Chapter 1
“Personally, I find it revolting,” Eleanor said before scrunching her nose and taking one last sip of Maggie’s new coffee experimentation. She handed the cup back to her employer. “Sorry.”
The older woman rolled her eyes, taking the cup from the young woman she regarded as her granddaughter. She turned to Erika, who was taking her time to taste the contents of her cup. The noirette lifted her head from the steaming mug. “Did you add hazelnut to this?”
Maggie grinned with satisfaction; at least one of them had good taste in coffee. “What else do you taste?”
Erika again sipped the coffee, accidentally getting the whipped cream on her upper lip and on the tip of her nose. She wiped it off before asking, “Did you add Nutella to our Affogato?”
Magie nodded with a proud grin. “Do you like it?”
“Yes, definitely.” Erika smiled at her employer, pleased with the concoction she came up with. “you should add it to this month’s menu.”
Eleanor’s eyebrows furrowed as she stared into her friend’s cup. “I didn’t taste any ice cream.”
A snort came out of Maggie and Erika cackled. “that’s because you barely tried it, and it melted by the time we coaxed you into trying it.”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been around it I still don’t like coffee.” the bell on the door rang so Eleanor stepped away from the two to help the new customers that walked in.
Maggie shook her head, looking at Eleanor who was oblivious to the attractive man she was serving. “it’s been months since Henry and she’s still not ready to get out there again.” Eleanor flipped her blonde locks off her slim shoulder and the man’s eyes practically jumped out of their sockets.
Erika laughed, taking another sip of her coffee. “Says you.”
Maggie gave Erika an intense glare. “I had my one love years ago. I have my coffee shop and you and Eleanor, that’s all I need.” She snatched the cup from Erika before she could down a 3rd cup of coffee today, earning herself a glare from the caffeine addict. “And your one to talk. you haven’t had a boyfriend since the 10th grade.”
Erika tried to reach for the cup, but Maggie quickly downed the rest and chucked the cup into the sink. with a glare, she sat back down on the barstool and defended herself. “I could find myself a boyfriend but I know I don’t need one so why try?”
The older woman smiled at the stubborn noirette. “The more you explain your single self, the more I think you’re trying to convince yourself and not me.”
With a roll of her eyes, Erika stood and tightened her apron and ponytail. “You’ve already made up your mind about me so I won’t try to convince you that I’m perfectly sufficient as a twenty-three-year-old single woman.” by the end of her speech Maggie was laughing. with her chin in the air, Erika left towards the back to wash dishes. “I’m right!” She yelled out. it only brought more laughter out of Maggie so she gave up, rolled her sleeves, and dipped into the sudsy water.
She blew black wisps of her fringes out of her face as she attacked each cup with a sponge, taking her anger out on the porcelain. She knew she wasn’t wrong. She didn’t need a man to take care of her; She could cook, clean, and bring home the money very well on her own.
But what scared her was that she might want somebody. Someone to care for her would be nice, and someone to care about wouldn’t be bad either. She craved the love and comfort a man could bring.
It had to be the right guy though. They weren’t pillows in a gift shop, stuffed with cotton instead of a mind, they were humans with brains. most of her experience with men has led her to believe otherwise. Her dad left when she was 10, two of her three ex-boyfriends cheated on her, and men could get ugly with their words at the coffee shop. and that was leaving out her darkest past.
But then there were the guys who brought their girlfriends in and bought them whatever drink they wanted with as many add-ons as they wanted and couldn’t keep their hands off of them, as if seizing skin contact would make them disappear. kissing foreheads, lacing fingers together, and smiling at them as if they were the world; to them, they were the world.
Erika pushed the door open with her back, holding a tray full of dishes. “Coming through!” she shouted as she maneuvered past the coworkers getting in for the evening shift. The backroom became loud with chatter and lockers closing in the distance.
Eleanor giggled, seeing Erika’s irritated countenance. She set the tray next to the sink and threw a towel onto her best friend’s shoulder. “Our shifts over, let’s get out of here.”
Erika didn’t have to be told twice. “Yes, finally!” she cried, wiping her hands up to her elbows to get the foamy water off. “I want to sleep but I need to take a shower, and I want an Italian club sandwich.”
“Well, why don’t I head over to Panino’s and get us some lunch and you head up to take a shower?” Erika nodded and followed Eleanor out the front door, waving goodbye to Magie on the way out. Erika was instantly hit in the face with the freezing breeze and looked down at herself before looking at her prepared friend, modeling an elegant black coat. “Should’ve brought a coat as I told you to. it’s not summer anymore,” Erika said, slipping on her mittens and hat.
Eleanor waved her off before unlocking the door. She made the wretched trek up the stairs before unlocking yet another door. Knowing she was only ten feet away from her bed made it difficult to head to her room and to her dresser to grab a fresh pair of pajamas and a towel only to head to the bathroom and farther from her mattress but a clean body after a long day in the hot coffee shop and smelling like caffeine and spilled creamer wasn’t her favorite scent.
The hot water spraying onto her back was the only thing keeping her in the shower. She contemplated skipping conditioner but ended up raking in through her hair, knowing Eleanor would throw her back into the shower to do it later if not now. skin and hair care must be done daily or she will freak out.
Eleanor was a relaxed person and didn’t anger easily but if Erika didn’t take care of herself she will have a heart attack.
By the time she was settled on the couch, remote in hand, soft pajamas on her body, and wet hair hanging off the back of the couch she was ready to fall asleep. Eleanor came through the door just as Erika was about to, shaking some of the sleepiness out of her.
“You better not be watching Psych without me, Erika.” she came into the living room with a bag filled with their early dinner. her eyes went to the TV to make sure nothing was playing before setting the bag on the coffee table.
Eleanor quickly changed into her pajamas before settling on the couch and grabbing her soup bowl out of the bag. “okay I’m ready,” she announced, scooting back and crossing her legs Indian style.
They were 10 minutes into the episode and a quarter way through their meal when Erika was beginning to feel some of her energy come back. “My caffeine crashes have been getting worse.”
“You know what that means.”
“Yes, Mother, I do,” Erika said sarcastically. Eleanor has been trying to get her to cut down on the coffee and drink more water for years. She has cut down on her coffee intake but still struggled to drink water regularly. “but I don’t think coffee is the whole problem.”
“No, you’ve been doing better with the coffee intake,” she admitted, “it’s your staying up till midnight to scroll Pinterest is your problem.”
Erika scoffed but Eleanor went on. “You’ve had this problem since high school; Pinterest and coffee. if someone put a gun to my head and your laptop you would instantly choose Pinterest.”
Erika gasped. “I would not!” Eleanor laughed, causing Erika to join in. Her scrolling issues were no secret. if she hadn’t been working at the shop since high school and if Maggie wasn’t such a good boss she would get fired for being on her phone during working hours. “I was worse in high school,” She tried.
“Yeah,” Eleanor laughed. the conversation seemed to end there as they went back to watching TV and dining. their evenings looked like this most days, rarely changing. they would go grocery shopping once a week and go thrifting on occasion but nothing was special about their routine. Eleanor would go to read in her room before bed and Erika would scroll aimlessly on social media but tonight Erika skipped the regular and went to sleep as soon as she hit the mattress.
[ this first chapter is a little shorter than I would’ve hoped but the next ones are going to be a little longer as we head straight into the plot.]
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