Serendipitous

Sight and Sound

English Fanfic
A4Day26 Challenge
PROMPT: She listens with her eyes. He sees with his ears

Her
"One tea latte light, tall mocha frappucino and a croissant for Richard!" I called out from behind the counter as I looked at the sea of people inside the famous coffee shop where I work as a barista.

A tall, ruggedly-handsome yet harried man looked relieved as he approached the counter. "Finally," I saw him mutter. My eyebrow lifted slightly as I knew for a fact that I served him quite fast; faster than the usual waiting time that other customers experienced during the coffee shop's peak hours.

He must really be in need of a coffee fix today.

"Order for Richard?" he asked in an irritated tone. His face, though handsome, was marred by worry lines. He didn't have a lot of laugh lines and his eyes looked sad.

"Here you go, sir. By the way, I added a dark chocolate bar to your order. Try it with your tea latte; it helps boost one's mood," I said with a cheery smile, hoping to eke out even a small smile from the grumpy man in front of me.

He tilted his head to the side and stared at me for a few seconds as if thinking if I'm crazy or what. Then he shrugged and one side of his mouth lifted up before he picked up his tray and left for his table.

I smiled widely at the small success I've achieved today. I made Mr. Grumpy Pants, well, I'm not sure if it was a smile but it was a tilt of the lips! An upward tilt! That was the most cheerful he's been ever since he started coming to the café.

As a barista, I get to observe people as they sit and sip their coffee. There is always a story behind every person and that story is what I try to discover from my vantage point.

Richard... intrigues me. He's a man who pretends that he has everything under control but his eyes betray him. Like today, he's seated in front of his sister - the one who ordered the mocha frap - and he has this stern look about him.

As I continue to prepare the orders of our patrons, I watch his stiff lips move as he reprimanded his sister for cutting classes, that she will be kicked out if she doesn't clean up her act. His sister, on the other hand, acted like she didn't give a damn what he said and continued to sip at her drink with a bored expression on her face.

Hmm, I wonder where their parents are?

All of a sudden, his sister stood up and ran to the ladies' room. I saw him run his fingers through his hair but just as quickly, he stopped, looking around the café and hoping no one else saw the scene.

I smiled as an idea came into my mind.

"Migz, I need a break. Can someone cover for me for the next 20minutes?" I called to our manager who needed his assent.

And now comes the hard part...

*****
Him

I took a deep breath then sipped my tea latte as I tried to calm myself once more. Lord knows I'm trying my best to act like a good parent to my sister but I never can seem to get through to her.

We lost our parents in a car crash a year ago. The driver of the vehicle in the opposite lane was too drunk to notice that he has already swerved onto the next lane and before he knew it, he hit our parent's car head on - there were no survivors.