Oct 18th, 2017: Wednesday
Haru watched in anticipation as Sojiro brought the freshly brewed coffee to his lips.
For the past several months, she had been picking up shifts at Leblanc to help further her brewing skills. It would be necessary to have the best cup of coffee in the city when she opens her café.
Sojiro set the cup down and smacked his lips. He rubbed his beard and furrowed his brow.
"It's bland," Sojiro finally said, much to Haru's dismay.
Haru groaned and rested her chin against the table. "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this kind of work, Sakura-sensei."
He snorted at the honorific. She had taken to calling him that when she first started and refused to call him anything else when she was on the job. It was a little annoying at first, but he can't lie and say it hasn't grown on him. Even if it was still a little ridiculous.
He turned back to the beans on display. "It takes time and practice, Okumura-san, no need to beat yourself up over it."
"But I've been working on this for months now," she said. "I should have made a good cup by now."
"Rome wasn't built in a day," Sojiro assured her.
When Haru didn't respond, he turned from the beans and saw that she looked deflated. Her hair lost some of that fluffiness, her lips were a thin line and her eyes were cast down on the table.
Sojiro sighed and stepped up to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to tell you something. Do you want to know how long it took me to make a good cup of coffee?"
She shook her head.
"Half a year," he said. "It was half a year before I made a cup worthy of being served to customers, but even that one wasn't as good as it could be. Wakaba used her science whatchamacallit to brew the perfect cup. Took me a few more months to perfectly replicate what she taught me."
"I never knew that," Haru said, taking her head off the bar.
"Well, we can't let the secret get out," Sojiro told her, placing a finger on his lips. Haru covered her mouth and giggled. He smiled and gave her a pat on the shoulder before taking a step back. "Keep working at it. You'll get there one day."
Haru furrowed her brow and jutted out her lip before nodding. "Sakura-sensei! I'd like to make another!"
Sojiro smiled warmly and stepped aside to give her free reign of his supplies.
Ten minutes later, he stared down at another cup.
"I hope you don't mind, but I used some of the peppermint." When Sojiro looked at her with an accusing eye, she held up her hands. "I know they're expensive, I'm sorry! I just wanted to try something new! Please, give it a taste."
Sojiro grunted and brought the cup to his lips.
He swirled it in his mouth before swallowing and rubbed his chin. He sighed and said, "Still a work in progress… but you are getting better."
Haru's eyes sparkled and she pumped her fist.
The bell on the door opened and a customer walked in. Sojiro said, "Okumura-san, I'll let you handle this one. Make me proud."
"Right!" Haru said, shooting him a thumbs up.
As the customer sat at the bar, Haru smiled brightly at him and asked, "What can I get for you today?"