Beneath the Blazer

I love to discover new and quirky little coffee shops near my apartment. I had seen the opening signs all over this place for the last few weeks but I hadn't had the chance to visit until today. I walked over across the main road to reach the coffee shop. It was painted a dark green with stripes of white on the boards. The words 'Embrace the beans' read on the back wall. I rolled my eyes slightly. I really hoped it wasn't one of those overpriced, kinda cringey stores. I waited until it was my turn to order, the menu was filled with colour and different signature drinks. I couldn't decide what to get since all of the original names of coffees were changed to some sort of funky sounding one. I ordered a simple drink called 'apple of my eye' which seemed to a spiced apple infused latte. I would've ordered something a little more promising but the sighs of the overworked and quite exhausted blue collars behind me echoed in my ear. I tapped my card, thirteen pounds. I raised my eyebrows in shock. I couldn't back down now, I was in too deep.

I made my way to the other side of the counter, waiting patiently to get my drink order. It seemed organised but also kind of chaotic so it was an estimation of a two to twenty five minute wait. I looked down at my phone, nervously waiting for an acceptance email. I was twenty one without a job. I know it's pathetic but in my defence, I have been applying since I was eighteen but without experience I couldn't get a job and without a job I couldn't get experience. Awful. An awful cycle. I hated it. On the bright side, I did have a sort of side business that paid some expenses like for a thirteen pound coffee, or latte or whatever it was.

The line was getting longer and the baristas looked exhausted. I knew it would be a while so I decided to look for a seat. Unfortunately, the place was packed out. I couldn't find a single place to sit until I found a little table at the end. I sat down, and looked over at the person in front of me. They had their MacBook out on a low brightness, nosy me couldn't help but look at what was on their screen. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused at the numbers. They didn't look right. The whole layout of the spreadsheet didn't look right. I let out a loud exhale, and a slightly confused 'hm' clearing judging the person in front of me.

It wasn't long till they turned around.

"Care to explain why you've been gawking at my screen for the last five minutes?" The voice echoed. My face turned red. I cleared my throat, standing up a little straighter and lightly shaking my head.

"I wasn't looking at anything." I said panicked, clearly stuttering over my words revealing my lies.

The man who had now turned his screen off, turned his body around to face me, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You're a terrible liar and I don't even know you." He scoffed.

I widened my eyes.

"I am not. Shut up." I gasped, frustrated as his tone.

He turned his body back around to his laptop, now ignoring me.

"Whatever, little girl." He said, I could feel the rolling of his eyes.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Who does he think he is calling me a little girl? Has he stopped to consider that maybe he's just a freaking giant. Even sitting down, he was slightly taller than my standing position. I let out a loud exhale and turned my head noticing the barista about to call out my order.

I put my hand up to gesture it was mine. Just as I was about to reach the counter, I stumbled on my own feet and right to the ground. I could hear the stifled laughs from the people behind me. I stumbled across to reach my drink and quickly scurried out. God, that was embarrassing. Why are people so rude?

I decided to spend the rest of the day looking at LinkedIn, hoping to secure some connections. I scrolled for what felt like hours on end. It was frustrating to see all of those successful men and women who wouldn't even care to accept my connection request. I sighed and nearly scrolled off the app, that was until I saw a familiar looking profile.

A man with dark eyes and a perfect jawline. His beard trimmed to the edge of his facial structure highlighting his perfections. I looked at his face, and admired his profile. He wore a tight navy blue suit that drew an outline to his body. I found myself smiling slightly as I couldn't help but notice how attractive he was. I read his summary detailing his accomplishments as the CEO of a some marketing business. I raised my eyebrows, impressed. I continued to glance at his profile until I realised a terrible mistake I had just made.

I pressed connect. I connected to his stupid, stupid but also perfectly handsome looking profile. I cringed at myself, hoping to be swallowed into the ground. I rolled my eyes and turned my phone off, shoving it in my pocket.

He's not going to notice. There's no way he'd notice. A man like him would never notice something like this, a tiny small online presence. I tried to convince myself the entire way home, getting distracted about what would happen if he had noticed and if he decides to connect back. Would he lure me into a chat then embarrass me in front of my entire family? God, what am I even saying.

I think too much.

Being unemployed had its perks. I had plenty of time to do chores, errands and work on my business. I had recently started selling cupcakes as a way to make a little cash. At first it was going pretty well. I had a ton of customers lined up, I was practically living life. However after the cost of living crisis surged, things had gotten a little slow. A dozen cupcakes I once priced at ten pounds, I was now forced to sell for fifteen. My clients weren't happy but what could I say? The cost of a stick of butter was practically an arm and a leg. I had to put my prices up which in turn lost me around forty percent of my clients, which doesn't sound like a lot but it was.

At around 5pm I had finished everything on my to do list. I decided to watch some Netflix to kill the time. I sighed after finishing the third series this month. What am I going to do in life I thought to myself. Then it happened, I heard a ping. One very loud and unusual ping, almost like my phone knew my entire life was going to change.

I looked down at my phone to see the notification.

'Selena Gomez has just posted a new story' Oh fuck off I thought to myself. Why does instagram keep changing their notification sounds?

Another ping.

I looked over to the new notification reading to throw my wall into the wall.

It was LinkedIn. It couldn't be though, no CEO has time to check their socials.

I was wrong. This man apparently had all the time in the world.

He had accepted my request, viewed my profile and sent me a message all in the span of a minute.

Is he unemployed?

I checked the message excited almost, only to see a standardised automated message. My smile dropped slightly. Who was I kidding? The way he looked, there's no way he would've remembered someone like me.

I started typing out a response. Something professional but equally nonchalant. I didn't want to come off as desperate nor did I want to appear unavailable. I sighed, I couldn't figure out what to say. I rolled my eyes at my self and threw my phone to the edge of my bed.

That is a problem I'll consider tomorrow.

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Hi!

Thank you for choosing 'Beneath the Blazer'. This story is very dear to my heart and has lots of indications to my own life which I just think is adorable. It's a slow burn and a little toxic. It's not mafia related or anything it's mostly just lots of drama so I hope you enjoy it 💗🥹

I love you,

HeavenWrites <3