Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The clack of her shoes on the pavement set an erratic beat as she attempted a light jog up the side street. It was strangely busy on this familiar road this morning, and it was making her even more irritated. Was the universe conspiring to make her late for work? She nearly turned her ankle and stumbled slightly. At five-foot-nothing, if she lied about it, her espadrilles weren't fooling anyone. Why did she even bother?

And then, to make her horrible morning even worse, she nearly tripped over the sandwich board outside her favourite coffee shop declaring the worst news she'd seen in the past twenty-four hours. Closed? Fuck me sideways. Her shoulders slumped as she groaned.

“Are you okay?” A voice from behind her startled her slightly. But more than startled, she felt a rumble deep inside her that was unsettling, but not unpleasant. The rasp of the man’s voice was … sexy. She turned to see whose voice it was, and the green of his eyes nearly knocked the remaining breath from her. He was beautiful. And he was giving her an apologetic smile, as if he was the one robbing her of coffee.

“I’m fine,” she practically squeaked. “It’s just I’m already running late and now my favourite coffee place is closed.”

“Oh, that sucks.” he replied rather lifelessly.

“I mean, good for them I guess,” she indicated to the sandwich board sign declaring ‘Sorry :( Closed for filming’. “But I really need my morning caffeine.”

His lips twisted against what she could tell was not a mocking smile, but a sympathetic one. 

“But there are other places downtown to get an iced latte.” She tried to recover as she smoothed her humidity frizzed hair. The July heat was not being kind to her appearance, nor was the jogging. She tugged at the hem of the skirt of what had been a freshly pressed poplin shirt dress. She was sure it was now just a rumpled mess like the rest of her this morning.

“I should go,” she blurted, unsure if it was the man's handsomeness or her anxiety about being late for work that was making her so nervous.

“I hope your day gets better,” he said kindly. And then she turned and continued her awkward shuffle-run down the street towards her office building where there was a worse, but actually open, coffee shop.

Eight Months Later …

So she had been late for work, and her morning latte had been sub-par; her boss was mad about late expense reports, and the audit files had been misplaced by the office assistant. And then her older sister had gotten engaged that night and gave her mother more ‘Penelope you need to get your life together’ fuel. But in retrospect, apparently it had actually been the best day ever, because now she felt like part of her favourite fictional love story was tied to her real life.

So the memories of that summer day reformed in her mind as she watched the perfectly cast Seamus walk into that familiar coffee shop and fall in insta-love with his soulmate, the hapless barista, Charles. The two men flirted with ease on either side of the same counter she had stood at countless times waiting for her favourite iced chai. High Stakes had been renewed for a second season before the season finale had even aired. It was a certified hit and she was so happy about it. She literally had nothing to do with the success, but for some reason she felt a personal connection to it all the same. She had been there that day. She had seen it. She had spoken with some very handsome guy with a clipboard and walkie-talkie who in retrospect clearly was involved with the production in some way. Wow. Insider access in-deed.

So all those months later she was sucked into the hype with like what seemed like half the planet. She couldn’t stop reading about it, watching the edits, and posting on Threads. She made new virtual friends, and her smile was brighter and wider every time she stopped into Revolution Roasters for her morning coffee. And when news started to spread that the show was going to be filming again, and in her hometown again, she felt like she was keeping some sort of important secret.

One morning in early spring Penelope walked down the street to work, gripping her empty travel mug awaiting her typical caffeine surge. Her pace slowed as she noticed the cube trucks and generators lining the sidewalk, and she knew she was not going to be getting her favourite iced latte or saying ‘hello’ to her favourite employee. But this time that idea filled her with delight instead of a tired dread. She tried to school her face into a casual smile and keep her walking pace natural as she passed by the closed café on the way to her office. Once she arrived at work she made herself a terrible pod coffee in the drab staff kitchen and sat at her desk debating.

Should she do it? Was it some breach of fandom etiquette? 

It’s not like by sharing information about the filming she would actually reveal any potential plot details or spoilers. And if she waited until they were finished at the location to post it, after the crew was packed up and the shop re-opened, it’s not even as if it would disrupt filming. She could just share the exciting news with other fans – they were just a little bit closer to the arrival of a very anticipated continuation of the love story. The one they were all clamouring for more of, despite the fact that she had reread the book series five times already. Her internal argument lasted into her lunch hour, when she decided to go for a walk to clear her head. And of course her walk led her right to where the trucks and extras were all amassed outside the coffee shop, and then she just couldn’t stop herself from snapping a couple of photos. She did it as discreetly as she could manage, and then turned around quickly, shoving her phone back in her purse. As she turned she ran into a very solid object. A tall, broad, human shaped solid object.

“Oomph,” she gasped. It was probably the most ungraceful noise she’d ever made.

