Morning Coffee

Chapter 4

   "Wow, I wasn't expecting you to make it." The manager said as I walked in. She was wiping down tables. "What's your name? I never asked."
   "Oh... Zoey. Your's?" I asked. I stood awkwardly buy the door looking around. I rarely look people in the eye upon meeting them.
   "Well, hello Zoey. I'm Elise." She said looking up while leaning on the table. "Can you start putting chairs on the ground?" She said as she walked towards the counter.
   "Oh, yeah... sure... yeah." I set my keys down on the counter and walked towards the tables.
   "Oh, do you want me to put your keys behind the counter? I doubt you want them stolen." She said when she saw me set them down.
   "Yeah, if you want." I said as I picked up the first chair.
   "So... who else works here?" I said, I was desperately trying to make small talk.
   "Just me." She was doing something behind the counter and wasn't looking up.
   "You run the whole restaurant?" I said in shock. I felt bad for her, at least if it was true.
   "Well, not necessarily. My parents own this place, I was just the only one who took it into my hands." She finally stood up with napkins in her hand.
   "That's pretty interesting! What time do we open?" I said, almost done putting up the chairs.
   "7 am. After that, can you turn on the coffee maker?" She said, looking up.
   "Yeah sure." She was a lot nicer than I thought. Looks are weird like that. I guess I shouldn't be assuming.
   I walked over to start the coffee machine. I was surprised at how easy it was to operate.
   "Alright everything is ready. You can relax till we open." She said, walking to the staff room.
   "Okay. You got this." I mumbled to myself. "Deep breaths. Deep breaths." I kept mumbling.
   I must've started passing, because when Elise came out of the staff room she said, "Are you okay?"
   I laughed nervously, "I think I just need water."
   She instantly ran to get water. After 30 seconds, or what felt like 30 seconds, she offered me a cup with water in it. "Thanks.." I said, drinking it.
   *time skip to 7:00am.*
   "Alright, you take orders, and I'll make coffee. If we get busy, help with the coffee. We won't though, but it's a wish." Elise said with a slight smile. I could tell something was up with her, like something was happening out of her control.
   "Are you okay..?" I said, placing my hand on her upper arm.
   "Yeah... let's just hope for a good day." She said, walking towards the sign that said 'open' and turning it over.
   It was quiet, nothing much going on. I asked Elise a few questions about the cafe, it's history, then I asked about regulars.
   "There are few regulars, this place usually has tourist rather than regulars. It's kind of sad. I've always wanted to have those few costumers that would show up daily, and I could give a discount." She looked down. "I never had many friends throughout my childhood, or adult hood. I have you now though, so that's someone!" She said, looking slightly up to see my face that was in a worried/concerned look. I wasn't very good at handling emotions or deep conversations. Although, I was going to try, until the door opened.
   "Hey! Welcome to Thinking Cup, how can I serve you?" I heard Elise say. Her voice faded out as I looked at the girl who walked in. Brown, long, straight hair, green eyes, a white dress, black leggings, and brown boots on. I was flashed back to the present when the I realized the mystery girl was staring at me.
"Can you make a caramel frappe?" I finally heard Elise saying.
"Yeah... yeah." I managed to stutter out.
She walked over putting her arm around my shoulder in a friendly manner. "You alright?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm good. She is just... really... really..." I started dazing out again as I thought of her.
"Really...?" Elise said, taking the coffee I made and putting it in a cup.
"Pretty," I said. "Can I take her the coffee?"
"O-M-G! Yes! Go get 'em lovebird!" She yell/whispered.
I rolled my eyes, blushing, I took the coffee from her.
"Hey... I'm Zoey." I said, setting her coffee down. She looked up from her computer and smiled.
"Hi Zoey! I'm Ray." She closed her computer slightly to see over it.
   "Mind if I...?" I pointed at the other chair across from her.
   "Yeah go ahead!" I thought she blushed, but I can't tell if her cheeks are naturally rosy or not.
   "Well, hello Ray. What's your favorite color?" I asked trying to start awkward conversation. I didn't really man to, but I guess I zoned in on her eyes. They were a very interesting green. Like, a dark green leaf in spring. I had a hope that I would be able to look in these eyes every day.
   "Well, Zoey," she said in a mocking voice. "My favorite color is purple."
   "How come?" I asked.
   "What do you mean? Because it's... pretty?" She said, seemingly confused. Well, there goes my chance.
   "Well, some people, including myself, have favorite colors based off of a mood it gives off. For example, my favorite color is a clean, sea water blue. It's calming. So, do you have a reason..?" I asked, looking down because I know either seem weird or like a nerd.
   "Well... if you put it that way, purple kinda reminds me of a deeper love." She looked down slightly, making her eyes line up with the top of her computer. Maybe I was making her uncomfortable.
   "That's usually reserved for pink or red, so why purple?" I said. I'm not sure why this conversation was so interesting to me. I think any conversation with Ray would be amazing.
   "Exactly! It's not a normal color to be in place of it," she paused, "it's... special, and different." She glanced at me then looked back down, "sorry..." she seemed to go all shy. Maybe it was the fact she raised her voice a bit?
   "Just like you..." I whispered, while looking down. Maybe loud enough for her to hear, like the idiot I am.
   Her head jerked up almost at once, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you?" She said softly. The way she said it seemed like she heard me. I could hear the smile in her voice.
   "Hey, Zoey! I need you over here!" I heard Elise call to me. I looked up and realized we got a few more costumers. It seemed like everything disappeared when I was talking to Ray. It was relaxing, in a way.
   "Oh, yeah, coming!" I started to get up, but Ray grabbed my wrist and looked at me.
   "Call me." She said, as she put a piece of paper in my hand. I looked down at her to realize she was blushing hard. I decided to make it worse, like I do, "Maybe we could skip that step and I could take you out after work." With that, I went back to the counter, slipping the piece of paper in my pocket. I'm not sure why I said that. I have no clue where the confidence came from. I knew I was blushing really hard, but I didn't care anymore. I want this girl to be mine. I want to wake up in the morning to the smell of her hair. I need to.

A/N
   Sorry for the long wait on this chapter! I got caught up in stuff, I'll try to post more chapters not as far apart. I hope you're enjoying this book at much as I am!