| Reece Winston |
"Can you not do anything right!" The girl shrieks out in irritation and I watch as her face turns red with anger.
"I'm sorry," I mutter and pick up the broken coffee cup with the contents of her drink spilling out.
It wasn't my fault but I didn't think I should say anything because this lady looked like she'd explode if I tried to go against her. So instead of speaking up, I crouched down and tried my best to pick up all the broken glass. I hiss quietly, cutting myself with the sharp glass.
I knew this would happen but I didn't think it'd hurt this much.
"Serves you right," the lady snickers, fully aware that I cut the palm of my hand, "where did this place get such worthless workers?"
I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and frowned. I didn't really like that she was belittling my coworkers who didn't deserve her hateful spew of words. I mean, she was the one who chose to spend her time here and it wasn't even like this was the first time she's come here.
She comes to this coffee shop almost religiously and if I happen to be working she'd always point out my faults as if she was out to get me. I've learned through countless encounters that it was best to close my mouth and take her insults because that led to me leaving her faster.
It seemed to be harder today because a lot of people were here today which was weird because we didn't usually have a lot of costumers. So now there were a lot of onlookers and it made my skin crawl because I hated When attention was directed onto me.
"Ma'am, I sincerely apologize," I hear my managers voice.
She comes over to see the situation I was in and she takes the broken glass onto a tray and I see her beckoning Riley to come over and sweep up the tiny pieces of glass that you couldn't pick up by hand. Riley has her lips curled up into a snarl as she walks over with the broom and dustpan in hand and a glare towards the lady.
I look at Riley and silently beg her not to make matters worse because if you got to know Riley, you quickly got to know that she had a silver tongue. She had no filter and said whatever that was on her mind without keeping in mind consequences. She was a spitball of Fire, a volcano just waiting to erupt but a softy all the same.
"I should put on my blog that this shop is terrible," the lady spits with a vain popping onto her forehead.
"You say that shit and yet your ass comes here every fucking day," Riley mutters but she purposely made it so that the lady heard her.
The look on the lady's face is priceless and I would've laughed if not for her gaze setting onto me. My eyes widen and I take a step back as she points an accusing finger at me.
"You said that didn't you," she spits at me angrily.
My eyes widened even more and I gap, unable to say anything because I hated confrontation and with all the people in here, I felt even more suffocated. I wish she'd just leave.
"Now you're just reaching," Riley drops the broom promptly and scowls at the lady, "just leave, your presence is annoying the shit out of me and these customers aren't able to enjoy their time because you keep harassing Reece."
"H-harassing?" The lady shrieks out in disbelief as if what Riley said was beyond imaginable.
"Yes, sis. Should I repeat myself?" Attitude laces Rileys tone and the lady scoffs.
She rips her purse off the table and flips her blonde hair over her shoulders before glaring at our manager who is rubbing her temple, Riley who is fuming like a Pitt-bull ready to charge and me who is, embarrassingly, reclining from her gaze.
"My husband is a police officer. This pathetic excuse of a shop will get shut down," she threatens and gives us one last look before huffing and leaving.
The bell atop of the door chimes signifying that she was gone. I released a breath and felt my heart beat gradually return to its normal beat.
Sadie, our manager, sighs and runs a hand through her blonde hair. Her blue eyes sparkle as she looks at me with her naturally pink tinted lips pursed in thought. Her other hand is placed on her hip as she looks at me.
"When will you two stop causing trouble?" she tried to sound annoyed but Riley and I both knew Sadie wasn't easily angered and I was thankful for that because I hated when people yelled at me, it made me feel small but I was five foot five so I was already small compared to other guys.
"You think it's our fault that little Miss entitled comes in here every day and makes Reece feel like shit? That women irks my nerves," Riley huffs, sweeping up the mess violently.
"I don't really like her either," Sadie admits reluctantly because she was too nice for her own good and saying she didn't like the lady made her feel bad because she wanted to find the good in everyone.
Similarly to Riley, I was able to admit when I didn't like someone but I wouldn't voice my opinion. I didn't know why but I kept what I wanted to say mostly to myself but there was that off chance that I spoke up strongly for what I believed in which didn't happen that often.
The crushing thing was that I was too awkward for my own good and I always ended up stumbling on my words like an idiot.
"Then kick her out when she comes in," Riley demands, "Reece doesn't deserve her shit."
Riley was the best person I've ever met. She was mean, easy to anger, had no filter and she was never afraid to say it as it was but when you got to know her, she was nice and caring. In my eyes, she was also beautiful.
She was a dark chocolate in skin tone but there wasn't a flaw on her face. I don't think she really wore makeup so it was easy to see how flawless her face was. Her nose was well structured, her lips thick but always coated with some type of lip stick that was of a darker tone because it suited her. Her hair was black and bone straight but that was most likely because she straightened it, I've seen her natural hair before and it was amazing. It was big and puffy and had so much depth to it. I always found myself wanting to touch it but she would swat my hand away and tell me not to touch it.
The most eye catching thing about her was her eyes. They were blue which stood out in contrast to her skin tone. I thought they were contacts when I first met her but I guess I kept staring at her until she snapped and told me they weren't fake.
It was a natural occurrence for people to stare at her and instantly claim that her eye color was fake and every time a costumer was bold enough to talk about her out loud, it was chaos.
"I can't just kick her out, Riley. She has the right to receive service," Sadie tells her.
Sadie begins to walk behind the counter and I follow suit along with Riley who carries the broom and dustpan with her. Riley carelessly tosses the items to the side and leans against the counter, arms folded as she looks at Sadie.
"You own the place, Sadie. You can refuse her service," Riley argues back.
"She has a blog remember? Do you know how many subscribers she has that live in this town? I'd be ruined," Sadie says and I can hear the sadness in her voice.
"That's illegal though. That's defamation and I'm pretty sure it's in the constitution," I say.
Riley looks at me and nods furiously.
"Yeah, he's right I think. I don't know shit about stuff like that but Reece is smart so it must be right," Riley responds.
I chuckle and shake my head, pouring coffee beans in the dispenser it belongs in. Sadie and Riley continue talking about the lady and what can be done about her as they head to the back with Riley on Sadie's tail.
I remain in the front because there has to be at least one employee out front to take care of the costumers and watch over the shop.
I'm bending down to pick up a quarter that fell when I hear the chime of the bell, signifying that the front door has been opened. I drop the monetary coin in the tip jar before looking at the man who approached the counter that I was at.
The first thing that I gathered was that he screamed trouble as a smirk spread across his lips.
Oh, boy.
Inspiration for this story came randomly but I hope you thoroughly enjoyed it <3
P.S, chapters are short naturally for this book.
~xoxo, Babybird.