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"Coffee Shop Encounters"Written By: Ashkara Disclaimer: I sadly enough do not own them. Sigh. Rating: PG 13 Warnings: definitely an AU, Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 5+SP, 6+IW Summary: Quatre Winner, the young CEO of Winner
Enterprises, meets and befriends four college students at Roberto's
Cafe. They turn out to be exactly what he needs to turn his life around. "Coffee Shop Encounters" Everyone who knew Roberto’s Café agreed
that it was a perfect location for a good coffee shop. On the corner
of Noventa Boulevard and Ninth Street, it was right where New Port
City’s business sector met the government complex, one of the
only neutral territories between the two. Nothing was ever really neutral in the capitol city
of the New Earth Sphere, after all. Roberto’s was a cute little place- the counter
was on the left as you walked in, the entire rest of the place filled
with small tables and chairs, low, plushy, cushioned chairs and couches
and plants. It was the sort of place you could relax in quite easily.
Relaxation was what Quatre Raberba Winner needed. The
young man was easily one of the most envied people in New Port- heir
to a great fortune, CEO of the largest, most prosperous company in
the Sphere, gorgeous, with his blond hair and striking blue-green
eyes, and quickly becoming one of New Port’s most prominent political
forces. It was an awful lot for an eighteen-year-old to handle on
his own. Quatre’s father had passed away nearly three years
before in a tragic plane crash, leaving the young man in charge of
Winner Enterprises Inc. Not that Quatre wasn’t up to it- the
boy seemed to have a natural head for business- but he still felt
inadequate to the job, despite the numerous magazine articles, stating
that he was the best CEO that WEI had ever seen. Roberto chuckled as he watched the young man walk in-
he knew that face. He never seemed to leave the shop- Roberto was
there from opening till closing time, always smiling, always with
something to say. Always ready to listen when, say, a distraught young
businessman darted in for a quick caffeine fix on his way back from
the Senate to his office. And Quatre was wearing his why do I put up with this
shit? face this time. Roberto waved and smiled. “Hi, Mister Quatre! What
can I get you today?” The blond managed a return smile. “What’s
the strongest thing you’ve got?” The café owner shot the young man a concerned
look. “De strongest I’ve got- what do you need dat for?”
he asked, his Cajun accent making itself known. The Cajun shot the businessman a look as he moved to
prepare a Depth Charge, double strength mocha with two shots of espresso,
mechanically. “You know, Quatre, de bes’ ting for tired
eyes- you need to relax an’ sleep. You don’ get enough of
dat, boy!” He set the drink down and frowned amusedly as the
blond downed half of it without batting an eyelash. Quatre Winner smiled over at the Cajun. “I know.
I’ve been trying, too, but something always comes up, or someone
needs a meeting, or…” Roberto laughed, a deep rumble coming from his chest.
“Dat will get you nowhere, boy! You’ve got to try harder!”
His face suddenly lit up with an idea. “Tell you
what- you drop by here at eleven tonight when you leave for home-
we will make you relax, okay?” Eleven? Quatre hadn’t been aware that the place
was open that late, or even that Roberto knew his schedule that well.
He nodded tiredly. “Sure. But only for a while.” *** Roberto’s was a different place at eleven PM. The light jazz Roberto played during the day was replaced
with heavy rock and roll beats and guitar solos, and the conservative
suits and ties of the mid-day hours were gone. The café was
filled with young people- college students, working teenagers, other
young business-type people. Quatre felt distinctly out of place, and
began turning back around for the door… “Mister Quatre! I’m glad you came, but where
d’you tink you’re goin’? No walking out on Roberto
jus’ yet!” The café owner grabbed his arm and hauled
him into the room. He was unceremoniously shoved down into a chair, and
Quatre almost panicked as he felt hands working quickly at his throat-
“Got to lose de tie, Quatre. You need to leave your office behind,
okay?” He managed a shaky smile as he felt his tie shoved into
his pocket. “Hey, everyone!” Roberto shouted, drawing
the attention of the crowd of people. Quatre tried as hard as he could
to fade back into the comfortable chair… “Dis here’s
Quatre, and he works too hard. So help him relax, okay?” The blond wanted to crawl out of the café and
was getting ready to leave- “Hi, I’m Duo! Nice to meet you!” He turned towards the cheerful voice and stopped. The
young man standing next to him was amazingly attractive- long, chestnut
brown hair held back in a braid that swayed about his hips, violet
blue eyes and a magnetic smile. You couldn’t help smiling back
at him. Quatre replied automatically, “I’m Quatre,
my pleasure.” The long-haired boy laughed. “Geez! You really
do need to relax! Lemme guess- you work around here, crazy
hours- I’d bet you’re just leaving your office, and Roberto
persuaded you to drop in here, right?” Quatre could only nod. Duo nodded sagely. “Yeah- he’s good like that.
