Intermission - Going for it (Part 1).

Thomas was not used to overthinking and hesitating this much. He was at his house, in his room, sitting on his bed and nervously tapping his foot on the floor as he debated whether or not to go out.

He had a perfectly good excuse to go. Oliver was working today. He’d probably leave the gym in 10 minutes and head to the coffee shop to start his shift. Thomas could always go with the excuse to go see him, and had done just that… several times by now.

He groaned into his hands.

This was so fucking dumb. Why? Why was he so obsessed with her? He didn’t really know her, had barely talked to her a few times and even then it was nothing but small talk. She was also older than him, and though he didn’t know exactly by how much, it had to be at least by 8 or 10 years. That only made him more interested though…

Ugh!

At the very least, Thomas now knew she was single. He hadn’t even dared to ask. It was Oliver who did, when he was right in front of them. He had just returned from serving a table of girls who tried their best to flirt with him, and the heartbreaker simply smiled and answered with polite compliments that made the girls swoon. That had been before their little fight, so Thomas had felt kinda awkward there.

“You’re getting a little too comfortable with all the girls coming here,” Maria teased him. “Are you sure you-know-who won’t get jealous?”

Oliver raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Actually, I have a question for you. Do YOU have a boyfriend?”

Thomas’s heart skipped a beat.

“Huh? Why are you asking?”

“I’m worried I’ll have to deal with a jealous boyfriend getting the wrong idea about me. You tease me so much, after all.”

Maria started laughing. “Oh, please. This is just some good-natured banter, Oliver. But anyway, I’m single, so you don’t need to worry. Or get any ideas.”

When Maria turned around to prepare a cup of coffee, Oliver winked at him and went back to prepare another order.

That had stung his pride a little bit, but overall he was thankful to Oliver for the info.

Maria was single, but she was… She was a real babe, so if Thomas kept sitting on his thumbs, who was to say someone else wouldn’t try to go for something with her?

…

On top of it all, there was something in the back of his mind telling him to go for it. A strong feeling that he had a fair shot, even more now than before. His heart raced at the thought of even trying, but…

Fuck it. Go for it. Oliver dared to ask out five girls. Why couldn’t Thomas dare to ask out an older woman? If he got rejected… then that was it. He’d move on. But he had to at least try.

He called a cab and left the house.

As Thomas approached the shop, he saw through the glass windows that Oliver was talking to some customers. When he got closer, he was able to recognize the group of three girls: Alice, Noelle and Grace.

Good. They needed to keep that up.

The little bell rang when Thomas opened the door. Oliver immediately looked at him, curiously raising an eyebrow at first before realization dawned on him.

“Riiight. They told you not to go to practice today,” he said.

“Yep. I got bored, so I came to bother you,” Thomas answered.

“Well, come sit with us,” Grace offered, gesturing to the empty seat beside her. “I won’t hurt you. Not anymore, at least.”

“Eh?” Noelle’s eyes went wide, but Alice knew her friend well.

The blonde shook her head with a small smile. “I swear, Grace…”

“What? I only gave him a friendly warning,” Grace said with an innocent smile and took a sip of her tea.

“Still,” Alice shot him a friendly smile. “Come on, join us, Thomas.”

Thomas held back a grimace. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to join them, but… His eyes searched, and they found who he was looking for. Maria was behind the counter, preparing a cup of coffee.

“Actually, I’m gonna steal him for a while,” Oliver said, smiling that easy smile he wore at work. It was practically second nature to him now. “There’s something I want to talk to him about. Besides, I bet he won’t be able to add anything to your little impromptu book club gathering.”

Thomas crossed his arms and scowled. “Hey, I read.”

Oliver smiled wryly. “I… don’t think they want to talk about Superman right now. Alice and Grace are trying to get Noelle to read horror novels.”

“Oh. Yeah, I don’t want any part in that,” Thomas said, laughing. He was no good with horror. Or big books, honestly.

Oliver gestured towards the counter and Thomas followed. It was when he sat down on one of the stools that he realized what his friend was doing.

“Oh, hi Thomas,” Maria greeted him with a gorgeous smile. She then frowned, puzzled. “Didn’t you say you have basketball practice on Thursdays?”

W-Wait. She remembered that?

“W-Well, yeah. It’s just…”

“He’s been feeling unwell these past few days,” Oliver interjected. He took the cup of coffee from Maria, set it on a tray and went to serve it to the client, thus… leaving him alone with Maria.

“You’re feeling sick?” she asked, examining his face.

Bless that guy, holy shit.

“He’s exaggerating,” Thomas clarified with an easy laugh. “I was feeling a little weak the day before yesterday. I went to the doctor and he told me to rest, but I’ve been feeling great since then. I’d like to be at practice right now.”

Maria chuckled. “How dedicated. So? What will it be?”

“Give him an orange juice on me,” Oliver said as he returned with a tray of used cups and put them away in the sink. “Better make him stay away from coffee for a while, just to be safe.”

“Hey!”

Maria nodded. “Good idea.” She turned back to pour him a large glass of fresh orange juice, and as she did that, Oliver went to see a new group of customers the moment they chose a table.

Maria put the glass in front of him. Thomas shook his head. “I keep telling him I’m fine.”

“He has a point. Take care of yourself if you want to keep playing.”

“So I’ve been told.” He smiled at her. “Thank you for the juice.”

Maria smirked. “Thank your friend. I really am taking it out of his pay.”

A customer at another table raised his hand to call for Maria, but Oliver was there before she could move. “Huh. That boy has a lot of energy today.”

Thomas swallowed. He couldn’t waste this chance. He had to make something of it. It was what he came here for, and Oliver was giving him the opportunity.