Hopeful and Hopeless

Four.

"The worst crime is faking it." - Kurt Cobain

Friday, March 16th, 2018

"HAVE A LOVELY DAY, I'll see you tomorrow." I bid goodbye one of my regular customers as he leaves the cafe, a big smile on his face. This is why I love what I do. It's a little weird to call it 'what I do' as the cafe has only been open for 10 days. But, technically it is what I do now. I walk back to the front counter and one of my younger employees, Lucy puts her hand up to get my attention.

"Ms Atwood! There's a man on the phone wanting to speak to you." She holds out the landline to me and I approach her with a smile.

I take the phone from her hand, holding it near my ear. "I told you to call me Emilie, Ms Atwood is way too official." I correct her and her face goes red from embarrassment.

I put the landline to my ear and she replies, "Sorry Emilie." I give her a little wink and she laughs, walking off to get back to work.

"Hello! This is Emilie Atwood, how can I help you?" I walk behind the counter, watching over the cafe before me. It has been nothing but busy here in the first week of being open and i couldn't be more stoked about it.

"Hi, Ms Atwood, this is Joseph Berkeley. You may not remember me, we met on the night of your cafe launch." The deep voice speaks, surprising me. I walk behind the counter to try and get away from the noise of the bustling cafe behind me so I can hear him better.

"Yes! Of course, I remember you, Sir, how are you?" How do you speak to a person of his status? Willa is a natural at this stuff, not me. What do they like to talk about anyway? House prices? The stock market? Maybe that's just an adult thing. Why is he even calling me in the first place? So many questions.
"I'm going great. How is the cafe coming along?" He speaks so nicely and formally compared to me sounding like a true Aussie. My Aussie accent was considered thick even when I lived back home. Here, my accent is such a stark difference to the American accent that everyone I know has.

"The cafe is doing awesome!" That probably wasn't the best word choice, "We're very busy as you can possibly tell from all the background noise." I chuckle, awkwardly trying to salvage myself. There are few people that can just interact and talk the way the Berkeley's do. I haven't seen their son speak the same way as of yet but, he's definitely a step up from me.

"That's good news. Now, I have a proposal." Does it get annoying speaking like that all the time? I'd get tired of it, to be honest. It seems like a lot of work. "My wife and I are holding a gala to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and we were wondering if you would make some of your lemon and lime pies for the event? We've heard that they are wonderful." He gushes and I paint a picture in my head of the gala. For some reason I imagine it to be like a ball from a Disney movie. What does gala even mean? Who knows.

This could be an amazing opportunity. It could mean lots more business for me. Sounds pretty damn great. Okay, so how do I reply? I accept that marvellous offer? Way too formal. He's not the Queen. Yeah, I guess? Too casual. Way too casual.

"I would love that." I decide on, feeling semi-proud of my response. That is as good as its going to get.

"Wonderful!" He exclaims, "We would also like to invite you to attend the gala, it will be a marvellous night." He offers and I am taken aback. I found talking on the phone to him difficult. Now I'll have to attend a party full of people that are exactly like him. There is nothing wrong with him personally. He seems like a nice enough man. I just don't really mesh well with his demographic.

I can't turn down his offer though. That would be rude.

"That would be lovely, thank you for this opportunity, Sir." I beam.