Safe | zarry adoption

t h r e e

That night at the coffee shop I was nearly falling over from exhaustion. My shift had started at 4, so like an idiot I went home for a few hours before I had to head to work.

It was an awful idea.

My mother seemed to be waiting for me when I got home, drunk out of her mind and angry at something minuscule that I had done. She punched me a few times in the stomach -- stuff I was used to. Throwing around vulgar words, pulling at my hair, stopping every minute or two to have a sip of whatever alcohol she was drinking. Then she started getting more aggressive. Usually she would stay away from visible areas, especially my face, but that afternoon she must have been more drunk and out of it than usual because she started punching me in the face.

Resulting in me having a nasty bruise on my cheek.

Two hours before my shift.

I used some makeup to cover it up, but it was pretty difficult considering the amount of tears pouring down my cheeks. In the end, I hoped for the best and showed up to my shift 15 minutes late.

It was around midnight and the customers were few to none. The other barista I was sharing my shift with left around 10 for some reason I already forgot, but I managed on my own.

I rested my elbows on the counter and let my eyes close for a little bit — no one was here to yell at me. As soon as I found a little bit of peace, though, the bell rang signaling that a customer was here.

"Hi," I greeted, hoping I didn't sound too annoyed or tired. "How can I help you?"

"Hello," the man greeted, frowning. His gaze was settled on my face. Right by the bruise. Shit.

And to make matters worse, he was wearing green scrubs.

Double shit.

"What can I get you?" I asked, trying to erase any anxiousness from my voice.

"I'll have a double shot of espresso and a small hot chocolate, please," he replied, still not taking his eyes off of my face. "Are you alright, darling? It looks like your face is bruised."

"Yeah, I, um," I stuttered, trying to find an excuse. "I just, uh, fell on my way here. Nothing too bad, it barely hurts." I turned around to start making the drinks, completely forgetting to make him pay for his order.

"Alright," his voice sounded suspicious, "but if you have any issues, there's a hospital just a block away. I work there, and I promise we'll take exceptional care of you."

"No, I'm-I'm fine, I swear, I just-just fell, it's not that big of a deal. It happens all the time, I'm a klutz." I tried to play it off with a laugh, handing him his double shot of espresso. Who needed an espresso at midnight on a Tuesday, I had no idea, but I wasn't one to judge. "That'll be $5.22," I told him, his deep brown eyes staring into my own, slightly intimidating me.

He handed me the money, then reminded me of the hot chocolate. "Right, shit, sorry, oh god, sorry, so sorry." I rushed to apologize for swearing in front of a customer and grabbed his hot chocolate.

"Quite alright, love. My husband would kill me if I didn't get him anything, he's a bit of a diva." The corners of my mouth turned up, still a little overwhelmed at the whole situation. "But I love him, god." He stopped and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm tired and I have hours of paperwork to do. I should probably get home." He paused. "But seriously, if you ever need anything, even just an ice pack, stop by the hospital, please. It's okay to ask for help sometimes." He smiled at me and walked out the door, leaving me wondering what the hell just happened.

Later that night, emptying out the tip jar, I found a folded 50 dollar bill.

The next day I had a lunch to eat.

im sorry its short :( but awe a cute moment im happy,,, who could it be 👀👀👀 anyway pls vote and comment and share and save this or whatever, it means a lot! i hope you all are having a wonderful day <3

- asteria