Moonchild

CHAPTER TEN

The customers kept coming in since half past nine in the morning, and for our own luck, their orders were, oddly as it could be, pretty much the same as every order we successfully did since I arrived in the morning: one freddo espresso, black with no sugar, and one freddo cappuccino medium in sugar, with some nonfat milk. Cypriot people really knew how to be unique with their orders, but I couldn't complain about it. After hundreds of freddo espressos and freddo cappuccinos I did today, I was extremely fast. And I wasn't even using my power.

'I'm impressed,' Pani said to me when the last customer left with yet another freddo espresso and two freddo cappuccinos, 'I was starting to worry when I saw the line of customers stretching out of the shop and around the corner. I mean, you only had that one day of training. And, I hadn't a clue about being here alone with you as my barista. I had no idea. No one informed me.'

'What can I say? I've a gift.'

I started to wink, but failed and blinked both eyes. She snorted with laughter.

It was well after twelve, and the shop was empty. The sun was pouring in through the windows of the three-quarter glass of the entrance doors. Pani went inside the office, so I took a wet rag and wiped the tables inside the coffee shop. By the moment I was done, and the tables were spotless, I heard my stomach growling. Unable to contain myself, I went behind the bar counter, and snacked an oat bar. As soon as I finished it, Pani emerged from the office.

'Let's clean up a bit, and...' she looked around, more skeptical than before and then she looked towards me. 'Actually, let's go smoke first and then clean up. Mark can't come back in anyway, so we'll put the "Be Right Back" sign on the door.'

I stood and waited for her to notice that I wiped the tables already, and, as if she read my mind, she glanced at them, run a finger over the surface of the nearest table and then looked towards me and nodded in amazement.

'C-mon then, Lucas. Let's go smokey,' then she winked and said, 'and that's how you do it.'

'Show-off.'

When we both lit up our cigarettes, we started talking about the day so far, mainly her saying again how impressed she was by my speed, and that she never saw anyone finishing beverages that fast. She said "it was as if my prayers have been answered." Then after I giggled like a school boy she said that Mr. Mark hired some really slow baristas that couldn't keep up with her speed on the till, and the shop needed to be fast and keep the clients satisfied in order for them to come back again. Afterwards, we smoked our cigarettes in silence, while staring at the sky. The sun was well up now, and I was extremely glad for wearing a t-shirt and not a hoodie.

When I came here to work today I wanted to run by Pani what I saw yesterday, but the fact that Mr. Mark was arrested yesterday meant that there was no one to open up the shop in the morning. So when I arrived here, I saw Pani struggling to serve a long line of customers. I jumped in the bar, and started making the beverages. By the moment the hours passed as if minutes, I forgot about what I wanted to talk to her about, and since I remembered...

'Where's Mr. Mark?' I asked.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell her that I saw him yesterday being dragged towards the police car. If I let her know that, she would think that as a new employee I would have come earlier to help her, but if I didn't let her know of what I saw, then I would be an innocent barista who, as I remembered my contract as a new barista clearly, I came on time, and when I saw that she was in need of help, I jumped inside the bar.

She stayed silent for a few seconds, and then said 'Jail.' She put out her cigarette, but lit another one. As soon as I saw Marlboro Touch on her cigarette pack, she added 'He was arrested.'