Bella's Coffee House

Chapter 1 : Stella

The strong smell of coffee beans immediately hits me as I walk into my new place of work. Bella's Coffee House was this small little coffee shop off of Jepar street. It was one of those hidden gems that no one, yet everyone knew about. The atmosphere was beautiful and calming, college students loved this place because of the free wifi and the open space it offered. Most coffee shops are way too small for comfortability. But Bella's Coffee House, it was big enough for an entire classroom to fill. The peach and grey walls were the perfect combination to a relaxing environment. Bella's was a place you could find yourself being at for hours on end.

I started working here just the other day, and today was my official day behind the counter making drinks. I'm nervous and anxious all in one. I'm not sure what to expect, but the owner Annie, told me the staff is great and the customers are just as wonderful. Hearing that was a little comforting considering the last job I had was a pain. The owner was ruthless and always seemed to be out to get me. The staff was obnoxious and always wanted to throw each other under the bus. I could never understand how people could be so spiteful. It became too much for such a small company offering nothing in return. Walking away from that job was the best thing I could do, but getting another job has been the most frustrating thing ever. It didn't help that I was being picky about my next job, could you blame a girl though. I did not want a repeat of my last few jobs.

Annie was this middle aged woman who had the sweetest smile, and stood around 5'1. She was the main reason I wanted to work here. She wore round green glasses, and had salt and pepper hair that worked so well with her caramel skin.

"Stella, sweetie good morning. I'm so glad you could make it." Annie says, while hugging me.

"I wouldn't miss it Annie."

"Okay honey, you're going to be training with Audrey today. She will be showing you the basic drinks, and giving you cheat sheets to go over at home. You will basically be shadowing her all day, she is one of our best baristas."

Audrey had really pale skin, with a mixture of red and purple hair. Her ears had about five piercings on each ear, with a septum piercing to compliment them. She was beautiful and confident as she moved around her station. She moved like she owned the place and she traveled with such elegance and grace.

Spending a full eight hour shift shadowing Audrey was a fun challenge. Whenever I didn't get something right, she didn't scrutinize me. She made me feel comfortable and calm, as if there was no rush at all to learn everything at once. It was a different environment than I'm used to. But, an environment that I could see myself loving all the same. She was nice enough to also show me cool art designs she does in her coffee.

"You did really good today girl. You'll be making drinks in the blink of an eye by the end of the week." She smiles sweetly at me, as we both start cleaning up for closing.

"You think so? I feel like I did so bad today" I sigh in frustration.

"Stella it was your first day behind the bar, you're not going to be perfect at it on your first try. But I'm confident by the end of the week you will have this down easily."

"Thanks, I guess I'm being too hard on myself."

"Yeah no problem, you're going to fit in perfectly here. I'm glad you chose to be apart of the crew." Audrey smiles softly at me.

So far, working at Bella's Coffee House has been entirely better than my office job. The people here are so inviting and genuine. It makes it difficult to not like this place. I don't see how this place could get any better.

After closing, I head back to my apartment that I share with my best friend Gema. We decided to rent out an apartment together because it was more affordable. That and we just couldn't live without each other. Gema and I grew up in a small town called Lafayette in Oregon. We started off as neighbors and then became seat partners in elementary school. It also helped that our parents were close friends, so we always ended up hanging out on little play dates. When I think about it, we were kind of forced to be friends. Fortunately though, she was tolerable enough for me to continue hanging out with her. Gema adds a lot of excitement to my life, ever since we were kids. When we were younger, she would drag me to new places around the neighborhood even though we weren't supposed to leave the block. We were constantly getting in trouble for that and later on it just progressed. Eventually our parents realized there wasn't much they could do, but separate us when things got too crazy.