Smash Into You

Chapter 5: Crazy in Love

"They are what?" I asked with my eyes wide in disbelief. I had heard what she said, but it wasn't reaching me. I mean the statement was absolutely ridiculous.

"They are closing this place down in a week," Lauren replied miserably as she slid into the car and pulled the door shut, "They said business has been incredibly slow for years, and when an offer was made, they took what they could get."

I frowned and started my car, sighing out, "Damn, that sucks."

"There isn't another coffee place as good as this in the city, Camz." Lauren complained as I drove, "What am I supposed to do?"

I rubbed my neck as I tried to think of a solution. If they were honestly closing, there wasn't much to do but find another coffee shop to go to. Either way, that wasn't the answer Lauren was hoping for. I was sure she honestly hoped they would magically come back to business just for her. I frowned slightly and mumbled, "I don't know, Lo. But I'm sure we can figure something out. Maybe there is another coffee shop that is just as good."

"They had my name memorized," Lauren whined, as if everything about the place shutting down was hitting her one at a time, "They had my order ready every morning after a while. I have to get to know new people all over again! How depressing is that?"

I smiled slightly and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that is terribly depressing."

"And I don't think there is a place that serves Peppermint Mocha when it isn't in season. Which means my boss is going to be grumpy for the next month until he gets used to something else," She continued to cry out in misery.

I continued to nod, "Yeah that is a problem too."

"Next week is going to be terrible." Lauren sniffed from the passenger seat.

I sighed, "Well we can start searching for a new place together, alright?" I offered, knowing this was the only thing I could honestly do to help, "And make sure you tell your boss about it. We don't want any surprises when Monday morning comes rolling back around."

She nodded, looking completely depressed.

The whole ride had been quiet. Even when we pulled up, Lauren just dragged herself out of the car, took the coffee, and mumbled "bye" without any smiles or giggles or a 'Have a good day at work!'.

I'm not sure when Lauren's emotions became part of my daily routine. But today was the day I realized that if she was honestly bummed out about something, I slowly became bummed out too. My ride back to my place was a silent gloomy one. I hadn't bothered with playing some music because I was preoccupied on finding a solution for Lauren.

Just when I was ten minutes away from my work, I snatched my cell phone and dialed up my job. They greeted me with a good morning, and even sounded worried when I explained I couldn't come in today because I was terribly sick. I wasn't the girl who usually caught a cold, or the girl to call off of work; so for me to call them with such news was a pretty easy experience. They assured that it was fine and that I should take as much rest as I needed. Which was great because it gave me today- and possibly tomorrow- for the crazy plan that hatched in my head.

X

Through the couple of months Lauren and I have been friends, I had eventually scored an apartment key from her. It was for the times when she was late and slept in. Instead of knocking on the door and screaming hello, which I have done numerous of times, I could just come right in and wake her up. I felt slightly nervous for using it for a purpose other than that, but I kept telling myself that this was a good enough reason.

I didn't know before, but there are honestly all types of coffee makers. When I went to visit the coffee shop that was closing down, I casually asked what they were going to do with all the machines and materials inside. They said something along the lines of selling it off on Ebay, which I then pressed if it was possible to buy one of their machines right out.