Cup of Roasted Coffee

1; beanies and friends

The alarm clock rang loudly on the side table of Emma's bed. She let out a groan of despair before smacking the device multiple times in an attempt to silence its noise. After five minutes of struggling and sudden success, she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

It was 5am and she was already ready to get the day over with.

There was no doubt in her mind this day would be like every Saturday. There was no class on the weekends, but her boss, Nora, never hesitated to add double hours to the days of her only break from school. So at Beanies she would work today, from 8 in the morning to 6 at night, handling mostly everything single handedly.

Emma pulled herself out of bed and slowly prepared herself for the day. An hour later, she found herself fumbling with store keys on the sidewalk. The stubborn door would not accept any of them and she was tempted to just break the glass and let the customers walk through the giant hole she would inevitably make if the plan worked.

When half an hour passed and Emma still couldn't get through the door, she realised that the back door would probably work since no one ever uses it. A string of profanities was mumbled as she walked back there and turned the keys in the door.

Soon enough, she was inside the small coffee shop and restocking the supplies before anyone showed up. She was in the back taking pastries out of the oven when she heard someone tapping on the front window. Curious to see who was there, she peeked out the walkway.

In the window were two men, about her age, and a teenage girl. The man not tapping on the window looked like he was trying to reason with the teenager, and the other looked desperate to be let in. Letting out a sigh, Emma took out the last of her pastry trays and went to open the door.

She popped her head out the door and looked at the three. "Hi...can I help you?" With the raise of an eyebrow, she took in the sight of them. The men had some office cubicle job, she could tell by their clothes. Her gaydar was also picking up some strong signals from the young girl.

"Yes, hi, thank you so much- I'm Paul, this is my friend Bill and his daughter, Alice. Do you mind if we come in?"

The request was odd and would normally be suspicious, seeing as the shop didn't open for another 30 minutes, but their vibe simply didn't scream too 'we're dangerous'. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

Emma held the door open wide, allowing the small group to enter. She shut it behind them and went back behind the counter. "Can I get you anything?"

She tied her apron in the back and forced a smile. Bill had joined Paul and Alice had taken a seat to text someone. Emma couldn't blame her though. Lord knows she'd rather be texting her nonexistent friends right now.

"Yes, can I get two grande caramel frappuccinos please?" Bill asked, fiddling with his wallet.

Emma scribbled some words on two cups and then looked up at the other man. "And for you?"

"Just a simple black coffee. Thank you again...for letting us in early." He smiled softly at her.

"If all you're ordering is a black coffee, then it's really no problem." She started up the coffee pot and let the machine do its thing as she worked on the two frappuccinos. Normally she'd resist any conversation with customers, but these ones made her a bit curious if she was being honest.

"So, why'd you 3 come down to Beanies hoping you could get in early when Starbucks is open 24/7?" Emma looked up from the counter, pouring the drink into the cup blindly. She noticed the quick exchange of eye contact between them. They must be close.

"Starbucks just doesn't have the same appeal as this place does. Plus, the staff and coffee here is much better," Paul stated. Not the answer she was expecting.

She suddently felt guilty for spitting in the coffee pot earlier.

"I haven't seen you in here before though. You come here a lot?" Emma snapped the lids onto the caramel drinks and set them next to the register. She then promptly began to pour the coffee.

Bill took the drinks and went to sit down with his daughter. It left just Paul and Emma.

"Uh, no, but my coworker does. You might know him. His name's Ted?"

"I know of a Ted who comes in here often. Annoying. Loud. Likes to call the baristas Latte Hottes?"

"Yeah..."

She handed him his coffee and he handed her a cash payment in return, a 20 dollar bill. "You have $10.50 in cash. Here-"

Just as she was about to slide it over to him, he stopped her. "No, uh, don't worry about it. Keep the change."

Emma looked confused. A $10 tip? For a black coffee and small talk? Her bafflement was obvious to him and he felt the need to justify his actions.

"I thought I could pay you back for, ya know, letting us in earlier." Paul smiled, raising his cup in the air and taking a sip afterwards.

"Oh, thank you. That's very sweet of you. Your name is Paul, right?" She asked, leaning against the countertop slightly.

"Yeah. And you are-"

"Emma. It's nice to meet you."

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wow im already back and ready to get this story started

because the end of TGWDLM is unacceptable and im still v sad

if you havent watched it, what the heck are you are doing here?? go watch it and maybe every other starkid musical while you're at it

not sure what else to say, so hope you enjoy this story and i shall try to update soon

- ava