Last week I dropped out of college, a year before graduating. As a result, I lost my internship and now work a humble job at the coffee shop down Williamson Avenue. This was definitely not how I pictured my life. 

After dropping out I’d of course been kicked out of the dorms and forced to find my own apartment, but in this economy I could barely afford anything on my minimum wage, coffee shop paycheck. Still, I managed to find a cheap enough apartment, but I was now living paycheck to paycheck. After paying my first rent payment I had barely enough money to do anything extracurricular. Not to mention, no matter how many hours I worked, all that money would be going to next month’s rent.

I sighed long and hard thinking about my lack of money and a college degree which I had paid for but never received, my own fault of course, but I just wasn’t happy. Although now I’m wondering if I’m any happier than I was before.

The coffee shop job was boring and at times infuriating. I wasn’t a morning person and apparently neither was anyone else. If the morning rush wasn’t bad enough, every Karen decided to emerge at full force. This morning had been especially bad with some lady pouring coffee all over my manager, which of course left him in a less than savory mood. And luckily for me, I was working all day with the guy and he was ruthless when he was grumpy.

He made me clean up the bathroom three times! Three! And the day wasn’t over for a few hours yet. Usually we only needed to clean everything once, at closing, but today Henry was feeling especially angry and he wanted everyone out of his sight. That meant whenever the shop was slow I was relegated to cleaning whatever duty.

Luckily, the coffee shop had started picking up again with people spread out across the different seating accommodations. It was the time in the evening that everyone came to do their homework or business work, with coffee as a vital fuel. That meant I was safe from Henry’s grumbling.

I wasn’t, however, safe from the grumblings of customers. A highschool student whining about their terrible mother who wouldn’t let them, and I quote, “try just a little bit of weed”. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at their entitlement. Then there was the businessman who came up to the counter, raging into his phone and barking orders at me. Of course there was also the usual old woman demanding to see the manager because we had been unable to give her 8 pumps of espresso. Despite our explanation that we were unable to put that much caffeine into one cup of coffee, she continued to argue. Garnering the attention of Henry and increasing his ire. He had to kick the woman out of the store and kick me out from behind the counter to clean the tables, of course.

After I had satisfied Henry’s need to clean the shop head to toe, multiple times, I returned to my place behind the counter. The shop had slowed, with most of its patrons settled in at the various seating arrangements, computers and books in front of them, all working furiously towards their goals.  

I looked up as the bell on the door jingled, indicating a new customer. The woman at the door was gorgeous. She had straight, jet black hair that hung just below her collar bone, perfectly complimenting her olive skin. She had hair tucked behind her ears on either side, but that didn’t stop a few shorter pieces from framing her heart shaped face just right. Her big eyes were a cozy chocolate brown that reminded me of a warm cup of hot chocolate on a cold evening. Then there were her heart shaped lips with a perfectly formed cupid's bow. 

She wore a simple outfit, a plain blue tank top with straight legged jeans that perfectly hugged her figure. And a pair of short, strappy heels that emphasized long legs and height. She was a bit shorter than me, even with the heels, but she was definitely on the taller side for a woman.

When she reached the counter I couldn’t help but recognize her bright, shy smile, dissolving my sour mood from the day. “What can I get for you?” I asked cheerily.

“I have a bit of a long order, so bear with me,” she prefaced.

She proceeded to read a long order off her phone, including four coffees, each with their own special adjustments, and a plethora of pastries. She waited patiently for my go ahead before presenting each new item, and listened intently when I repeated each order back to her. She was probably my most amiable customer all day. Even more than that, she was just genuinely nice.

“Okay,” she breathed after listing the last of the pastries, “that’s all.”

“Alright,” I beamed. “Can I get a name for the order?”

“Serena.”

Pretty name, I thought as I scrawled it on each of the cups and the box designated for the pastries. Once I finished she held out her card to me, which I took and swiped along the card reader. 

Once it beeped, confirming the payment, I handed it back. “Okay, you can wait for your order wherever you’d like.”

“Thank you,” she said. “And, umm.” I waited patiently while she gathered up the words that were clearly waiting to be spilled. 

“It’s ok, take your time,” I encouraged, recognizing her apprehension.

“It just seems like you’ve had a long day. I just wanted to say that I’m sure you’re doing a great job. Probably better than you think. So don’t be so hard on yourself. I mean you did a great job handling my crazy order after all.”

For a second I just stood there stunned by how she could say exactly what I needed to hear when we only just met. “Sorry, was that weird?” Her words snapped me out of my stupor, alerting me to her nervous state. She was looking at the floor, bouncing on her toes in an anxious rhythm. I couldn’t help but smile at her endearing shyness.

“No, it wasn’t weird. It was really nice. It was just what I needed to hear. Thank you.” She finally looked up at me, that same shy smile plastered on her face, and I gazed upon her with a soft smile on my face. 

“It’s no problem. I just thought you might need some encouragement. I’ll let you get to work now, sorry for taking up your time.” She smiled at me as she walked off to a seating area right next to the pick up area. I lingered for a second, just looking at the cute and kind girl who managed to turn my whole day around. 

“You going to help me with this or not Dani?” Hazel, my coworker, looked at me, an impatient look on her face. “You can’t oggle the customers forever,” she said dryly, but the humor wasn’t lost on me.

I gave her a light shove and a joking “shush” before handing her two of the four cups, while I began working on the others. Together we made quick work of the four drinks. I handed mine off to Hazel to place in a drink carrier while I began to gather the pastries. Once I had each sugary dessert placed neatly into a box marked with the café’s logo, I placed the package next to the drink carrier. Finally, I pushed the order to the edge of the counter, calling out the girl’s name before returning to the register.

Serena, I remembered from earlier, grabbed all her items before calling out a thank you to both Hazel and I before exiting the shop, chased by the jingling of the bell.

I watched her as she walked across the long window of the shop, meeting up with a group of men. She held out the drink carrier as each guy grabbed their designated drinks out of the carrier. While another older man placed a hand under the carrier, balancing it so Serena could grab her drink from its grasp.  As I watched their companionable banter, I couldn’t help but wonder if one of the guys was her boyfriend. I mean maybe she was totally straight and I don’t have a chance at all, or you know taken.

Quickly, my question was answered as two of the men leaned in, placing a peck on each other's lips. The other man in the group looked too old for Serena with gray peppering his hair and beard, but I guess plenty of people date older men and I’m not one to judge. At the same time, the look in his eyes and the way he watched over Serena suggested a more fatherly role.

“So, are you going to ask her out?” Hazel asked, sounding bored, but I knew she didn’t have many different expressions and bored was just the most prevalent.

“Why not? If I see her again I’ll definitely ask.”

“She seems nice, definitely your type. I support this decision.”

I snorted, “Well with your approval it must be destined to succeed.”

“Damn straight.”

I chuckled once more before returning to my place at the register, watching the girl as her group disappeared from the window of the shop.