Okay hi everyone I am pleasantly surprised that some of y'all have subscribed to get notifications for this. I honestly thought no one was going to care at all but I just wanted the story out of my brain. I hope chapter two lives up to your expectations! The interaction with a rude customers is based off of real life conversation I have had. I am always open to constructive criticism by the way!
It had been a few days since Hermione's awkward interaction with the dark-haired, mysterious customer but that was the last thing on her mind today. It was the Monday afternoon lunch rush and the café was slammed. There was a line to the door and the drive through bell hadn't stopped going off for the last two hours. Hermione adjusted her headset; her manager was issuing commands to everyone working the floor between drive through dings. Hermione realized she hadn't been paying too much attention to the petite blonde customer in front of her and tried to focus on what she was saying.
"I said I wanted this iced!" the customer thrust the grande skinny caramel macchiato back in Hermione's face with a look of disgust, "I swear, every single time I come to this location my drink is made wrong! Do you even know how to do your job?" the women crossed her arms and glared at Hermione, daring her to talk back.
Hermione tried to ignore the other customers that were starting to watch their interaction. She hoped the forced smile plastered on her face wasn't obviously fake, "I'm so sorry about that, ma'am. I'll remake it for you right away."
"Yeah, you better! If you were just good at your job, I wouldn't be late for my work meeting!" the lady snapped, tossing her long blonde hair behind her, her green eyes glinting.
"It is not my fault you decided to stop and get coffee before a meeting….it's also not my fault you don't have time management skills," she thought, with the same pained smile on her face. Hermione apologized again, trying to get back to her espresso bar, "Ma'am, I really am sorry. It's a busy day and we're all doing our best. I'm sorry your drink was wrong, but I will remake it for you."
The lady huffed, rolled her eyes, and then began furiously typing on her phone with perfectly manicured black nails, "What's your manager's name? You've got a lot of nerve giving me so much attitude. I'm reporting you to corporate right now."
A slow panic began to set in, "Ma'am, honestly, I wasn't trying to be sassy. I'm really sorry this has caused you so much stress. I promise if I can just get back to my bar, I'll remake the drink for you." Hermione could feel her face turning red as more and more customers around began shifting towards their dispute.
"I asked you what your manager's name is! I don't care about your pathetic excuses! You work at a coffee shop, what could be so stressful and hard about making coffee? You should try having a real job!" the woman slammed a hand down on the counter in front of Hermione continuously typing with the other hand.
Tears pricked Hermione's eyes, she pushed the B button to talk to Katie, her words broadcasted to every coworker with a headset, "Katie, can you come to the end of bar? A customer would like to speak to you," dropping her hand, Hermione said to the fuming customer, "Ma'am, my manager is on the way. I really do apologize for your drink being wrong. I'll remake it now."
Hermione tried to back away from the hostile woman once more, but the customer wasn't done with her yet, "Don't think that because you've got those big puppy dog eyes that I'll go any easier on you! Corporate will hear about your incompetence and attitude problem!"
"This all could have been over already if you had just let me remake it instead of standing here humiliating me…" thought Hermione while she tried not to make eye contact with any other customer in the lobby.
Katie Bell walked up behind Hermione, surveyed her teary-eyed barista and an obviously upset customer and said, "Hey, Hermione, why don't you go back to bar? I can handle this on my own." Katie rested her hand on Hermione's arm gently, trying to silently comfort her.
Hermione nodded, not trusting her voice to break. Walking back to her bar, she inwardly groaned at the amount of tickets that had built up in the few minutes she had been away. She tried to tune everything else out and get her emotions back under control. "I hate customers. Her drink ticket didn't say iced at all; she was the one who ordered her drink wrong. I am so tired of being dehumanized for being a barista. I'm just trying to pay my way through school, why does that give anyone the right to yell at me?" She began making an iced chai, her favorite drink order during a busy day since it was the quickest to make. The noise of the café and her headset became a background white noise as she pumped the chai in quick succession six times, "I just need to remember that I am smart, I am worthy of respect, I am hard-working, I am valued. Customers here may not value me but that does not mean I have no value." As she poured the 2% milk into the iced chai, she pulled another drink ticket, VENTI FLAT WHITE, and then began steaming the whole milk while dumping ice into the chai. While the milk steamed, Hermione walked to the end of bar and cheerfully called out the iced chai before heading back to bar. Falling back into her practiced rhythm, Hermione began punching in the combination to pull a ristretto double shot.
"Long day?" a deep, even voice broke through her white noise.
Hermione felt a thrill of anxiety shoot through her body as she looked up into those unending black eyes. He was back. The man was wearing a dark business suit, again snugly tailored to show off his silhouette. The black tie was embroidered with thin black thread, weaving a delicate criss-cross pattern across the fabric. Everything looked luxurious and soft while being simple and clean. Hermione's hand fumbled and dropped the venti cup she had just grabbed from the cup cart. Blushing even more she ducked down, grabbed the cup, tossed it in the garbage a few feet away, and got a new cup, all with her eyes desperately trying to avoid his. "Oh god, why why why of all days is he back today. Did he see that lady tear me apart?" She became increasingly aware of how coffee stained her dark grey button-up shirt was, feeling a complete mess in comparison to the man in front of her.
Realizing a few minutes of silence had passed Hermione stumbled out, "Oh, uh, yeah, you know how it goes, coffee is for everyone," she winced at the idiocy of herself and lamely finished her thought, "I mean, you know, it's a Monday so….coffee."
