One-Shots [KAYLOR]

Coffee All Alone

Back to a first-glance feeling on New York time.

WC: 1428

~

It was like clockwork. The tall, green-eyed woman would come in, order a cup of black coffee, and sit alone at the table. She would pull out her laptop and type inanimately, rubbing her eyes and yawning every once in a while.

And the lovely barista at the counter, who was often alone, would watch her. She was often left alone by her coworkers- they never bothered coming in this early. It was a daily routine for her- come in, make herself a latte with a cute design on top, watch the woman come in, take her order, and serve her a cup of black coffee. The barista, Taylor, would then quietly observe the customer she had just served- there was really nothing else to do.

The coffee shop was usually empty at 7am, except for the two of them. The barista fiddled with her nametag, which now read "Tyler", which often earned her some questioning looks. The "a" had been scratched off by a mean-spirited girl who worked with her, and the manager refused to replace it.

"You should've taken better care of it," he had said. "It's not my responsibility to babysit you."

She sighed at the memory and looked over to table 7, where the customer was seated. After 2 months of watching and observing her, Taylor noticed the small little quirks about her- how she would often purse her lips distastefully when she was scrolling through the document she was typing up, how she would rub and scratch her nose when she stopped to take a sip, how she would bounce her leg impatiently every once in a while, how she always carries The Perks of Being a Wallflower to the shop but never reads it...

Taylor safely assumed that she was a student at NYU- judging from the sweatshirt with the prestigious university's name plastered on it. Taylor had never gone to college- it was a privilege that she or her parents could no longer afford. Before coming to New York, she had moved to Nashville to pursue a music career- but the record label turned out to be a scam and swindled Taylor's once upper-class family out of a lot of money. Her parents wanted her to stay with them and live a steady, middle-class life in Nashville, but Taylor blamed herself and felt way too guilty to keep leeching off her parents. She wanted to earn back everything she had lost for them.

Taylor tapped her fingers on the counter. She cracked her neck and yawned. That was when the shop's entrance bell chimed. She looked up and saw a handsome man at the entrance. She immediately stood up straight, but the man waved her off and headed towards the other customer.

"Hey, Karlie. Mind if I join you?" he said, quite loudly. Taylor's ears perked up, and she unconsciously began eavesdropping.

"No thanks, Kurt. I really want to finish up this assignment," Karlie responded, not looking up.

"Suuure, Karlie. You finished that assignment up ages ago," Kurt chuckled, rolling his eyes. He leaned his body over to look at the screen. "Tell me, babe, what are you really working on?"

As a songwriter, Taylor felt irritated at this. She definitely understood what it was like to have friends or acquaintances bug her and ask her to explain a personal song or project that she was working on and didn't want to talk about just yet.

"Please go away, Kurt. I'm not interested in your shenanigans. Our relationship was a mistake, and I've told you why," Karlie said, exasperated. Taylor thought she had imagined it, but she saw Karlie's eyes flicker towards her for half a second.

"I've told you that I was sorry a billion times, just forgive me and things can go back to the way they were!" Kurt responded, raising his voice to a shout.