The Green Cloak

Chapter 5: Ew, men

They walked into 'Coffee Break 'n Cake' to grab a quick snack before they had to head home for the day. The local coffee shop was a quant little thing tucked into the backmost corner wall of Market Avenue. With dim lighting and so much character, it could be in a fantasy book. With old beat-up countertops, dull floors, and smelling of coffee beans, it was the girl's favorite place to be on a dreary afternoon.

They entered the shop, the bell above the door rang announcing new customers and the old gray-haired man behind the counter greeted them.

"Welcome to "Coffee Break 'n Cake'. If you need anything just ask." he rasped, clearly having one too many cigarettes in his lifetime. The girls nod in acknowledgment and walk up to the counter to see what they want to eat or drink.

"Oh! They have cake pops! I love cake pops!" Ava blurted while looking at the display case "Or maybe marshmallows cookies? So many choices..."

"Maybe you should get one with a little less sugar."

"Why would I do that?"

"Cause if you have any more sugar, you might explode," Victoria said as if it was the most obvious thing on earth

"Hahaha" Ava whisper yelled with sarcasm dripping from her voice, "You're so funny Victoria, you should be a comedian"

"Thank you," Victoria said sarcastically, "I'm studying the art of comedy. It's harder than you think"

Ava looked back at the sweets, with a nod of confirmation to herself, "I'll get a birthday cake pop and a Cinnamon Roll Frappuccino with extra cinnamon please," looking at Victoria, she asked, "Victoria, what do you want?"

"I'll get the Warm London Fog with two pumps, please"

"That'll be $26,44. Your order will be done shortly" the old man, Nickolas, said.

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Ava was on her phone playing Candy Crush and Victoria was texting her mom that she would be a little late cause the coffee shop was taking a bit when the store bell dinged announcing a new customer.

Ava didn't look away from her phone as the girl was something that didn't interest her but Victoria was intrigued by her. It was the same girl from the bookshop.

"Warm London Fog with two pumps of vanilla for Vicky?" A young man yelled from the counter. There was a shift change in the 15 minutes.

"That's mine," Victoria said walking up to the counter to grab her drink and snack.

The old man then slapped another drink and a cake pop on the counter, "Cake pops and Cinnamon Roll Frappuccino with extra cinnamon for Avery!" he yelled again and then went to go take the pretty girl's order.

"Can I have a coffee to go please?" she asks him

"Anything else?" he asks

"No, thank you"

"Your total is 12.99. Would you like to sign up for our store card?"

"No," she swiped her card

"Are you sure, all you have to do is give me your number" he said with a creepy smile on his face "But if you don't want to, you can just give it to me"

"I'm sure," she said, her eyes starting darting around the room looking for confirmation that she wasn't alone, "Is my coffee done yet?"

"Not yet darling. Where do you work?"

Victoria was watching the interaction with intense concentration, watching and waiting until it was appropriate for her to step in.

"I work at a Crafting Store"

"Which one"

"The Art Box," she said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other "Is my coffee almost done?"

"Just a couple more minutes" he grins, not noticing he was making her uncomfortable, "How old are you?"

Victoria stood up, her wooden chair scraping against the old wood floor, Ava looked at her confused. Victoria tilted her head over to the old man and the girl and Ava had a look of understanding. She exited 'Candy Crush' and pulled up 911, just in case. Victoria walked up to the girl and started talking to her as if she was an old friend.

"Hey, you about ready to go?"

The girl looked confused but then instantly relieved. "Oh my gosh, I didn't see you there! I'm just waiting for my coffee, shouldn't be too long"

"Why don't you sit with us while you wait? We already ordered."

The two girls walked over to where Ava was sitting in the far back corner with her phone still out. Her cake pops were gone and her frappuccino was still half full. Plants were hanging from the skylight and fairy lights intertwined with the ceiling beams. They were sitting at a table with brown wood and white padding. Ava sat on the right side and Victoria and the girl were on the left.

"Thank you so much for saving me, he was being so weird," the girl said as soon as they sat down, "I'm Zoe by the way,"

"It's alright, you would have done the same for us!" Ava said, clearly delighted at making a new friend. "Im Ava and this is Victoria," Ava said in the middle of chewing her cake pop.

"One coffee for Zoe?" the creepy man yelled behind the counter.

Ava and Victoria look at Zoe with concern,

"You want us to go with you?" Victoria questioned Zoe

"I'll be fine, I can handle myself. I'm a big girl" Zoe giggled trying to defuse the situation. It didn't work very well as the two other girls still had worried looks on their faces.

"Are you sure?" Ava asked, her red hair shining in the afternoon light

"We'll go with you anyway" Victoria declared, "Ava and I need to get home anyway"

"Well in that case..." Zoe stood up as her hands smack down on the table

The girls stood up, the chairs scraping against the wood, filling the empty coffee shop with a screeching sound. The girls walked up to the counter. Victoria used the girl her momma gave her and used the resting bitch face to her advantage and glared at the man. Her short black hair poofed around her face, making her look older. You could see the green in the hazel eyes and light freckles in the light. She glared at him as Zoe took the coffee and exited the shop.

"Come on Victoria" Ava yelled as she and Zoe walked out the door,

With one final glance, Victoria walked out of the shop, the door slammed shut behind her.