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Semester had only recently resumed at the Tampa campus of Florida State University. The Spring Break ended a couple of weeks back, which meant that students were milling around again as they went about their daily routines of coffee for breakfast, morning lectures and classes, coffee for lunch, afternoon lectures and classes, then off for the day while the night-class students rolled in. It was warm enough, but not stiflingly so, although the humidity, while not bad by any means, could get annoying even if you were used to it.
The campus was large enough, although it was by no means the largest campus in the state. Still, it covered several square kilometers of land, and had its own road network snaking between the couple of dozen buildings on campus that held the admin rooms, lecture halls, classrooms, dorm rooms, libraries, and various food and drink outlets on the site. At any given time, now that semester was running, there could be several thousand staff and students on site, excluding those in the dorm areas. There were also several sporting grounds and facilities on site, mainly for basketball, football, baseball, and track and field.
Ostensibly, Myles O'Connor was one of those students. He was a second-year Science student, majoring in Astronomy, and had possibly-lofty dreams of getting a job at NASA one day. He'd grown up loving the work of the Hubble Space Telescope, and wanted to get in on that team…never mind the new James Webb Space Telescope. He knew he'd have to work at it, though; they weren't going to just let him waltz in and take whatever job he wanted. No, he'd have to put in the hard yards first. That was the trouble – the hard yards were Hard. Not so much academically, although he did sometimes find himself burning the midnight oil to get through classes, but more financially. Having your own telescope (there were telescopes, and then there were telescopes, and he wanted the latter) and astrophotography gear wasn't cheap. That's why he was taking his Gap Year to try and build up some savings to get the gear he wanted.
At least he'd managed to find a job on-campus. He was working as a Barista at The Bean Café – whoever had named it that really needed to visit the campus Shrink, he thought – on the campus premises, located around the Law building and its nearby library. It was a decently-sized café, with a half-dozen booths that seated four along the far wall, and ten or so moderately-sized tables on the main floor. It had a small kitchen out the back for cooking quick and simple meals – sure as hell it wasn't restaurant-grade stuff – as well as the expected fare of cakes and salads and sandwiches and the like that could be served up readily. Then there was himself and his colleague, Tony, along with a couple of girls (Cassidy and Nicole) at the main counter and register, and Greg in the back (the owner and cook).
Myles wasn't bad-looking, although he'd never agree to the suggestion that he might be. He was just on six feet tall, possessed a wiry and toned build, a mop of dark sandy hair on his head that he kept well-groomed, pale blue-grey eyes, fair complexion, and pleasant-enough features built into a narrow face. He wasn't buff or muscular, but he had muscles. He was generally thought of as an "okay" guy by those who knew him…but getting to know him was hard. He wasn't an introvert, but he wasn't great at making friends; making friends had just never been his strength. People were hard work at times.
Tony, though, was far more outgoing than Myles, although possibly not as good looking. He was a few years older than Myles, had short dark red hair and a pale complexion. He'd somehow gotten through Myles' shell not long after the student has joined the team, and generally looked out for the younger man…although he also wasn't averse to giving Myles a gentle ribbing on occasion. Occasions like now, on this otherwise-nondescript Thursday afternoon.
"So…are you ever going to ask her out, Myles?" Tony wanted to know, his voice lowered as the pair worked the coffee machines at the counter. No-one in the café needed to know what they were talking about. The café was technically in its wind-down stage for the day, although that wind-down stage was often held-up by the students wanting a pick-me-up between classes and home – and today was no exception.
"N-no," Myles denied flatly, although there was a hint of longing in his voice as he said it. "I mean…she's young, gorgeous, smart, got so much going for her, and I'm just…well, me." He gave the steamer a twist to heat up the milk in the pot he was holding.
"Pfft…you've never spoken with her beyond calling out her name occasionally to hand her her order, so how would you know any of that about her?" the redhead queried slyly. He knew damned well that Myles was talking himself out of any shot, but there was only so much he could do to talk his friend through.
"I j-just know," Myles replied defensively. He knew Tony was right, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it.
"Writing messages on her cup is fine and all, but when are you actually going to ask her? What have you got to lose by asking?"
"My dignity," Myles mumbled as he turned the steam off and started to pour. A few moments later he was done pouring, gave the contents a quick stir, poured a bit more, let the froth settle. "Could we stop talking about her, please? Vanessa'll be here in a few minutes." He popped a lid on the cup and looked up. "Chai Soy Latte for Amy?" he called out, and handed the cup to a short Asian-American girl who stepped forward to claim it.
"You'll regret it, you know," Tony countered quietly, but let it drop for the moment. There were more orders to fill, anyway.
"Maybe," Myles admitted softly to himself as he put a cup aside for her. He knew what drink she wanted, every bit of it. He'd written several messages on her cups lately, and if the messages had bothered her, she'd never said anything…and she kept coming back, which he supposed was good. Previous messages had included:
Today's message would be:
With any luck…she'd smile. That'd be as close as he'd get, he figured.
