ᴀᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴘᴀᴅᴇꜱ

Hello Again

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You checked your watch and blew out a raspberry in boredom when you realized only three minutes had passed since you clocked into work. You hadn't actually remembered how bad working part-time in a cafe was until you had done it again. You weren't in any position to complain though, given the fact that this job was keeping you financially afloat.

You heaved out a heavy sigh and got to work on preparing a new order for a customer who had just entered.

When your other co-worker rounded the corner, you perked up and offered her a knowing smile. She caught your look and came to the front.

"You seem to be doing fairly well considering that it's your first day here." She commented on your lack of nervousness as a new worker here. The way you had walked around with relative ease and a familiarity unknown to a newbie must have been what she had noticed.

"Yeah, well, not my first rodeo. I worked in a cafe similar to this one back in high school. Although, that cafe was much less crowded than this one."

The mint-head did one of those exhale-laughs as she began preparing a customer's order. "Can't disagree with that. Without their daily intake of coffee, these caffeine-addicted fiends might go insane. Can you really blame them though? This is college for fucks sake. Without something keeping you grounded, you might as well go off the deep end." She shrugged.

"No doubt about that." You chuckled, "but replace caffeine with strawberry milk and you've got me. Without my intake of it, I usually go insane."

The other gave you an odd look when you suggested that, as if picking strawberry milk was somehow worse than choosing coffee, which was adjacent to comparing an android to an iPhone. It wasn't that they were bad, necessarily, it was just a matter of preference, something that she didn't seem to comprehend.

"You mean to tell me that you'd pick an artificial, sugary beverage over coffee? That's a no-no for me."

"Any day." You shot back. "Besides, I don't see any real problem with that. Plus, it's healthier in the long run."

"Humor me for a second," Your co-worker turned on you and clasped her hands together, giving her an authoritative appearance as she asked cooly, "So, you can't hold your liquor, and you can't down caffeine--what exactly can you stomach?"

You gave off a nervous laugh, "What does that have to do with strawberry milk?"

You could have sworn her words had a condescending tilt to them, but you didn't want to look that far into it for fear of misunderstanding her words. Perhaps there was another meaning to them, one that was less derogatory and more inquisitive.

"Woah, that came out of the blue," You exclaimed with slight confusion, "Where did that come from? And, to be blunt, I don't recall drinking alcohol recently."