It All Started With A Payback

Twenty: Hotter Than Freshly Brewed Coffee

Tori was smiling to herself as she cleaned her brushes before putting them away.  She just finished adding another layer to the painting of rice terraces.  It would take about forty eight hours before she could paint on it again.

She wanted to surprise Louie. He hadn't been around for two days.  One of the things, among many others, that she loved about him, was when he knew that she was painting he just waited for her to call him and tell him that she was done.  He never made her feel guilty if she couldn't go somewhere with him or she didn't even have time to sit and chat with him.

She headed for the coffee shop as soon as she finished wrapping up.

She wasn't surprised that there was a long queue.  The cafe wasn't anywhere near the scale of Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf or any other coffee shop that had been in the business for as long as she could remember; but it was cozy, it offered a variety of food and drinks, the prices of which are reasonable and its location was strategic.

It was in a corner.  There were at least three office buildings nearby, a maternity hospital and two condominiums; since there was a carwash sharing the same lot, most of the customers from the carwash opted to go inside for a snack or a cup of coffee rather than wait outside.

There were at least six people ahead of her waiting for their orders to be taken.  She was still trying to decide whether to get a hazelnut cappuccino or a peppermint mocha when a man, about forty years old, raised his voice at the barista pulling the shots from the espresso machine.

"You have one job! A simple one at that and you couldn't do it right?" He yelled at the poor girl who was aplogizing profusely.  She saw Louie come out of the hallway, one of the staff must have called him.

His face broke into a huge grin when he saw her, he walked past her though, he immediately went to the man who refused to be pacified.

"Sir, is there anything wrong?"

"Question is, is there anything right?" The man answered rudely.  "I waited eight mintues to have my order taken and then another seven minutes to get my drink.  And what do I get? A wrong drink!"

"We apologize Sir for having taken some of your time," Louie said calmly trying to lead the man into a corner table, the latter's tirade had the other customers' attention.  "And for unintentionally giving you the wrong drink. Mel is already making the right one," he glanced at the barista and gave her an encouraging smile. "You can also have your choice of drink on your next visit, on us." 

Tori watched the exchange curiously along with the other customers, "I don't need a free drink!" The man said,  not caring that his voice was even louder, "What I want you to do is retrain this stupid girl! See right here," he jabbed at the cup indicating that he didn't want whip cream on his drink. "No.  Whip. Cream." He said, putting stress on every word.   "Simple."

Tori saw the very subtle change on Louie's face the moment the man said the word stupid. She knew him well enough to know that it would only take a little provocation to make him lose his temper.

"I completely understand how upsetting this is.  We really regret serving you the wrong drink."

Tori had to mentally anchor her feet to the ground or else she would handle the man herself.  Why was he making a big fuss over it? Why couldn't he just remove the damn whip cream and get the hell out of there?

"Saying sorry and I apologize won't bring back the time I lost and the day she ruined for me! All she had to do was prepare coffee for fuck's sake.  Is being a bird-brain one of the qualities you look for in a barista?"

"Sir, she made a mistake which she regretted and aplogized for, several times.  Mel is a hardworking person and she's here to serve you, not to be insulted by you or anybody else." Louie said sternly.  No longer interested in appeasing the customer.

The man crossed his arms over his chest, "So now you are taking her side?  A mere employee? An imbecile who couldn't perform a task so simple, even a third grader could do it."

Wow, for someone who values his time, this man is wasting a great deal of it standing here and yapping his bald head off!  Tori thought.   She was really itching to help Louie but she knew he could handle the situation by himself.

"Sir, I strongly suggest you refrain from saying derrogatory remarks against my employee---"

"Or else what?" 

"I would ask you to leave and tell you to get your coffee somewhere else." 

The man's face turned red even more than it already was, "Not only did you lose me, I'll see to it that everyone I know never sets foot in this coffee shop!"

Tori waited for Louie's biting reply, he didn't disappoint.

"Sir, if everyone you know is as rude and unreasonable as you are, then you would be doing me and everyone else around here a huge favor if you carry out your threat."

Louie turned to Mel as soon as the man walked out of the coffee shop.  

"Do you want to take a break first?" Louie asked the shaken barista.

Mel nodded greatfully, and didn't waste any time taking off her apron. Louie gave Tori's shoulder a squeeze and he kissed her temple when he passed by to take Mel's place.

Tori looked up from her tablet as soon as she heard the chair across her scraping softly against the laminated floor.  She beamed at the man who sat in front of her.

He looked like he didn't mind filling in for the poor woman whose pride must have taken a great deal of beating.

"You did great." She said, squeezing Louie's forearm which was leaning on the table.  He covered her hand with his.  "Thanks.  Good thing you're here or else I might not have been able to control myself." He said shaking his head.

"Can I tell you a secret?" She asked in a low voice, already leaning forward. He caught the naughty glint in  her eyes and met her halfway.  "That was hot."  She whispered so close to his ear.

"What was?"  He pulled back a little so he could stare at her.

"You, basically telling that rude guy to fuck off.  Couldn't have done it better myself."

His lips turned up in a teasing smile. "Really? How hot?"

She winked at him, "Hotter than freshly brewed coffee."

He chuckled, "Not hot enough.  Too bad he's already the meanest customer so far."

She looked at him seriously, worry creased her forehead.  "But what if he actually spread bad things?"

He gave her a swift kiss on the lips.  "I wouldn't worry about it.  We have a lot of loyal customers who know how well we take care of them.  Some actually brought their friends or families here, so our customer base is getting bigger.  Besides, I'd rather lose a customer like that man than let my employees be demoralized."

As if she didn't have enough reason to love him, she discovered another one that made her love him even more.

"You're a good person, you know that?" She said sincerely, looking into his eyes.

"And hot too, don't forget." He reminded her as he  brought his lips in contact with hers.

"How can I forget?" She said brushing the hair that fell across his forehead.  "What time can you leave?" 

"It depends on what you have in mind."  He gave her one of those slow, sexy smiles, which along with the intent gaze he fixed on her lips, never failed to raise her  body temperature higher by several degrees.

"What I have in mind involves a great deal of skill and stamina," she said, her gaze meeting his in a suggestive manner, "Both of which, I'm sure you have in abundance."