american safehouse

2.

[02]
open mic afternoons

__

JASPER worked at a café on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. Today was Friday. It was some hippy coffee shop downtown called Muddy Cup where the top three things on the menu were matcha drinks and half of their other mixtures had eggs in them.

He hated the uniforms too. A collared purple polo with a white and red striped apron covering it, with a white and green soda jerk hat to finish off the look. Jasper thought every employee there looked like a generic-brand clown and they were all ready to drive away in their tiny car.

Jasper worked the cash register. He couldn't make a latte to save life and his smile was too charming to put him anywhere but in front of people. He would always convince people to order an extra pump of sugar in their drinks, since it would cost them an extra fifty cents and that would rack up his paycheck at the end of the day.

No one had come into the café for about thirty minutes. Jasper was turned to his coworker, Tony Tonelli. Tony was doodling on a napkin with a blue pen he had found on the ground four minutes prior. Jasper couldn't tell what he was drawing, but it looked to be something between a naked woman's body and a lightbulb. Before Jasper asked Tony what it was, the microphone in the corner of the café let out some feedback. Jasper cringed.

"Jesus," Tony said, looking up quickly, making his curly brown hair bounce. "Someone's gotta stop letting Open Mic Night happen."

Open Mic Night wasn't really an "Open Mic Night." It was more of an Open Mic Afternoon. Every Friday, some struggling musician or comedian would come in and give a poor performance, causing around five people to leave the café.

Tony went back to drawing on his napkin. He moved his hand up and down, making the veins in his right arm contract and become more prominent during different strokes. It was becoming more clear what he was drawing now: a cow face.

The bell on the door jangled. A girl walked over to the counter. It was Juliet. She was wearing a matching top and skirt, both dark red with small polka dots on them. Her top had a deep v-neck to it, revealing a bit of her black, lacy bra. Her sleeves got loose at the end, making it look like she had wings and could fly away at any moment. Her hair was curled and she still had the same rings on.

Juliet smiled at Jasper. "Hi," she said as she began taking the phone case off her phone. "Uh, I'll have a vanilla mocha latte and a chocolate croissant." She handed Jasper her credit card.

Jasper took the card, brushing his fingers against the back of her hand slightly. "Would you like an extra pump of sugar in your latte? It makes it taste a lot better," he said, looking at Juliet through his eyelashes.