Serendipity by the Sea

Chapter Three

“Only three hours to sleep….just close your eyes and sleep. SLEEP!”

Sarah felt restless as she tossed and turned in bed, thinking about all she had to do this week at work. Next month, at the Museum of Art, there was a new exhibit opening from Monet.  Monet’s artwork and representation always brings in big donations and large amounts of visitors. The Museum decided to have a gallery opening and dinner to recognize the donors who support the mission and goals of the Museum.  Sarah was in charge of this event and was extremely overwhelmed by all that needed to be done.

She got into her car and turned the key, thinking how tired she was after not sleeping all night.  She picked up her cell phone to call her assistant, Danielle, at work. 

“Sarah Thayer’s Office,” Danielle said happily as she picked up the phone.

“Hey girl, it’s me. I’m going to take the morning off to get some work done. I’ll be in a bit later. Just forward my calls to my cell.”  Sarah said quickly, as she backed out of her parking spot.

“Ok, sure. No problem. Scott wanted a meeting with you today, but we can arrange that when you are back in the office.”  Danielle mentioned as she looked at the calendar on her computer.

“Alright. I’ll shoot him an email.  I just need some quiet time to get my head on straight about the Monet event. I didn’t sleep a wink.”  Sarah yawned and pulled into a parking spot at Starbucks Café.

“Coffee run, I guess. I’ll talk to you later.” Danielle laughed and the girls said their goodbyes.

Sarah picked up her purse and computer bag, and walked into Starbucks.  The parking lot looked empty again and she hoped it would stay that way so she could have some quiet time inside.

“Hey, we haven’t seen you in awhile.”  Charlotte, the Barista, said to Sarah as she entered the Café door.

“I know. Work has been absolutely crazy. I haven’t been able to eat, let alone stop for a coffee.”  Sarah laughed, as she pulled out her debit card to pay.

“It’s dead in here. Did you guys get a F on your restaurant rating or something?” Sarah asked as she pointed around the Café.

The baristas looked around at each other and John spoke up first, “well, remember a few weeks ago, the last time you were in?”

Sarah nodded.

“We had a phone call that someone wanted to come in and asked if we could close the café for privacy reasons.”  John continued, “We thought it was a business meeting or something, you know some big shot executive. But come to find out, this guy walked in and basically rented out our café so that he could be alone.”

Sarah widened her eyes and said “wow.”

“Yeah, he’s a musician and didn’t want to be bombarded by paparazzi and people. “ John paused and looked at Charlotte who was smiling big.  “I’ve never heard of his band, but Charlotte is a fan.  They are popular overseas.  He actually has come in every day for the past two weeks. He pays good money to sit in our comfortable chairs.”

Sarah couldn’t believe that someone rented out a Starbucks, so that they could be alone. How much money would that even cost?  

She asks John and Charlotte if she could sit for a while to get some work done.  She mentions the Monet exhibit and offers tickets to event to the three Baristas behind the counter.  They are always so friendly to her and sometimes don’t charge her for her lattes.

“You have about an hour, before lover boy comes in.”  John jokes as he winks at Charlotte.

Sarah sat down near the window and took out her laptop, notebook and pen. She started to make a to-do list of what should be accomplished every day up until the event next month.  The list was never-ending and she quickly started to write down the names of employees that she could delegate tasks to.

She was captivated by her work and didn’t notice the shadow over her notebook.  Sarah looked up and saw the white t-shirt guy from two weeks ago, standing above her.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll get up and go.”  Sarah said nervously, as the man was starring at her.

“No, no. It’s all right.  You don’t need to go. You were talking to yourself.”  The man said, as he smiled. 

Sarah huffed, “I guess I do that when I’m in a zone.”

“You’re more than welcome to stay. I come here for the quietness too.”  The man explained, as he walked away to sit down. 

She looked back towards her laptop and realized she had left her elbow on the M button, because her entire email to Scott at work was “Mmmmmmmmmmmm.”  Sarah laughed as she hit COPY and DELETE.