Rewards Card

Bloop!

Sora pulled her phone from her bra, idly twirling the straw in her double-shot iced coffee, and mostly thinking just how much she didn't want to go back to work. The message was from a number she didn't recognise, and she nearly dismissed it as spam.

% Congratulations! You've won the monthly draw at Barnhaus, meaning there's a $50 gift card with your name on it!

She glanced at the drink in her hand. The little cafe around the corner from her work wasn't that big. They had only three stools, which were always taken by the regulars, but most of the customers were like her. They grabbed their drinks and headed to the park.

Bloop!

% Just let me know when you'd like to pick it up, Sora.

Bloop!

% Your friendly neighbourhood coffee nut, Liam!

Liam, she did remember. He was one of the new staff, and when he'd asked for her name to pick up the order, she'd got a little hot and bothered. Sora couldn't deny she had a thing for rough beards. She didn't know why. They scratched and felt uncomfortable during a kiss, but they also made her need to change her underwear.

Sora frowned, and then smiled to herself. Maybe she could have a little bit of fun with this. Better than going back in to work and being yelled at for something that someone else had done.

$ I think you need to ease off on the coffee, nut.

She winced the minute she sent it. There was no way that the teasing tone she'd wanted to imply had made it across. Sounded more like she was pissed about getting text'd. Crap.

Bloop!

% Haha! Yeah, probs.

Bloop!

% But you don't want to meet me, when I haven't had my regular six gallons.

Bloop!

% Caffeine makes the world go round!

Sora grinned excitedly as she realised that there really was someone else on the other end of the line, and it probably wasn't just some kind of A.I. If Liam the yummy was the guy, and wasn't just having his name stolen to make the marketing more tempting...

Bloop! Bloop!

% I did get the name right, didn't I? Sora.

% It's what we have on our membership records.

% Ten percent discount, and part of the monthly draw.

% Really hoping this is ringing some bells.

% And not just coming off weird.

The discount was the reason she'd signed up. She went by two or three times a day, mostly as a break from work, so she figured it was worth it even if her number got added to some list, but she'd never received a text from them, before.

She looked at her phone carefully, trying to think through the best way to drag out the conversation and maybe, just maybe, have a little bit of fun with Liam along the way.

First things, first.

$ Liam, wasn't it? So I just need to check with you, to get my reward?

She needed to find an excuse to make it all about him, and less about the reward. It was just an excuse to talk to him, and if she played her cards right, see him. Unless he made it clear he was just doing what the job required.

She fretted when he didn't reply immediately.

Sora sighed, finished her drink, and tossed it into the trash. She was standing up and tucking her phone into her bra when it went off. She nearly dropped it in surprise.

% Technically... You could get the reward from any of the staff.

She grinned as she realised that he actually was flirting with her. She bit her lip, thinking quickly. It had been a while since anyone had given her even this tiny bit of attention. She wanted to play it up, as much as she could.

However, she also didn't want to seem like a creep.

$ How long are you on shift? I'd have to come after work.

There. A nice normal message than anybody might come up with. It was even mostly true. She was walking back into the office, even if she was doing it at a snail's pace and staring at her phone as she did.

Unfortunately, he took a long time to reply. Again.

Sora wondered if it was because there was some kind of rush at the coffee house. That would make sense. He was just sending a message to a contest winner. When there were actual customers, they were the ones that would take priority.

Not a random woman who was acting like a desperate teenager.

How long had it actually been? Sora knew it had been over a year since she'd had a boyfriend. That last relationship had been an absolute dumpster fire. He had regularly called her fat, and laughed at her for working out, and even the sex had been barely adequate.

It wasn't like dumping him had been arduous and completely heartbreaking. It had hurt, but he'd been a downright asshole by the end of it.

They'd actually stopped having sex altogether, even before she did end it. He was interested in getting a blowjob, but he wasn't interested in giving her anything in return. Giving it some real though... Sora probably hadn't had anyone else get her off in nearly two years, not just one.

Officially her longest drought since moving out of home, even if some of her parents probably had longer ones.

Bloop! Liam interrupted her self-pity.

% I just asked my boss about a delivery.

% Apparently that would be crossing a line.

% Sorry.