"Eloquent. Very eloquent. You've stunned him into silence with your giant intellect."
Hermione glanced back up at him as his shots were pulling, his eyes hadn't left her face. Her eyes roamed his face quickly, a prominent aquiline nose was the first thing she noticed. His eyes were dark pools and she had the sudden feeling that she was falling into an abyss. Yanking herself back from the abyss, she realized he had watched her inspect his face. Another blush rolled across her face and she dropped her eyes once more, unsure of what to say and praying the espresso would pull faster than usual. "Great, now he caught me staring at him. This is incredibly awkward. Is he thinking about the last time he was in? Is my moan playing in his head? What if he brings it up?"
Before she could form another thought, Ginny's voice blasted into her ear via headset, "GRANGER!" (Hermione and everyone else wearing a headset collectively winced at Ginny's amplified cries) "I TOLD YOU HE'D BE BACK TO SEE HIS MOANING BARISTA!"
Ginny was staring at Hermione's espresso bar through the backroom door's window, a triumphant smile
plastered across her face, "I told you! Now will you please flirt and get us some tips, this girl needs a
new laptop."
Hermione pushed for a double ristretto shot again and glanced back up at the man. Another thrill shot through her; his eyes were still trained on her with a silent intensity she could practically feel. "It's like he's trying to slide into my mind." Hermione, for the second time in a row, gave the man an extra shot in his drink. As if she could undo these interactions with an extra dose of caffeine.
"What's this about a moaning barista?" Lavender clicked on to headset, tossing a quick glance between Hermione and Ginny, her forehead wrinkled. Lavender was on cold bar behind and to the right of Hermione, simultaneously blending and prepping frappucinos. As she added a spiral of whip cream to her drink, Lavender shot a quick glance to the tall, imposing man towering over Hermione, "Oh damn, who is that man? He looks rich."
Hermione ignored her coworkers as she tried to hurriedly pour the steamed whole milk into the cup while still forming the perfect white dot in the brown foam. She was acutely aware of the silence between herself and the black-haired stranger. The silence felt louder and heavier than the noisy café. She could feel his eyes pressing her to the spot and Hermione was struck with the feeling of being a butterfly, pinned down and clinically examined. She popped the lid on his drink and grabbed a cardboard sleeve to slip on the cup. Staring at the cup, she swallowed nervously and gave herself a mental shake, "He is just any other customer Hermione. You're the one making things so awkward. Just look at him, say your normal thing, hand off the drink, and walk away. Come on this isn't brain surgery!"
"Here's your drink! Have a great day, sir!" Hermione stepped round to the end of bar, the man took measured steps to match hers and they arrived on opposite sides at the same time. The cup felt one hundred pounds heavier than usual, "If I drop this drink, I will never recover from the embarrassment" the thought was fleeting as he reached out and took the drink from her. His pinky brushed over the length of her pointer finger; Hermione's heart began pounding harder than it should have at the touch. The slight tingle began to spread across her whole hand, in a replay from their first meeting, Hermione dropped her hand behind the counter and flexed her fingers. Sliding her eyes back up to his face, Hermione found that she was unable to tear her eyes away from the man. There was something slightly scary in his eyes, it was like standing precariously on tiptoe over a great chasm. A slight push and she could tumble down; become lost forever in the depths and no one would be able to find her in the dark.
He took a sip from his drink, tilted his head to the side, and looked back at Hermione. A pit of dread hung low in her stomach, he was going to complain about her drink and report her to corporate as well, "How bad can today get?"
"Excellently steamed milk today. It's good to see you looking more well-rested than before." without giving Hermione the chance to respond, he turned on his Italian leather heel and walked out of the café. Any words that could have been spoken died in Hermione's throat, "Why did he say things like that? He referenced my moaning without using the actual words. Ugh, what if someone else heard him talk about how I looked? What does that sound like to someone else? This makes me so uncomfortable." The café was still buzzing with movement, and it was not until Dean called out, "Gavin, I have your banana bread here!" that Hermione crashed back to reality.
"Granger!" Ginny called out through headset again, "What did he say this time!"
Hermione shot a glare at her friend while making her way back to espresso bar and hit the B button on her headset, "He said I had 'excellently' steamed the whole milk for his flat white," she rolled her eyes and grabbed the next drink ticket – TALL ICED CARAMEL MACCHIATO. Almost as an afterthought she added, "and he said I looked well-rested, it was a weird short conversation." Grabbing the espresso shot glass from the top of her bar and placing it under the espresso splitter, Hermione punched in a single espresso shot.
From the drive through order computer, Ginny cracked a wicked smile at Hermione, "So he saw you look well-rested, hmm? You know what that means? It means what I said the first time is true."
Hermione decided to pointedly ignore her best friend and coworker. There was no use getting Ginny to drop a subject once she was decided upon it. Hermione tried to slip back into her rhythm but felt just slightly off for the rest of her shift. It was like everything and everyone around her was on a normal tempo and she was just a half-step too fast. Clocking out at 2:30 PM had never felt so good until today, Hermione pushed the café door open and took a deep breath of mid-afternoon air. Try as she might, her thoughts returned back to the mysterious man, "Hopefully he was just on business passing through town again. He doesn't come every day so he must not live here, right?" She had no idea who her thoughts were trying to convince; it certainly wasn't working for her.