Coffee at 23:45

Chapter One - Americano

Rose poured a tablespoon of cinnamon into her mug, added vanilla syrup, brewed chai, and stirred until she saw the amber colour darken. She added steamed milk and finalized her drink with a sprinkle of dried coconut on top.  The aroma of her usual drink gave her a sense of comfort. She can't help but sigh happily when she sipped this kind of black tea that she called, Chaitastic.

"Chaitastic." She murmurred to herself and smiled at how silly it sounded when it is said out loud.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" Asked Holly, one of the baristas that Rose hand-picked herself.

Holly, a responsible young woman whose only main focus is her studies, stood at exactly six feet tall, making her look intimidating as she towers over Rose. Holly proved herself to be consistent with her good work ethic and problem solving skills. Rose saw so much potential and committed in hiring this young woman.

Holly was untying her black apron and looked at Rose with a crinkle on her forehead.

"I'm going to be fine." Said Rose while giving her a bright smile in reassurance. 

"This is your first graveyard shift alone, I just want to make sure." Said Holly while pulling out a notepad from her back pocket. "I made a list of what needs to be done."

"You're making it sound like I'm hopeless. I do own this coffee shop, you know." Rose said, now chuckling but was internally relieved because she does not know where to start.

"Boss, I love you dearly but you forget a lot of things." Holly said while ripping the pages of paper from her notepad and giving it to Rose.

It was true that Rose forgot to brew batches of cold brew one night last summer, back when they launched their new Sonic Brew (cold brew). Sonic Brew was advertised but none was sold.

Or that one night during fall last year, Rose had forgotten to bake batches of Pumkin Delight, Lip-Smakcing Carrot, and Winterberry Frost, the three most popular muffins were nonexistent the day after and customers were angry.

There were more forgetful occurrences like these in the past but Rose stopped herself from thinking back. Those where the times when Rosetta, the coffee shop named after her by her late aunt, lost money drastically.

"The Sonic Brew accident won't happen again, I promise!"

Holly gave her a stare.

"Holly come on! I'll be fine. You need to worry about your studies. Now shoo. Let me work."

"Yes, okay fine... Thanks." Said Holly, a sigh escaping from her lips.

Rose stared at the list and was impressed because some of them she did not even think about. Just like, refill handsoap in bathrooms. Rose was so impressed at how Holly was so detailed-oriented. It was one of the main reasons why she hired her.

"I'll be writing an essay all night, so I'm staying in the café for a while. Just remember to do everything on this list." Holly said again.

Rose read the list once more and shrugged her shoulders.

"Easy." She whistled confidently.

Holly gave her another one of her stares. It was as if she was saying, please don't mess it up.

The whole situation made Rose laugh and reassured the young woman before her that everything will go smoothly. It was funny to Rose, thinking that it should be the other way around.

"Now go write that essay. I promise I won't bother you." Rose said, and ushering Holly to move away from behind the counter.

Holly nodded her head but the crinkle in her forehead was still there. She busied herself by occupying a table in the corner of the café and setting down her books and laptop.

Rose tied up her dark curly hair, put an apron on, and finally washed her hands before getting to work. First on her list was to make the cold brew and so she head towards the back of the shop and carried bags of beans to the coffee grinder section.

The café barely has any customers right at midnight but a lot of student stop by a few hours before that to get their extra boost of caffeine as a study treat. Rosetta, is close to the university and public library making it the perfect place for students to write their paper because of the free wifi. The hospital is close as well, and so they get a lot of EMTs, doctors, nurses, etc.

The loud grinding noise from the coffee grinder started, but the aroma of the dark crushed beans spread throughout the shop. Rose watched the machine work for a while, and checked the time. 23:45. They're open for another 45 minutes. She turned the grinder off that she realized she has a customer waiting patiently.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'll be right there." Rose said apologetically as she quickly made her way to the front.

Rose smiled at the woman about her age, maybe older- wearing blue scrubs underneath a black leather jacket. The woman was wearing a black ball cap, her red hair hiding underneath it. There were dark circles under her green eyes, and she stared at Rose tiredly.

"How are you?" Asked Rose.

The woman looked at her oddly and didn't answer. Rose's smile didn't falter and she asked,

"What can I get started for you tonight?"

"Regular americano." The woman said. "Three extra shots."

"Alright, for sure!" Rose said cheerfully. "Going to work?"

The woman looked at Rose oddly again.

"Those three extra shots are needed when working nights." Rose commented and tried to continue small talk, but the woman just stared back blankly. "Anything else I could get you?"

"No, just the americano." Replied the woman blankly, and rubbing her eyes awake.

"Can I get your name for your order?" Asked Rose.

"I'm the only one here. You can just hand it to me without my name." Said the woman with a harsh tone followed by a frown. She looked around and saw that Holly, was working in the corner of the café and said, "Nevermind."

"It's a way for us to connect with customers in the future when they come back." Said Rose, her smile still not faltering and pushing away the feeling of annoyance.

"ABC." Said the woman.

Rose looked up at her with a grin.

"I have a friend named DEF, are you related by any chance?"

The woman narrowed her tired eyes at Rose, a spark of amusement was seen but it was gone immediately.  Rose on the other hand cringed internally at her corny joke hoping that the woman would just give her a damn name.

"Harlow." The woman finally said.

"Thank you." Rose said, "It'll be ready in a few."

Rose immediately cued seven shots of espresso as per requested and put a sleeve on a to-go cup labeling it Harlow. She took a peek at the grumpy woman and thought that maybe she was just having a bad night. As she waits for the espresso to pour in the shot glass, Rose took hold of a pair of tongs and grabbed a peach cream danish from the glass case and put it in a paper bag. She labeled that Harlow as well.

Quick moments later, the drink is ready and so Rose covered it with a lid and called out,

"Harlow, I have your drink and pastry ready!"

"I only ordered an americano." The woman said, now frowning at Rose. "I'm not paying for that."

"It's on the house." Rose said, a nerve threatening to pop out on her forehead.

"Oh." Harlow was speechless, and took her coffee and pastry.

Kill them with kindness. Said Rose in her head over and over again as she watched the tired woman leave.

_______

AN:

Hi. It's been a minute.