Diary Of A 24 Hour Barista

day one

My eyelids dropped down, slowly cascading towards the floor, this new job is going to have a negative effect on my sleep. Working a shift from 7 to 1 in the morning was the worst agreement of my life. I'm way too much of a morning person.

The chime of the bells above the door sang. My head jerked up as my eyes widened meeting a hooded figure quickly approaching the counter. My pulse increased to a near deadly pulse, as my fingers brushed under the counter for the emergency button.

Hey, shops that are open all night and day can never be too cautious!  I take a sharp, deep breath and remind myself that not every fit, tall man wearing a hoodie around midnight has bad intentions.

As the figure draws closer to the counter my eyes meet ones of a particular brown and green hue, almost forgetting about the menacing way he stalked into the store. The pure intensity of warm spread across my cheeks as I attempt to look more alert as I remind myself to not run my gloves hand through my hair.

He seemed to smirk slightly at my inability to remain awake, approaching the counter, "large black coffee, extra hot." His deep voice captured my two brain cells who were currently awake, and reminded me that no man this cute is single.

With that thought I reply, "Coming right up," turning away and beginning to make the simple order, thank goodness it was simple.

I could feel his eyes watching my every action as I went through the routine that I had been trained to do mere hours before. It must have been the lack of sleep as to why the pink of my checks intensify to a sharp red hue with every passing moment his eyes seemed to bore into my side. Did he also suffer from a lack of sleep and was daydreaming? Or were his eyes intentionally following me around the space?

I drummed my fingers on the counter, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, quickly glancing at his tall figure. Once again meeting his eyes then quickly looking down. I couldn't help but notice how attractive he was. His hood covered his dark hair, but I could still see the curls along the sides of his earth colored face. Was this the mysterious hottie my coworker had gushed to me about before?

"First day?" His thick, masculine voice questions my antsy antics.

I nodded my head, glancing at the clock, 12:03, just under an hour left. "How did you know?" I question, shifting my eyes back to his gorgeous face.

He seems to lean in closer to the counter, as his smirk widens, showing off his big, beautiful lips, "you could say that I'm a regular. And on top of that, I would remember a pretty face like yours," his eyes glance downwards and for a split second, I considered telling him off, that is until his eyes return to mine, the smirk still very evident, "Magnolia, or can I call you Maggie?"

I no longer felt the need to chastise him, simply nodding my head again, and producing a finished coffee. The blush on my already pretty red checks growing. I returned to the counter, placing his drink down, "that'll be a total of $5.51 please, cash or credit?"

He pulls out a ten dollar bill, handing it to me, "cash." As his hand pulled away the slight feeling of tingles washed down my head.

I open the cash register, attempting to make small talk as I count out his change, and double checking it. "You can call me Maggie if you share your name, I hardly find it fair for the name game to only go one way." I don't return my gaze to him, immediately regretting my word jumble, as his silence becomes more and more noticeable.

I reach my hand out towards him, the change rattles in my hand as I slip it into his own hand along with the receipt. He slips it into the tip jar, "It's Hendrix. You need to get some sleep Maggie as you are pretty feisty for a barista." And with that he turns and walk out the front door, leaving me alone with my thoughts again, blushed and tired.