Chapter 2: Coffee Trouble
Annabeth
"Oh my God! I hate it when they let the new guy train during the morning rush." Some lady grumbled at the inconvenience.
Despite a clear and bright sunny day outside; the Starbucks store was facing opposite of the famous Central Park and you could barely see any stampedes on the streets yet, only a few shadows walking outside the damp pavement, no one inside this large but crampy coffee shop was feeling particularly either way. Of course, everyone was annoyed but mostly I was just feeling anxious.
My body was firmly placed in a midst of people also waiting for their drinks. At the forefront of maybe fifteen to twenty people, I was standing in regret by the ordering area after I paid for my large cappuccino. Just five minutes earlier, I was still in the lobby of our building after I got off our private elevator, waved hi to our friendly lobbyist, patted our neighbor's huge husky, before finally running across the block as fast as I could to get my morning coffee.
But now, any patience I had was wearing dangerously thin like a flimsy sheet of ice, because it honestly felt like more than ten minutes had gone by since then. This new guy who was working his best to get everyone's order seemed very nervous as the trainer tried to tell him what to do. As much as I hate to blame him for making me late for school, I could sympathize a little. I didn't imagine he felt any better with the dozens of eyes staring at him learning on his new job. Nonetheless, it was already a quarter after eight and I was going to be very late if I didn't get my drink soon.
"Caramel cappuccino for Annabelle!" He said out loud in the quietest voice possible.
Finally! I didn't even care he said my name wrong. I just grabbed my hot coffee from the table quickly and took a small stirring straw before leaving the pick-up area. Rushing out from the crowds of other customers waiting, I felt like luck was finally smiling upon me. I started to thank God for not making me late on my first day.
Although as my luck would have it, God seemed to have a funny sense of humor when I thanked him and immediately smite me for it.
"Hey! Watch out-tt!"
After I got out of the huge crowd into an empty area of the store, I will my legs to hurry as I was making a quick dash to the door. My body was telling them to skip over the sticky tile floor and even taking huge leaps than the normal steps. Basically running out like a lunatic, I was met with a strong and loud voice. It was a clear warning for me, then before I knew it a guy was screaming in panic.
"W…Wut-tt?"
I didn't have enough reaction time to stop my movements. Neither was it possible to look up from my current pace. Instead, I automatically recoiled backward and stumbled. Whatever it was... No- rather whoever it was, he bumped into where I would have been standing if not for me flinching away as awkwardly as I could. The abrupt stop of inertia put me out of balance. My footing came loose and I was now falling backward like an idiot.
"Whoa!"
As I fell, I saw this person had stopped just before me and surprisingly kept on his feet much better than I did. I didn't know what happened next, but once things settled down I found myself back on my feet, somehow regaining my balance despite falling just a few seconds ago. I also heard something else…
Splash!
The whole store filled with customers, even employees and the trainee began to turn around and stare over here. It was at the same time that I finally got a chance to look up.
Oh my God… Oh my God!
I stood there quietly as I took in what had just occurred with a half-horrified, inexpressible look. At first, I thought I was the one at fault because I was rushing madly to the door and got really close to bumping into him. But he seemed to be almost falling over as well.
The awkward moment and silence couldn't be any worst, and I could almost hear God mocking me next to my ears, laughing his ass off.
Eventually, the guy backed away from me, and only then did I realized his right hand was holding behind my left arm. He let go quickly, so I quickly clear my throat and straighten up too. I didn't have a clue what to do except stare at him with a speechless and dumbfounded gaze.
"Umm…" There were no words in my brain despite knowing I should apologize quickly.
When I was falling over, I must have tried to grab onto something with my hands. Instead, I probably reached out with the hand that's holding my hot cappuccino coffee. Now the cup felt much lighter than before, and the guy before me was a wet mess. His figure was completely drenched from head to waist. There were splashes of white whipped cream and hot coffee dripping from his messy onyx hair. His face was all sticky because of the caramel in the drink. Surely, he now looked as if he took a dip into a pool with all his clothes on, except the pool was a cup of a large coffee.
