conversations at starbucks

one

Eloria walked in, a dark cloud hanging over her head. She was having a bad day because her lecturer was being a jerk about her recent assignment. She was mad and annoyed and all she wanted to do was sink into one of the comfy seats of Starbucks and lose herself into the warmth of a cup of caramel macchiato.
She also wanted to strangle her lecturer to death, but decided she didn't want to go to jail so she let it slide for now.

She stood in line behind a middle aged woman who was just finishing her order to the cashier.
Once the woman walked away to wait for her order, Eloria headed to the counter.

"Welcome to Starbucks! I'm Chad. What can I get for you?" the cheerful greeting of the blond haired boy made Eloria feel even more annoyed.

She knew he did nothing wrong. After all, it was only a simple greeting, and it was also a part of the guy's job. But she couldn't help herself. She never really liked cheerfulness.

"Uh, yeah. Can I get a caramel macchiato? A venti cup, thanks," she said quickly, looking at the menu board instead of the boy, a small frown forming on her lips.

The blond haired boy smiled, showing his dimples. His bright blue eyes seemed to sparkle under the dim lighting in the cafe.

"One caramel macchiato venti coming right up! Your name please," he said, looking straight into her eyes as he held a venti cup in his left hand and a black marker on the other, ready to write.

"El-" she hesitated, "Sophia," she said instead. She didn't like giving out her first name, so she decided to say her other name. It was a more common name, and it would be easier to spell, because she knew he might screw up the spelling, and she didn't like that.

The boy's smile seemed to increase as if he knew something she didn't. He wrote her name effortlessly on the cup, probably because he's done it so many times before. Eloria always went to this particular Starbucks shop whenever she was free, but only now did she notice this certain guy. Maybe he was a new employee who just adapts to working quickly, she thought.

After paying the exact amount of money, she went to one of the seats at the far corner and waited for her name to be called out.

"Sophia!" She looked up at the call of her name. She stood up and went to the drop-off counter to take her drink. She saw the blond haired boy, whom she had forgotten his name even though he'd introduced himself just a few minutes ago. He was smiling cheerfully at the next customer. It looked as if he really enjoys his job. Maybe he does.

Eloria took her drink and went back over to her seat. She let herself be engulfed in the comfortable seat and took a sip from her hot drink. She then placed the cup on the small table in front of her, and that was when she noticed a small note written below her name on the cup.

Smile. You'll look even more pretty :-)

She didn't miss the fact that he put a nose on the smiley face.