“Sorry,” a voice … a familiar, sexy voice, muttered back. She felt his hands on her shoulders steady her in place before she lifted her gaze to look into those devastating green eyes.

“I should look where I’m going,” the man said shyly. “I was trying to read and walk.” He flapped the clipboard in his left hand to indicate the reason for his distraction.

“It’s my fault … I shouldn’t have been trying to take ph–” she cut herself off before she got herself into any more trouble. 

His smile was so warm. So kind. It made it hard to breathe. But maybe it was actually because of his incredibly handsome face; the sharp set of his jaw, and those soft, pouty lips.

“I love the show!” She blurted out, and then winced because that was the absolute lamest thing a person could say when trying to be nonchalant around a film set.

“Thanks,” he muttered and ruffled his hair like he was embarrassed. “I mean … I’m just a production assistant; this isn’t my show.”

“It’s just … I’ve loved the books for years, and you’ve all made it so perfect. Especially Seamus and Charles' book.… you did such an amazing job making their love story come true. I mean not true, but like … bringing it to life.” She scrunched up her nose in an attempt to make herself stop rambling to this very handsome man who did not care about her taste in romance novels.

“Thanks. It’s been amazing to see the fan response. No one thought it would be … this.” His arms gestured around vaguely, as if to indicate the idea of shooting even more episodes was unfathomable.

“Well, everyone was so good, and the writing … perfect adaptation.” She bit her lip to stop herself from fangirling all over this innocent crew member.

Someone walked by them and tapped him on the shoulder, “Agatha is looking for you, the new lighting set up is almost ready.”

“I uh … I have to go,” He pointed in the direction of Revolution Roasters and pursed his lips.

“Yeah … you have to go make some more television magic.” Penelope replied, proud of herself for keeping her tone so cool and casual. She watched him walk across the street and tried not to grin wildly when she noticed he turned back around once to glance in the direction of where he’d left her standing alone.

That night she gave into the urge, the absolute demand in her body to post the photos she’d taken that day. As she scrolled through her various social media feeds she noticed several local fans had also posted some cryptic messages about possibly seeing members of the cast at restaurants and bars in the area, so it was a group agreement filming was happening, and at the locations they all knew from last season. Penelope was a fairly well known and active member of the fandom community, especially since people knew she lived in one of the cities where the show was filmed.  So she reasoned it made sense to share the exciting news that filming rumours were in-fact true, and post the three photos she’d managed to capture of the café temporarily re-branded for filming. Penelope knew that Seamus/Charles shippers were going to flip-out, knowing that the pair was definitely back for season two. But she was proud of herself that she did not share any details about running into a member of the crew who basically confirmed those assumed details. She’d saved those details just for herself.

When Penelope woke to the sound of her alarm the next morning, her social media notifications had gone berserk. She had likes, comments, shares of the posts of her photos into the hundreds - on Threads it was thousands of impressions. All of a sudden her little bit of insider knowledge had made her THE insider. It was exciting. She left for work with a definite bounce in her step, only half paying attention to the bus route as she giddily responded to comments and messages. She shared her silly fan theories and left coy emojis on everyone else’s theories and posts that had blown up across the fandom over the past ten hours. 

The robotic voice announcing her bus stop pulled her attention away from the long-form response she was typing about the season two arc she’d most like to see from the books. Shit. She might be an internet celebrity for the day, but she was also an actual financial analyst that needed to keep her job. Posting behind the scenes photos from the on-location filming of a romance show paid zero dollars, and her landlord would not trade fandom cred for rent. She raced to the backdoor of the bus, “thank you!” she called out as she practically leapt to the sidewalk. She really needed to get her head on straight before she embarrassed herself at work over her fangirling. Penelope figured it would be extra exciting to drop into Revolution Roasters this morning for her jolt of caffeine this morning, but nearly lost her balance when her knees went wobbly at the sight of the street ahead. Moving vans and generators once again filled the blocked off street parking spaces, and the area in front of the café was swarmed with crew and equipment. The show was still filming today. And now it looked like there were a few security guards roaming around between the parked vans and trailers, keeping an eye on the many pedestrians who seemed to be slowing down to take a look at the commotion. This street was usually pretty dead in the mornings, but now it seemed like it was crawling with passers by who were pretending they were just taking a morning stroll, but were really there gawking and trying to get as close as possible to the coffee shop.

She pushed down a guilt-filled gasp with a hard swallow. She hadn’t meant to cause a disruption to filming. Last year the filming at the shop had only been one day, so she thought it would be fine to share the update last night. But now it seemed her exciting news was actually creating a headache, and the need for security, as the crew members with headsets tried to herd people carrying equipment and props into the building. She noticed one specific crew member looking especially haggard, the one with the stunning green eyes and handsome face. His dark brown hair was disheveled, as was his rumpled button-up shirt. It untucked from his faded jeans and his belly peeked out above his belt as he lifted a large black road case over the curb.  Now that she had a moment to take in his full frame she found it hard to look away. Broad and husky, he must be at least a foot taller than her, and the way his pants strained as his thighs flexed… images of him laying his heavy body on top of hers flashed in her mind and she felt her cheeks burning. He looked in her direction just then, and before she could divert her gaze he smiled. It knocked her back to reality and she knew her own expression was probably one of panic and embarrassment, but she did her best to return a friendly nod before rushing down the street towards her office building.

