Our Secretary

Chapter One: A Coincidence

I squeezed my way around the swarm of customers waiting to be served by Tim. He looked at my dishevelled appearance with a smirk on his face and nudged Rosie in the side. If I'd learnt anything from last night, it was to not go out drinking on a Thursday night when you have work at 7am the next day. I'd washed my hair and it was damp in a bun on top of my head, suitcase-like bags almost swung from under my bloodshot eyes.

"Good morning, Lana," Rosie said in an overly cheerful tone, mocking my current state. "How did last night go?"

I turned to give her a deadpan expression as I walked out the back of the store and I heard her giggle as I started to roll my sleeves up my arms. I'd worked at the store for three years, making good friends with the people who worked here. Tim was the sweetest boy you'd meet, a couple years older than me with Indonesian heritage. We'd hit it off big time with his strange sense of humour and sarcastic tone. He was a great friend, and nothing made me feel guiltier than the amount of times I'd turned down his date ideas. I just wasn't interested.
Rosie had long, wavy blonde hair that went all the way down to her waist. She was an American beauty, though her skin was like porcelain. She attracted a lot of attention from returning customers who claimed to love her coffee. While she made a mean cup of coffee, we all knew they came back just to see her. Rosie liked to flirt with customers to accumulate tips. Her fiancé didn't seem to mind either.
Bruce worked in the kitchen and had been engaged to Rosie for almost two years now. They were the most combatable couple you'd ever see. Bruce was rough on the outside and a teddy bear on the inside; and he loved to cook. Our store was known for Brooklyn's best eggs benedict. All thanks to Bruce.

I tied my apron around my body, double checking my shoe laces were tied. My head was banging in pain, the hum of customers bringing on a headache almost immediately. I needed a coffee. Heading out to the coffee machine, I started on the orders that were lined up. Friday rushes were always crazy, but I was fast enough to power through the different coffees before the customers even began to look slightly agitated. I'd been making coffee for five years, and was extremely confident in my abilities. The texture of the milk. The crema on top. The perfect temperature. I could even hear when the milk was finished frothing and turn it off before it became too hot.
I made trays of take away coffees, mug after mug of the wake up juice. After pumping out what felt like about fifty hot drinks, I pulled out the almond milk and made myself a double shot café latte. Completing the little fern, I took a sip and felt it warm my insides. It was very early spring, and while the weather was warming considerably, it was still damn cold in the early hours of morning.

Rosie took the last coffee from the bench, and took it over to an elderly business man who smiled brightly at her. Pretty women and coffee can make anyone happy.
She came back around the counter, hand on her hip. "So?" She inquired.

I tucked a stray hair behind my ear, "So what?"

She rolled her eyes. "How was last night? Anything interesting happen?"

I thought back to the five tequila shots that I'd managed to down in thirty seconds and my stomach turned itself over. Rosie stifled a laugh as she watched the blood drain from my face, making it a light shade of green. "Nothing really. Matt and I went to The Underground for a while. I think we just ended up going home and watching Adventure Time." I left out the small detail of smashing cones as Rosie didn't really favour my smoking habits. Matt was my younger brother by a year. We were basically best friends. We did everything together; including going to the queer club called The Underground. It felt like yesterday that Matteo had come out to our parents. Mom had been excited at the idea of him bringing home young, attractive boys to compliment her cooking skills. Dad hadn't been as overjoyed as mom, but he came around eventually. I think it was because Matteo was in the lacrosse team that he'd gotten over it so quickly; dad loved a good game of sport – and he couldn't go to Matt's games if he was busy being all macho about his son's sexuality.