Emilia Huntington
I was working a normal shift on a Saturday at a coffee shop forty minutes from my house, it's always the kind of place different people congregate to talk about life, work and relationships but today felt a little more interesting.
A couple infamous in our store for visiting every day at 3pm on the dot had ordered their usual drinks - two iced lattes with soy milk and no sugar. They never finished it but they never ordered them in takeaway cups either, I just thought it was a waste.
So here I was spying on a guy I had seen around my block and a girl that he had been dating for a while, she was clearly fed up with him ignoring her for his phone. It was weird seeing them like this, I watched them start off awkwardly on a blind date to sitting so far apart. I cared about nothing but often I thought about what they did or said when they left the shop when my shift was over.
"I don't think I can do this anymore" he whispered, just enough for the both of us to hear but I knew the words were only intended for her.
But it was like she didn't expect a breakup, like she wanted to rewind back and see the signs like I often did in the past few weeks.
"They're breaking up" Jenna whispered beside me as she served a piece of Black Forest cake onto a small serving plate and taking the order to a guy in the corner table. All I could do was nod and wipe down the counter where our tip jar and cash register sat.
"What do you mean?" I heard her voice shatter slowly, like the confession from his lips broke her.
"Look, I didn't want to come off as a jerk but you don't seem to be getting that I'm not invested into this. Don't cry over me because then I'll feel bad" he replied. What a dick.
"What did I do wrong? Did I not show you enough love?" I watched an indie movie two nights ago and the female lead had the same reaction, she pleaded with her lover to not leave but he did. So for some strange reason I knew that he wasn't going to stay - regardless of her words.
He looked over at me watching them, I quickly began wiping the closest thing to me which was a fake plant and felt embarrassed as I still continued to wipe at the plastic leaves. This would clearly reveal that I'm a full time idiot and I'm a nosy person in general.
"Take care, Anna" I heard the legs of the chair scrape against the hardwood floor and footsteps following the dramatic words before looking up again at Jenna who winked at me. She knew I got caught and thought it was humorous.
"You should get on, it's 4" she eyed the clock behind me as I nodded and followed her out to the back when Reagan swapped over.
"That was super harsh, don't you think?" I opened my locker and looked over at Jenna who had already stripped down to her underwear and bra.
"Yeah, but that's relationships nowadays" I replied, trying to pretend that I didn't feel bad for the girl sitting out on the table alone.
"That reminds me, we should have a few drinks since you've got the promotion at your work" Jenna held up a small flyer to a bar near her side of the city, it was covered in metallic colours and small white writing.
"I'll have to pass, I have dinner with my Aunt Bobby tonight" she shrugged and gave up asking me, defeat written in her body language.
"Have fun then, I'll see you tomorrow" I nodded, walking out the back door into the Alley behind the Cafe.
They never really say anything nice about about my neighbourhood, only that there's always a patrol car stationed by the local convenience store that's been creatively robbed four times in the past month.