% Oh. Probs should have asked you first, huh?

% Must be too much coffee. My bad.

% I reeeeaaallly like coffee.

% Coffffffeeeee.

% Where's the undo button? That last one was awful.

% Uh... I'm just going to stop texting now.

% Sorry.

Sora laughed, grinning. She tucked a strand of hair behind one ear, and felt herself give a tiny and small excited sway of her hips before she sent her reply.

This was it. This was where she made it obvious she was flirting with him, just him. Would he be up for it? Wasn't exactly professional. And she'd hate it if most people flirted with her at work.

Like her ass-pinching boss. Who probably actually thought touching her ass was somehow flirting and not just sexual assault. Dickbag.

$ COFFEE MONSTER SAYS

$ ME WANT COFFEE!

$ OM NOM NOM NOM!

She looked at the three messages she'd sent, and cringed. That had sounded so much better in her head. She'd probably just come across as a freak, and an immature one at that. Shit.

Bloop!

% Sometimes, me think, what is friend?

% Then me say

% Friend is someone to share coffee with!

Sora blinked in surprise. The message tickled a distant memory with her, but she hadn't expected him to play back into it so quickly or easily. She doubted most of her friends would be able to quote the blue monster so easily.

She looked up from her phone as she headed back up the stairs towards the office building. She'd broken enough heels on the overly narrow stairs to know not to risk it.

"Hey, Sora! Got a minute?" She immediately met one of her coworkers in the lobby.

She sighed, and shrugged, "Yeah. What's up Adam?"

Adam was the last person in the world she wanted to see, right now. Before she'd taken her coffee break, she'd been fixing up his damned mistake. Not that there's a lot you can do apart from beg forgiveness and promise it won't happen again when instead of sending the yearly accounting reports, you send a very long and very detailed celebrity-oriented rape fantasy erotica.

Bloop!

Sora still wasn't sure how she'd managed to hold onto that business relationship. All that her firm did for them was data entry, and yet Adam had still managed to send that kind of crap to an agency that specialised in rehousing abused women.

Adam looked down at the ground, "I... I uh... Hope you don't think I'm a freak or anything... It's... I can explain. Please?"

"Yeah, not sure I want to know." Sora shook her head, but took pity on him. "Your bedroom is your bedroom. Just try not to bring it with you to work in the future, would you?"

He winced, "It's... It's not... Really mine. Sort of."

"It's fine. Stop talking." Sora said quickly, and made a point of heading for the elevator. She knew that fantasy was fantasy, but she'd had to listen to the director of the shelter scream about details of the story that clearly spelled out that the woman had read the entirety of the tale... Which she probably wouldn't have done if she wasn't into it, at least on some level.

Bloop!

Adam trailed after her, "It's... I write. Not just as a hobby. Sometimes I take requests. It... Pays."

"Cool." Sora said, and pressed the button for the elevator a second time. It did actually sort of make it less creepy a thing to send to the wrong audience... But seriously, how did he manage to send his hobby project off to... He must have been writing. Whilst in the office. He wrote erotica in the office.

"Please don't hate me." Adam begged, "I... You're one of the nicest people here, Sora. No one lasts that long and I know it was a stupid mistake. If I can make it up to you, let me know. Please. I'll do anything."

Bloop!

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "Honestly? I've just been trying to de-stress, Adam. Talking to you brought it all back. Just give me some space, and don't bring it up, again. I don't think much less of you."

"Much?" He said weakly.

She grinned and punched his shoulder, "That was a joke. See? We still get along fine. Also, if I find out that I get a starring role in any of your stories, then we'll be really done. Especially with similar themes."

"Oh, no." Adam shook his head, "I never pull from real life like that! Also, I... This is going to sound judgemental of me, but I actually hate writing that kind of stuff. It pays the best, but I just like writing sickly sweet romances. Stuff that could rot your teeth if you just glanced at it."

Sora thought about it for a moment, and then decided just to risk it, "Okay. Say I was trying to be less judgemental. Would you happen to have something that would suit a girl curling up in a chair by a fire with a large glass of wine, and a certain kind of lonely ache? Hypothetically speaking?"

