The Barista
04- It's all Greek to me
Daniel didn't show up for several days (8 days to be precise) and I must admit to
missing him. There was just something about him, ya know?
"'Morning Kira." Daniel says yawning as he slowly made his way up to the counter.
"Hey Daniel." I say casually. Don't want him to know how much I missed his
presence, right? Judging by his appearance, the guy didn't sleep much the night
before. My suspicions were confirmed once he ordered.
"Triple tall latte."
"Whoa." I say raising my eyebrows. I quickly close my textbook and make my way
towards the espresso machine.
"You're telling me." He answers letting loose another large yawn. He rolls his neck
from side to side and glances down at my book while I pull his shots.
"Greek?" He asks sounding completely surprised. Now I must admit that the first
thought through my head was "Yes Greek you arrogant jerk!" Which would have
been entirely uncalled for but something that naturally popped in. See, the day
before I had the most arrogant of lawyers walk in and he too saw my Greek
textbook. That guy started laughing and asked me if my store was going to be
opening up a chain of coffee houses in Greece. Seems it never occurred to the guy
that Baristas could be smart.
"Uh-huh." I answer cautiously. Please don't be an asshole like the lawyer Daniel.
"µ??? ta e??????? ." I nearly drop the small containers of espresso in my hands. I
want to say "No shit?!" in Greek, but obviously that isn't something that is covered
in my ancient languages course. He speaks Greek?
"?a?a??? ?a d?aß??? ta e??????? ." I answer in a really, really bad accent. Better
he should know that I'm going for Greek comprehension, not conversation. God I
hope he could understand me.
"That was actually pretty good Kira." Daniel said sincerely. Yeah right. "Try putting
the emphasis more on the second syllable next time." He SO could be one of my
professors. Hmmm. I really wouldn't mind that at all.
"I'll try and remember that." I said giving him his coffee.
"Why are you learning Greek?" He asks pouring a large quantity of sugar into his
coffee. Another sign that he had had a late night.
"I'm thinking of majoring in Ancient Civilizations and both Greek and Latin are pre-
requisites."
"Wow- that's a pretty ambitious degree." I shrug. As if I hadn't heard that one
before.
"Yeah, well that dig in Israel kinda inspired me and I have become super interested
in ancient cultures. Seeing as we're in the middle of Colorado, a degree in
Archaeology didn't seem to be very practical." Daniel grinned and shook his head.
Oops. Open mouth, insert foot. I'm certain I blushed tomato-red.
"God, I'm sorry Daniel, I didn't mean to imply…."
"It's all right Kira." Daniel said giving me a small smile. "You don't need to explain."
Doesn't matter, I was going to anyhow.
"No- it's just that I'm not interested in dinosaurs and such so I figured a degree in
Ancient Civilizations might just get me a little further in life." Daniel nodded and
took another gulp of his coffee.
"I think you're right." I am? Whoa. I take several seconds to mull this over. Hey,
wait a minute. He's an Egyptian archaeologist- how come he knows Greek?
"Why you speak Greek?" I ask in my poor Greek 101.
Daniel opens his mouth and I can just guess he is about to answer in Greek when he
switches to English. Thank You!
"I actually know a couple of languages." He answers sounding slightly embarrassed.
It was the way he said it that gave him away. I knew. He wasn't just an
archaeologist that spoke Greek. He was one of those super smart guys.
"How many languages Daniel?" I volley back at him.
"Can I take the First on that?"
"It's the Fifth, and while I'm sure you can, I wish you wouldn't." Before he can
answer his front pocket begins to vibrate. He reaches in and pulls out his pager.
"You did that on purpose!" I know he couldn't possibly of, but I can't help but
accuse him anyway.
Daniel laughs. "I owe you one Jack." He mutters.
"Gotta go Kira."
"Next time Daniel. I am going to find out next time." I smile at him and shake my
head. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ten-dollar bill.
"For the coffee and a little to help with the textbooks."
"Thank you Daniel." I say sincerely. Still not going to prevent me from finding out
how many languages you speak though! He gives me another one of his smiles.
"Efharisto." Daniel says holding up his coffee cup in thanks.
"Perikalo." I answer. Very welcome Daniel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translation: "I speak Greek."
Translation2: "I am learning to read Greek."
Hmmm. Guess ff doesn't like Greek characters. Sorry!
You guys still like? I have a little Danny TLC coming up next.
