in every universe (one shot-s) | JENLISA

i'd drink shitty coffee for you

When it happens for the very first time, Jennie is shocked more than anything else.

Thing is, Noonan's, despite being one of the only two cafés on the street, really isn't The Place™ to be at lunch hour... or any hour, for that matter.

For one, it's right in front of a Starbucks, and most of their targeted customer base doesn't spare a second glance at their beaten up old storefront.

Secondly, it's pretty universally known—especially if their one star Yelp reviews are anything to go by—how absolutely shitty their service is. Which Jennie can attest to, being one of the shitty servers and all.

It's not an exaggeration either is the sad part: their coffee grinder hasn't worked properly in months, their machine is wonky at best; too old and too complex to really be reliable and the only chef at the afternoon shift quit when things started spiralling uncontrollably.

And even though Jack and her were a hell of a duo, two geniuses sadly do not equal one competent baker.

Not to get it wrong, Noonan's isn't ripping anyone off for these delicacies or anything. All the items on their menu are cheap as fuck, discounted and then some, have to be when they don't get any business—ideal for most salaried employees.

But an average customer would still like what goes in their stomach to be FDA approved, right? Noonan's... very much does not guarantee that.

It's not even a café on most days, if there's any cross-checking involved with a dictionary open. It's barely a café, a sad attempt at a knockoff if you will, like it was trying to be one but then the Starbucks opened and it just stopped giving a fuck.

Their management clearly stopped caring long ago, knew it was game over already and that has been that ever since for Noonan's fate. No shot for revival, just an excruciating wait till doomsday.

All of which boils down to one thing: Noonan's is barely wobbling on its last leg, teetering over the edge of a complete shutdown—the absolute definition of an unreliable job, with that sort of knowledge looming over as a threat(/blessing?).

Which should've been a problem, in the grander picture, to any sane person. But also, to Jennie, it really isn't a problem whatsoever, on practically any level.

Infact, from her perspective, it's the exact opposite of a problem, a total non-issue, and it sort of even makes Noonan's the perfect place for her to work at because a) it's always empty, b) their requirements for hiring are... extremely low so it's virtually impossible to mess it up and c) she gets to earn some extra cash with zero work, which is always a plus ever since she's been cut off.

Not that she needs a lot of motivation anyway because pretty much any activity that spites her mother is already pre-approved in Jennie's to-do list, and that's reason enough, but working at Noonan's has more benefits than just that.

Mainly, the entire reason she works here, despite all the other advantages, is because she gets to spend more time with her best friend Jack (a Master's degree is no joke, okay? They're not really big on time these days) who had been working here since before Jennie's and Noonan's financial downfall, and disregarding any further considerations, she couldn't find a reason why not when Jack asked her to tag along.

So, yeah. Noonan's isn't Jennie's least favourite place by a long shot but that doesn't mean literally any other human being with half a brain would choose to enter its premises.

Seriously, it's a shitty place beyond Jennie's personal agenda, beyond what her own pro vs con list can explain away. A shitty, shitty place that Jennie thinks is a miracle has managed to sustain itself for so long. So shitty she wouldn't even wish coming here to her worst enemies. Maybe except some people. But—that bad.