Adam seemed to completely relax, "Actually, yeah. Kinda. That's what I like writing most... So... Hypothetically..."

"If you send it to my work email, I'll kill you." She said quickly, and then laughed and pulled out her phone. She noticed the three waiting messages, but sent the email to Adam instead, hoping that Liam wouldn't mind the delay.

She tucked it away again, and the two stepped in as the elevator. There were several others already in, probably go from one of the sub-basement carparks up to one of the office places. That limited the embarrassing conversation, thankfully.

Sora instead was left fretting about her boss. The man had said that he needed to talk to her as soon as she got back. He wasn't going to be grateful she'd stepped in and saved them a customer. He was going to be looking for someone to lay the blame on, and say that she hadn't supervised Adam well enough. That she shouldn't have let him respond to a routine response he had handled a hundred times in the past.

Shielding Adam from that was also part of her job, unfortunately. She didn't need him knowing that his mistake was going to risk her job. He might end up feeling guilty, and try to talk his way out of it, which would just give her boss the excuse to sacrifice the lamb.

Bloop!

The elevator doors slid open, and Sora sucked in her breath sharply as she saw her boss standing there with his arms crossed. He couldn't have seen she was coming back from his office. He must have chosen to stand here for the last ten minutes or something, glaring every time the doors started to open.

He looked down at her, and then turned and walked towards his office. Crooking a finger in the air as he faced away from her. Sora gritted her teeth and went to follow.

Adam caught her wrist, "This... This is my fault, isn't it?"

"Go check your inbox. I'm sure you've got enough open tickets to occupy you." Sora shrugged him off, "Just... Try not to send your hobby out, again. It's not a workplace thing. Don't send me anything until I'm already in my chair at home. Hypothetically."

"Sure. Hypothetically." Adam gave a small and nervous smile.

She gave a small salute and then headed off to the room of doom. The office of their boss was well known for the gloom it inflicted on all those unlucky enough to be invited in. One or two coworkers had described it like the ancient pyramids. A tomb were the servants ended up buried to continue their slavery in the afterlife.

The door closing quietly behind her was more akin to a deafening and deadly boom than a gentle click.

He was leaning on the front of his desk, one leg crooked over the other. Looking her up and down whilst shaking his head. Crowley made a sound of irritated disappointment, "Pink Rose sent me a rather disturbing email."

"I see." Sora replied quietly, trying to sound repentant.

His eyes travelled down her again, and then seemed to fix on her ankles. "Who was it?"

"It was an accident. I spoke with Pink Rose, and I've taken steps to make certain it can never happen again. It was beyond unprofessional. I'm sorry, sir." She said stiffly.

Crowley uncrossed his legs, and Sora felt herself gag involuntarily as she noticed a bulge in his pants. The man sneered, "You know someone has to be punished for this. Someone has to be fired. The optics if any of of this gets out could kill the company. Just give me a name. I don't want to have to take it out on someone so... Pretty."

"Pink Rose didn't give you their name. So I seriously doubt that optics are the problem, sir. They're satisfied. You can fire me if it gets out, but I doubt it will." Sora replied, feeling her skin crawling.

He took a step towards her, and she took a step backwards, and felt the heel of her foot hit the door. He put his hands behind his back, and rocked on his feet for a moment. The uncomfortable distance between them let her know that the bulge wasn't just an accident of the suit. It was growing.

He was getting off on his little power trip.

"So... What you're telling me... Is that you'd like to be fired?" Crowley said slowly, "I don't think we need to go that far. Especially not with someone so beautiful. We can work something out."

"We... Really can't." She crossed her arms, the only thing she could do to try and push him back without laying a hand on him. Which would definitely get her fired, and probably also end up with her paraded out as some hysterical female.

He turned back around, walking over to his desk like he hadn't just threatened her and sat down. He looked up, as if surprised to see she was still there, and waved at the door. "I'll let you know what I decide, soon."

She left, and sprinted to the bathroom.

Sora leaned on the edge of the sink, her heart beating frantically. She felt both dizzy and queasy, even though it wasn't the first time. He would always say things, threaten things, but he never acted on them. He was a fucking bastard with fucked up behaviour, but he played mind games. He didn't do things that he thought anyone might be able to prove against him.

