Heart of Sun

1: Too Early.

Eight in the morning. My alarm was basically wailing at me to get up or I'll be late for work. I groaned, throwing a hand down on the annoying piece of shit. It was too damn early for this.

It took me about an hour to get ready anyways, which included a shower and a series of skin and hair care products. Regular routine. When i was finished it took me about a few extra minutes to actually get dressed and in my car. It was clear that I had to rush a bit, despite me having a few appointments today so I should really stay home, but I did it anyways.*

When I got to work, I immediately clocked in and cleaned a few counters, waiting for the rest of my employees. Yes, I said 'my' employees. Owning a cafe would've probably been out of character for me if I was 4 years younger, but whatever pays.

In the mist of me contemplating quitting this entire thing, one of my 'employees' walked through the doors, the little bell above it making me aware of her presence. "Marie." I spoke, not looking up as I was still focusing on prep.

"Payne." The short woman responded, making her way behind the counter. She slid her apron on and tied it tightly in the back, making sure it wouldn't fall at all during work. "You look like shit. What happened to you?"

I paused what I was doing for a moment to stare her down for a moment. I knew I looked tired, but she didn't have to say it like that. "I woke up late this morning. When did you become a dick?" I asked, which only resulted in Marie laughing it off and shaking her head.

We spent a few hours to prep before the shift actually started and opened shop. It was my time to stand at the register today, so obviously that's what I did. Kind of scared on what we'd encounter today. Hopefully it won't be too insane. After a few, the door opened and a tall man walked through the door. He was staring down at his phone and walking towards the counter. Would've been interesting if he just slipped and fell on his ass for not paying attention, but it's not like I could laugh anyways.

"Excuse me. Can I get a uh.." The man began, lifting his eyes from the distraction and looking up at the menu behind me. I stood quiet for a moment, just staring up at him. He looked young but he was tall. He also looked like he'd pop a random old man in the face for breathing too damn close—

"Caramel frappe. Extra caramel."

My thoughts were cut off by his words, and I slowly nodded, giving him a hum. Couldn't tell if he was going to whack me in the back of the head for being too damn quiet or actually turn out a nice kid. I walked back towards Marie and gave her his order, occasionally looking at the front door as a few more people came in to sit down or stand in line behind the kid waiting for his drink. Normal day.

After a bit, I was able to bring the cup back to the kid, holding a sharpie in my hand. "Name for the order?" I asked, using my teeth to lightly pull the lid off of the marker and attach it to its head. "Koko is fine."

"That's an odd name for a human being." I spat out accidentally. In all honesty, I didn't really give a fuck. It was an odd name to me, but not in a bad way. I proceeded to write his name down and hand him his coffee, taking his cash.

"You always this rude—" The 'Koko' dude started, only to be stopped by a hard shove as a rather short woman pushed past him aggressively. Is she practicing for football? This wasn't a field. "Hi again! You probably don't remember me. I order the same thing every week?"

Shit, I didn't remember her. I scratched the back of my neck, trying to grab the memories from the depths of my brain at this point. "Sorry, I don't remember you miss." I said in a mumble, but audible enough for her to hear it.

"White chocolate frappe, extra whipped cream, and a cinnamon roll? How could you forget this face?" The way she spoke was fast. And annoying. Kind of like how they speak in Disney movies. She was waving her hands and arms around while she spoke, like an animation. It wouldn't be much of a problem if she didn't knock the guy's drink out of his hand in the process. Mind you, he just bought it.

"Goddammit." Koko grumbled, holding the empty cup and staring at the brown stain on his nicely white shirt. I sighed, turning around to shout to Marie since her slow ass was still in the back. "Marie! Get your tiny ass out here and help me with this shit."

"I'm coming, I'm coming— what the fuck happened to him?" Marie asked in a whisper, not sure where to look. The random babbling white girl or the dude just staring at his shirt in disbelief. I had to sit there and explain to her what exactly went down because I didn't feel like dealing with it.

Marie sighed and shook her head, moving in front of me and slapping a hand on the counter to get the woman's attention. "Hey, you're causing a scene. You cut in front of him and spilled his coffee, least you could do is apologize to the man." Marie spoke, earning a grumble from the girl.

"Excuse you, he was taking too damn long. And I don't want to talk to you, I want him." She said, pointing at me. All I could respond with was a scrunch of my nose. This is the shit I go through on a daily. Feels like Ryan Reynolds walking into a high school to pick up his kid, onto to get jumped by his fan girls.

"Well you can't pick and choose. Now it's either you hurry up and apologize, order, and move along, or you can get the hell out." Marie spat. For someone so small, she had a temper. Nothing too crazy though, she's a sweet girl.

"No. You're not taking my order. I don't want a fat bitch taking my order, I want my regular." The girl replied. I stiffened, because all of that about Marie being a 'sweet girl' probably just got kicked in the ass and flew out of the window.

"Ho is you coo'..?" She asked in return, putting her hands up on the counter as if she was going to jump across it. I had to quickly wrap my arms around Marie and pray her strong ass doesn't get loose and fuck this girl up.

The chicks still talking shit. Marie is still trying to get to her dumb ass. And this Koko dude is just standing there, sipping on what's left in his empty ass cup (the majority is on his shirt, by the way).

I'm so fucked.