A Latte and a Cinnamon Roll

1

Knowing that this will be the longest moment of her life she took out her phone and started scrolling through the endless void of Twitter. "Maybe that's not a good idea," her friend Johnny suggested quietly as he gently took the phone away from her. The clock was ticking overhead and the policeman opposite her was making another a cup of tea by the front desk. Ciara looked up to the door opening, her foot tapping up and down more frequently, Jonny putting his hand on her leg to try and calm her as she listened to the detective saying more words that she didn't want to register.

3 MONTHS LATER

Ciara was munching on her cinnamon roll while her phone buzzed with another workplace ready to reject her CV. Sighing she put her phone away and started looking through her laptop to try and find the newest job offers within a few miles. After a couple of hours, she went to get another latte and went up to the counter, "you've been here a while." The barista commented, a twinkle in her eye, Ciara looked at her name badge which read Heather and Trainee underneath, "first day?" Ciara asked. "Yes, yes it is," she replied. "Then you probably shouldn't comment on the lives of your customers," and with that Ciara took her coffee and sat back down.

Over the next three and a half weeks Ciara had exactly 20 lattes, 12 cinnamon rolls and one odd hot chocolate when she was feeling a bit off. Still no job. "Hey do you want me to take your mug?" Ciara looked up to see this Heather girl, now with the word Trainee removed from her name tag and with a warm smile on her face. Ciara's phone started buzzing and she rushed to get it saying yes in the process, she put to the phone to her ear, "Is this Ciara Davies?" the smart sounding women on the line said. "Yes it is," Ciara replied. "We are very happy to say that you got the job."

2 months later Ciara decided to spend her first day off in 10 days to catch up with some of her work at the coffee shop she hadn't been to in ages. She went up to the counter to come face to face with Heather, "Latte and cinnamon roll?" Heather asked, "uhm yes please." Ciara replied, quite taken aback that this woman had remembered her order. "It's been a while since we've seen you," Heather remarked as she put a cinnamon roll on a small cream coloured plate with small black notes painted around the rim. "Yes, I've got a new job, a busy job." Ciara said, walking away to go on a high stool and carry on with her day.

Johnny was standing outside Ciara's office building the next day, umbrella in hand. "Hello, long time no see." Ciara rolled her eyes, "What are you doing here Jon."
"You know why."
Ciara started walking away and Johnny pulled her back by the shoulder, "Ciara please I know it's been a few months."
"As soon as it happened you left me to fend for myself and didn't return my calls."
"I was hurt!"
"She was my best friend too!"
"Can we just talk."
"If you buy me a coffee."

Twenty four minutes had passed as Johnny and Ciara walked through  the coffee shop door and Ciara sat on the nearest sofa as Johnny went up to the counter to go and order the coffees. Ciara looked at the counter and was surprised to see no sign of Heather. Bringing back a Chai latte for himself and a latte for Ciara, accompanied by two cinnamon rolls, he sat down on the sofa next to Ciara, took her hand and they sat there while Ciara rested her head on his shoulder. That night, after two hours of conversation, Ciara and Johnny walked out the doors of the Brewed Note Coffee Shop, hugged and parted ways, making a silent pact to never lose touch again and they never did.

Thirty seven days had gone by and Ciara had been so busy working on the publishing of this new book and now that she had finished she now had time for herself. She had slept in and decided to go to the coffee shop and get a takeaway coffee and cinnamon roll and go back to her flat for a movie day. The Brewed Note was only a five minutes walk away and she hated that it was in the opposite direction of her work. She put her hair in a messy bun, put on her jeans and a sweatshirt and plugged in her earphones as she walked down the parade of thrift shops, bars, coffee shops and bookshops. Ciara walked into the Brewed Note Coffee Shop and walked up to the counter to see Heather there, but there was no smile. "What do you want?" Heather asked, barely looking up, "Latte and cinnamon roll please," Ciara replied. Heather looked up, almost looking shocked, but then returned to her glum facial expression and continued to input the numbers into the vintage looking till, she went on to make the latte as Ciara asked "Are you ok?" The barista didn't answer for a minute until she looked Ciara in the eye and said "I broke up with my girlfriend last night."
"I'm really sorry," Ciara said
"It's not your fault," Heather murmured while handing Ciara her latte and cinnamon roll.
"When's your lunch break?"
"Half an hour."
Instead of walking out the coffee shop Ciara sat down in a small booth in the corner of the coffee shop and waited.

Thirty six minutes later, Heather took off her apron and hung it on a peg in the back office and walked out to the front of the shop to see Ciara standing by the door. "You feeling like a walk?" Heather went up to her and shrugged, why was this girl talking to her, she didn't even know her name all she knew was that this girl liked cinnamon rolls and lattes, was quite grumpy and rude and had really nice chestnut brown hair which was currently up in a bun.

The two young women walked through the city for around ten minutes, engaging at first in small talk which then disappeared within seconds of arriving at a small park. They bought an ice cream from a nearby stand and sat down under a tree. "Thank you for taking me here," Heather beamed, the sun was beating down on their shoes, the rest of their bodies shaded by the tree. Ciara turned to Heather, "sometimes you need a bit of help taking your mind off of things."

That evening, Ciara curled up on the sofa with Johnny, a bottle of cider curled around her hand as they watched Pretty Woman for what seemed to be the 100th time by now. The end credit started rolling and Ciara looked over at Johnny who seemed to be on his phone...again.
"What you up to?" she asked poking his leg with her toe.
"Just talking to Aaron," he said
She sat up properly now, "Aaron, the same Aaron from three years ago?"
"You mean the one I broke up with three years ago?"
"Yes Jon the one you dated three years ago?"
"Yes," he answered quietly, half looking down.
"Since when were you guys talking?"
"I bumped into him at work a couple of weeks ago and I guess we've just been talking now and again since then."
"Are you dating."
"No."
"Are you ok with talking to him again?"
"Yes, I think I am."

Ciara started to make time after work to go to the Brewed Note Coffee Shop to get a latte, or a hot chocolate she had been going for an evening hot chocolate quite a lot recently. She would go half an hour or so before closing time so that it was really quiet and Heather and her could talk. They would talk and laugh and sometimes cry. Ciara felt the happiest she had in months, she loved the feeling of having a girl best friend again. "So tell me Ciara," Heather said one day while wiping down the surface of the coffee counter, "What are you doing on Friday night?"
"Why?" asked Ciara
"Do you want to go to a concert with me?"

It was Thursday and Ciara was looking at her mirror, it was the first time she had been out for months, yes she had gone to work parties and book openings but she had looked smart and put her hair up in smart buns and had been, well, working. She had lost touch with friends ever since they lost Sarah. She put on some jeans, a shirt and some earrings and walked out the door, taking her jacket with her. She saw Heather immediately as soon as she walked into the small underground type bar and went up to her. Heather introduced a few of her friends and they all a had a couple of drinks and they talked and had a laugh. The band then came on stage and they all got up from their table to join the crowd, as soon as the music started playing the whole room shifted in atmosphere and the whole room became a blur of lights and body movement as everyone started syncing themselves with the beat of the drums and the strums of the guitar. Ciara started just losing herself to the music she had never heard before and shaking her hair out, she felt a hand on her hand and turned to see Heather as they clasped both hands and danced together until the last note.