Power Play: Growing Relationship Chapter 1

Written by Proto


Chapter 1: Life As She Knew It


Mai's hands deftly flew from one handle to another as she mixed the caffeinated concoctions.  Non-fat caramel macchiato here,  soy milk espressos there. Her life in the coffee shop definitely SEEMED busy and exciting but with the same thirty customers ordering the same drinks at the same time of day, her life was quite dull lately. She slid the warming sleeve onto the cup but still felt the heat through the soft cardboard. "Thank you for coming to 50K Brews!" her voice happily chimed in an identical form as the last thousand times. The man grabbed his coffee silently and walked off.  By now the oblivious nature of the customers didn't even phase her. The ruder ones still hurt her feelings from time to time, but that sort of reaction meant she would need some sort emotional tie to her job. Mai could mix any drink in the shop in less time than it took for the customer to order it felt like. And she was bored of it. Day after day, cup after cup her mind wandered as she filled the bottoms with syrup and the tops with whip cream. Soon enough her shift ended and she walked out of the shop and headed home. The gravel shifted beneath her feet as her converse carried her around the corner and four blocks down to her studio apartment.  Mai had a car but used a walk to work as her excuse to avoid the gym. She pushed the elevator button and as the squeaky doors opened she stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the fourth floor. With a jump and a creak the old metal box climbed up to its destination.  The doors opened and Mai made her way down the grey hallway to her apartment. She opened the door and took her favorite step of the day. Once inside she closed the door behind her and leaned against it with her eyes closed. She dropped her green purse on the counter and made her way to the couch where she slumped down and rested at long last. The soft fabric of the cushions made her feel at home as she sank deeper into the old piece of furniture.  Her eyes grew heavier and heavier as she slowly drifted off to sleep.  
Mai found herself high above the city lights, looking down at the car headlights zooming across the highway. Buildings and streetlights flickering far below. Something in the distance caught her attention and she moved for it. Suddenly, she became aware of her size. She wasn't flying high above the city but was in fact standing. Her giant form loomed over the town as she lumbered forward. Not used to her newfound size, her shin crashed painfully through a parking garage and it sent her tumbling to the ground destroying a handful of buildings as she landed. She sat up for a moment in shock of what she had done but part of her couldn't help but admit it was fun. Besides, clearly she was dreaming. There was no way she could ever be this enormous. She swung her arm to the side demolishing another building. The dust fell down around her and she became aware that she was also incredibly naked. Her hands ran down from her neck to her breasts which had somehow also increased in size and down to her inner thigh. She heard a voice in the distance, quiet but definitely there. She tried her best but couldn't make out what it was saying. Her mind once again returned to the work her hands were getting into. Her fingers sliding up her inner thigh excitingly about to reach their goal. "Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down" suddenly rang out from the skies around her snapping her to attention. Astley's voice filled the air and her ears as she struggled to figure out what was happening.  A moment later she snapped awake, hitting her phone instinctively to silence the alarm. 
"Gotta love opening the morning after a closing shift…" she grumbled quietly to herself.  "Another one of those dreams. I can't seem to shake them recently." She  continued the thought as she changed clothes. Mai tossed her dirty clothes in the hamper as she climbed into the shower.  She stood underneath the hot water as it ran down past her deep red hair, pouring over her dainty, curve-less frame. She washed herself quickly before climbing out and to get dressed. As she clasped her bra she often wondered what the point of even wearing it was. The small A cups DID give a round shape to her shirt but she was often very self conscious of her breasts(or lack thereof). She tossed a yellow button up shirt on over and her regular jeans before grabbing her apron and throwing it over her shoulder.  She wandered into the kitchen to get a bagel and thoughts of her dream kept racing through her mind. She loved the feeling of being so big and wished it could be real. The city feeling so small beneath her giant form got her so excited.  A glance at the clock informed her that she was actually running late and with her half eaten bagel tight between her lips she booked it out the door. 
Time for morning cardio as Mai dashed to work as a streak of red and yellow shot around the corner and down the street to 50k. She burst through the door announcing "I'M NOT LATE" between huffs and puffs and through her bagel. Her manager smiled and nodded his head as she walked behind the counter and tied her apron behind her back. The young red headed woman consumed her bagel faster than can probably be deemed healthy and quickly set to work getting the cups and coffee makers ready for the morning. The morning proceeded as usual with the pre-work rush of people coming in as zombies and leaving as the living once again with their daily dose of caffeine. The whole time Mai kept having visions of her dream again. Pleasing herself in the middle of city as her enormous endowments continued to grow unabated. A brief throat clearing brought her back to reality as a young woman stood on the other side of the counter. Mai was caught speechless as the strangers sky blue eyes pierced straight into her.  Her short black hair that fell and swooped out framed her face so perfectly. A friendly smile parted her lips ensuring Mai's frozen disposition. She was beautiful.  A beat passed as they stared at each other momentarily. Mai was acutely aware of her jaw being open as she stared into the black haired beauties' eyes.  Finally, the stranger spoke "Is…is this where I order? Or…" she asked.
