An Espresso shot

1

(3rd POV)

Life is full of surprises, and headaches. Sometimes, you just want to rip your head apart and pull your brain out and shake it so hard to make it work as intended. That's the feeling Ukraine would describe feeling currently. Her brain isn't working properly.

But she knows, if she doesn't go and study her ass off, she would get kick out of the University. She's so close to reaching her goals as well, so close in getting her bachelor degree and dancing on her dead father's grave for not believing in her. 

Her friends accuse that she is only getting this physics degree just for that, to rub it in her dead father's headstone. But she shrugs it off. You need something to keep you pushing to your goal, that's her personal business. 

Every Saturday, to get closer to her plans, she would go to a little coffee shop. Cliché, right? Well, it's the cheapest she could find, so what other choice does she has? And the same boy always greets her, a wave to her as the bell rang. The same smile for the regulars. 

His name tag is worn, probably either from how long he worked in the coffee shop, or the shop was so poor that they use the same tag for everyone. But with white marker, Canada was written on it. An attempt of writing in cursive, a failed attempt, but one none the less. 

"Hi, one espresso shot, please?" Ukraine asks as she walks up to the counter, her heavy books in hand since she was in a rush. 

"Like the usual?" Canada smiles and tilts his head to the right. By the usual he means to not even bother giving her a small milk container nor sugar. With a nod, their interaction ends. 

Ukraine finds her usual spot and takes a seat. A place far to the corner of the room. Her social interaction is easily drainable and being in the corner means less people will come and talk to her. It also means less distraction. As she places her books on the table, a heavy thud forms from it. With a slight embarrassment, she looks around but sees that no one was paying attention to the sound.

She knows her anxiety is something she needs to take care, but her excuse is always, I don't have the time. Who could blame her? The stress builds up over time. 

She flips open her books and prepares her station as Canada gently places the singular shot of espresso. He always wonders how she could enjoy such a drink. He much prefers a hot mocha with extra cinnamon dust sprinkled on top. The foam would be the perfect mustache over his upper lip, it matches with his white hair that he dyes over the years. A green tint visible on the ends of his rebellious strands hair.

She simply looks up with her pupils and smiles at him as a thanks. The less words, the better. She looks back down to her papers and Canada couldn't help but be nosy for a bit. He looks down at the open textbooks, on the corner of the page is written her name. Her cursive much better than his. No matter how hard he tries to remember the regulars names, hers is one that he would forget often. 

"Ukraine." He whispers under his breath to try and remember and in response, Ukraine looks back up to him, unsure if she misheard or what. But Canada swiftly shakes his head, taking a step back from the table.

"Enjoy." He nods at her and turns his back at her, embarrassed that he accidentally said it out loud. Ukraine didn't think much of it and is quick to continue to write down her notes. 

The shop is always slow paced. Mindless floor sweeping is the definition of the job. At least the view is nice, that's what Canada would say. He would just stare outside of the big windows as he waits for the coffees to finish brewing. Outside, he wishes to be outside. But life is a headache, and sometimes he wishes he could pull his brain out so it would stop pounding so roughly. 

Ukraine grips her hair tightly out of annoyance. Her shot already drowned down her throat. The bitter aftertaste lingers on the back of her throat. She feels heavy, heavy heart and shoulders. Not even those so called meditation videos could help her. The numbers jumbled up into a ball of mess as she stares at them, not really doing anything about them. They start to vibrate, maybe she had accidentally summon a curse! Surely that would be a good excuse to not take the final test of the year.