The Barista

Release

"Alright, brother!" Holten slaps Liam's back. "I'm going home to take a shower. You got the last bit of the small group of people, right? And I still can't believe you chose this coffee shop to have our weekly meeting. Poor Elle and Abby both busted their asses off. And the coffee was...amateur."

"Shower, huh?" Liam asks with a sinister smirk on his face. "Elle what are the odds of someone slipping and dying in the shower."

Holten's eyes widen, and he quickly points at me. "Don't you do it, Elle! I don't want to know! Damn it, brother! Just because I was being a dick doesn't mean you get to be one back! I do not want to know...damn it! What's the statistics, Elle!"

I shrug my shoulders. "What makes you think I know that?"

"What is it, Elle?" Abby adds.

I exhale an annoyed-sounding breath. "Around six-hundred-forty people slip each day. The number of deaths I truly don't know. But if I guessed, on average I could put it at around maybe ten percent. This means maybe sixty-four people a day die from slipping in the shower. Considering there are eight billion people on earth, that percentage is a point and then six zeros and an eight. If I did that right. If not, it's not far from it. Which means, Holten, you're unlikely to slip and fall, and even if you did, you're young, quick, and strong. You'll survive it."

"Still!" He argues. "My brother is a dick and now I don't want to shower."

"Go take a bath!" Abby interjects. "I'm pretty sure we can find you some bubbles and a rubber ducky."

"Listen, little girl." He snaps back.

"Little girl?" She interjects angrily. "We are right around the same age. You have a few years on me and that's it. How the hell am I a little girl? Go shove that rubber ducky up your..."

"Okay, you two!" I stand in between them, fighting back my laugh. I'm pretty sure Liam has spun around to laugh without them seeing also.

Holten eyes Abby down like she's the devil and Abby stares him down in the same mindset, or that's how it looks.

I watch as Holten quickly leaves and Abby rushes toward the back of the coffee shop. "That isn't awkward," I say as I turn around and bring the cups to the back sink.

"That's my brother," Liam adds and helps me, bringing more of the cups from the table.

I step into the backroom and reach the sink. I set the glasses in the sink. "Abby?" I question, looking around.

I spin around and quickly step to the side as Liam walks to the sink with his tray of empty cups. "I never knew coffee shops had these glass cups like this. I figured they were always to-go cups."

I shake my head and begin rinsing some out. "Nope. Ron believes in the natural experience. If they want to use glass cups it costs more, but it's worth it for them. And thank you..." I bump into him, pausing my sentence and staring deeply into his eyes as I realize our faces are no more than an inch apart. We are so close I can feel the vibration coming off his warm and inviting lips.

I swallow my nerves rapidly trying to escape and try to step back but my body is frozen. I don't know if his body is frozen too, but he's not moving. One thing that is not frozen is my heart. It's galloping like it's winning the race, and my stomach feels hollow and like it needs something to fill it.

Our eyes gaze into each other for what feels like forever and my hand keeps brushing against his, sending an emotional arousal to course through my veins. It feels like dopamine bombs want to go off inside of me, but the only way they are going to explode is if we kiss. And I am not kissing him! Oh! But I really...really want to!