Frappuccino

Ava 1

                                                           Play video above for the full experience ;)

Tuesday 5th November, 8:55pm

'Okay, 5 more minutes of this crap and I'm in bed cuddling with my cat and Nutella' thought Ava; she was exhausted from serving coffee since morning.

Her hands had light red streaks from all the hot water splashes throughout the day.

This short time period until 9pm was known as the 'Danger Zone' for the employees, because if a customer walks in they would have to turn all the machinery back on and reuse all the utensils they had just cleaned and dried. All for this one human.

Ava looked again, 8:57pm, she felt more assurance as the window for entry slowly clos- RING! The doorbell swung against the wall.

'Hey, you guys still open?', a tall figure emerged from the evening darkness, letting in a swift thrust of cold air from the outside.

Ava tried to hide her sigh as best she could, 'yes, yes we are'.

'Perfect', a young slender man walked in, wearing formal attire in a thick jacket, wet from the cold rain outside.

'I'll have one Frappuccino please'.

A Frappuccino? At this time was unheard of; Ava had to pause for a second to make sure she hadn't misheard him.

As Ava got out the cup and lined it with syrup, she got a glimpse of the man's face as he stood patiently behind the counter.

He was almost clean shaven, with chiseled jawline, dark brown long curled hair and warm light skin, but his most striking feature was his dark green, glistening eyes.

He looked strangely familiar, like he had been a side character on a tv show or movie she had watched as a kid.

'Thank you', as Ava placed a straw down the centre.

He scanned the cafe's selection of warm cushiony chairs, paused a brief moment and confidently took a seat at the cushioned stool behind the counter, directly facing her.

'Do you believe lying to a loved one is ever justified?'

'W-w-wa... what?' Ava stumbled.

He repeated slower and in a deeper tone, 'do you believe lying to a loved one is ever justified?'

'Are-are you asking me?' Ava was perplexed. Never had a customer asked Ava any philosophical questions in her barista career, and at that in the last minute till closing time.

He peered behind either shoulder sarcastically to look at the empty cafe behind him.

'Yes, I'm asking you Ava', he said with a smirk.

Ava was startled how he knew her name for a brief moment and then looked down at her small metal badge stuck on her apron.

She felt taken aback by this man and his entitlement to start a casual conversation at the closing of the shop.

But at the same time also felt this brief rush of excited playfulness to reciprocate his sarcasm and play along with his childish game.

A feeling of excitement she hadn't felt in a long time.

And besides, this was her overtime, her jurisdiction, and she could do with a little late night entertainment if she felt fit...

'Well I think it's pretty easy question. If the intent behind the lying is in the genuine interests of the loved one then yes, of course it's justified.'