When I Had a Secret Crush on My Regular Customer

I have this one regular customer who comes in almost every day at 3 PM. He’s always got his laptop out and is the type to sip his coffee slowly while typing away furiously, but then take off without so much as a word once he’s done. I’ve seen him do it countless times, enter, get a black coffee no sugar or cream, work for an hour, pay and leave. Now here’s where things get interesting. A few weeks back, I was behind the counter making another one of his regular orders when I accidentally dropped a receipt into his cup instead of putting it in the bag as usual. He noticed right away, but before he could say anything, there was this moment where our eyes met for just a second and everything felt...different. Like a jolt of electricity that went through me. Ever since then, every time he comes in I feel butterflies. It’s like my heart starts beating twice as fast even though we never talk more than necessary. I started making up excuses to be near the counter when he comes in, checking for inventory, wiping down surfaces, you name it. Anything so that if our eyes do meet again, there's no chance of me messing up his order. I know it’s silly because we barely interact beyond a quick nod or the occasional 'good morning' and even then, those words feel more like a reflex than an actual attempt to start a conversation. But I keep hoping that one day he'll ask how my day is going or if I enjoy reading any books (that's just something random I thought might work as an icebreaker). It’s such a small thing but it feels huge when I think about it. The other baristas at the shop sometimes joke with me saying they’ve noticed this change in attitude, but they don’t know the real reason why. The day he drops by is like my little reminder that there's more to life than just making coffee and serving customers, there might be a chance for something else too. I’m not sure what’s going to happen next or if anything even will, but it’s exciting to feel this kind of anticipation every time the bell above our shop door rings.