Cloud nine (Romance)

Chapter 3: Coffee Time

(Pov Minh) 

A few days pass at the coffee shop. The time seems to drag on even slower than before. The only thing keeping my hopes up is the thought of getting home, relaxing, and having some time to myself. It's not that I don't enjoy working at the coffee shop, it is something that actually motivates me. It's just that business has been slow lately. Most of my day is just spent staring into space, waiting for someone to walk in. I am in the middle of one of these daydreams, when I notice someone waiting in line.

I hastily move to the counter, straightening out my apron as I get closer. "Welcome to Coffee Cloud Nine, my name is Minh. How can I-" As my eyes reached the customer, I noticed it was the same guy that passed through a few days ago. "Hey Minh. I was just in the area, and had a hankering for something sweet." He says in a nervous tone. "Anything you can recommend to me?" It was at that moment that I completely forgot everything on the menu. My eyes drift off as I try to remember, while I zone out for a few moments. "You ok?" He asked, bringing me back to reality. "Try the Vietnamese Coffee!" I blurt out suddenly, almost startled. "It's one of my favorites on the menu," I say while making a shy, nervous smile.

"I'll get a Vietnamese coffee and..." His eyes turn to the display case below, as he scans the different items. Almost licking his lips. "I'll also get the Tiramisu!" He says as his eyes dart back up, making contact with mine. "Well, you must really like your coffee!" I say in a joking manner, while turning to prepare the items. "Yeah, I drink coffee all throughout the day. Keeps me focused" He says as I finish making the coffee. I take the coffee and the tiramisu to the counter. "One Vietnamese coffee and one tiramisu, the total comes to $11.54. Will you be paying cash or card?" I ask. "I'll pay with a card." He replies while inserting one into the card reader, nearly dropping the card as he brings it over. He finishes the transaction by signing his name on the pad, I look over. "Max"

"Do you want a receipt?" I asked, as the transaction was finishing. He shakes his head no. His dark brown eyes dart to the side, as he starts scratching the back of his neck. "Hey, I just remembered. My friend asked me to invite someone to be my teammate in a group game night. My usual teammate is out of State right now...." He pauses. "Would you be my teammate?" He says in a somber but somewhat cheery tone. I beamed up with a nod. "So who's coming?" I say with my head slightly tilted. "Two friends I've known for a long time. I'd say sometime around highschool." "Y'know the guy I was talking to briefly yesterday in that gray hoodie?" "That's one of them, his name is Tyler." "And there's another girl, her name's Naomi." I suddenly got excited as I realized I'm about to get accompanied by these new names.

Max suddenly gets a call on his phone, his ringtone interrupting a moment of faint silence between us. He pulls his phone out and looks at the name of the caller. "Speak of the devil, it's Tyler!" He exclaims cheerfully before answering the call. "Hey, bro! Ready for me to break your winning streak tonight?" Max says in a confident tone. A moment of silence passes before Max states. "Well, we can just reschedule for sometime later." "I can probably borrow a few games from a friend's house" I overhear the conversation. Raising my voice, I exclaimed to Max. "We have a few board games here! If you want, we can have it here!" Max turns and gives an appreciative smile and thumbs up before returning to his conversation "Hey, my friend just said we can have it at the cafe. "She said that there are a few board games here." He pauses. "Yeah, the same cafe we were at the other day." Another moment passes. "Hey Minh, what time do you want them to come over?" I glance over at Max. "7 PM should be fine, I'll make us some drinks!" I say cheerfully. "7 PM, be there or be square!" "See you, bro," Max exclaims cheerfully before hanging up. "So, what's the game plan? I say to Max jokingly. Max turns to me, and states. "We are going to demolish Tyler's winning streak!"

Time passes and I hear faint laughter in the distance, accompanied by the sound of ongoing rain. I see a young man and woman looking around the room. The man was slightly fit with a comically thin tank top and then the same silver hoodie. Shortly after, Max and Tyler did this childish but charming hand shake. The girl next to Tyler looked at me and we awkwardly but shortly hugged. As she pulled away, a loud rumble of thunder was heard, causing her to yelp and shiver before looking to see where the sound came from. "Sorry, I'm a bit skittish" She softly laughs before looking back at me, her face showing she was slightly embarrassed. We share a slight smile before returning to the rest of the group. The rain continues.

After greeting each other, we all sat down shortly. My sister, Alex, approached the table with tiramisu and Vietnamese coffee. "So why ya' got that apron on.. d'ya work here?" Naomi said with a puzzling tone. "Y~yes" I said awkwardly. "Why am I so shy?" I thought to myself quietly. I pulled out a game with the name "How many have I?". Everyone's eyes widened. I explained how the game worked. "How this game works is we choose someone random to go first, they draw a random card in the pile and read it aloud, then they must say how many times they have done what is on the prompt." I continued, "For example, if the card said [I have contracted aids] I would say three because I've contracted aids three times" I say in a very satirical and comical tone.

Everyone started bursting out of laughter and we proceeded to let Naomi go first. She pulled up a random card face down with the phrase [I have drunk called someone] . We all looked at her with intrigue... "two," she said. "Once to my mom, and once to my ex-boyfriend, now my current boyfriend. I slightly gasped, I guess this was common knowledge because they were not shocked. It was my turn now. I slip a card from the pile laying on the table and it says...