Before it's Too Late - staig

Single chapter

Craig stares at the kitchen wall as he waits for his hot chocolate to be ready and the toast to pop out of the toaster, all while he prepares for another day at work. When the toast is finally ready — it's just the right amount of golden brown — he places it on a plate and spreads a generous amount of homemade strawberry jam on it, a gift from his mother. The chocolate is ready in no time.

Craig sits down at the little table in the corner of the room, a round table with just one chair. There's no need for more than one chair when he lives alone all the time. The table is made of white wood and stands out against the navy blue wall of the room. When Craig isn't using it, on the table he leaves a small pot with a fake plant, a succulent that looks like a flower with several petals — also a present from his mother. He takes a sip of his chocolate and looks out of the window next to him, the strategically positioned table providing a perfect view of the street, which is practically empty.

He's in no hurry at all. He eats his toast slowly, sips his chocolate slowly, watches the street without worrying about the time. His routine has been the same for two months: he wakes up at six, showers, gets dressed. At 6:40 he starts preparing his coffee, at 7:10 he finishes eating, then he feeds his guinea pig and finishes getting ready. At ten past seven he leaves the house, at forty past seven he arrives at work — all this when he's on foot, because when he has to use his car or bicycle, he has the luxury of an extra fifteen minutes' sleep.

Craig looks at the clock on his cell phone. It's ten past seven. As always, his plate and cup are empty, with only crumbs of toast and the chocolate precipitated at the bottom of the cup.

He gets up to leave the dishes in the sink, goes to the bathroom and brushes his teeth, puts on his jacket, changes his slippers for his pair of blue All Stars, puts his typical blue chullo on his head and heads to the kitchen again to get his guinea pig's food from the cupboard in the right-hand corner. He puts the food in its bowl, strokes behind its ears, smiles. He washes the dishes he's used, picks up the car keys hanging by the door and leaves his comfortable apartment.

When the sound of his footsteps on the wooden floor is replaced by the sound of his footsteps on the concrete, Craig takes a deep breath and concentrates to continue.

He walks calmly through downtown Denver, heading towards the university part of the city. It's thirty minutes to work, he manages to listen to about ten songs and arrive once again, without being late, at Oasis.

Caffeine Oasis, popularly known simply as Oasis, is a coffee shop near the University of Denver. Every day, students from all backgrounds show up to spend their money on coffees, pastries, hot chocolates and juices while enjoying the peaceful surroundings.

Craig loves the place with all his heart, mainly because he always has a good story to tell at the end of the day. Craig got the job quite easily because his cousin, Red, took over the coffee shop after her mother passed away. She offered the job to Craig, who accepted on the spot — after Craig went to college to study physics, with the sole aim of working at NASA, he went looking for a job to pay for his expenses, such as rent, day-to-day necessities and college. It took a while to get used to the different pace of the city, totally different from the small country town Craig grew up in, but things soon settled down and Craig adapted to his new life.

It's been just over two months since Craig moved from South Park to Denver, but only a week since classes started. In the first few weeks of school, the flow of customers is very small, so Craig is the only employee for the time being, apart from Red herself, who said she would soon get another employee to help with the customers. Before Craig, the person who helped Red in the café was a girl called Wendy, but she left for another city when she graduated.