02|| coffee shop mishaps
"Order for Peter and Ned! One caramel frap blended and one vanilla bean frap blended!"
Delights Coffee Shop, Queens, New York, April 2016-
By this time, the manager of the store had already given Alison her own PIN number to log into the computer. The fact that the slacker didn't really do anything during their shifts, and the fact that Lexi had already complained about it meant the manager just let Alison fill in and do the work, and Alison got the tip jar and a few extra bucks for covering the job.
At the moment, Alison was manning the cashier and Lexi was doing the actual drinks. Alison hadn't memorized all of the formulas yet, so she would always call the cashier. Most of the time, Lexi would just roll her eyes and go with it, knowing that if Alison screwed up on a drink Lexi would probably be fired.
Giving a yawn, Alison turned around to see Lexi cleaning the espresso machine. "Do you ever stop yawning?" Lexi shook her head, wiping down the nozzles with a damp white cloth. "I mean, I would assume that's your thing, besides holding any drink imaginable on Earth."
"Nah." Alison stretched, leaning up against the counter of the coffee store. The menu of the store was taped on the counter in front of the iPad cashier, showcasing all of the drinks the place had to offer. "It's natural when a person like me stays up late doing nothing but watching Netflix and trying to catch up on my brother's old comics."
Lexi sighed, steam hissing out of the machine. "I still can't believe you operate on so few hours of sleep. It's like your mind doesn't have any limits. Or your metabolism." She shook her head in amusement, recalling a particular party in which Lexi had gotten a little too tipsy but Alison was still standing.
"Hey! I may be 15 with a few months of experience, but I can still hold my own against spirits like booze." Alison shrugged, turning back around to face the cashier. The familiar jingle of Delights- the Queens coffee shop- welcomed the two new customers.
"Welcome to Delights!" Lexi hollered in a dull tone, prepping a few cups and coffee flavoring for the customers. Most of the time people came in for the specialty drinks, and not for the actual coffee itself.
The two boys walked up, one seeming to be of Hawaiian descent, and with a few pounds to spare, and the other a nerdy boy that seemed to be rather stocky, who was donning a geeky t shirt with a scientific quote. "H-Hi." One of the boys waved, the other following suit in an awkward way.
"Well, what can I get for you boys?" Alison asked, tapping into the order form on the iPad. Looking at the two teenagers that were probably the same age as her, she saw very dull and clueless looks on the boys' faces. "Never been here before?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Uh-uh no." The same kid who had spoken before, the one in the geeky t shirt and a stocky build, shook his head awkwardly. "We have not been here before." The Hawaiian kid behind him nodded silently, looking up at the other menu displayed on the area on top of the mug shelves.
"It's like your general Starbucks, just with some different names. The frappuchinos are frap-blends, espressos are energizers, and hot chocolates are still hot chocolates. Some things don't change." Alison explained the menu, almost rolling her eyes at the standard explanation she had given.
"Oh- o-okay." The Hawaiian boy piped up, stepping forward from the awkward position being his friend. "Then I'll have the 20 ounce size caramel frappuchino." He nudged his friend, motioning for him to place his order as well.
"Oh! Oh." The other boy in the geeky shirt seemed alarmed by the nudge. "And I will have the 20 ounce vanilla bean frap-blend. With extra whipped cream." The boy seemed to care to get every single part of the name and of the order right.
"Alright, and would you like any pastries today?" Alison asked, tapping the two orders into the tablet. She could hear the scurrying of Lexi behind her, getting the ingredients for the drinks ready. It seemed that the order sheet would not be needed for this particular order.
"Uh- no thank you." The Hawaiian boy shook his head with a neutral glance, reaching into his pocket for his wallet. "That'll do it for this order." He corrected, as if he was trying to sound more formal.
"And who would this order be for?" Ali questioned the boys, grabbing two cups from the side and a sharpie. Seeing the confusion on their faces, Alison explained further. "You know, so you can collect the right order and we can call out the right name."
The two boys looked at each other, suddenly understanding the situation that was extremely awkward a little bit more. "Well, I am Peter-" The geeky boy pointed to himself, before gesturing over at the Hawaiian boy next to him. "And this is Ned."
"Nice to meet you both, although I only needed one name." Alison scribbled out both names rather hastily, sliding the cups over to Lexi's work station. "Name's Alison, and it was a pleasure serving you. That'll be $12.95."
When the boys had finally thumbed over the cash, and Alison gave them the proper change, the boys clamored off to the waiting station for their drinks. Lexi worked quickly and efficiently, getting the drink out a few minutes later. Peter and Ned had scrambled out of the coffee house almost as quickly as they can in, but seemingly more awkward than before.
As soon as the boys left, Lexi burst out into giggles in the back, rinsing the two containers that were used to make the. drinks. "Oh my goodness." She laughed, placing the drink blender containers in the drying rack. "That was absolutely priceless."
