Coffee Breath [Camila]

[Deleted]

December 4, 2025
camila calderón

It was a veeeeeeeeery slow day at Madame Puddifoot's. Like, painfully slow. Noah likes slow days but even he had to admit  today was bad. He'd already cleaned all the equipment and restocked the front, swept and moped twice (just cause one person had tracked in snow). Now he was just sitting behind the counter, bored out of his mind. 

Finally, thank god, a customer came in. Noah got to his feet, putting on that well trained customer service smile, and moved to the register. The girl.... She looked vaguely familiar. But that wasn't unusual. A lot of people did when you worked in customer service. Though as she approached the register though, he realized why she looked familiar. She had been in before. he remembered because she'd ordered a Caramel coffee, in a combination pretty similar to how he would make one for himself. "Welcome," he started, pausing for a moment. "Looking for another caramel coffee?" He asked. He'd long since learned that if you did remember what a customer liked and offered that first, they tended to be in a better mood. Because it established a sort of connection. That they weren't just "any customer".

[camila calderón]

December 4, 2025

It was nice to be able to go out with Polyjuice Potion on occasion, though Camila swore to herself that she wouldn't become reliant upon it. Especially when she was about to have another interview published in the Daily Prophet that was sure to get fans excited about her tour, she wanted to avoid getting mobbed. Even with the Polyjuice, she had opted for what she hoped would be a slower time to go to Hogsmeade. She could enjoy herself for a little while that way and have a more relaxing outing, though she should have known how much colder it would be there than down in London.

One of the hard parts about taking on the appearance of her manager's niece, Julieta, was that she had to be careful about what she wore, meaning that Camila couldn't easily wear clothes that she had obviously worn as Camila. Anything too distinctive, at least, wasn't an option for her, so she had gone for the most non-descript outfit she could find for as long as she would be going around as Julieta that day.

Grateful to get indoors once she reached Madam Puddifoot's, she smiled slightly at the guy who was working behind the counter. She had seen him when she had come in before—as Julieta, actually. Otherwise, she mostly got her orders from Madam Puddifoot's delivered by someone else, such as when she was at the WWN headquarters just a short distance away. Camila had coffee places much closer to her flat in Muggle London, where she ran less of a risk of being identified while out and about, so Madam Puddifoot's wasn't typically her first choice for coffee anyway. It was good, though it was typically out of her way to go there.

The barista asked her if she wanted another caramel coffee, and Camila—while surprised that he had remembered her order—nodded. "Yes, please," she answered him. "One caramel coffee."

@noah

[Deleted]

December 4, 2025
camila calderón

Despite his more introverted tendencies, Noah liked working as a Barista. Partially because he had a serious coffee addiction but also because he liked to see all the different variations people came up with. Caramel was a popular flavor this time of year, for example. But everyone had a different take on it. So when he found someone that liked something similar to him? It stuck out to him. Plus, he'd remembered that she'd been pretty nice the first time. Those were always good repeat customers to have.

He smiled as she finished approaching the counter and agreed. He started to punch in the order at the register. "What size are you wanting today?" He asked, looking back up at her. "Any other drinks or pastries? The caramel shortbread is particularly fresh, just brought it out an hour ago." He added, motioning to the pastry display so she could take a look if she was interested.

[camila calderón]

December 4, 2025

"What size are you wanting today?" the barista asked her after she gave him her order for the caramel coffee. Camila wasn't in need of a massive beverage, really; she just wanted a normal coffee. Nothing fancy, aside from the caramel aspect of it—and that was tame, she assumed, as customizations went. Although it more often happened before she was famous, she occasionally ended up in queues behind people who might as well have been making up a menu of their own as they gave someone their food or drink order. She really wasn't trying to be like that, even while under the effects of Polyjuice Potion. "Any other drinks or pastries?" the barista added. "The caramel shortbread is particularly fresh, just brought it out an hour ago."

"I would like the medium size, please," she answered about the coffee. As for the shortbread, that was a cookie, wasn't it? It was confusing, because she knew that there was also a "shortcake", and she hoped that she had managed to keep the two straight. It was obviously some sort of pastry, anyway, and Camila took a quick look at the case to which the barista had motioned. Her suspicions confirmed, she nodded her head slightly, focusing her attention back on the barista. If it turned out that she didn't like the shortbread, then she didn't have to order it again. At least, she thought, it wouldn't be stale. "And one shortbread, please," she added on with a smile, curious then as to what it would taste like.

@noah

[Deleted]

December 4, 2025
camila calderón

Working in a coffee shop you always tried to upsell a little. Pastries always went well with coffee, so when you knew what sort of coffee order someone had Noah always tried to suggest a pastry that would pair well. It was habit by this point, and wasn't really about the money. Noah had plenty of that from his other job, he just wasn't a frivolous person. Most of the money he earned, from both jobs, sat in a bank vault. In part because he didn't want to raise suspicions on how he earned money (as his other job paid considerably more, so it would raise suspicions if he wasn't careful), but also because he wasn't working for the money. He did it because he liked it. Though the coffee shop was a bit of a cover on top of just enjoying all the coffee.

Noah nodded as she answered, first giving him the size then, after a few moments deciding on a shortbread. He entered the items into the register. "Alright, you're total is on the screen," he answered. He'd let her take a moment to get the change out, and took that moment to retrieve the pastry for her. He retrieved it with tongs from the display and slipped it into a fresh paper bag. "The coffee will take just a few minutes," he added.

[camila calderón]

December 4, 2025

The barista input her order into the cash register and mentioned that her total was on the screen. Though it wasn't as much of a problem with something as relatively inexpensive as coffee and a pastry, Camila preferred being able to read off the price of things instead of having to make sure that she hadn't misheard the number communicated to her.

When he mentioned that it would be a few minutes before her order would be ready, she nodded her head and got out the money that she needed in the meantime. All the while, she remained careful to make sure that she didn't have anything on her to give away the fact that she was a celebrity using Polyjuice Potion. She tried to be mindful of little details like that, mostly because she knew how eagle-eyed the media (and even her own fans) could be. Camila wasn't so obsessive as to think that they would care about, say, a literal hair out of place, but she knew that she couldn't allow for too much overlap between her "real" self and Julieta.

"Here…" Camila spoke, handing off the payment to the barista and additionally repeating the total back to him to confirm that she had given him the proper amount. "…Thank you,"—she then glanced at his name tag for his name—"Noah."

@noah