Caught me doing the same a few months ago. Don’t remember how
I did it. I’m Duo Maxwell- I run that orphanage down on Eighth
and Jackson Streets.” Quatre’s eyes went wide- he had heard of the place,
heard quite a lot, actually. The small center was something of a halfway
home where many street children lived. “But… you look awfully
young to be heading something like that!” Duo laughed again. “That’s what everyone says,
and they’re right, but I enjoy it, so there you are. How about
you?” Quatre grimaced. He’d tell this young man who he really was, and he would no longer be just another guy- he’d be the CEO of Winner Enterprises again. He sighed. “I’m Quatre Winner.” Duo’s eyes went wide. “Like… Winner Enterprises?
Cool! But hey! You shouldn’t be telling me I’m too
young for my job, then!” He turned and yelled to Roberto,
“Hey, Robbie! How about a couple sodas over here, man!”
Quatre raised an eyebrow. “Soda?” Duo nodded. “No drinking for me- you never know
when a kid’s gonna need you at 100 percent, and you look like
you’d fall asleep if I bought you a beer.” Fair enough. Quatre smiled up at Roberto as the
smirking man handed him a drink. He and Duo clicked glasses. The chestnut-haired young man smacked his lips as he
relaxed back into his seat. “So… D’you like your job?”
Quatre blinked. It had been a very long time since someone
had asked him that. “Well, I guess so. I mean…” He
shrugged helplessly. “To be honest, I hate it sometimes.”
Duo simply gestured for him to continue. “I mean… there’s so much to do and, well,
it’s not like it’s hard work or anything, but everyone expects
so much from me! And I have to act like this, smile like that
to all the damned reporters, make the same, old speeches…”
“What do you do for fun?” Duo asked. Quatre looked lost for a minute before he smiled sheepishly.
“I can’t remember the last time I even read a book, Duo,
that had nothing to do with work.” “Ah- there’s the problem!” Duo said,
stretching his legs out in front of him. “I’ve been there-
you get so absorbed in being your work persona that you forget who
the real you is. Ouch.” Quatre frankly stared at the other man. That was exactly
how he had been feeling! “I know! And then you finally get a
moment down time and you get all kinds of tense, because you don’t
know what to do with it…” Duo nodded along. “You want to go out, but you
realise that you don’t really have anyone to hang with…
Yeah.” They sat in silence for a while. Duo finally sat up, looking apologetically at his watch.
“Hey, I’ve got to be getting back, but I’m glad I met
you. This is probably gonna sound weird, but you should drop by sometime
if you want someone to talk to or to hang out with. The guys would
really like you, I think.” Quatre laughed. “I will. Thanks for talking to
me.” The braided man shot him a look and a wink. “See
you around, Quatre!” He turned and left with a cheerful wave.
Quatre left soon afterwards, and was surprised to find
that he was smiling. Roberto watched him leave with a smile of his own. *** Nearly a week had passed. Quatre Winner rubbed his temples absently as he stared
down at the memo on the desk in front of him. …you get so
absorbed in being your work persona that you forget who the real you
is… He could almost hear the braided man’s words in
his mind as he closed his eyes and sighed. Duo had been right. Quatre was not happy and, for the
first time in a long while, he could pinpoint a time and a location
where he had truly enjoyed himself. He abruptly stood up and stretched, loosening his tie
and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. He hit the buzzer on
his desk- Julia’s head popped through his partially opened
door- “Yes, sir?” He smiled at her- his secretary was a gem, really. She
kept the same crazy hours he did, at times hovering around him much
as he imagined his long-dead mother would have, had she been given
the opportunity. “Sorry to keep you here so late, Julia. Can
you call downstairs to have my car brought around? I’m going
out.” The woman looked both surprised and relieved. “Certainly!