I wasn't sure how he would react now, but composure was the last thing I would have expected. Though I was glad he wasn't getting agitated in the slightest, at least from reading his body language. In a very awkward manner, he took a second to wipe his eyes before another second passed and he spent it staring blankly at me. His deep emerald green eyes blinked at me a few times, and I was lost for words. Every single one of his expressions didn't just convey how surprised or how baffled he was about this encounter. Now he was staring at me with an inexpressible look that I couldn't comprehend, and like a total moron, I was gasping for words to say.
Fortunately, the tension and awkwardness didn't affect my ability to scan him from head to toe, though I wasn't sure if it was a good thing. I was absentmindedly taking in his profile and features, trying to draw patterns in my already racing mind from what I've noticed.
I've ruined his light jacket. I've ruined his shirt underneath. I've probably also ruined part of his jeans too…
Unable to react properly, I blinked back to his face and caught his deep olive eyes again. I was so nervous to the point where I even began to noticed details around us as if time had been put in slow motion, like the way his eyebrows wriggled slightly; I couldn't tell what it meant, or the people in the store moving much slower than normal…
Luckily, he was kind enough to break the ice with me. Though his first word wasn't what I was expecting to hear after I threw an entire cup of sticky caramel on his face.
"Hi?" He made an amusing smile.
The greeting came with such a shock that I was totally taken back, enough to cause my feet to move behind me a few steps. He surprised me when he gave me another small smile, almost like he didn't mind at all if I spilled another cup of coffee on him.
"Umm… Hi?" I replied stupidly.
He gave me a strange but friendly look and at that moment I noticed his dark green eyes were as black as his onyx hair. The way he was looking at me made me feel a lump in my throat. Soon, I was getting awkward with myself. Desperately wanting to avert my gaze from his face, I couldn't do it knowing that it would make the situation even more awkward for both me and him. I definitely don't want to make a mistake and give him the wrong idea…
Embarrassed with the way I responded to him, I cleared the words stuck in my throat and finally apologize for spilling a hot Grande coffee all over him, "I am so sorry..."
As I waited for his reaction, my body automatically backed up to the self-service station and grabbed him a few napkins off the counter, "I didn't mean to…"
A spark… When he reached out and brush over my outstretched hand, there was a small static shock that ran up through my nerves. My head suddenly throbbed weirdly and I was lost for a moment.
"Oh…"
I involuntary withdrew my hand from him. The napkins started floating down in midair and scatter all around us. I didn't know what just happened.
"I- I am sorry." I repeated as I went and pick them off the floor, throwing it in the trash after, "I guess you won't be needing these anymore, right-t?
It was such an unbearable and lame joke. I sometimes wonder how much lamer I could be.
Lamer? That's not even a word! I scolded myself.
As I stood straight again, he shot me another friendly smile when I caught him straight on. His voice sarcastic in tone, "You are funny. But seriously though, do you mind? I am drenched in caramel…"
I quickly grabbed a few more from the dispenser before I decided to just grab a handful. Bunched up in my hand, I probably was handing him the entire supply they had out on the self-service table. In case he needed it; and from the looks of it he definitely needed more than I could hold, I held out my hand once more before he took it from my grasp. Our hands touched briefly and awkwardly again…
"Sorry-yy," I said again as if saying it more would change what had already happened.
Simultaneously, he also said something to me as well, "Thanks."
Our voices met each other at the same time, then my eyes carelessly and involuntary shifted upward to take a second glance at him, meeting his dark green eyes for a fraction of a second— until he turned away so he could wipe the mess on his face and… well, basically the rest of his body.
"Uhh… I- I can—" I murmured like an idiot while he did his best to dry up with these ineffective and useless napkins; it's a guarantee that most would break apart once it's used.
He didn't respond immediately.
"I can pay for the damages, let me give you my number too so you can send me the bill?"
I've never encountered a situation like this ever in my life, but this felt like the right thing to do. The suggestion would no doubt put off a confrontation, and it's not like I couldn't afford to pay for the laundry cost anyway. Luckily, I saw that his backpack hasn't gotten soak as he was holding it to the side with his left hands, so that's one less thing to worry about.
