His Mystery Girl

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                Sweet’s Café was absolutely chaotic this morning. Since it was seven AM rush hour, the tiny café was extremely packed. Customers waited impatiently for their morning coffees and breakfast meals, shouting their orders out loud when they got tired of waiting in line.

                “Excuse me, where is my sesame bagel?” a customer asked angrily. “I’ve been waiting ten minutes!”

                I forced a smile, resisting the urge to throw her a dirty look as I wrapped up the sesame bagel. What I really wanted to say was, ‘You couldn’t keep your mouth shut for another two minutes?’ But, I knew I couldn’t because my mother would slice me into pieces if I showed any disrespect to her customers. So instead, I went along with, “We’re terribly sorry for the long wait. As you can see, we’re a bit busy today. We assure you that the next time you visit, the service will improve tremendously.”

                The customer pursed her lips before nodding. “Very well,” she paused, “thank you.”

                The very second she stepped out of the café, I turned my back against the counter and rolled my eyes so that no one could see. I knew very well that I didn’t have the patience for this job, but my mother needed the extra help. We survived off of this café, which was first started up by my grandmother, who was named Sweet- hence, the name of the café, Sweet’s Café.

                My phone suddenly vibrated in the pocket of my jeans, signaling that it was time for me to leave the café to go to school. I quickly untied my lilac purple apron, heading towards the back room where all of my stuff was. I couldn’t afford to be late to school, again. My teacher for the first class threatened that if I was late for the fifth time this term, she would have to give me a week’s worth of detention.

                “Rowan!” my mother stopped me, coming from the kitchen. “Honey, could you go to the storage room in the back and get us some more cups? We’re running low here in the front.”

                I pouted, giving my mother a pleading look. I then took in her distressed appearance, noticing that she seemed so tired. She was like this all of the time, especially since she had to run the café by herself. The last thing I wanted was for her to come running up the stairs from the storage room, panting. I sighed, giving up as I nodded. “Okay, give me a few minutes.”

                My mother smiled, leaning forward to peck my forehead. “Thank you, hon. You can go straight to school with my car afterwards.” She took the keys out from her back pocket, handing them to me. “But, make sure to return the car after school.”

                I grinned. I loved it when I got to ride my mother’s car, since it was the only time I ever got to drive. “Really? Thanks mom.”

                As I was sprinting up the stairs from the storage room downstairs with a stack of coffee cups in my hands, my phone vibrated. The name Zoe Saunders, my best friend, flashed across the screen, revealing a text message from her. “If you’re late again, Ms. Richter will slaughter you.”

                I chuckled, quickly replying back with a sarcastic statement before shoving my phone back into my pockets. I left the coffee cups to our baristas, heading out to the back parking lot to find my mother’s car. Even though our family wasn’t the richest, we had a decent car. It was one of the only nice things my father left behind for us when he decided to file for a divorce and move across town with his younger girlfriend.