Page 18 of Home Brewed (The Perfect Cup #1)

Hazel

I walk into Booze & Brews around midmorning, watching sunbeams trail warm tracks through the wide-windowed café. I’m in my softest, worn dark jeans, a white, ribbed long sleeve shirt, and a fluffy blanket scarf I grabbed on my way out when I saw the winds gusting.

I wave a greeting to Stella as I enter. She sends me a wink and starts making my usual order.

I’ve never questioned why I see her on shift almost every day, although I find it odd for someone of her age.

I figure even if she’s not in school, that’s still a heavy workload…

however, it’s not my business to guess. I have my own shit to deal with, and she and I barely know each other.

I exhale a little bit of the tension I was feeling earlier, remembering that despite quite a few unpleasant interactions I’ve had here, it’s still a safe space.

“Morning, Stella!”

“Morning, Hazel! How’re you doing?” The concern on her face is genuine. I know she saw what happened yesterday. I hope she can read the vibe of how much I really don’t want to get into it right now.

“I figure if I keep pushing through, I won’t have to think about it. ”

“I totally get that.” She looks at me conspiratorially. “You can dish at brunch tomorrow, Nessa already texted.” She hands me my coffee, promising treats later in the day, and I stroll to the back office.

The door is cracked when I approach, and I can see Beck hunched over the desk, focused on whatever is on his laptop screen, wearing a pair of glasses I have never seen on him before.

It makes him look more distinguished, with his hair pushed back and his sleeves rolled up.

I close my mouth before I can start salivating over the arm porn he’s giving.

I knock on the door as it swings open a little further. “Wow, someone’s a busy bee back here! Contracts all done for the roasters?” Beck stands up, placing his glasses on the table and coming over to me. He pulls me into a long, unexpected hug, giving me a beaming smile.

“Hey, sugar! I wrapped those up this morning, actually. Someone has apparently been putting in some overtime and all I had to do was cross some t’s.

Now I’m trying to figure out next week’s schedule.

Roger quit on us, not that it’s a huge loss, but it’s one less body on the floor.

I know Nessa won’t mind the extra shifts.

I still want to make sure she actually gets some time off and doesn’t collapse on the floor, you know? ”

“Yeah, that might be bad for business,” I giggle.

“Not to mention a tripping hazard.” He pulls away, taking my hand and walking me away from the spare chair on the other side of the desk and to the large desk chair he had been occupying when I arrived.

“Why don’t you work in here today? I was about to go help Stella finish up the café shift before we flip it for the bar shift.

You can use this space for as long as you’d like.

And not to brag, but my office chair is definitely more comfortable than the ones we have for customers. ”

“What happened to putting the customer first?” I ask, pretending to be scandalized.

“Well, they don’t have to sit here for six hours a day, so I think they’ll be fine.”

“Fair enough. It’ll be nice to have somewhere quiet where I can’t be ambushed,” I smirk at him. He looks concerned for a moment. I brush him off, settling down into the large chair, feeling much smaller by comparison.

Beck’s gaze softens. “I hope you know that I’m here for you however you need.” I do feel safer with him than I ever have with anyone.

“Thank you, I’ll remember that.” I pull my laptop out of my bag, setting a notebook on his desk while trying to not move things around on him as much as possible. “Is there anything in particular you want me to focus on today?”

Beck immediately goes into business mode. I love seeing this side of him, watching his ambition and work ethic shine through.

“I think getting our teaser email out to our current email list would be a good idea. And maybe getting that post ready for Instagram inviting people to join the mailing list for more information about our subscription service. I’m hoping that by the time we start shipping, we’ll have a good enough roster of people that we can start looking at creating tiers and merch.

” He’s so sure of himself when he speaks, and I’m filled with pride that he listened to the plan I laid out.

I know I’m the expert here, but knowing how much faith he has in me, and knowing I won’t have to fight for it gives me a massive confidence boost.

“I think that’s a great place to start. Thanks, Beck.” I beam at him and his whole face lights from the inside.