The campus was large enough, although it was by no means the largest campus in the state. Still, it covered several square kilometers of land, and had its own road network snaking between the couple of dozen buildings on campus that held the admin rooms, lecture halls, classrooms, dorm rooms, libraries, and various food and drink outlets on the site. At any given time, now that semester was running, there could be several thousand staff and students on site, excluding those in the dorm areas. There were also several sporting grounds and facilities on site, mainly for basketball, football, baseball, and track and field.
Ostensibly, Myles O'Connor was one of those students. He was a second-year Science student, majoring in Astronomy, and had possibly-lofty dreams of getting a job at NASA one day. He'd grown up loving the work of the Hubble Space Telescope, and wanted to get in on that team…never mind the new James Webb Space Telescope. He knew he'd have to work at it, though; they weren't going to just let him waltz in and take whatever job he wanted. No, he'd have to put in the hard yards first. That was the trouble – the hard yards were Hard. Not so much academically, although he did sometimes find himself burning the midnight oil to get through classes, but more financially. Having your own telescope (there were telescopes, and then there were telescopes, and he wanted the latter) and astrophotography gear wasn't cheap. That's why he was taking his Gap Year to try and build up some savings to get the gear he wanted.
At least he'd managed to find a job on-campus. He was working as a Barista at The Bean Café – whoever had named it that really needed to visit the campus Shrink, he thought – on the campus premises, located around the Law building and its nearby library. It was a decently-sized café, with a half-dozen booths that seated four along the far wall, and ten or so moderately-sized tables on the main floor. It had a small kitchen out the back for cooking quick and simple meals – sure as hell it wasn't restaurant-grade stuff – as well as the expected fare of cakes and salads and sandwiches and the like that could be served up readily. Then there was himself and his colleague, Tony, along with a couple of girls (Cassidy and Nicole) at the main counter and register, and Greg in the back (the owner and cook).
Myles wasn't bad-looking, although he'd never agree to the suggestion that he might be. He was just on six feet tall, possessed a wiry and toned build, a mop of dark sandy hair on his head that he kept well-groomed, pale blue-grey eyes, fair complexion, and pleasant-enough features built into a narrow face. He wasn't buff or muscular, but he had muscles. He was generally thought of as an "okay" guy by those who knew him…but getting to know him was hard. He wasn't an introvert, but he wasn't great at making friends; making friends had just never been his strength. People were hard work at times.
Tony, though, was far more outgoing than Myles, although possibly not as good looking. He was a few years older than Myles, had short dark red hair and a pale complexion. He'd somehow gotten through Myles' shell not long after the student has joined the team, and generally looked out for the younger man…although he also wasn't averse to giving Myles a gentle ribbing on occasion. Occasions like now, on this otherwise-nondescript Thursday afternoon.
"So…are you ever going to ask her out, Myles?" Tony wanted to know, his voice lowered as the pair worked the coffee machines at the counter. No-one in the café needed to know what they were talking about. The café was technically in its wind-down stage for the day, although that wind-down stage was often held-up by the students wanting a pick-me-up between classes and home – and today was no exception.
"N-no," Myles denied flatly, although there was a hint of longing in his voice as he said it. "I mean…she's young, gorgeous, smart, got so much going for her, and I'm just…well, me." He gave the steamer a twist to heat up the milk in the pot he was holding.
"Pfft…you've never spoken with her beyond calling out her name occasionally to hand her her order, so how would you know any of that about her?" the redhead queried slyly. He knew damned well that Myles was talking himself out of any shot, but there was only so much he could do to talk his friend through.
"I j-just know," Myles replied defensively. He knew Tony was right, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it.
"Writing messages on her cup is fine and all, but when are you actually going to ask her? What have you got to lose by asking?"
"My dignity," Myles mumbled as he turned the steam off and started to pour. A few moments later he was done pouring, gave the contents a quick stir, poured a bit more, let the froth settle. "Could we stop talking about her, please? Vanessa'll be here in a few minutes." He popped a lid on the cup and looked up. "Chai Soy Latte for Amy?" he called out, and handed the cup to a short Asian-American girl who stepped forward to claim it.
"You'll regret it, you know," Tony countered quietly, but let it drop for the moment. There were more orders to fill, anyway.
"Maybe," Myles admitted softly to himself as he put a cup aside for her. He knew what drink she wanted, every bit of it. He'd written several messages on her cups lately, and if the messages had bothered her, she'd never said anything…and she kept coming back, which he supposed was good. Previous messages had included:
Hi!
Good Afternoon!
Enjoy! 
Extra Frothy!
Hope it's a good book!
Quality reading enhancer inside!
Today's message would be:
Your smile makes me smile!
With any luck…she'd smile. That'd be as close as he'd get, he figured.
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