When Bonnibel first applies for the job, it is to stay busy; her father-ever the police officer-had always said that idle hands are the devil's playground (later, when she's juggling formal Chemistry labs and Physics projects with grueling work hours, she'll wonder why she thought she would need help staying busy during her sophomore year of college).
When Bonnibel first accepts the job, she didn't realize that she was signing on to be an always on-call, poorly paid, treated-rudely-by-customers-all-the-time, coffee barista, and for the first few weeks, Bonnie is infuriated by her job. However, about three months in, she decides that minimum wage, jerkface college kids aside, and all things considered, the job actually isn't that bad after all (she decides this when she's pulling an all-nighter cramming session for a Biology exam that comes with unlimited free caffeine provided via her work).
The coffee house is located off campus, but only just barely, and is, at most, a ten minute walk from Bonnibel's dorm room. It's quaint and a little run-down, decrepit enough to make it look 'hipster' and 'vintage', but not enough to make it look like a dump. Old, wooden tables litter the spacious, sunken-in main floor. Off to the right side and up half a step are booths adorned in fraying, red leather and more black paint in need of another coat. The left side houses more booths, but only half as much as the right side, as the counter is also located to the left, and facing the main floor in the back is a stage. Not a huge one, but big enough that the Koffee Kingdom, as the coffee house is fondly named (although it's done purposefully, the spelling error drives Bonnie absolutely crazy everytime she sees it) is able to hold live entertainment. Usually bands made up of college students who will never pursue a career in music but like to use making it as a way to pass the time and form some kind of companionship.
Okay, if Bonnie's being completely honest, there's really only one band that plays the Koffee Kingdom nowadays because people come in more so to listen to the raven haired beauty that sings lead in this aforementioned band than to actually buy coffee; which Bonnibel is fine with, as it makes her job all the easier, and although being a barista isn't extraordinarily difficult-not really a cake walk though either, don't forget about those rude customers-when you're as clumsy as Bonnie is, anything can be a challenge. Including maintaining a stable relationship with a sculpted, brown-eyed boyfriend, who, in Bonnie's case, goes by the name of Ricardio. And of course whatever tangent she tried to go off on had led her back to him.
Bonnibel had been trying for hours to get the stupid jerk off her mind and heaves an exasperated sigh as the chiseled boy pops into her head again. She can't think of Ricardio. If she thinks of Ricardio she just knows that she'll cry and she can't cry, she's at work, and she's been informed by her roommate and best friend Shoko Yurei that ordering coffee from a crying barista is "insanely awkward".
She swipes at her eyes furiously as she tries to process that fact that Ricardio has cheated on her. Ricardio, her intelligent, charming, wonderful and amazing boyfriend, had cheated on her. Again. In the four years that they'd been together (they'd been high school sweethearts) Ricardio had only cheated on her once-well, twice now (at least that she was aware of).
Bonnie wants to be made and tries to wipe down the coffee counter as angrily as she can, wishing she could simultaneously wipe Ricardio from her thoughts. She just knows Ricardio will show up tonight and try to talk to her, try to apologize, and Bonnibel also knows she'll cave and forgive him because Ricardio loves her (she knows he does) and she loves him (at least she thinks she does) even though he messes up sometimes; but right now, Bonnie wants to pretend like she's enraged and that if Ricardio even dares show his face she will vehemently refuse to see him and demand he leave before he embarasses himself. These thoughts make Bonnibel feel bad (she could never be that cruel), but she continues to pretend like she won't forgive Ricardio the moment she sees him. She tries to remember that she is an empowered feminist who would never take back a cheater. She puffs her chest out proudly.
Moments later Bonnie gives up on pretending to be angry and slouches, going to back to dejectedly wiping an already spotless counter (she takes pride in the cleanliness of her work station). She looks over her distractedly over her shoulder at the clock hanging on the wall behind her and notes that The Band That Always Plays Her But She Can't Remember The Name Of will be starting their set soon and that people are going to begin flooding into the coffee house.
Up on stage, a dark haired girl is playing with the height of a microphone stand. She has what Bonnie thinks is a bass (Bonnibel was never very good with musical instruments) strung across her torso resting against her back. It's bright red and polished rigorously to the point where it shines. The body of the instrument resembles the shape of an axe so closely that Bonnibel is a little concerned for the musician's safety.
She is adjourned in black ripped skinny jeans tucked into black combat boots and a long-sleeved v-neck striped red and grey with the sleeves pushes up to her elbows, revealing two leather bracelets (one on each wrist), an assortment of rings, black nail polish, and the pale skin of her arms. Bonnie gulps. Like always, she is caught off guard by how gorgeous this girl is when she sees her. Bonnibel's eyes trace the way the muscles of her forearms tighten and tense as she plays with the microphone stand. The dark haired girl's gaze flits up absentmindedly and Bonnie immediately snaps her eyes away. Being caught staring is definitely not something Bonnibel would have to explain herself for, so she moves her gaze to the next band member.
Behind the singer, setting up a worse-for-wear looking set of drums is a frat boy named Ringo Bonham (known to everyone around campus, even the teachers, as 'Bongo') who is in Bonnie's German class. He is wearing white board shorts and a baby blue bro-tank even though it could not be more than forty degrees out. His beat up high-tops are the same color as his shirt and he is grinning from ear to ear. It is obvious that he loves playing here.
