White Vixen Spirit Hunters

Coffee Time

Paul tapped his foot on the gas pedal, pulling into the drive thru of the coffee shop, before he stopped at the speaker, briefly looking at the menu as he did so.

He rolled down his window, feeling the hot air of the summer day, and waited in anticipation for someone to speak.

After about fifteen seconds of nothing, as the sun shined warmly on his skin and reflected off of his lush, black hair, his heart rate picked up, as he grew impatient.

"Why today of all days?...," he muttered to himself.

He wondered for a second if he was even being detected by the vehicle detecting sensor, and was about to adjust his cars position, before a voice coated with static greeted him.

"Hello and welcome to Cole's Coffee Brew, what can I get for you today?" The voice asked, sounding tired.

Paul scratched his chin.

"Can I have a medium caramel frappe with a drizzle on top, please?"

After a few seconds of the voice presumably writing the order down, he continued.

"...Alright...," the voice responded. "Will that be all for you today?"

"Yep," Paul said.

"Alright, that'll be $6.47 at the window, thank you," the voice said quickly.

Paul said ok, and then drifted his car forward slowly, as his thoughts wandered.

"Grandma... I hope you're ok...," he said, as he slowly raised a hand to push his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

His grandmother was the only family he had, and was currently 78 years old, and in pretty bad condition because of that.

Right now, Paul was only grabbing his morning coffee before heading to the hospital to see her.

Coffee had a way of calming his nerves.

But Paul was torn away from his thoughts as the sliding window next to him opened, and a teenager with a nose piercing asked him if he had the caramel frappe with a drizzle.

Paul said yes, and handed the young woman his debit card, which she took, before sliding the window shut.

After a moment of silence, Paul reached forward and flipped the radio on, and flipped through the stations.

He flipped through country music, rock, techno, but finally settled on some slow saxophone jazz.

The smooth music actually brought Paul a bit of peace, as he shut his eyes, taking a deep breath in through his mouth and nose, as he relished in the feeling of the calm.

"It'll be ok...," Paul said firmly to himself.

The sliding window opened again a moment later, and Paul was handed his coffee, and his card and receipt.

"Have a nice day, sir," the young lady said with a forced smile.

"You too," Paul said, before he drove forward slowly and pulled out of the drive thru of the coffee shop.

When he turned onto the main street, he took in a sharp inhale through his nose, as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Grandma, I'll be there soon..."