Twenty days in counting. Only ten more to go. I shut my car door and practically skipped over to Bean There, Drank That, the Coffee shop I worked at as a Barista. As soon as I got there I hung my coat on the rack and yelled, “Hello lovely people, let’s open this place up!”
“Woah-ho-ho, someone’s in a good mood!” Veronica turned to me with a raised eyebrow, already decked out in our barista uniform. “What’s the occasion?”
“Oh, well, it’s just that, remember Shawn, the stupid guy I used to date with the cool black motorcycle?”
Veronica nodded.
“Well, after we broke up, I said I wouldn’t give him any space in my thoughts for at least a month, and it’s been twenty days, and I still haven’t thought much about him!” I squealed.
“Ooh, nice progress! Keep it up girl!”
I smiled. Veronica was always so supportive. As the city woke up and early coffee lovers came in, I kept going on about my goal, my happy mood persistent. “I mean, I can’t believe I used to like his terrible looking beard, or that tacky looking black leather jacket, or his dumb old motercyle-”
“Are you sure you’re over him, Kaila? You seem to not be able to stop talking about him,” Veronica said, pouring someone a cup of pure black coffee.
“Of course I am,” I said, pouring cream into a mocha. “I mean, over who? There’s no one to get over!”
Right as I said that, I heard a huge roar echo outside, then echo again. The noise then became a loud unwavering roar, coming closer and closer and getting lower and lower in pitch until a black motorcycle pulled right in front of the coffee shop, and a man with a black leather jacket got off. This man had a scruffy, black beard and his dark brown eyes scanned the coffee shop and met mine for a half a second. Hooked to his left arm was a woman with cinnamon brown skin and fuzzy, wavy black hair that glistened in the dim cafe lights.
“Kaila, is that…?” began Veronica. But oh no. Oh, no no no. It was too late for that.
The man looked at the woman hooked to his arm and whispered something to her. The woman met eyes with me and then looked back at him and nodded just as his mouth stopped moving. While he sat down, the woman walked up to me.
Tears came to my eyes. I always thought I’d find someone new and move on before he did. No. I didn’t know that guy. There was nothing to be sad about.
“Hi. I’d like two coffees. One black and a latte please,” said the woman. I didn’t like how she seemed to draw out that please at the end of her sentence.
“No need to get rude,” I told her.
“I’m not getting rude. I just ordered some coffee.” She looked at me strangely.
“Fine! And what’s your name?”
“Shawn.”
“What a boyish name.” I told her straight to her face. We were beginning to get stares.
“Well, it’s not my name. It’s my boyfriend’s. Shawn! You know, your ex!?”
Now everyone was turned to us. Some people were laughing behind closed hands and coffee cups, but some people just had eyeballs staring a hole through me.
I mixed the lattes up angrily. “How do you know I dated Shawn!?”
“He told me! What type of boyfriend doesn’t mention that the place he’s taking me to for our date happens to be the place his ex works at!?” She yelled at me.
I blinked hard, but once I opened my eyes, tears were falling down my face.
I glanced over to the counter at her. Her lips were puckered out like a ducks and she looked down at her purse. “No use gettin’ into yo’ feelings now after all the things you said. I knew this was gonna be awkward, but you made it worse. What you need is to have a plain black coffee and sort out your feelings.”
“Here! Take your stupid lattes and get out of my face!” I yelled. I set the coffees right in front of her and looked at Shawn. How could he do this to me!? How could he introduce me to this coffee shop when we were in highschool!? Share his first frappuccino with me!? Take me here all the time for dates in the early mornings and watch the snowfall together!? Tell me he would always love me, and then break up with me and bring another girl here a month later!?
He stared at me, then looked at the fuzzy-haired woman across the counter from me. His new girl. His new Kaila.
The woman looked down at the steaming hot cups and back up at me. “These are both lattes. I ordered one plain black.
“Oh, did you?” I said, tilting my head to the side. “I’ll take care of that.” I took one of the lattes and spilled it on her head.
While she screamed in pain and cringed, her arms hugging her torso, I turned and stomped back to the counter, ignoring all the gasps and confused comments behind me.
Burning that woman may have felt good then, but later in the day I felt terrible about it. It hadn’t made me feel any better about Shawn. I felt like crying, since now that he had entered my life again, even for a brief meeting, I had let him enter my mind and I ended up thinking about him again.
I took that stupid woman’s advice and had a plain black coffee to mysef when I got the chance. I had time to think about a lot of things. Like how I shouldn’t have poured coffee on her. Or how I spent twenty days pretending my first boyfriend never happened. About how I had never really forgotten Shawn.
This story is an entry to the Cinnamon Cup Coffee Community's week 9 #SpillTheBeans contest,
My name is Shila Williams. I am 16 years old and I have been passionate about writing and drawing since I knew how to spell. I grew up in North Carolina, as well as living and traveling abroad. I write to inspire children's minds to imagine and take them on a fun and adventurous journey.
I'm now a published author! Please support my debut children's book! Check it out here on Amazon! Imagination By Shila Willams
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Hello no doubt sometimes fate brings back past loves that we thought we had forgotten, stabbing in the heart as open wounds, good relate was a pleasure to read it in the early morning with a cup of coffee thanks for sharing. Good luck in the contest.
Thanks for reading!
Nice story. I suppose Kaila is lucky that she didn't lose her job or find herself in a lawsuit for burning a customer hahaha. How many times has Macdonalds now been sued for their coffee being too hot, when customers sill it on themselves?? 😆
Thanks for participating in the contest.
As a note: I almost passed over the story because it appeared to be over the 1000 word max according to PeakD's word counter (which is what I normally go by) but then I did a check and saw that the story itself, minus the extra footing information, was 994 words. Are you aware of the 1000 word max or was it just luck? Hahaha