Later that morning Penelope was waiting for the photocopier to finish its daily temper tantrum when Laurel popped her head into the tiny room with a mischievous smile on her face.

“You have a … guest,” she said smoothly.

Penelope furrowed her brow, her sisters never visited her at work and she didn’t have any client meetings scheduled.

“Who? Did they ask for me, specifically?”

“A very tall, very handsome man. And he asked for ‘a cute, shortish red head’,” she smirked back in response.

“Oh …” Penelope whispered with a shaky breath before squeezing past her smiling co-worker moving in the direction of the reception area. She smoothed out her wrap top, making sure the cross of the neckline was sitting perfectly across her ample bust, and smoothed down her hair before she reached the hallway with the glass door at the end. As soon as she rounded the corner his eyes were on her, watching as she made her way towards the security desk. Penelope kept her expression as neutral as possible, even when she noticed the cardboard tray with two drinks in his hand, and that stunning smile on his face.

“Hello again!” He said smoothly as she pushed through the door. Her eyes darted around the space to see which co-workers might be observing, but only Casey, the security guard, sat at his desk in the bland grey area between the elevators and the locked doors to the offices.

“Hi,” she tried to keep her voice steady, confident. What was this man doing here, at her work, of all places? 

“I uh … I’m Colin,” he said plainly as he extended his hand in an offer of a hand shake.

“Oh.” She paused for a moment, and then took his hand in a weak greeting. His hand was hot, like his skin suffused warmth that travelled up her arm and across her whole body. 

“Penelope,” was all she could manage in response.

Colin glanced at Casey, a slight look of triumph on his face before he loosened one of the drinks from the tray in his other hand and presented it to her.

“An iced latte, right? I think that’s what you had said … but it was a while ago.”

She took the drink, the condensation on the cup making it almost slip from her hand. 

“Yeah, that’s what I usually … Wait, what?” Had this man really brought her a morning coffee?

“You just … you couldn’t get your drink because the café is still closed and I …” His eyes flicked to the security desk again and he stepped a bit closer to her and turned away from it. “I noticed the company logo on your cup yesterday, and knew it was close by … and the production is taking a bit longer than scheduled so I thought I would bring your morning caffeine.” He gave her another one of those smiles that made her stomach flip. It was so warm and earnest. Like he actually felt bad she hadn’t gotten her drink.

“I wasn’t sure if you were one of those non-dairy people, so this other one is oat milk.”

“That is incredibly kind of you. Do you do this for all the morning grumps that missed out on their coffees today?” She hoped her voice carried the teasing tone she was aiming for; she didn’t mean it as a dig at how he spent his time.

“Just for the fangirls.” He winked. 

They stood in agonizing silence for a long beat, Penelope was not sure what the polite follow-up to a very handsome stranger bringing her a coffee was, because she feared she was reading into this gesture far too deeply.

“Well –”

“ – I should” they stammered over each other and her nervous giggle bounced around the reception hall.

“You should take this other drink … for a co-worker or something,” Colin motioned to the drink in the tray as he held it out to her.

“That’s really sweet of you, Colin.” She tested his name out in her mouth and was rewarded with that warm smile again.

“It’s really nothing, Penelope.” 

Hearing her name in his voice made her nearly drop the drinks in both her hands, and something between a snort and a whimper released from her throat. She winced in embarrassment, and stepped back towards the door.

“I uh … the coffee shop should be reopened tomorrow so no more interruptions for your morning routine,” he said as he moved towards the elevators. “Promise.”

She nodded at a loss for what else to do. 

“Great,” she said a touch too brightly as if she was mostly happy about the idea of another latte.

“Well, bye.” He held up a hand in a wave, and she held one of the drinks up slightly as if to wave back with it. Thankfully Casey stood to open the door for her, and she ducked around the first corner away from the view of the glass door. 

Penelope practically threw herself against the wall leaning back into it with her eyes squeezed shut, trying to recover from whatever was happening to her at the moment. She was simultaneously mortified and overwhelmed. This man, Colin, had introduced himself to her, and brought her a latte. Two lattes just in case she was lactose intolerant. But then she practically honked at him and he promptly reassured her they would never have to meet again. She was never going to forget this, for so many reasons. But at least he would never know it was her that had fucked up the schedule by posting that photo. So they could both go on with their lives as if none of this had ever happened.