ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀ-ɢɪʀʟꜱ.

02 - A Stabber at Table Three

The morning bank appointment had gone quite terribly. Not because the application was rejected (because it wasn't) but rather because Maria had shuffled in almost an hour late, panting heavily, red in the face and sweating with exhaustion after her bus had broken down, forcing her to the run the last two miles, prior to sleeping through her previous three alarms. Now she slumped forward, a thick bag of sweet pink raspberry buttercream to ice the raspberry and white chocolate muffins on the front desk.

Lana stood adjacent to her left and reassembled the coffee machine after cleaning it out rather thoroughly in the kitchen sinks, attaching the pieces back together before pouring in half a bag of freshly roasted coffee beans. Sadie, meanwhile, counted the finances stocked in the till at the front and set up their first card reader to accept contactless payments for customers. It wasn't until the door creaked wide open and the dusty bell at the top, rang with a shrill tone, that the girls finally raised their gazes in unison to face the man peering in at their entrance.

'Morning besties- coffee's on me.' Ollie simpered brightly, stepping through the door when placing a cup-holder beside the iced muffins, 'Uhh- a hot chocolate with extra cream for Lana, a chai-tea latte with cinnamon for Sadie, and two warm mochas with extra cream and sugar for me and you.'

He grinned at Maria, as the trio grabbed their designated cups and drank in satisfaction from them, Maria brushing her hair back with her hand and allowing Ollie to steal a raspberry and white chocolate muffin from the counter, free of charge.

'Oh, and I brought company-' Oliver took a large bite of his iced muffin, so his words were purposefully muffled when addressing Maria about the situation. In that exact, sudden moment, the bell rang as the door drew wide open for the second time; the closed sign clearly not working for the time being.

'Oh no, hide the sugar.' Maria joked,

'Hey, I'm not that bad-' Joshua had stumbled in behind Ollie, but with a bottle of strawberry milkshake between his fingers, rather than the caffeine addiction which the rest of the students required (even on their day off).

'Debatable-' Sadie grovelled beneath the tone of her breath, mumbling her words against the edge of her cup when taking another warm sip of her chai-tea latte.

'Well, Ollie said you needed help with, you know... things?'

'Things?' Maria repeated, pressing her clammy palms to the edge of the counter to refrain herself from strangling him, as her gaze snapped aside to face Ollie; her breath taunt and disgruntled; 'Out of the entire- the entire class. You chose... Josh.'

'I'd say no offence, but I'm kinda offended.' Joshua grovelled, sipping on his chocolate milk rather quietly, as Maria held back a straggled sigh and merely pursed her lips to refrain the slight bitterness of her upcoming words.

'Fine. Just... organise the pastries on the front line under the glass display.' Maria sank under the counter and withdrew a sage-green cotton apron, sliding it over the counter for him, as the latter grinned brightly, rather amused at the idea of his newly-found occupation.

He pulled the apron from her hand and placed his milkshake down on the edge of the counter, shaking out the fabric when pulling it around his waist to tie behind his back. He grinned, patting it down proudly, as if he had just assembled the entire cafe by himself, and shuffled along as Ollie pushed him along to the kitchens to find the iced cupcakes and freshly baked pastries.

'Want me to keep an eye on him?' Lana leaned against the side of the counter, brushing her hair back into place with one hand, after refilling the coffee machine with freshly roasted coffee beans. She tilted her head aside softly as Maria exhaled quietly, drawing his breath lightly from his mouth;