Mai flung herself back into reality "Huh? Order? No that's…wait! Yes! Here. Order drink. Coffee? Of course you want coffee, you came to a coffee shop what else would you want? A coke? That'd be dumb. Not that you'd be dumb to want a coke, cokes are delicious but I mean c'mon who goes to a coffee shop for a coke. Not to say that you're here for a coke or that YOU'RE dumb but just that…Yes. This is where you order" she stumbled a million miles an hour through the trainwreck of a sentence.  She felt her face heat up to the burning point as she blushed from embarrassment. She had always been bi curious, but this stranger left her so nervous she could barely even think straight! The raven haired customer laughed and smiled sweetly at the barista. "I would like something…hot" Their eyes met again as Mai flushed even deeper red. "Warm! I mean warm…" the customer corrected herself. Mai felt slightly better that she was also flustered.  "What would you recommend?" she asked as she looked at the outrageously large menu posted above the bar. Mai glanced up "Well if you want something sweet-" she started but the customer's face became slightly uneasy "It may be a little too early for something sweet. I need to wake up before anything like that" she laughed. Mai motioned over to the simpler coffee concoctions "Well I can whip you up something basic and you can fix it to your liking!" The customer smiled and nodded her head acceptingly at the proposition. "Can I get your…name?" Mai asked nervously, "for the order…so I can call you when it's ready". For the first time the customer blushed back and pushed her hair aside, "I'm April." Mai nodded and wrote it on the cup, already it was the most beautiful name she'd written all day. April paid with cash and slipped her change into the tip jar and smiled as she walked to the other side of the room. Mai turned around to face the coffee pots and held the cup tightly. "April…"she whispered to herself. "April." She said it again as she poured the coffee into the cup. She pulled the warming sleeve out and thought for a long time about what to do next.
She pulled her marker back out and began to write. "What are you doing, Mai?" She whispered to herself impatiently as she wrote her name on one side of the sleeve, and her number on the other. She grabbed the sleeve and stared at it for a moment. Never before had a piece of cardboard been so heavy in her hand. She shifted to throw it away, but as she turned she caught April looking at her from the other side of the room. Their gazes met once again as the moment seemed to linger. April laughed quietly and Mai giggled nervously as they broke the gaze and went back to work. With a deft motion and new resolve, she slid the sleeve over the cup and put it on the counter. She looked over at April and nodded for her that her order was ready. April leapt up and then, catching and collecting herself, coolly walked over to the counter and picked up the cup. Mai, terrified and nervous, had busied herself with the coffee pots. She watched in her peripheral vision as April picked up the cup and eyed it confusedly. Mai's thoughts raced. "You idiot, why would you do that? Really? Your number on a coffee cup? You're insane." Before she could continue the onslaught of thoughts April raised her hand and Mai cautiously looked over. 
"Um…I think I have someone else's order. I'm not…" she glanced back at the cup, "Mai…" Embarrassed, the barista stepped forward, "Yeah that's actually MY name." she quietly explained. "Oh. OH! I'm so sorry! I just…Oh my bad! I'm so sorry!" Mai tried to laugh it off "yeah that's also, y'know, my…uh…number on the back there". Confusedly, April turned the cup around and saw the seven digits and her face immediately turned bright red as well. Mai's hands flung across her face as she started "I'm sorry. That was cheesy and I don't know what I was thinking…It's just" she opened one eye through her fingers and saw April's smiling widely. "No! It's not that!"April stammered back, "It's just…Mai. That's so pretty." Their eyes entranced each other once again as April gazed deep into Mai's jade iris'. Mai's hand crept forward on the counter slowly as April's did the same.  Moments before they touched a deep voice filled the air. "Mai! You gonna get back to work over here or what? The orders are piling up!" her manager called. Both women's hands flew to their sides, April's nearly knocking her coffee over. Mai walked backward slowly "Sorry I gotta get back to work. Y'know how it is" she tried to shrug and act cool. April smiled and held her coffee cup up with Mai's number up she made the phone gesture with her other hand. The red head grinned wider than ever and nodded her head excitedly. She could've sworn she heard her phone ringing in the back but ignored it as she watched April saunter out of the store.  Mai felt the butterflies in her stomach reach an all time high as April disappeared around the corner and poked her head back one more time to glance at her and smile. She couldn't wait for her to call. She knew nothing about April, but already she could tell she was something special.