Yet, my eyebrows shot up as wide as possible when I heard him chuckled. I must have been giving him a strange look because he smiled coolly and nonchalantly like it was no big deal, "It's okay. Just tell me what it is…"
I blinked as I was thoroughly confused and bewildered. At the same time, I wasn't really sure what he was talking about either, "Huh?"
"What's the drink?" He asked again before he stopped wiping the stickiness of his face.
"Oh." I tilted my eyebrows at his question, "Caramel Cappuccino. Why?"
He smiled at me again. Even though he was still wet and sticky, he turned around and just left me standing there after throwing his backpack back on his shoulder, "Okay. Wait here…"
"Wait? But I…"
He didn't wait for me to finish. Instead, I was forced to watch him shuffle through another crowd of people getting their coffee or the ones who were still waiting on their order. He disappeared soon after, leaving me even more confused.
"Huh?" I heard myself.
Now I was standing there in the middle of the store, wondering what I am waiting for and why I am even waiting at all. In a rational sense, this would be a perfect opportunity to escape, but with how my luck seemed to permeate around me today, I decided not to run away. It just didn't make sense, and I also didn't want to unnecessary jinx myself more.
Besides, the prospect of me leaving after accidentally splashing an entire cup of hot coffee on his face just seemed so rude, and I wasn't a rude person, or at least I tried not to be.
"Hey, did you make this mess?" I heard an old grumpy voice beside me.
There was never any shortage of bad luck with me as God decided to mess with me a second time. Is it wrong to say that I hate whoever was playing with my strings today? As I turned, I saw an elderly janitor in his late age standing by me, a bucket and a mop already there to clean up my mess. The extent of my embarrassment couldn't be any less obvious than the redness on my cheeks, as his pretense to not be annoyed with me made me feel even worse about myself. I apologized quickly and sincerely.
"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to…"
He waved his right hands in a surprising good reflex before I could finish.
"It's okay."
After I tried to apologize, I began to notice something odd about the old janitor that was giving me a peculiar and mysterious feeling off of him. Despite having to clean up for the spill, he didn't seem to care much about that. His head was turned sideways from me so I couldn't see his face, but the attention was definitely on me.
"Young Princess. Your reunion has been completed." He said out of nowhere.
Then he began to wipe the floor with almost no irritation, yet all I could think about was the things he said that confused the heck out of me.
"Uhh… come again?"
He stopped mopping and tilted his head a little bit so I could see a shadow of his features. His eyes were still clouded despite being under a brightly lit store, but there was a noticeable scar that ran from his left eyebrows to the bottom of his lip. It was a huge scar and the wound looked uncomfortably deep. I also noticed a marking on his neck. It almost looked like someone burned it there, and it resembled something similar to a weird hook.
"Don't worry, Princess Chase. Your destiny has been fulfilled. Now I think he is calling you…?"
The old janitor pointed behind me which prompted me to look back at the pick-up area. There I saw the same guy who still had coffee dripping from his black messy hair waving at me. But that's not at all important right now- not as much as what the old man just—
"How did you know my…" I turned back and asked, a wildly uncomfortable and dangerous feeling surfaced and I was more than a little freaked out by what he just said to me.
Almost like he planned this, his distraction brought my attention long enough away from him that in doing so, I couldn't finish asking him how… because he was suddenly just gone! Somehow vanishing into thin air even though I was talking to him right beside me a few seconds ago, I desperately looked around thinking that he must have some special reflex or something to disappear like that, but I couldn't find his short crouching silhouette despite scanning the store vigorously, even after checking everywhere twice. I also couldn't see the spills on the floor anymore. The small water bucket and the mop he used earlier were gone just like that, along with the person in question too.
Did I just hallucinate? Gosh… that's creepy.
Then someone tapped me on the shoulder and made me jolt. I yelped.
"Ahh!"
