I Heard A Rumor

Chapter 3: A Spoonful of Sugar

"Is it really this slow on Monday mornings?", I turn to my new coworker, Serena.

I cannot believe that Monday mornings just got even worse. The Senate doesn't convene until 3 in the afternoons on Mondays, so this place is as dead as a graveyard. I ended up getting hired at the Cups and Company cafe in the Russell Senate Office Building, luckily the same building that holds Jon's office. I hadn't seen Jon since we had met a week ago, I was too busy undergoing training for my new job. Restaurant work is no joke, and it's on a whole new level when you're serving some of the most important people in the country. Add that into trying to get close with a Senator.

Serena looks up from the cash register where she's sorting some cash, "Yep, always has been. We call it our case of the Mondays. People don't really start arriving until noon at the earliest on Mondays, but any other day of the week, almost every hour is rush hour, trust me. I've worked here for a year now, I know this place like the back of my hand. Speaking of which,"

I watch as Serena hopes down from the counter and grabs a small notepad in a drawer and hands it to me.

"There's a lot of Senators that have offices here and committees that meet here. I've compiled this 95% accurate list of each senator's coffee schedule. Some of them, mostly Democrats, tip very well so I'd recommend perfecting a few of their coffee preferences."

I glance down the list and audibly groan seeing some of the names, "McConnell, Cruz, Hawley, and Graham are all in this office building? Am I actually in hell?", Serena laughs. "It feels like it most of the time."

My eyes travel down the list to find "Jon Ossoff" written in the bottom. Along side it is:

Coffee preference: decaf, one spoon of sugar, a dash of creamer, black, HOT

Meal preference: grilled cheese sandwich , caesar salad

Regular Schedule-
Monday: 2pm- meal + coffee

Tuesday: 8:30 am- coffee

Wednesday: 12:30pm- meal + coffee

Thursday: 4:00 pm- coffee

Man, I really did hit the jackpot with Serena.

"How in the world did you come up with all of this?"

"Observation. I've been working here for a year part-time along with school. I go to Georgetown Law, I need as much money as I can make. Senators like familiarity, I guarantee you that they will order the same thing most of the time. These people are rich. If you make what they like, all the time, they will tip you good. And hello, jackpot!", she laughs.

I glance back down at the piece of paper with Jon's coffee schedule.

Hello jackpot, indeed.

~~~

Or maybe not.

I just had to meet Josh Hawley in the flesh and it took everything in me not to slap him across the face. At least he tips some.

Serena turned out to be completely right, once noon hits on Monday, it's rush-hour for the cafe. Staffers and senators have just got off of flights to come back for a long week of work. Striking up casual conversation comes naturally to me and I feel at ease. At the Post, I feel like there's always someone watching me from behind my back.

"Autumn, when did you start working here?"

Jon really needs to stop surprising me like this, I might have a heart attack sometime soon.

"Senator Ossoff! Hi! Today's my first day, just picking up some shifts during the day since the Post has been pretty slow lately."

"Don't call me Senator Ossoff, only Republicans call me that. Can I have a black decaf coffee with just one spoonful of sugar, a grilled cheese sandwich, and a caesar salad?"

I giggle a little bit, "No offense, but that's literally the most basic meal I've ever heard. Makes it easy for me though."

Jon tilts his head, "What can I say? I'm a simple man."

~
"Jon! We don't open till 7. Also, don't you have your own office?"

I walk into work only to find Jon sitting on a bench nearby reading a book. Session doesn't even start till 10am today.

"I have an early interview on MSNBC. I just wanted to make sure I was your first customer."

"Well, I guess considering you are a senator, I can grant your request. Just this time though. Do you want coffee?"

"Actually, I was thinking of mixing it up this morning. How about an iced mocha and a bagel?"

I smirk as I turn on the lights and put my stuff down, "Maybe that's 1% less basic than yesterday. Sorry to tell you Jon, I think you'll always just be one basic bitch."

Jon raises his eyebrows in surprise and chuckles, "Now that's no way to talk to a United States Senator."

"My aunt's Amy Klobuchar and I've been around here half my life. I'm not the general public, Jon." Changing the subject, I ask, "What are you reading?"

"It's Gone With the Wind!"

I feel my mind go back to reality as he says it, "I love that book. It was Mom's favorite too, she read it to me when I was a baby even though obviously I had no understanding of it. So, I actually read it to her by her bedside", I pause and look into Jon's eyes. He's genuinely invested in what I'm saying, so I continue. "before she died. She died about a decade ago right before I graduated high school."

Jon's face falls, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry about that Autumn. No one deserves that at all. I'm glad you have such a good support system through Amy, and I'm glad you're here now."

I smile compassionately at him, my heart warm, "I'm glad I'm here too."

~
"Jon! Good job on that speech this morning! You totally ruined Rand Paul's entire career. I honestly don't understand how you work with those people on a daily basis. I can barely bring myself to even serve these people coffee and food."

He nods, "Yeah, and most people in the Senate don't have to deal with international attention during their campaigns. It's still pretty surreal to me."

I smile, "Basic ass coffee, basic ass sandwich, and basic ass salad for you this fine Wednesday afternoon?"

He smirks back, "You know me well."

~
The first thing I see as I'm walking into the WaPo building on Thursday night is Trey running at me.

"Autumn! Oh my god I've missed you so much, it sucks ass here without you. It's so boring."

I happily accept his hug, as much as I've loved my new job, I've missed Trey. "Doesn't it suck here even with me here? I know I'm pretty awesome, but this place is the worst."

"Can't argue with that. Autumn, tell me everything! What's it like working at the Capitol? What's Jon like? Is he hot? Is he nice?"

I laugh. "I can't lie, yes to both of those. But it's actually been pretty great! I'm serving food for some of the most important people in the country, yet there's somehow a lot less pressure there! I'm having fun, Jon's great too! It's so weird going from only seeing all of these people on TV or just writing about them to seeing and talking to them on the daily!"

Trey and I talk some more as he goes over what I've missed on the way to Michael's office, or what we like to call Satan's Butthole.

And Satan's Butthole is hotter than ever today.

Michael cuts right to the chase, "So, do you have anything?"

Sarcastically, I respond, "Yes, I got Jon Ossoff to expose every single one of his secrets to me in just 4 days."

Apparently, Michael woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

"I'm not screwing around here. I don't care how you dig anything up, just do it into weeks. Or you're out of here. And there'll be dire consequences. You're the hot girl in the office, this is the most useful you've been your whole time here. Get your shit together."

Somehow he's even worse than all of the Republican senators I've had to deal with in the past 4 days.