In 27 Days (Watty Award Winner 2012)

Chapter 10.

"Damn it, Hadley! You burnt my hand!" 

 "I am so sorry, Archer! I told you, you shouldn't have let me try to make coffee!"

 "You were only supposed to be changing the filter, not making coffee! How on Earth do you manage to dump hot water everywhere?" 

  "I told you, I'm not - "

Archer cut me off with a disgusted look, rolling his eyes as he marched over to the sink in the back kitchen. 

 I just stood there beside the cash register, wringing my hands together like a lunatic while I watched Archer run his very red hand underneath cold water. 

 You could say that I was not expecting my first day of work at Mama Rosa's Coffee House to go quite as disastrous as it was turning out.  Waitressing wasn't exactly a problem for me. It was actually pretty easy. What could be more simple than delivering food to people's tables and taking orders? Not exactly very difficult. 

 But making coffee on the other hand....well, that was a little more complicated.

I'd told Archer repeatedly that it was a huge mistake on his part to let me even near a coffee maker or whatever, but like usual, he refused to listen to me.

 And now his hand was burnt. 

I wasn't so sure if it was his fault or mine. 

  "You're going to permanently be a waitress, that's for sure," Archer griped as he walked back towards the front counter. 

 "I'm sorry, Archer," I mumbled, ducking my head. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Whatever, Hadley," Archer sighed, waving an airy hand.  "It's not like I'm going to die or anything."

 I stared at Archer with a horrified look on my face after he said those words. 

How thick could you get? Had he really just said that? What the hell was he playing at?

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" 

I jerked back into reality when Archer snapped two fingers in front of my face, looking more annoyed than before. 

  "Sorry, sorry," I said quickly, ducking my head again. 

"You really are a ditz, aren't you, Jamison?" Archer said, an obnoxious smirk twisting the corners of his mouth. 

  "Yeah, well, only when you're around, Morales."

It was mere miliseconds after those words were out of my mouth did I realize just how incredibly stupid what I just said was. 

 Shit.

I quickly threw myself over the top of the counter, nearly falling flat on my face as a result, and went about picking up the stray mugs and dishes left on the tables in the coffee house. I could tell that Archer hadn't moved at all even though I wasn't looking at him. I got the feeling that he was watching me as I placed a few mugs in a gray tupperware bin used for dirty dishes. 

 Get a grip, Hadley. Get a grip, Hadley. Get a grip, Hadley.

That's what I was chanting in my head over and over again like a mantra while I worked furiously hard to keep myself short of hyperventilating. 

  "Do I make you nervous, Hadley?" 

No, I thought sarcastically. What would have ever given you that idea? 

  "No," I replied stiffly. 

"I think you're lying."

 "Hark who's talking."