Strictly Love

Once upon a Coffee

It was eight in the morning standing in the line up at Tim Hortons on Herring Cove Road, The smell of fresh dark roast coffee filled the air as the song deathbed  by Powfu sang over the  radio.
Yawning I looked up to see how much longer to wait For my sweet yet bitter escape of artic cold, caffeine; That's when I noticed him, Blonde messy hair, and kind blue eyes, and his voice almost too chipper for first thing in the morning.
"What can I get ya today?" He asked the man; three people ahead of me, which he just responded with. "Yeah, I'll get six large double-double's and fifty Tim bits, please." 
"Yeah no problem, coming right up, that's going to be, 20.45," The handsome cashier says with a bright smile.
The man took out twenty dollars l and a loonie, and passed it to him, he placed the cash in the till and proceeded to give the man his change.
"You can keep the change, just get my coffee kid," He says Jokingly while moving out of the line to wait.
"Yessir," The cashier said, as we accidently made eye contact.
Embarrassed I blushed and looked away, as the words; "Next" rang out through the air.
Moving up the line, I noticed he continued to make eye contact with me.
I took out my phone and checked the time, it read eight-fifteen. I'm not all that in a rush, I looked up and noticed the cashier was now whispering something to his co-worker and continued to look my way.
The Barista nodded as he went and continued the rest of the drinks on the screen, he seemed to have been doing both drive-thru and front counter.
"Hello, there what can I do for you today?" He questioned.
"Can I get your number?" I started coughing before I finished that sentence.
"What was that?" He laughed and I blushed.
"I said I'd like a extra large double-double Cold Brew please," I muttered, smiling through my tired daze.
"You got it, is there anything else I can get you?" he flirts, winking at me and turning and walking away.
"Yes please, Can I get a Boston cream Donut?" I wondered with a smile.
"Yes you can," he agrees with a smile.
I passed him a twenty and told him to keep the change, he thanked me, and he walked away.
Confused I stepped aside to the waiting area and waited for my coffee.
A few minutes later he came back with my coffee in one hand and my donut in another hand.
"Have a good day," He says with a smile.
"Thank you, you too."
I took my coffee and walked away, realizing he wrote his number on my cup in chalk, blushing I continued to go catch my bus.
I took out my phone and pressed the numbers into the caller ID, and began writing a text.
I fumbled with the letters and wrote, 'Hey'. and pressed send.
I took a sip of my cold bitter-sweet coffee, as it warmed on my tongue my phone dinged with a text message and I coughed realizing the man texted back.
I made eye contact with the other people waiting for the bus.
They gave me weird looks probably thinking I’m strange for getting so startled by a notification.
I gave them a brief awkward smile and took another sip of my coffee looking back at my phone.
He wrote ‘Hello’ with a happy-face emoji, my thumb pressed on the blank text screen to bring my keyboard up and I sat there staring at the screen.
What else should I say, it could be a million things, I could make small talk like ‘How about this weather?’... delete, delete, delete. I can’t say that it’s too predictable, instead I write. ‘How are you?’ I pressed send before I over thought about it.
‘What kind of question is that?’ I thought to myself, shaking my head.
I stared at my text and chewed intently on my plastic straw, I looked up just in time to see my bus drive off without me, I quickly checked the time; it read nine-twenty.
    “Shit.” I muttered to myself, how did I let myself get so distr-ding’ my phone went off it was another text message.
    ‘Did you miss your bus?’ Confused by the message I looked up, and there was mister cashier standing across the street from me, and he waved.
I waved back with a more awkward smile than before, I went to text him back. ‘Yea-’
Too late he was already on his way across the street, I quickly put away my phone.
    “Hello.” I say shyly, a large smile on his face.
    “Hello, Cold Brew.” He joked as he called me by a nickname.
    “Are you off work now?” I asked half-giggling at his attempt.
    “Oh no, I’m just on break I’d figure I would come over and introduce myself, maybe even ask you if you would like to get coffee some time, you know somewhere other than where I work.” He laughed slyly as he took a sip of some sort of hot liquid, I’m guessing it was coffee.
    “Hm, mister cashier, sir, are you asking me on a date?” I questioned, using the nickname game at his advantage.
He burst out into laughter as soon as he heard his nickname. “Alright-alright, you win that one, hey you’re pretty funny.”
    “You aren’t so bad yourself.” I smiled and looked down at my feet.
    “So, is that a yes?” He pulled me back into his prior question.
My bus was coming down the road, then stopped right in front of us, and I looked at him. “I have to go.”