04- It's all Greek to me
Daniel didn't show up for several days (8 days to be precise) and I must admit to
missing him. There was just something about him, ya know?
"'Morning Kira." Daniel says yawning as he slowly made his way up to the counter.
"Hey Daniel." I say casually. Don't want him to know how much I missed his
presence, right? Judging by his appearance, the guy didn't sleep much the night
before. My suspicions were confirmed once he ordered.
"Triple tall latte."
"Whoa." I say raising my eyebrows. I quickly close my textbook and make my way
towards the espresso machine.
"You're telling me." He answers letting loose another large yawn. He rolls his neck
from side to side and glances down at my book while I pull his shots.
"Greek?" He asks sounding completely surprised. Now I must admit that the first
thought through my head was "Yes Greek you arrogant jerk!" Which would have
been entirely uncalled for but something that naturally popped in. See, the day
before I had the most arrogant of lawyers walk in and he too saw my Greek
textbook. That guy started laughing and asked me if my store was going to be
opening up a chain of coffee houses in Greece. Seems it never occurred to the guy
that Baristas could be smart.
"Uh-huh." I answer cautiously. Please don't be an asshole like the lawyer Daniel.
"µ??? ta e??????? ." I nearly drop the small containers of espresso in my hands. I
want to say "No shit?!" in Greek, but obviously that isn't something that is covered
in my ancient languages course. He speaks Greek?
"?a?a??? ?a d?aß??? ta e??????? ." I answer in a really, really bad accent. Better
he should know that I'm going for Greek comprehension, not conversation. God I
hope he could understand me.
"That was actually pretty good Kira." Daniel said sincerely. Yeah right. "Try putting
the emphasis more on the second syllable next time." He SO could be one of my
professors. Hmmm. I really wouldn't mind that at all.
"I'll try and remember that." I said giving him his coffee.
"Why are you learning Greek?" He asks pouring a large quantity of sugar into his
coffee. Another sign that he had had a late night.
"I'm thinking of majoring in Ancient Civilizations and both Greek and Latin are pre-
requisites."
"Wow- that's a pretty ambitious degree." I shrug. As if I hadn't heard that one
before.
"Yeah, well that dig in Israel kinda inspired me and I have become super interested
in ancient cultures. Seeing as we're in the middle of Colorado, a degree in
Archaeology didn't seem to be very practical." Daniel grinned and shook his head.
Oops. Open mouth, insert foot. I'm certain I blushed tomato-red.
"God, I'm sorry Daniel, I didn't mean to imply…."
"It's all right Kira." Daniel said giving me a small smile. "You don't need to explain."
Doesn't matter, I was going to anyhow.
"No- it's just that I'm not interested in dinosaurs and such so I figured a degree in
Ancient Civilizations might just get me a little further in life." Daniel nodded and
took another gulp of his coffee.
"I think you're right." I am? Whoa. I take several seconds to mull this over. Hey,
wait a minute. He's an Egyptian archaeologist- how come he knows Greek?
"Why you speak Greek?" I ask in my poor Greek 101.
Daniel opens his mouth and I can just guess he is about to answer in Greek when he
switches to English. Thank You!
"I actually know a couple of languages." He answers sounding slightly embarrassed.
It was the way he said it that gave him away. I knew. He wasn't just an
archaeologist that spoke Greek. He was one of those super smart guys.
"How many languages Daniel?" I volley back at him.
"Can I take the First on that?"
"It's the Fifth, and while I'm sure you can, I wish you wouldn't." Before he can
answer his front pocket begins to vibrate. He reaches in and pulls out his pager.
"You did that on purpose!" I know he couldn't possibly of, but I can't help but
accuse him anyway.
Daniel laughs. "I owe you one Jack." He mutters.
"Gotta go Kira."
"Next time Daniel. I am going to find out next time." I smile at him and shake my
head. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ten-dollar bill.
"For the coffee and a little to help with the textbooks."
"Thank you Daniel." I say sincerely. Still not going to prevent me from finding out
how many languages you speak though! He gives me another one of his smiles.
"Efharisto." Daniel says holding up his coffee cup in thanks.
"Perikalo." I answer. Very welcome Daniel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Translation: "I speak Greek."
Translation2: "I am learning to read Greek."
Hmmm. Guess ff doesn't like Greek characters. Sorry!
You guys still like? I have a little Danny TLC coming up next.