Sapphire Eyes (Andy Biersack)

Some days passed, and business was slower than usual. Actually, it was really slow. Dangerously slow. The owner of The Bean had a meeting with all 10 employees the day after Andy was last here. "Business is going down," he said. "If we keep going at the rate we are, The Bean will be shut down and sold within a month. Unless," he continued, a little more eagerly, "unless if we can think of some ways to bring in more customers."

"What if we had live music on the weekends?" I suggested. What's a coffee shop without some indie band playing in it, anyways?

"That might... that just might actually work." A smile spread across everyone's faces, when he continued and said, "In fact, Ariana, I'm putting you in charge of recruiting someone to fill the position. Make sure they don't mind having a low salary- probably which will only consist of tips for the first few weeks- for a while." The smile quickly faded from my face. Where was I supposed to find someone that is willing to basically work for free, AND have some form of musical talent?

Which leaves me to where I am right now. Adhering a poster to the storefront window, labeled, "Now Hiring: Must have musical talents. Inquire within." Better than nothing, I guess.

Even more days passed, and no one had come forth yet expressing any type of interest in the position. We were all getting restless. I was even considering coming forward and filling the damn spot. I hadn't played guitar in almost a year, but I was sure we'd take my rusty chords over nothing at this point.

It was Friday, and there was a half hour til closing. The final customer out of all 3 we had for the day had cleared out about 2 hours ago. I was wiping down the counter when the bell above the front door jingled, signaling that someone entered. I didn't even bother to look up; I continued to dust up coffee grounds from around the espresso machine.

With my back now faced to the counter, I tossed the grounds into the trash when I heard the person approach the counter.

"Can I help you?" I sighed, dusting my hands on my legs as I turned around. My breath caught when I made eye contact with piercing blue eyes. My gaze shifted slightly to the right, where Andy was holding up the poster from the window.

"One hot chocolate and one job application, please." He smirked.

I raised a curious eyebrow. "An application won't even be necessary, trust me. My boss will be here tomorrow, if you wanna come by then."

"Sounds good. Now about that hot chocolate..."

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Coming right up." I turned again with my back to the counter to make his drink. "So uh, what do you do, exactly? I mean, as far as music goes?"

"Your butt is cute."

What. I didn't just hear that, did I? "Excuse me?"

"Nothing." I heard him laugh under his breath. "I sing. Play a little guitar. That's really all."

"Are you any good?" I teased as I turned back around in the cramped space, his hot chocolate in my hand. The expression on my face quickly turned to shock when it wound up mere inches away from his, as he was leaning far over the counter, propped up on both hands.

"I guess you're gonna have to find out," he said with a coy smile, never taking his eyes from mine as he lifted one hand to take his drink out of my own. I was close enough that his breath hit my face; it smelt like mint and chocolate. "So, when should I stop by tomorrow?"

"Uh," I started, taking a half a step back, feeling my cheeks blush. "Same time. No one else will probably be here. And bring like, audio of you singing or something."

"Got it." He said, standing upright again. "Goodnight, Ariana," he said before turning and heading for the door. My cheeks darkened in color when he said my name, and I was glad he couldn't see. Left on the counter where one of his hands had been was a five dollar bill and a Hershey Kiss.

"Jerkface," I whispered with a small smile as I swiped what he left off the counter.

--
Later that night, I tossed and turned in my sleep. I was having such a vivid dream; all I heard was my name coming from Andy's lips, all I smelled was his sweet, minty scent, and all I felt was a warm, soft pressure against my own lips. Was I kissing him? Before I had a chance to make sense of it, I was suddenly in the driver's seat of my car and I heard a loud, screeching noise and everything turned black before I jolted awake.

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