CHAPTER ONE
“May I please have a small vanilla iced coffee?” I quickly wrote down the young woman’s order on my little notepad in black ink. “Anything else ma’am?” I pick up her crunched up napkins that look like that have been stained with red lipstick. “Nope, I’m waiting for my date.” She winks at me and quickly fixes her posture and hair.
I laugh quietly as I place my tiny notebook on my dark blue apron and head behind the counter to make her beverage. Working at Mona’s Coffee Shop for over two years now, I have seen pretty much everything; proposals, prom proposals, young teenagers asking their crush for a date or if they’re lucky enough for a second date and my personal favorite, a breakup.
I don’t have anything against young love but I don’t like the idea of someone breaking up with someone in front of the public. However, my coworkers seem to enjoy it as much as I do to see breakup scenes because we love to clean up the mess afterwards.
“A black coffee, anything else?” I write down his order in my little notebook.
I laugh quietly as I place my tiny notebook on my dark blue apron and head behind the counter to make her beverage. Working at Mona’s Coffee Shop for over two years now, I have seen pretty much everything; proposals, prom proposals, young teenagers asking their crush for a date or if they’re lucky enough for a second date and my personal favorite, a breakup.
I don’t have anything against young love but I don’t like the idea of someone breaking up with someone in front of the public. However, my coworkers seem to enjoy it as much as I do to see breakup scenes because we love to clean up the mess afterwards.
“Him again?” I turn around from the coffee machine to see Aiden next to me wiping his hand with his white towel before placing it on his right shoulder. I turn around and I groan at the young boy entering the coffee shop.
“Isn’t this his fourth girl this week?” Elena scoffs and crosses her arms against her chest as she sees the young man kiss the girl who ordered the small vanilla iced coffee. She blushes and the young man winks at her before sitting down across from her.
“Yes it is. How can someone get so many girls in one week? It's Wednesday for God’s sake! I need to ask him for his tips” Elena and I scoff at Aiden and he gives us a confused look. “What? Hey, I’ve been good this year, ever since I broke up with my girlfriend two months ago I haven't seen anyone since.”
“So what? I haven’t gotten laid in over a year.” Elena playfully hits his shoulder before not giving Aiden a full lecture on why he shouldn’t be like men like the customer who walked in. Aiden shakes his head and walks back to his station.
I grab the iced latte and walk over to the young girl’s table and place the coffee in between the couples. “Welcome to Mona’s Coffee Shop is there anything I can get you started with?” I politely ask the young man, “Black coffee. No sugar. No milk.” His voice is low and stiff making me cringe inside.
“Isn’t this his fourth girl this week?” Elena scoffs and crosses her arms against her chest as she sees the young man kiss the girl who ordered the small vanilla iced coffee. She blushes and the young man winks at her before sitting down across from her.
“Yes it is. How can someone get so many girls in one week? It's Wednesday for God’s sake! I need to ask him for his tips” Elena and I scoff at Aiden and he gives us a confused look. “What? Hey, I’ve been good this year, ever since I broke up with my girlfriend two months ago I haven't seen anyone since.”
“So what? I haven’t gotten laid in over a year.” Elena playfully hits his shoulder before not giving Aiden a full lecture on why he shouldn’t be like men like the customer who walked in. Aiden shakes his head and walks back to his station.
I grab the iced latte and walk over to the young girl’s table and place the coffee in between the couples. “Welcome to Mona’s Coffee Shop is there anything I can get you started with?” I politely ask the young man, “Black coffee. No sugar. No milk.” His voice is low and stiff making me cringe inside.
Does it kill you to be nice?
“A black coffee, anything else?” I write down his order in my little notebook.
“No, we’ll call you if we need you.” He moves his right hand indicating me to move out of their way and I can’t help but to fake a smile at him before saying profanities to him in my head.
“He’s rude.” I whisper to Aiden and Elena before placing a small white cup underneath the coffee machine. “Do you want me to take over you Alara? I can teach him some manners.” Aiden looks at him with a nasty face and I softly chuckle at him, “No, it's okay. I can handle him.”
“She got this Aiden. Do you remember what happened with the old man who yelled at her because she told him that we were closing in two minutes and she told him to leave?” Elena brought a memory that I never wished to remember because that day was the day when I almost got fired because I told a customer to leave after he got aggressive with me for no reason.
“Don’t remind me, Lewis almost fired me that day.” I whisper back to them as I walk over to the table and softly place the cup of coffee on the table. I turned around to help Aiden with the orders but the annoying young man’s voice stopped me, “You didn’t give me napkins.” The blonde guy scoffed.
I mentally rolled my eyes and I fake a smile as I turn around to see him with a scowl on his face, “The station will be behind you for all the things you need.” My voice comes out higher than I wanted it to but I don’t care. My shift ends in thirty minutes and I want to get out as soon as possible.
“So what? You expect me to get it?” The guy raises his voice making a few customers look in our direction.
“She got this Aiden. Do you remember what happened with the old man who yelled at her because she told him that we were closing in two minutes and she told him to leave?” Elena brought a memory that I never wished to remember because that day was the day when I almost got fired because I told a customer to leave after he got aggressive with me for no reason.
“Don’t remind me, Lewis almost fired me that day.” I whisper back to them as I walk over to the table and softly place the cup of coffee on the table. I turned around to help Aiden with the orders but the annoying young man’s voice stopped me, “You didn’t give me napkins.” The blonde guy scoffed.
I mentally rolled my eyes and I fake a smile as I turn around to see him with a scowl on his face, “The station will be behind you for all the things you need.” My voice comes out higher than I wanted it to but I don’t care. My shift ends in thirty minutes and I want to get out as soon as possible.
“So what? You expect me to get it?” The guy raises his voice making a few customers look in our direction.
“Well if you read the sign, you would know that that area behind you is for customers.” I raise my voice and Aiden backs me up with a laugh and Elena joins him making the guy feel uncomfortable and small.
As I leave him dumb-founded, Elena gives me a low high five before meeting me in the back to clean the mess before we leave for the day. Aiden informs me that not too long before I told the guy to shove his attitude up his ass, the girl left him disappointed in his personality.
“What are you going to do tonight?” Elena asks me as we walk out the coffee shop together. “I have to study for my Bio Chemistry test next week and hope to hear from the dean’s office to see if I got the tutoring job.” I sigh, I quickly check my school email to see if I received the news but I didn’t get anything.
“Don’t worry about it Alara. You’re smart and your grades speak for themselves, you’ll get the news soon.” Elena squeezes my shoulder warmly, making me smile and giving her a side hug. We say our goodbyes as I drive smoothly back to my apartment with Khalid’s voice in the background.
“What are you going to do tonight?” Elena asks me as we walk out the coffee shop together. “I have to study for my Bio Chemistry test next week and hope to hear from the dean’s office to see if I got the tutoring job.” I sigh, I quickly check my school email to see if I received the news but I didn’t get anything.
“Don’t worry about it Alara. You’re smart and your grades speak for themselves, you’ll get the news soon.” Elena squeezes my shoulder warmly, making me smile and giving her a side hug. We say our goodbyes as I drive smoothly back to my apartment with Khalid’s voice in the background.
