Cupidity (Sequel to Cupid's Daughter)

Chapter 16~ Iced Skinny Hazelnut Macchiato Sugar-Free on Soy

I started working at Kerri's Café the following week. At first my only tasks were to clean tables and wash dishes, but the store owner Kerri was so understaffed that she had no choice but to allow me to use the expensive coffee-making equipment straight away.

"Now Isabelle, sweetie, I must admit you do seem a little like the clumsy type." Kerri mused on my first day-- a Thursday afternoon-- laying a hand on my shoulder.

I blushed, but then again I had tripped over a floorboard on my way inside this morning, almost causing a customer to drop his mug of coffee all over himself.

"Please," Kerri begged, "try not to be clumsy around the equipment, okay sweets?" She patted my arm lightly and started showing me all the buttons and levers on the coffee machine that were used to make various beverages. I tried to listen to what she was saying and pay attention, but there was just so much to take in.

"Oh look, a customer! You think you can handle it?" Kerri asked me with a smile.

"Absolutely!" I responded enthusiastically, wiping my hands on the apron that only covered my black skirt.

A girl with the longest blonde hair and biggest sunglasses I'd ever seen walked up to the tiny wooden counter, the arm that had a gucci bag slung over it held out to the side of her.

"Hi, welcome to Kerri's Café!" I greeted her brightly. "What can I get for you?"

The girl looked briefly at the menu plastered onto a board above my head and sighed. "I'll take an iced skinny hazelnut macchiato, sugar-free on soy."

She glared at me, I glared at her. A what?

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that please?" I asked, a little embarrassed.

The girl frowned and pulled her sunglasses a little further down her nose, her beady blue eyes peering at me over the top of them.

"An iced... skinny... hazelnut... macchiato... no sugar... on soy." She repeated slowly, as if I were a three year old.

I tapped her order into the touch-screen of the cash register. "That'll be $4.45 thank you."

She handed me a five dollar bill, and I returned her change a moment later after wrestling the change drawer to open. "Won't be a moment! Feel free to take a seat!" I grinned, earning myself an eye roll from the customer as she sat down on a love seat in the corner.

"Right." I muttered to myself and turned towards the coffee machine.

I pushed the button for soy milk, and then pushed a bunch of other buttons that looked like things that should go inside a hazelnut macchiato. I looked around helplessly for Kerri, who was no where in sight. A substance that resembled coffee started to pour out of the coffee machine, though it did look a little questionable. I poured in some more soy milk to make it lighter in color, and put a dollop of whipped cream on the top, followed by sugar-free syrup. When it finally resembled something that looked like a beverage, I brought it out to the customer and placed it on the table in front of her. She looked at it with distaste, but took a small sip anyway.

I stared at her questioningly, praying that she wasn't going to throw up or have a tantrum in the middle of the store. She just shrugged though and kept sipping, so it couldn't have been so  awful. The last thing I needed was to get fired on my first day.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of angry customers, making coffees and wiping tables. By closing time at ten-thirty p.m, I was exhausted. I had been at my internship from eight until four, and then worked at the café from five until closing.

All I wanted to do was go back to my motel room, curl up in bed and go to sleep.

As I walked a few back to the main road, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following me. But every time I glanced back, nobody was there.

I pulled my bag closer to my side and scurried a little faster down the side walk. There were still people out and about which made me feel more comfortable, but when I looked more closely, none of them seemed like the kind of people you wanted to stop and have a chat with.

I sped-walked, holding my hand out for a cab every time one passed by me. None of them stopped. I continued to run until I could finally see my motel, and I almost kissed the wall I was so relieved.

As I walked up to my room and pulled out my key card, however, something flashed in my face causing me to shriek. A man with a huge camera jumped out from behind a parked car and started to photograph me, ignoring my protests.

"Isabelle! Why are you going to a motel room?" He asked me.

Another man jumped out from behind the staircase, shoving his iPhone into my face. "Is Ethan Black in there?" He yelled. I covered my face with one hand and pushed the motel door open violently, slamming it shut behind me and latching all of the locks into place.

What the hell? I pressed my back against the door and breathed deeply, trying to calm myself. I ran to the nightstand and grabbed a piece of note paper, jamming it over the clear little peephole in the door. I didn't want anyone to be able to see inside or take photos of me whilst I was getting changed.

This kind of thing was exactly what I had been hoping to avoid my whole life.

I collapsed onto my bed, unable to stop tears from forming behind my eyes.

What was I doing? I had been in LA a little less than two weeks and I was already in so far over my head. I had no friends here aside from Ethan, a motel room I called home, an internship where all I did was file things or get coffee and a job that I had only just started and already sucked at.

What was I-

Mid-way through my little pity party for one, my phone bleeped. I reached out to find it, expecting to find a message from Sam or Ellie, but instead, a different name popped up on the screen.

Noah: Hey

I stared at it. The last message I had received from him had been asking whether I needed the stuff I'd left in his dorm room. Was this just a follow up 'when are you getting your stuff?' message?

Issy: Hey.

I watched as the little dots showed up, meaning he was replying, but they disappeared soon after. A second later, they reappeared and a message chimed through.

Noah: How are you?

Issy: Could be better. You?

Noah: Tell me about it.

I stared at his name on my phone, which had a red heart emoticon next to it. I hadn't had much time the last couple of weeks to think about anything other than work, but it was moments like these that made me realize how much I missed Noah-- even if things were weird between us at the moment.

I didn't know how to respond to his message, so instead I shoved my phone back onto the nightstand and drifted off into sleep with a smile on my face, content with the knowledge that Noah was at least still thinking of me.