She clenched her hands against the ceramic and kicked the innocent and apparently invincible cupboard. Which meant her foot started sulking at her outspoken and childish behaviour.

Sora groaned and was about to burst into tears, when she heard it.

Bloop!

She fished the phone out of her bra, needing a good distraction.

The last three messages had been sent after she'd got talking to Adam, and had been pulled into work. Apparently she wasn't the only one to feel a little bit of panic when there was a lull in the responses.

% Oh no. I came off way too corny, didn't I?

% Please, just blame the coffee. It's easier to pretend that caffeine made me do it than admit I'm a little weird.

% Okay... A lot weird.

% I chased you off, didn't I?

% I end shift at six, and won't be working tomorrow, if you feel the need to pick up the card from someone else. Sorry.

Sora sniffled and wiped at her face, grinning. Just with those few soft words, he managed to make her feel better. She could barely even remember him apart from the rough beard. She didn't know a single thing about him.

How could flirting with some random coffee guy make her feel so much better?

$ Sorry. Back at work.

$ No coffee. Need coffee. No delivery. Coffee monster is sad.

She bit her lip, watching her phone and hoping that he wasn't just going to be just some random and passing highlight to her day. He was probably tired of her terrible jokes. Probably thought she was a bit of a mad woman.

All he'd originally text her about was picking up a stupid rewards card.

Bloop!

% I have no idea why the boss is so against delivery.

% Please don't tell him I said that.

% But... We're in the middle of the city.

% Staffroom coffee deliveries seems a no-brainer.

% Thanks for not mentioning I sound like a loon.

She giggled, grinning to herself, and then checked her watch. She gave it a little bit of thought. The current open tickets, the likelihood of Crowley deciding to actually fire her instead of just enjoying threatening her, and her own normal workload.

$ I don't think I'll be able to make it before six.

$ So... When do you have your next shift?

$ I have to pick the card up from that Liam guy, right?

Sora sat up on the edge of the immovable bathroom counter, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. She was really terrible at flirting. Like, objectively bad. She wished she could remember some of the one-liners that guys at uni had used to try on her.

Bloop!

% I am obligated to say you could pick it up from anyone. - That Liam Guy.

She rolled her eyes. She adored how he just rolled with her, no matter how corny her lines were. Why could she never talk with a guy like this in person? No one ever had this kind of chemistry with her in-person. They barely tolerated her.

And when everyone you meet is an asshole... There's no reason to sniff the room to find where the fart is actually coming from.

Sora popped back onto the ground, having depressed herself with that one. She spun her phone for a moment before sending one last series of texts off to the coffee nut.

$ I really need to get back to work.

$ But on the off chance...

$...

$ Would you prefer I pick up the card tomorrow?

$ Or... Maybe there's a time when a guy with a beard could tease me about making terrible coffee jokes?

Sora frantically tried to cancel the message, but it had already sent. All she could do was hope he didn't read too far into the fact she both remembered him, and that he had a beard. She didn't need anyone realising that was her thing.

Most girls she knew, didn't really prefer a beard. They might think a guy looked hotter with one, they probably thought they looked sexy. But for both making out, and making out a little lower, most were not interested in a beard. Not even a little bit.

She was not prepared for a world where anyone realised she liked a moustache tickling between her legs. Or that she liked the scratchiness of only a couple day's growth. Especially when she was barely flirting with them.

Bloop!

% Guy with Beard (TM) will be deployed Friday morning to your local Barnhaus.

% Please Note: "Beard" refers to patchy stubble and other beard-like products, and cannot be upgraded.

Sora burst out laughing, covering her mouth as she filled the bathroom with her mirth. She walked out slowly, shaking her head. She twirled her phone, trying to think of a witty, or at least flirty, response.

"Hey, Sora, got a minute?"

She fell back into her work dejectedly.

%5%3%6%F%7%2%6%1%4%C%6%F%7%

Sora was exhausted when she got home. The day had been long, and she didn't want to think about any of the dozen things waiting for her tomorrow. The infinite and never ending drudgery of a stable job.

She pulled out her phone and found a place that was still open and delivering. There was a choice of a three, with the amazing selection of either shitty pizza, or shitty burgers.