Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 3- The New Customer

Eliana:

I was shivering slightly when I woke up, and I regretted not grabbing a blanket earlier. I felt as though I must have been asleep for hours, but when I looked outside it was still dark. A look at my phone and a groan told me that it was way too early to be awake, but I knew I wasn't about to fall back asleep. Instead I rolled onto the floor and then stumbled to the bathroom so that I could take a shower. I knew the hot water was going to be limited so I hopped in and out as quickly as possible, but I was still left shivering. I avoided turning on the heater in my apartment unless I had to, it was an extra expense that I tried to live without, but my body naturally ran cold and I didn't want to freeze this winter.

I pulled my tights and dress out of my closet, but with a couple more hours until I had to open the shop, I decided that I would just switch into sweatpants and a hoodie again. I piled myself underneath blankets and started on some of my schoolwork but all day my mind remained fidgety. After I switched into my clothes for work and locked my door behind me, the early walk to work didn't make my uneasiness any better. I always took precautions while walking to work in the dark, I didn't put both headphones in, and I kept my bag across my body, but this time I clenched my pepper spray and knife in my pockets.

When I got to the shop and opened it up without any further incidence, I thought I was home free for the day. I had calmed down enough and there were plenty of people around me, so I wasn't jumping quite as high at every sound. Little by little, customers began to trickle in as well as a few more employees. Mondays seemed to be one of our busier days, I could only assume that it was because everyone needed that extra boost for the work week.

Mr. Walker had come in and taken his spot by the window long ago, but it seemed as though he was going to stay a little longer than usual today because he was stuck on the crossword from the day's paper. The lunch rush was starting to calm down again, and I was about to go refill Mr. Walker's coffee when a new man walked into the shop.

I could tell this was his first time in because I would never have forgotten someone like him. He was incredibly handsome, but also slightly terrifying, like the blonde man who had come in before. Based on the way that this new one was dressed, I wouldn't be surprised if they knew each other, much less worked in the same field. While their suits and intimidation were similar, their facial features were distinctive.

This new man had extremely dark hair, jet black from what I could tell, nothing like the blonde one from the previous days. They were both glued to their phones, but even from behind the register I could see that this new man had more than just strong cheekbones, it was his jaw too, and his build was even more broad. Overall this added up to make his demeanor seem more dangerous than anyone I had ever seen, but in the early years of my life I had adopted the ability to read people quickly out of self preservation. Everything about him yelled danger, but I didn't have the telltale warning shivers that almost always ran up my spine when I sensed I was in a bad situation.

He finally looked up when he reached the register, and while his aura of menacing power was obviously supposed to scare people off slightly, it didn't bother me very much. I had been much more scared of people in my life, and I had momentarily thought I had seen one of them yesterday. Customers like this could be unnerving, but my consolation was that they would leave in couple of minutes and never think twice about people behind the counter.

"Good morning sir, what can I get you?"

"A black coffee and," He glanced at the menu and although he kept up a cold facade I could see a bit of confusion and desperation there, "Maybe one of your chocolate laced frappuccinos? Do most people like those?"