He went to speak again but I walked away to the bus taking the last sip of my now empty Iced coffee cup throwing it away, getting on the bus showing the driver my bus pass, as I watched the man stand outside the bus, he looked rejected as if he was trying to act ‘cool’ about it, I quickly texted him back. ‘Pick a time and place and I’ll be there.’
I sat down in the seat closest to the window waiting to see his reaction, he looked down at his phone once more and you could tell he was excited looking up like he had just seen a double rainbow, like a school boy who just asked his crush out on a date and that she said yes.
The bus drove off with a blistering scowl of the engine starting.
I smiled back at him and I was on my way to work finally.
    ‘Alright, I’ll think of the perfect place and get back to you, see you later, Cold-Brew.’ I couldn’t help but blush at those words, I kept reading them over and over until I had to get off the bus outside my work, with great big yellow letters and a dollar sign I had arrived overly late to work at the Dollarama.
I opened the doors and walked through the automatic one next, not even a second before I could continue down the middle aisle and to the back to put my things away I heard my boss, Jenessa’s voice beside me.
    “You’re late.” I walked past her trying not to roll my eyes at her irritating ‘good-morning’.
    “Yes, I know.”
    “Again. This is the third time this week, I have to write you up.” Those words alone made me stop in my tracks.
“That’s not fair!” I say as if I am a ten year old getting scolded by her school teacher, but there’s one small thing about this encounter.
I am not a ten year old, and she is not my teacher, I am a grown woman, and she is a woman with just a bit more experience than me.
    “What isn’t fair is the fact other employees have to do your job, because you aren’t here.” She stood there with her arms crossed and at a power stance.
It took everything in me not to clench my fists together and say some stupid remark of how I basically do everything for this place, but instead I take a deep breath and turn to face her.
    “Okay, fine. Let's go do that now.” I followed her to the back, took off my jacket and hung it up in the ‘Hall-way closet’ and followed her into her tiny cupboard space of an office.
Jennessa gestured that I sit in the wheeled computer chair, which I find ironic since there wasn’t a computer in here, but I took the seat anyway and waited for the papers, and the questions to come along with it.
She gave me a pen and laid the papers in front of me and sat down cross-legged into the chair beside me placing her clasped hands onto her chin as she leaned her elbows on the desk.
I signed my name in the space where I was supposed to, that’s when I knew the questions were about to start.
    “So, Love.” Yup, just in case you were all wondering what my name is, it’s ‘Love Amoura,’ ironic isn’t it?
    “Yes, Jennessa.” I ask, trying to bring back my happy-go-lucky customer service smile.
    “How are you doing lately?” I swallowed hard, this was the last thing I need for my boss to ask me about my private life.
    “I’m fine.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, my hair is washed, and I met an attractive man on the way to work, but it’s not like I can say that or she will know I just blew off work for those extra forty-five minutes.
    “Are you sure, this is the third time you-.” I cut her off.
    “It’s the third time I was late this week, I know. I don’t have a reason other than the bus either comes earlier than the time it’s scheduled or it’s late.” I say with a sigh.
    “You know what I’m about to say don’t you?” She asked dully, I stared at her as my brain is thinking. ‘Why yes of course I can read minds, it’s something that’s completely something I can do.’
    “No, what?” I shook my head closing my eyes taking a shallow breath.
    “Just come earlier, if you come earlier you won’t be late.” As the words left her mouth I held back an irritated groan and continued to sign the paper.
    “If I leave any earlier I’ll be two hours early.” I let my hair fall in front of my face as tears of anger began to drip down my stone faced cheeks.
    “If you are late again, I have to let you go, I gave you more chances than anyone at this store, its time to bring down the rules. Do you understand?” She asked coldly, my throat got severely tight, barring my teeth, I just want to get the day over with, I should have said screw it and ran off with the hot tim hortons cashier.
    “I signed the papers. Can I go start my shift now?” My voice cracked at the question.
    “Yes, but go wash your face first, crying in front of guests all red-faced isn’t good for the company.
I said nothing and walked out and turned the corner and into the bathroom, closed the door and faced the mirror, gritting my teeth and inwardly screaming at myself, not helping my already red face to begin with, after two minutes I stop crying take a piece of paper towel and wet it and wiped my face cooling down my tear-irritated cheeks and eyes.
I took another piece and dried myself off and threw both pieces away looking into the mirror again and taking one large inhale. “Okay, I can do this.” I say to myself and go out onto the floor to officially start my rough beginning of my shift.
I walked over to the check in scanner and put in my code, then placed my finger on the fingerprint scanner.