sunflower cafe

t w o

t w o

Ollie picked up the phone and placed it next to her ear.

"Ollie!" cried Ollie's brother, Leo.

"Yes?" Ollie moaned, already annoyed.

"Something happened to dad," shuttered her fearful brother.

"Leo," Ollie stated. "If something happened to him in there, that's his own fault."

"It's jail, not a daycare. Ol, just listen to-," Leo started.

"Don't call me that" Ollie cut in sternly.

"But your girlfriend does, so why can't I? I am your brother," Leo antagonized.

"First off Juniper isn't my girlfriend, she's my best friend, and you can't call me that because your not my friend, just my brother, unfortunately," Ollie retorted, muttering the last bit, and hanging up the phone before Leo could say anything else. She slammed her phone down onto the coffee table and stood up from the sofa. She stomped over to the kitchen and put a kettle on the stove.

Her phone pigged once more. Thinking it was her brother texting her about her actions, she ignored it.

Once Ollie was all dressed and had her cup of tea, she headed downstairs to prepare the cafe for the Tuesday morning rush. She moved the tables around so the normal groups could sit together and made tables of two so the businessmen could sit alone or with the person they carpooled with. Once all of the cakes and scones were out on their display Ollie opened the little shop on Bealdor Avenue.

A familiar group of mums sat their kids down with coloring books and toys and came up and ordered their usual drinks.

The crowd was just about the same as other days, not too busy, but busy enough to keep her shop open. The same faces and groups were together. However, there were some new people who must have stopped in because the Sunflower Cafe was better quality than most.

She took out her phone to check her notifications. There was one from Juniper, from 5 o'clock this morning.

Hey, how did you sleep? How is your morning so far? I really enjoyed talking to you last night ;) - Juniper

Hey, Juni. I slept okay, I guess. Meh. my morning has been meh. I enjoyed talking, too :D - Ollie

Ollie sent the text and slipped her phone into her back pocket. She looked up and came face to face with a practically hissing customer.

"Oh, hello there. I am so sor-" Ollie began to greet the waiting woman.

"Oh, hello there," she mocked. "I most definitely will be leaving a bad review on Yelp, no doubt about it." The woman turned away without ordering.

Ugh, some people just want to complain and fight about everything.

...

By midday only a group of four people and some college students working on their computers were left in the shop. A few people came in every once and awhile, looking for a warm place to relax and work, but they left pretty quickly.

Ollie pulled out her phone again when no customers were coming in. She looked through her notifications which were: six missed calls, eight text, and a voice mail from Leo. Ollie clicked the play button on the voice mail.

"Ollie. Listen to me. Just call me back," said Leo's irritable voice through the phone.

She called him back in hopes that one call would ward him off.

"Ollie!" Leo's voice bellowed. "Dad is in trouble and you are doing nothing, like always."

"Leo, I have a life. Unlike you. So let me be please. Go ahead and care for dad. But, I don't want to... I have to go, I have customers," Ollie sternly stated hanging up the call just as customers walked in.

...

10 minutes before closing all of the people that were previously in the store were bundled up and headed out the door into the frosty cold. All except for one. The one and only green tea latte loving Juniper was ready to chat.