The Midnight Brew

Why am I friends with you again?

"I fucked my way into this mess, I'll fuck my way out of it!" Esther remarked about a random situation that had happened earlier that day.

Raine just sighed, while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Esther, for the love of god, shut up," Noelle dryly said. "Who allowed her to be the barista of this coffee shop?"

"Noelle, be nice. You aren't exactly quiet either." Willow softly said.

Ethan steps out of the breakroom, ready to scold Esther for being loud as hell. Being the non speaking brother that he is, it terrified anyone who heard him speak. Well, kinda. He only talks when he's angry but it really hurts his throat. He can't hear very well either, so that's why the other four learned sign language. He walks into the front of the coffee shop where the four girls were.

"Esther," Ethan began. "Lower your god damn voice before I decide to rip your voice box out."

All four people stopped talking and slowly turned towards Ethan's direction. Raine and Esther gulped, while Willow and Noelle turned pure white. Ethan walked back into the breakroom, obviously irritated. Once they heard the door close, they started talking again.

"Jesus Chirst," Noelle started, still nervous. "Now I see why he doesn't talk much, if at all."

Willow just nodded. She was shaking just enough to notice.

"Yeah, he can be scary," Esther said hastily. "But if you've lived with him for as long as I have, you'd still be scared."

Willow shook even more after hearing that.

"Esther, don't you have a job to do?" Raine questioned.

"It's not even time to open up the coffee shop yet." Esther answered.

Raine just sighed again. Noelle, then, stood up and stretched a bit.

"Can you, please, just open the shop? I'm starving." Noelle whined.

Esther just looked at her, raising her eyebrow.

"Noelle. This is a coffee shop. Not a restaurant like the one down the street." Esther started, "If you're hungry, quickly run down the street and eat something before they close."

Noelle puffed out her cheeks and sat down again. Clearly not happy with what Esther said. Willow fidgeted with her shirt sleeves, still anxious. Esther looked over at her, sighed, and stood up.

"I guess I'll open up the shop early. I need to drink some coffee, anyway."

Raine slightly smiled and walked to the door. She flipped the sign over, so that the sign now said "OPEN". Raine went over to the counter and stood there, waiting for Esther to go behind the counter, so she could order something. Esther, slowly but surely, made it behind the counter. She glared at Raine, who was just standing there.

"What do you want? Coffee or something to eat?" Esther, annoyingly, asked.

"Hmm," Raine began. "I'll have my normal drink but I do want a bagel this time."

Esther blinked twice before walking to the breakroom and knocking on the door.

"Ethan, the shop's open."

She could hear Ethan groan a little bit. She stepped aside and waited for him to exit the breakroom. When Ethan exited the room, looked at Esther for a split second, and walked to the front of the shop. He looked towards Raine and signed, 'You want your normal order?'. Raine nodded her head and signed back, 'And I'd like a bagel this time.'.

Esther walked behind the counter again and grabbed the bagel Raine wanted. She put the bagel in a small paper bag and handed Raine her bagel.

"Your bagel, my dear friend." Esther grinned.

"Shut up." Raine responded.

Esthers' grin faltered and she, now, had an annoyed look on her face. Ethan turned around from the coffee machine and handed Raine's hot coffee. Raine smiled and signed, 'Thank you.'. Ethan just nodded before turning back around and cleaning up the small mess he had made.

"Noelle, Willow, do you want something?" Esther called out.

Noelle's eyes brightened and skipped to the counter, with Willow walking behind.

"I'd like an iced, Ristretto, 10 shot, venti, with breve, 5 pump vanilla, 7 pump caramel, 4 Splenda, poured, not shaken." Noelle beamed.

The other four looked at her with a blank face. Esther slapped her face.

"Noelle. You do know that this isn't Starbucks, right?" Willow questioned.

"Well yeah. I just thought that they'd be able to make a complicated drink like that." Noelle smirked.

Esther sighed and went to Ethan and signed, 'I'll make Noelle's drink. She made it complicated again. You take over the register.'. He nodded and switched places with Esther.

'Hey Ethan? Can I have some water and a cookie?' Willow signed to Ethan.

Ethan gave a small smile and nodded. He went to the small fridge and grabbed a water bottle. He walked back to the counter, put down the drink, and grabbed a cookie from the display shelf. Ethan, then, put the cookie in a paper bag and handed Willow the paper bag and the water bottle.

'Thank you.' Willow signed again.

"Noelle, here's your complicated ass drink. I hope it tastes like shit." Esther almost slammed the drink onto the counter and walked back to the machine that was a lot messier than intended to be.

"Thanks Esther. You're so nice." Noelle said, aggravated.

It had been hours since they opened and, to no one's surprise, no one else came into the shop that night. Raine, Willow, and Noelle left the shop at 4 AM, saying their 'goodbyes' and 'see you laters'. Esther and Ethan began closing up the coffee shop at 5 AM. They both left to go back to their apartments and to go to bed.