At the sound of soft chimes, Elias peeked his head from behind the door. He was about to go to the back to take a break, he had already made his coffee…
But god, was he glad that he didn't.
Two people walked in, a middle-aged Beta man, and a little boy. With heterochromatic eyes, and chestnut curls.
Ollie. His son.
For a moment, it was as if the time stopped. Elias just watched the boy, as he stepped inside, turning his whole head as he glanced around, his lips slightly pouted, and his hands tugging on the hem of his blue blouse…
Only when Lilia, one of the workers he employed, appeared out of the staff room, about to go to the front to serve the customers, did he snap out of his daze.
"Don't worry about it, I'll serve them," he quickly said, his fingers already skillfully retying his apron behind his back.
How could he possibly miss the chance to talk to his son? He'd be willing to skip his breaks for the rest of his life for a moment like that!
"Hi, how can I help you?" he smiled, stepping forward to the counter. For a change, it wasn't his usual 'customer service' smile, but a warm, genuine one. Elias didn't even have to think about it, it just appeared on his face naturally.
"A regular americano for me, and… Ollie, what do you want?" the Beta man turned to the boy.
Ollie murmured something intelligible, and lifted his eyes bashfully, meeting Elias' gaze…
Only to lower them back to the ground a fraction of a second later, his curls falling onto his face and blocking the view.
…And Elias' heart broke.
Yes, of course, he knew it would be like that. Of course Ollie wouldn't remember him, when he only saw Elias when he was a tiny baby, not even a month old. Of course he wouldn't recognize him. He knew it all along, he really did.
But… A part of him still hoped it would be different. That the moment their eyes met, Ollie would…
Elias' fingers tightened on the edge of the counter, until his knuckles turned white.
"Umm, then…" the Beta scratched his head, staring at the menu hanging on the wall.
"How about chamomile tea for the boy, and then a raspberry cream puff as a snack?" Elias recommended, putting all of his efforts into maintaining his warm smile.
"Yes, that sounds good, thank you."
"Please take a seat, I will bring your order to your table in a minute!"
Their shop actually didn't serve the orders to the table, normally the customers had to pick them from the counter themselves… But Ollie wasn't a customer, not in Elias' eyes, so of course, he would get special treatment!
Elias carefully prepared the drinks, and picked the nicest cream puff from the batch, sprinkling some pink edible glitter on top, and brought the tray to Ollie and the Beta.
"There you go," he said, slowly placing the drinks on the table, trying to prolong it as much as he could. "You… have a beautiful son."
"He's not mine, I'm just picking him up," the Beta answered shortly, taking a sip of his coffee.
He didn't seem too talkative, but Elias ignored "Ah, alright… How old is he?"
"He's…"
"Five," Ollie muttered quietly, stealing a quick glance at Elias, and lowering his eyes again.
Ah…
Elias' heart melted.
Ollie was just so adorable, absolutely the cutest!
Elias stood there in place, not wanting to move, but also not knowing what to say. He wanted to stay like that forever…
But that would come off as too weird, and he didn't want the Beta to tell Axel that there was something wrong with the barista from Drip Point, so he forced his feet to move…
Just as he took one step away, he felt a light tug on his apron. Ollie was holding it, in one of his tiny hands, his cheeks lightly flushed as he stared at the cream puff.
And Elias completely melted, turning into a warm, happy puddle of mush on the floor.
Or, well, at least that's how he felt. Humans didn't actually melt from excess adorableness, not literally.
"What is it?" he asked with a smile, his voice lightly strained as he struggled to suppress all the overwhelming emotions rising in his chest. "Do you want me to join you?"
Ollie lifted his head up and down, his curls swaying gently with the nod.
Ah, Elias could die from happiness right now!
Well, maybe not. He still wanted Ollie to find out that he, Elias, was his parent, and then watch Ollie grow up, and then go to college - if that was what he wanted, of course - and then fall in love and get married, and then have kids, and then, and then…
And then there was no end to his greed. He thought at first he'd be satisfied if he could at least see the boy… But now that he did, Elias only found himself desperately wanting more and more.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat, fixing his expression. 'Keep it cool, Elias! Keep it cool!'
"Do you mind?" he turned to the Beta.
"If that's what Ollie wants," the man only shrugged his shoulders, sipping his coffee.
And so Elias slid into the seat opposite his son.
His coffee was slowly getting colder somewhere behind the counter, but Elias had completely forgotten about its existence. And even if he hadn't… It was just a cup of coffee! Why would he bother to go pick it up? When it would cost him a few seconds that he could instead spend with his son?
"So, Ollie, right? Do you like cream puffs?" he started, asking the first thing that came to his mind. Or the first thing that he actually COULD ask that came to his mind.
"Umm… Yes…"
The conversation was awkward at first, but as time went on, Ollie slowly started opening up. 'Slowly' being the key word. He was still very shy…
But Elias didn't mind, not at all! It was adorable. Ollie was perfect, in every way, shape, and form. And he was absolutely overjoyed that the boy was willing to even talk to him at all…
Everything good has to end eventually though, and a short moment - or what felt like a short moment to Elias - later, the bells at the door chimed again, welcoming a certain despicable Alpha with golden hair. Elias almost scowled, but he pretended not to notice, wanting to extend his time with Ollie by even a few more seconds…
And the heavens answered his prayers, stopping the Alpha on the spot. Why? Elias didn't know, or care. He just continued his chat with Ollie.
He couldn't ignore the man forever though - he was the owner of the coffee shop, and had to maintain high-quality customer service, especially in front of that Alpha! (Even though the service he actually wanted to perform for him was spilling a whole jar of iced coffee over his head.)
So, he held back a sigh, and lifted his gaze. "Ah, hello!"