“Perfect, I’m going to go rescue Stella and I’ll check back in a bit.”

“Sounds good,” I reply, piling my hair on top of my head and fastening it with a pink scrunchie.

Beck casts me one last glance before leaving the office and shutting the door behind him.

I quickly get started on the things he had asked, and before I know it, I’m looking at the clock, which is telling me I have been here for five hours already.

At some point in my fugue state, it seems Stella brought me my drink.

I barely remember guzzling it down, despite the fact that it’s now sitting empty on Beck’s desk .

I crack my knuckles and stretch my arms over my head, the bottom of my t-shirt riding up a little just as Beck walks back into the office. I can see his glance go right to the strip of skin on my stomach before his eyes flick back up to mine.

“Well, it seems I have impeccable timing,” he smirks, unashamed of his ogling as he walks over with a glass of ice water and one of the homemade granola bars from the café.

“I figured you could use one of these. You’ve been plunking away for a while.

I checked in here earlier and I don’t think you noticed me.

” I can tell he’s holding back from laughing at me.

“Your work ethic might put mine to shame.” He places his offerings on the desk and sits next to them, facing me.

“I don’t know about that. I will say, my focus is on point when I get into the groove of things,” I say, picking up the offerings from the desk. I have been getting a little hungry, it was sweet of him to think of me. “Are you coming back to join me?”

“I think you have this pretty much handled on your own, I don’t know how much I can bring to the table here.

” He nervously ruffles his hair, sitting down across from me.

I show him the teaser email I have prepped to go out and the additions to the website that are ready to go live when he said the word.

All I have left to do is finalize the Instagram post and add in solid dates for when everything will be available to start.

“So, basically, once the supplier has a confirmed delivery date, we should be good to go! I think having the boxes go out on the first Saturday of every month is a good idea, it maintains consistency and people can make sure they always have enough for the month. I added in another tier, by the way, because I think we’re sleeping on this tea.

I know it wasn’t the original plan, but you have such a great selection here, and it wouldn’t be too much more to add that service in.

It’ll help reach all those people out there who don’t like coffee—"

“You mean you?” He bumps his shoulder against mine.

“I like coffee! I’ve told you this,” I laugh.

“I still maintain that you like sugar.” The glint in his eyes is addictive, I want to stare at it forever .

“Well, ANYWAY,” I continue, ready to talk over him, “I think it would be a great idea, and we can add in different drink syrups and such. I have a whole list of items that would be great that you already have, so you wouldn’t need to do anything more than simply ordering in enough for the people who have already signed up for the service,” I look up at him proudly.

It feels so good to feel like I have actually done a good job at something.

Beck is staring at the screen, eyes wide on the information I have pulled up, the profits I have estimated, the series of launch-related posts I have prepped to go out.

“Wow,” he breathes out, sounding impressed, “I can’t believe you did all of this.

Hazel, this is amazing, and you haven’t even been working on it that long.

I- I don’t even know what to say right now.

” He sits back in his chair, hands in his hair, dazed.

I wait with bated breath. I already knew he liked it.

I don’t know why my stomach flutters with anxiety whenever I wait for his feedback, so hearing him tell me what a good job I’ve done?

That lights something warm and comforting in me.

I feel so proud of my accomplishment for the first time in a long time.

I begin to think of Beck’s office as my own with the amount of time I’ve been spending in it.

It’s interesting to be in a space that reflects him this way.

I can see photos of his family, most with the same rich colouring as him.

I can point out, now, which one is his cousin Maria—he talks about her proudly, telling me all about her accomplishments as a chef in Ecuador.

His mother is gorgeous, and he has her eyes.

It almost hurts to look at such a loving family, seeing the kind of place he comes from. It’s hard not to be jealous .

Beck and I work hard at getting all of the information out to existing customers over the next few days, answering queries, Instagram DMs, emails, and by the end of the week, we have over two hundred people signed up for the subscription boxes.

I’m in the process of getting a delivery service in the city to do day-of deliveries, everything else will go in the regular mail, and I’m getting more and more excited about it by the hour.