MOTH TO A FLAME ☆ CARLOS SAINZ JR

iii. meet cute

MADRID, SPAIN
NOVEMBER 2018

     Sofías back ached as she hunched over yet another table, her arm moving around in circles as she wiped it down with the flimsy sponge in her hand. The winter breeze had slipped through the cracks of the glass doors, continuously sending chills down her spine. Even though it was unbelievably warm inside the little cafe, she felt the need to be home and bundled up in her blankets as soon as possible.

La Casa Nora was the farthest thing from a tourist hotspot, their days were usually busy but smooth. Almost every single person who came into the store was a regular, known by name to all the staff— which for a few months a year, included Sofía.

During her summers and her winters, while she visited her family, Sofía would take up one of the serving jobs at Nora's. The owner was lovely enough to always save a spot for her, knowing that the money was going fully into pushing Sofías music career. A career that she was finding increasingly difficult to kick off.

While she had been successful in selling a few songs she had wrote, it hardly brought her any exposure. She wanted to release her own music now, her own sound. She loved writing songs for people, but she wanted to be heard now. But finding a record label to sign her was easier said than done.

Fridays at the cafe were open mic nights, a spot was also reserved for Sofía there. She got her own small set at the end of the night to close everyone out, Nora had planned it as to ensure the last voice everyone heard every weekend was a heavenly one. One that she hoped would get the recognition it deserved.

"Sof, can you hold the counter for a minute?" Nora requests, pulling off her apron. "I've got a delivery coming in that I need to sign off."

Nora was probably one of the most erratic people Sofía had ever met. Since the moment she had met the woman, there was always something with her that she needed to do or someplace that she was late to be at. Her dark raven hair was almost always disheveled, Sofía wasn't certain if she just had an overly excited boyfriend or if the woman had simply run her fingers through it stressfully more times than she could count.

She wasn't that much older than her either, being on twenty-six years old. Her parents had helped her get the startup money she needed to open the cafe when she was twenty, and she's been running it ever since. Her relationship with Sofía could probably be explained as one of friendship rather than a subordinate one.

The young woman quickly rounds the counter, taking her spot behind the register. She fills her time by arranging the pastries in the display, and quickly checking her phone for any new messages. For some reason, her father would never leave her be when she was on her shifts. He hated the idea of Sofía working random jobs like this, that she wouldn't just go to college like every other young adult and study for a proper, normal job.

This, more often than not, lead to a slew of messages asking if she was okay, when she would be coming home, if she had quit yet.

"Hello?" a man speaks from the opposite side of her, grasping her attention off her phone as she quickly shoves it into her pocket and moved back to the register— making a quick mental note to call her dad on her break. She would be out late tonight, and she wasn't prepared for the berating she would get when she got home if she doesn't reassure him soon.

"Hi, sorry!" she puts on her best smile, placing her hands on top of the register. "How can I help you?"

"Can I get an espresso, please?" the man requests, running a hand through his fluffy locks—a singular strand falling back across his eye—then swiftly pulling his wallet out of his coat pocket.