I turned around and expected to see the old janitor, but when my eyes settled back on the same guy with his soaked light jacket from before, I relaxed and eased my mind. Heaving a sigh of relief, I shut away any delirious and irrational thoughts in my head and just pay attention to him. Needless to say, he was still here, and he was standing in front of me with that startled and apologetic look.
"Oops sorry… didn't mean to scare you." His smile calmed me down from my sudden restless-inducing thoughts, the result of that old man scaring me even now.
"Hi…?" I exhaled gingerly and at the same time, I wondered where he had gone to.
He then reached forward. Within his right hand, he held a large cup of coffee with a printed label stuck to the side, a small scribble with the name caramel cappuccino written on it, "Here."
As he held it out for me, it suddenly dawned on me what he meant when he told me to wait, "Oh! No really, you didn't have to buy me another cup."
I sheepishly shuffled through my canvas bag on my shoulder and fetch my wallet, "Here, let me…"
He laughed all of a sudden and my eyes jump back up to look at him, "Hey, don't worry about it. I know a friend who works here."
I paused, looking at him thoroughly.
"Oh." I made a small nervous laugh, "So you just made me another cup?"
He nodded, "Just promise me you won't throw this cup on my face, then you can have it."
I tried not to chuckle, but the more I avoid it the less likely I found myself holding it back. Instead, I found myself suddenly smiling back despite him being a total stranger. Immediately, I noticed a more genuine smile on his expression like he was happy about me smiling at him. An innate and natural reaction took over me and I blushed away from him.
Gosh! You are so awkward Annabeth!
Eventually, he extended his hand with the new cup in his grasp.
"Thanks, uh…" I said, stumbling at his name while steadily taking the cup off of him.
Unlike the first time we touch, our hands brushed over each other and this time I didn't feel any static shock or weird head throbs. I just took the drink away and we separated without any more accident or straight-up mess around us.
"It's Percy." He said, introducing himself.
Percy, huh? I seemed to be imagining his name rolling off my tongue in my head.
I nodded gratefully, "Thanks Percy, and I am sorry about your clothes…"
Reminded of what I said about paying for his laundry bill, I repeated what I had offered, "You sure you don't want me to pay for your laundry cost?"
He paused for a moment, then his eyes settled on me, "Umm… Are you okay with that?"
I shrugged, "I mean, I did mess up your jacket and your t-shirt, so it's only right…"
He paused again.
"Okay." He said simply.
Followed by an awkwardness that lasted more than a good ten seconds, both he and I clear our throats before I reached into my bag again. I took out a pen and look at him.
"Hold out your hand…" I said.
Not comfortable at all to type my number on his phone like a typical romance novel cliché, no less in a coffee store, I uncap my pen and reach forward toward the inside of his palm. I wrote my number as quickly as possible.
"Here, just sent me the bill when you get it washed." I let him know.
When I pulled away, he stared inside his hand for what felt like a good minute before he replied; the way his eyebrows went lopsided and he smiled... I thought my breath was caught in my chest for a brief second, "Sure."
Now I stood there again; he was facing me and I was facing him, no words were coming out and I was feeling no less awkward than before, "Umm… well,"
I shuffled on my heels and shifted backward.
"I- I gotta get going, so…" I said, though it sounded more like I was mumbling incoherently.
He threw two thumbs up at me, "Cool. I guess it was nice to meet you? Anyway, bye."
That last part of our conversation made me roll my eyes, but I felt a smile move across my lips instead of how I would usually react in situations like this. Did he just make fun of me?
"Bye," I replied and turned around.
I strolled outside the coffee shop after his figure disappeared once again into the crowds. This time I made sure that I was being more careful and I was not trying to rush out. With a new cup of cappuccino in my left hand, I finally left the store with no more than fifteen minutes till I would be considered late for school. Even if everything worked out great from now, it was obvious that there was no way I would make on time. I was going to be late regardless.
"You are such a klutz, Annabeth,"
Random thoughts of what had just occurred eventually crept into my mind, but I shook them out of my head. Promptly making up for lost time, I descended the packed stairs to the infamous NYC subway system, silently praying to God again.
