stop café

"warning. snow storm and icy conditions spark travel chaos causing multiple pileups. emergency services strongly recommend staying off roads for the next few hours in order to prevent any further accidents"

"just brilliant" i sigh as the windshield wipers move from side to side, making quiet clicking noises each time they hit the bottom of the glass window.

it takes a few more minutes until i spot a sign signalling a 24hr service station. i flicked the indicator showing that i was turning left, for no reason really because my car is the only one on the motorway; i'm the only one stupid enough to be driving in this weather.

i park up my black vauxhall corsa carefully. it was a gift from my parents for my 21st birthday in october and i was still getting used to it.

the only other cars in the parking lot were an old looking mazda miata and what looked like a subaru, but it's hard to tell due to the amount of snow that was covering it.

i nuzzle my nose into my scarf and wrap my thick winter parka closer around my body. it was cold, very cold. i wouldn't be surprised if the temperature was lower than -10°C.

a bell sounds as i open the door to a stop café. a feeling of warmth hits me as i enter through the doorway. making sure to wipe my shoes on the mat, i have a look around.

there was a guy sitting at the till. he was playing on his phone, a bored look on his face. he couldn't be older than 18, definitively a student.

there was another guy sitting at a table not too far from where I was standing, typing furiously on his laptop. he had a concentrated look on his face, slight creases finding their way onto his forehead.

walking towards the counter, i shoot a quick look at the board hanging above. mhmmm, hot chocolate.

"one hot chocolate please" the guy, whose name i find out to be matt, gets up without even looking at me. he walks over to the machine, picks up a cup and starts pouring the hot chocolate. he puts a lid on top and turns around, aiming towards me.

when he looks at me his eyes widen and the
cup slips from his hand; hot chocolate spilling all over the floor, creating a big mess.

"s-sorry, i'll get you a-another one" he rambled and walked away and started filling another cup.

i let out a light laugh at his clumsiness.

"that'll b-be $3.95" he stuttered as he placed the hot chocolate in front of me.

i pulled out a $10 note, seeing as i didn't have anything smaller than that, and placed it into his hand.

"keep the change" i say as i grab the cup and walk to the closest table.

i place the hot chocolate down and sat in the plastic black chair, bringing out my laptop from my bag.

i opened up to where i left off last time. i was currently working on a short story for my english class in university. so far i have only written the opening sentence, i was having what you could call a 'writers block'. the topic we had to write about was love. i scoffed when i first heard our professor tell us. writing about something you have never experienced is much harder than it seems. we got given two weeks to finish it. a week later and all i have is a sentence. i mentally slapped myself because of how pathetic i am. how am i meant to fulfil my dream of becoming an author when i can't even write a stupid short story?

"is this seat free?" i was instantly brought out of my thoughts when the guy i saw earlier on the laptop was standing in front of me. before i got the chance to reply he slid into the chair opposite me and placed his laptop in front of him. i raised my left eyebrow.