Daddy Issues

53 [old] - Love & Latte's

'So you don't have any experience,' Chloe says. The skepticism in her voice is making me a little nervous.

'What makes you think you'd be any good at being a barista?'

I'm in a small office at the back of Love & Latte's and I've been talking to Chloe for about 10 minutes now. I'm nervous. But I'm keeping a smile plastered to my face to try and hide it.

'Well, I've been told I have good people skills,' I tell her. 'I love meeting new people, so I think I'd be able to offer that customer experience, you know? And I'm a pretty fast learner. Like, 2 weeks ago I couldn't cook to save my life but I got into it and I made a great lasagna yesterday.'

'You couldn't cook until 2 weeks ago?' Chloe asks sharply. Shit, maybe that wasn't the right thing to say.

'Um, no,' I say meekly. 'It was never necessary. But I've discovered the joy in it, so now I'm learning. I just love learning new things.'

My smile comes out nervously. I really need this job. I really need an income. I just hope Chloe will give me a chance.

Chloe gives me a small smile, but she still seems skeptical. That does nothing to calm my nerves.

I missed Dan when I woke up this morning, though it was great to catch up with Mel. Even if she made it clear again and again that she doesn't approve of everything that's going on with Dan. She still loves me and that's all that matters to me.

She offered me lots of words of support for the job interview and when I called Dan, he did the same. So I try to think about the both of them in order not to let my nerves get the best of me.

'You told me that you quit med school,' Chloe says. 'Can you tell me why you did that?'

'Sure.'

I wring my hands together to hide my nerves.

'I discovered that it was not the right path for me. It wasn't that I couldn't do it, because I was passing, but it just... it made me miserable. And I knew that if I continued with it, I would be miserable for all those years in med school to come and then I'd be trained in a profession that I didn't love. It was a very hard decision because it took a lot of work to get there and I didn't take it for granted. But ultimately, I thought it would be better to change careers now than to waste many more years or be miserable for the rest of my life.'

Chloe leans forward and squints her eyes at me a little.

'Let me ask you something. Who decided that you should go to med school?'

'Um, what do you mean?' I ask confused.

'Was it your idea?' she asks. 'Or did someone push you?'

'Oh,' I say. 'To be honest, it was my mother's idea.

'And how did she react when you told her you were dropping out?'

'Not good,' I shrug uncomfortably.

Chloe smiles a little, which doesn't really make sense to me. Then she leans back in her chair again.

'I get it,' she tells me. 'My parents are both lawyers and they wanted the same for me. But that never appealed to me. When I told them I was following my dreams and opening my own coffee shop, they thought I was crazy.'

'Oh, I didn't realize you owned this place!' I exclaim.

'I do,' she says proudly. 'So I think you did a brave thing, following your heart.'

'Thank you,' I say, feeling a little shy with the praise.

'But going from med school to barista, that's a pretty big leap. Are you sure this is what you want to do?'