Bonnibel tutored him for a semester last year and quickly discovered that he is essentially the equivalent of a huge puppy dog that loves to party and just be around people (traits he and Bonnie did not share). Bongo spots Bonnibel stacking cups behind the counter and smiles broadly at her, a gesture she returns with a tentative wave.
To the left of Bongo, playing with the tuning on her guitar, is a girl named Keila. Keila had gone to high school with Bonnie and Ricardio, and Bonnibel is almost positive that she's attening UofO (a lot of the students liked to abbreviate is as UOO and pronounce it in one syllable that sounded something like "ooh") for free, though she never looked like the kind of girl who's majorly smart.
Her big, black hair is wild and unkempt, and her light brown skin is without blemish, flawless even. The short, long-sleeved, emerald dress she's donned tonight makes her look even better, and the white knee-highs striped green at the top paired with ballet shoes the same color as her dress finishes off the look nicely. Bonnie is almost surprised to find that her guitar is blue and not, well, green.
Sulking in the right-hand corner of the stage is another frat boy fiddling with some of the knobs on a keyboard. He's smaller than Bongo by far, but still doesn't look like someone you'd want to mess with. His stormy eyes, messily spiked hair, and five o'clock shadow, make him rather intimidating and aloof, although Bonnie's sure it's something that draws girls to him all the time. The boy's ropy muscles show through his tight, dark gray t-shirt that he's accompanied with black jeans and grey vans. Bonnie doesn't know the boy, but she tries her best not to judge him despite all the weird, broody vibes he gives her.
The Koffee Kingdom starts to fill up and Bonnibel drags her attention away from the band setting up on stage whose name she still doesn't remember and directs it back to the crazy-haired Korean woman who's just approached the counter.
"Hi, miss!" Bonnie says, smiling brightly, "What can I get for you today?"
"Well," the woman begins, her voice faintly accented and her fingers drumming lightly on the counter, "I'd like one blueberry muffin, and my boyfriend over there," she indicates somewhere over her left shoulder, "would like a black, venti coffee."
"Sure, of course. That'll be four dollars and seventy six cents."
The lady pays in exact change, brushes some of her rainbow hair behind her ear, and proceeds to wait by the counter.
"Hey do I know you?" Bonnie asks, pulling on a disposable plastic glove and reaching for one of the blueberry muffins in the display case.
The other girl looks at the name tag pinned to Bonnie's shirt that reads "HI! MY NAME IS: Bonnibel (:", then back to Bonnie's face and seems like she's trying hard to place her, "Of course! Bonnibel! Bonnibel Butler! I'm your floor don, Yeoja Bigagsu, but everyone just calls me Lady."
Bonnibel's cheeks redden, she's so embarrassed. How could she forget who her own floor don was? (to Bonnie's credit, her floor don forgot who she was too) She brews the coffee, willing the blush on her face to fade, "Right. Lady. Um, how'd you get that nickname?"
"Well, I'm Korean, in case you couldn't tell, and 'Yeoja' is kind of a mouthful and a pain in to spell. 'Yeoja' itself means 'lady' in Korean, so it just kind of fit."
Bonnie nods along to the small narrative, but doesn't comment as she writes 'Lady' in her big, girly, looping script on the coffee cup. She places the coffee on the counter next to the wrapped muffin and slides them both towards Lady.
"Have a great night." Bonnie tells her cheerfully and with a bright smile.
"Thanks, you too." Lady returns, and heads over to a table, sitting across from a blond-haired boy wearing a white bear hat teeming with freshman excitement and plopping down next to a hulking, massive brunet who drapes his arm over her shoulder.
Bonnie sighs again, the boy's mess of brown hair reminding her of Ricardio and dragging her thoughts back to him. She tries her best to paste on a smile and brighten as another customer approaches. The line lengthens within seconds, as a bunch of people start pouring in, trying to get their caffeine before the show starts. Bonnibel tries to help them all as quickly as she can, and before she knows it, the line has depleted and the lights in the coffee house have dimmed. The band is about to begin. Everyone is on the edge of their seat.
All is dark on stage as a bit of scratchy guitar comes through the speakers and all the band members harmonize together, the guitar playing what sounds a little bit like a scale underneath them. Keila plays a chord on her guitar and let's it ring, and then the stage lights are on and the raven haired girl has grabbed the mic along with everyone's attention and begun singing.
"I want you."
The guitar follows her voice, playing underneath her, complimenting her, and then stops abruptly and Bongo hits drum set three times, hard. Then her voice is back, the guitar following it.
"I want you so bad, babe."
More loud drumming and her sultry voice returns.
"I want you. I want you so bad, it's drivin' me mad. It's drivin' me mad."
Her voice builds and so does the music surrounding her. She begins singing again, this time higher, at least half an octave so, but she still maintains her raspy quality that has Bonnie absolutely girl repeats the lyrics of the first verse and then the music is hard and heavy, but it briefly fades out to let her bass crawl out of the speakers in two short solos.
It's so raw and different that Bonnie almost doesn't realize that they're covering a Beatle's song. If her father wasn't so in love with the old band, then she might not have recognized it at all, but now the girl on stage is singing again-even higher than before-and whatever Bonnibel may or may not have been thinking about is gone as she watches the music coming off of the stage like it's magic.
Keila takes over playing the melody on her guitar and, and Bonnie realizes, not for the first time, how incredibly talented the group is. Bonnibel is watching the dark haired girl on stage lose herself in the music and it is so enchanting that she almost doesn't see the customer approaching. She rushes to help them, wanting to focus all of her attention on the lead singer as quickly as she can, and for the rest of her shift, she does just that.