When You Can't Sleep At Night.
Arrow.
"Hey!" A red headed male yelled as soon as he entered the building with another man who looked to be around the same age as the redhead. I looked up and gave them as warm as a smile as I could muster with the mood I was in.
"Hi there, welcome to Courier Coffee, is there anything that you have your eye set on at the moment?" I asked as I fiddled around with the ends of my hair.
The red head smiled and shook his head, "Not quite yet. I mean we have part of the order but not all of it…"
I nodded, assuming he was picking something up for a friend, "Well if you want to have me start what you already have in mind I can do that."
"Okay then," the redhead replied, "A plain black coffee, sixteen ounce, and," he glanced down looking at our pastries, "a blueberry muffin."
I grabbed a sixteen ounce cup and simply wrote 'black' on it then looked up, "Who's the coffee for, like name?"
"Oh, Austin." He smiled as he continued to look through our menu that hangs from the ceiling, "and I'd like a sixteen ounce white chocolate mocha, the name for that would be Alan."
"Okay, I can do that, Alan." I replied as I scribbled on his cup. I looked up at his friend, "Anything for you?"
"A latte, sixteen ounce, and an oatmeal cookie." He said as he pointed at the cookies, "My name's Tino."
I finished scribbling on the cups and rung up the items, "That will be 16.50." The guys, Tino, handed me a twenty. I quickly put the money in and gave him the change back as well as a receipt. I grabbed their muffin and cookie, putting them in the wax paper and handed them to Alan, "Here's the pastries," and with that I worked my magic with the coffee machines. The guys started to talk to me and I replied, finding it amusing that people are actually talking to me.
"He's been in a shitty mood recently; I think it's because of Gielle…" Alan muttered.
"Gielle sounds like a douche," I replied as I handed them the black coffee, "From what you've said I don't understand why people cheat anyways," I looked up at them, "It's fucking ridiculous, if you're going to be with one person don't be an ass and fuck them over."
"I have a feeling you dated a douche sometime in your past," Alan smirked as he quickly glanced down at his phone.
"I have, and it didn't end well in the slightest," I muttered, I had a child with him and he thinks I fucked someone else yet he's the one who's cheated, "I just feel bad for your friend, especially since they were married," I sighed as I handed them the mocha, "Oh well, I guess it's just how life goes, fucks you in the ass." I instantly regretted what I said and looked up hoping that my manager, Micah, wasn't out. I turned back to see Alan quickly putting his phone down, I rose my eyebrow but ignored it.
Alan and Tino laughed then continued to talk about how they were leaving town for a bit for a tour, "Touring sucks but at the same time it's the best thing about being in a band."
"That sounds like fun," I smiled at them, "Do you guys make enough money to live off of or are you just kind of bopping around?"
"Oh we make a decent amount; we have a decent fan base." Tino said, sharing a smirk with Alan. I finished the last drink and handed it to them.
"Well if you big rock stars ever need coffee you know where to go," I said, my voice dripping in sarcasm.
"You don't believe us!" Tino yelled out as he left, while Alan waved and flashed a smile as he left.
One Hour and Thirty Minutes Later.
"One pumpkin spice latte coming up," I told the teenage girl as she handed me the money for her drink. As she cracked and popped her gum I got to work making the drink. The regular indie music was playing out of the speakers at an irritatingly quiet, almost whisper-like, volume. This used to make me want to break the iPod we always kept hooked to the speakers but now I've grown used to it, after all I've been here for almost five years now. I feel pathetic being twenty-three with a history of getting pregnant at eighteen and dropping out of college just weeks into the first quarter.
I heard footsteps and looked up to see Micah coming up to tell me that this is the last drink that I have to make before my shift is over. He should know by now that I know the swing of things enough to know how to simply leave work, "I know what to do, Micah," and with that he turned around in the other direction to go back into his office. At that moment I finished the drink and handed it to the teen, "Enjoy," I said with the same fake smile I use with every customer.
She rolled her eyes, "Whatever," She then went into a corner table and started screwing around with her phone. I took off my apron and hung it on the rack next to the cash register. I walked into Micah's office to let him know I was leaving and left this place.
I grabbed my phone and called my babysitter to let her know I'm on my way home then went off and hurried home as Blink-182 blared from my speakers to get rid of the aftertaste of the indie music. As I pulled up to my house I saw Charlotte run outside to welcome me home as she usually does. I stopped the engine and got out of my car, "Mommy!" she shrieked as she ran up to me and hugged my waist.
I laughed, "Hey there baby girl," I bent down to kiss the top of her head and looked at Mariah, my babysitter, "Thank you so much, I'll pay you on Monday as usual."
She nodded, "Have fun with her, she's a little ball of energy today." She then left on her skateboard to her house that was just down the street.
I looked down at Charlotte, "Well what did you do today?" That set her off as she started to ramble about the drawings she made for me and her father at school. As she said dad her face fell, "What's wrong baby girl?" I asked as I pulled her up into my arms.
"Where's my dad, everyone else knows where theirs is…" She asked me as she looked at me with her bright blue eyes. I sighed, I don't know how to answer this without her feeling as if her father doesn't want her, even if that may be the case I don't want to tell my own child that her father doesn't want anything to do with her.
"Your dad's just on a… Very long vacation. Don't worry though, he'll show up eventually." I gave her a smile and started kissing her cheek repeatedly. Soon enough she started to squeal and all was good with the world, for now.
Austin.
Two hours earlier.
"Austin we're going to go get some coffee, did you want anything?" Alan shouted from my kitchen after slamming a few cupboards open and closed.
"Just a plain, black coffee I guess," I replied back as I went on and continued to write some lyrics I thought of last night down, "AND A GOD DAMN MUFFIN."
Alan laughed, "Sure thing man, Tino and I will be back in about fifteen or so minutes." Then I heard my front door shut. I sighed as I put the pen down on top of the notebook. I decided to turn on the TV since there's nothing else to do. After a few minutes I got a text from Alan with a picture attached.
Ashby
Look at the barista, she's a babe.
{Picture}
I laughed as I read the message then replied.
Nice man have the balls to talk to her or?
My phone buzzed almost immediately after.
Alan
She's for you, I prefer blondes. She's funny too man. (;
I rolled my eyes as I started to write a message back saying I wasn't interested before Alan sent me yet another message.
Ashby
Don't say you're not interested you're only saying that because you haven't had a real relationship since Gielle.
My hands clenched around the phone.
Shut up Alan if I wanted your fucking help I would have asked, fuck off.
I threw my phone onto my couch and stared at the wall with the only noise being the TV going. I've had a girlfriend after Gielle, granted she just graduated high school and we only dated for a month or two, but that still counts. The band gives me so much shit for not wanting to settle down but they wouldn't want to if they felt that they couldn't handle a relationship without fucking it up in some sort of major way.