why is it open now?” Viney didn’t even notice that Juliette had finished her drink minutes ago. She was too enchanted by Juliette to care, anyways.
“A couple years ago, Mom ran back into her ex, - and my parent - Raine. They eventually ended up getting back together. Raine helps her see the brighter side of the holiday. However, she won’t work on Valentine’s Day, she’s too occupied by doing mushy relationship shit with Raine.”
“ But, ” Juliette continued, basically rambling at this point, “there are still some couples in here.”
“Really?”
She nodded and leaned closer, lowering her voice. “You see that booth?” Viney nodded. “Luz is dating Amity,” she gestured to two girls sitting next to each other, one with brown hair (Luz) and the other with dyed purple hair (Amity, she assumed). “Gus,” she pointed to the boy who asked for Hunter’s cookie, “is waiting on his boyfriend, Matt. Vee,” she pointed out another girl, “is planning on asking out her crush, Masha, soon; but they’re working at the historical museum right now. And Hunter has had a huge crush on Willow for years now.” Juliette gestured to the two of them as well. The blond boy (Hunter) blushing at something the girl (Willow) had said.
Hunter looked up once he heard his name. “What?”
“Nothing! I’m talking about you, not to you.”
Hunter looked appalled. “You can’t just talk about me to some stranger .”
“I can, and I will .” Juliette crossed her arms. “And she’s not “some stranger” her name is Viney! Now come get your cookie.”
Hunter grumbled and got up, climbing over Gus to get out of the booth. He took the cookie from her and went back to the group, but not before shooting Juliette a glare. She just rolled her eyes before looking back at Viney.
“Anyways, there’s more love around than you think. Sometimes, you just can’t see it. But, I digress.” Juliette pushed the finished drink towards Viney, “Your drink, cariño. ”
Ohmygodohmygod, hot barista girl speaks Spanish! Viney blushed, despite not knowing what it meant, and took the drink.
“Wait. I never paid! How much is it?”
Juliette smiled. “It’s on the house. My treat.”
“I can’t-“
“No arguing, I decided it’s on the house, so it’s on the house!”
Viney laughed. “Well, thank you, then.”
“Of course! I-“ Juliette got cut off by a chime signaling the arrival of someone else. “Ah… duty calls. I hope to see you again, Viney.”
“I hope so, too, Juliette.” Viney walked out of The Owl House while Juliette began serving the new customer. She sighed and looked down at her drink.
I can’t believe that just happened. She started walking to the park, hoping to find a nice place to sit down and process everything that just happened, when she noticed some writing on the cup. It wasn’t the usual “name and order” either. It was some hastily scribbled writing, slightly smudged from the condensation of her drink. Examining it some more, she realized it was a number - likely the number of Juliette.
Maybe this holiday wasn’t so bad after all.