But… If you don’t mind… where are you going, sir?”
He smiled. “To meet a friend at Roberto’s.”
*** “Hey, Quatre! Guys, this is the guy I was telling
you about! Quatre!” The blond laughed as he finally saw the braided
man waving at him. He hadn’t noticed it last time they met, but
Duo was shorter than he was! He walked over with a smile to the table- Duo had three
friends with him this time- all around the same age as Quatre, himself.
He addressed the grinning, braided man. “Hi! I’m surprised
you remember me…” Duo winked and made a swatting motion with his left hand, as though batting the idea away. “I never forget a face. Have a seat! Guys, this is Quatre. Quatre, these misfits are Wufei Chang, Trowa Barton,
and Heero Yuy.” The blond didn’t miss the way Duo’s voice
seemed to linger, like a caress, on the last name. I suppose it’s
always like that- the cute ones are always taken. But his eyes
tracked over the others- a Chinese man, his ebony-dark hair pulled
back from his face into a tight ponytail. He couldn’t help thinking,
as he looked at this one, that he wouldn’t want to get in a fight
with him… His eyes slid to Heero Yuy, sitting to Duo’s right.
He couldn’t help realising that Heero, too, was strikingly gorgeous,
with his dark, unruly hair and serious, glowing blue eyes. He had
never met a Japanese person with blue eyes before- the effect was
stunning- Duo and Heero made a lovely couple. He finally turned to the third- Quatre felt his heart stop beating, only to start up
again at breakneck speed. Trowa Barton had light brown hair that was
cut short in the back, but long in the front, with his heavy bangs
falling into and obscuring nearly half of his face. And what a face!
Fair skin and high cheekbones, and bright green eyes focused on his
own… He managed to smile, feeling himself blushing self-consciously.
“Hi, nice to meet you all.” Roberto approached with a smile. “Mister Quatre!
I’m happy to see you back here! What can we get you tonight,
eh?” The blond smiled. “I still might fall asleep right
here if I drank anything… how about a Pepsi?” “Is dat all?” Roberto winked as he turned
to leave. There was a small, uncomfortable silence before Wufei
piped up, “Rough day?” Quatre gave them a look. “Yeah- you have no idea.”
Wufei snorted. “You never know- we do put
up with Maxwell on a daily basis.” Quatre barely contained his smile as the braided man
pretended to be hurt and the others smiled discreetly. “You could
always drop by and speak to my Board of Directors…” Trowa finally spoke, “Be careful- he just might
take you up on that- he’s a business major.” Quatre felt a tingle running down his spine- Trowa’s
voice matched his appearance, gentle and low, with an underlying humour
to it that spoke volumes to the blond. He smiled back. “Is that
right? D’you all go to school together?” Duo nodded cheerfully. “Yup- Heero’s into
Computer Science, Wufei does business, Tro’s a bio major with
a concentration on vet medicine and I’m majoring in linguistics.
Crazy, eh?” The blond’s eyes went wide. “Sounds like heaven!
I’d love to go to school…” Duo snorted into his glass. “Huh? Man, you’d
hate it within a week’s time! It can be such a drag…”
“So can real life, baka,” Wufei responded
dryly. Duo glared at him. *** Julia smiled as she watched Quatre walk into his office
with a new spring to his step the next morning. “Did you have
a pleasant evening, sir?” He smiled over at her brightly. “Yeah- I met some
great people, and they actually asked me if I wanted to go on their
hiking trip this weekend.” She fought hard not to giggle- it had taken long enough,
but Quatre Winner was finally breaking out of his restraints. If she
had any say in it, she would see that he got to live his life, too!
“I take it you accepted?” Quatre gave a vigorous nod before vanishing through
the double doors of his office. His head popped out again, though,
within seconds. “Oh, and Julia? Should either a Duo Maxwell or
a Trowa Barton call for me, interrupt me wherever I am, okay?”
“No problem, sir.” The door closed again.
Julia smiled. Good for you, Mister Quatre! owari |