Alison turned around, doing the same action of leaning against the counter casually as she had done before. "Oh my goodness, they were just awkward teenagers. It was not a big deal. If I wasn't friends with a 'cool kid'-" At this Lexi gave a laugh- "Like you then I would probably be just as dorky."
Lexi shook her head. "I would beg to differ. You would still be dorky, but not that bad." The girl reassured her friend, walking over to place her wet hands on Alison's shoulders. "And I'm positively sure we would of ended up friends again somehow."
And while Alison couldn't help but admit the truth in the statement, her mouth fired back a different remark. "But would I?" Her face scrunched up in an almost mocking fashion, giving her friend an eye roll to go along with it. "I'm not even sure where you would be if you weren't friends with me."
Lexi gave a fake gasp of shock, placing one hand- now dry due to the courtesy of Alison's t shirt- on her heart. "That is so insulting! And I was just going to give you the details to the biggest party of the year." She crossed her arms in a mock pout.
And while Alison knew that the whole charade was, well, a charade, she quirked an eyebrow. "I of believe that you would still tell me about this so called party, even if we were not on speaking terms. Do spill the beans." She motioned a continuing gesture, looking at Lexi with curiosity.
But before Lexi could start to inform her friend of the upcoming part of the year, the Delights bell jingled yet again. "Welcome to Delights!" Alison hollered, her voice sounding just as monotone as Lexi's the last time. She turned around to see a new customer, a man that seemed rather out of place in the middle of the city.
Donning a black t-shirt, some denim jeans, and a red plaid over shirt, the man looked as if he came from a farm. And not just a farm, a super rural one. He looked like the kind of person you would meet at a family reunion.
"What can I do for you? I mean, what can I get for you?" Alison asked, opening up the form for the order once again. Looking up at the man again, she saw that he had his phone out, the order already written down on his device.
"Yeah, can I get a 16 ounce hot chocolate, a 32 ounce caramel macchiato, a 20 ounce vanilla bean frap-blend, and a triple shot of espresso over ice." The man stated, still looking down at his phone. He almost seemed like her didn't want to face the girl in front of him.
"Man," Alison whistled, typing down the order rather fast. "That's a lot of caffeine. And sugar. Got any problems that caffeine is gonna solve?" She asked, finishing off the order form. Lexi was already starting to get back to work again, the espresso machine hard at work.
The man chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, if that's what you call my problems." The man was worried about something, and it seemed to be taking a hidden toll on him. "My kids, and my old work job- which I just retired from- seems to be a perfect reason to pick up a few cups of coffee. And some stuff for the kids. They wanted to see New York for the first time, but not with the alien attack part of it."
Alison didn't know what to say after that, as she was not expecting for the man to get so deep. Apparently some people did not understand the merits of sarcasm like Alison did. Nice. "Alright, and can I get a name for the order?"
"Clint." The man, now revealing his name to be Clint, looked up at Alison. He seemed to be searching for something, something in her eyes to make her remember something. But she didn't seem to be reacting to anything, just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Alright, Clint," She scribbled the name out with delicate care. Alison didn't want to mess up the name that she had printed, not after this man actually talked to her, albeit for no reason, like a normal person. "Your total will be $23.42, and the order will be out over there." She pointed over at the opening where the coffee came out. "Have a good day!"
Before moving over to the waiting area for his drinks, Clint dropped a twenty in the tip jar. "Thanks for the good conversation." He walked away without another word, leaving Alison speechless where she stood. That had been an interesting conversation, that was for sure.
Clint was in and out of the shop, like the two boys before him, in a few mere minutes. He seemed to wave the two girls goodbye, before hopping into a Ford pick-up truck. Alison concluded that he was most definitely from a rural area.
"So- tell me about this party again." Alison reminded Lexi, starting to take off her apron. The shift was going to end any minute, and Alison was tired of standing around. She could still see the slacker in the back, playing a video game on their phone.
"Ah, yes. The party of the year." Lexi followed suit of the actions that Alison had just done, removing her apron and placing it on the designated hooks. "It's tomorrow night, at this Midtown High kid's place. It's supposed to be a rager, and a ton of booze will be provided."
Alison nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Crashing into the rival high school's party and stealing their booze. Sounds like a perfect Thursday night to me." She hung up her apron next to Lexi's, running a quick hand through her hair.
"Great, just make sure that you check in with your cousin, although I know you won't." Lexi contradicted, tugging her hair out of the knot it was tied into after school. "Then I'll pick you up at your place around 6:45, and don't be late running around for your things like last time."
"See you then!" Ali grabbed her school backpack, walking out of the entrance of Delights, waving goodbye to her friend. "And bring the booze as well!" Giving Lexi a mock salute, Alison started the walk through the Queens streets home.
<~*~>
okay so I'm super tired.
just finished revising this at 11:49 PM
anyways, hope you enjoyed, sorry it took so long
if you're rereading this just comment hi so I know you existed
byeee
:))