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 Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 6:22 am
There were many errands that Reid Covey was tasked with, at his job with Argent Industries. He ran things to and from the mail room. He ran important documents over to other offices across the city that were marked urgent and needed reading within the day. He fixed broken desks and chairs. Anything he could do to make himself useful, anything that could promise him job security for the highest paid job he'd ever had in his life.
But mostly, Reid did food runs.
It wasn't uncommon for him to fetch lunch for Miss Argent herself or other high members of administration. When they were feeling particularly generous and offered to cater in food for those forced to work through lunch he would occasionally catch a break from the midday runs but there was always, always at least one coffee run a day that he was tasked with fulfilling before he clocked out for the day.
This morning, it consisted of seven drinks, all scribbled out on his trusty little notepad he'd brought with him to the office on day one. His pencil lead had broken when he was writing down the orders so he'd been forced to use a particularly inky pen in its place (on a moment's notice) and as he shuffled his way through the line, the young man found himself biting his bottom lip as he tried to decipher his own writing.
Oh god... did his thumb just smear that word? Was it iced or was it spiced?
Crap!
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:27 am
Of her retail jobs, Astrid minded her barista gig the least. Most of the time her shifts were on the shorter side, five to seven hours, she got to take home free beans every now and again and she could drink as much free coffee as she wanted on shift (as long as she wasn't prioritizing her drinks over customer's). Customers were (usually) nicer too than the people she ran into in her department store job.
And even if they were rude, they usually tipped which didn't make it okay, but she was inclined to be more forgiving if they were sliding a five dollar bill into the tip jar. Which was pretty often, actually, since across the street was the big fancy Argent Industries building which was full of corporate bigwigs who could throw money around like it was confetti when they wanted.
She was working register, the line of customer's a little more backed up than she'd like but soon enough she'd gotten through them and found the cute boy from AI in front of her.
"Hi," she said, bright and cheery with her best customer service grin on her face, "how many drinks are we getting for you today?" She had her trusty sharpie ready and her fingertips reaching for the cups already.
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:36 am
It took him several seconds to realize that the barista was addressing him and not some faceless person in line before him - all of the busybodies that had been there were all now enjoying their drinks or waiting patiently to the side for their order to appear.
Double crap!
"I've got, uh... six drinks to get today," he said, lacking confidence as he squinted at the smeared paper, pointer finger skimming down the list as he mentally recounted for the eleventh time, "-- no wait, seven. I've got seven."
Behind him, he could hear a soft sigh from one of the future customers and the tips of Reid's ears burned as a result.
"Sorry, I'm usually more prepared than this --" He frowned as he set the list down, trying to read from the beginning. The first two drinks were legible, done in pencil - so no problem there. It was when he reached the third and fourth on the list that he began to fumble with his words.
"Do you have something called a... mocha...frapalatte? Maybe?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:42 am
Astrid's smile faltered when he seemed to stutter.
He wasn't even looking at her and a tiny part of her was disappointed but she pushed that away. He was a customer and she was working, besides, she hated when guys hit on girls while they were working.
"It's okay," she replied in that cheery, practiced voice of hers, "everyone's gotta have an off day right? Maybe you just need your coffee first." She giggled, trying to make light of things so that maybe he'd feel better about it all.
"We have like, frozen lattes and we can definitely do a mocha one. Do you know what size all of these will be?" That way she could get the cups lined up and maybe streamline the process a little.
The orders he hadn't struggled with were set neatly along the counter so that the person making drinks could begin before the switch of positions happened. "Which, that's what you usually order when you come do your rounds. The frozen latte, I mean."
It was good customer service to recognize guests right?
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:52 am
The giggle was friendly and Reid knew, deep down, that she was trying to offer some courteous retail friendliness but all he could feel inside was sheer panic at messing up the bigwigs orders.
Sure, most of them seemed really nice -- but he'd also never gotten their order wrong before. What would happen if he messed up? Would they put in a complaint about him? Would his job be in jeopardy over something as simple as a ruined coffee run?
She offered to get the cups out, which was subtle speak to him of sir can you please hurry up because he knew without looking that there had to be at least four or five people lined up behind him, all waiting for their caffeine fix for the day.
Eyes closed as he concentrated, trying to picture the lady administrator who'd made the third order on his list. When the barista mentioned a usual order, however, blue eyes flew open and he looked at her with surprise.
"You... know my orders?"
The hope in his voice was apparent as he pushed the smeared piece of paper towards her. "Do you... do you think you can figure out what I tried to write, from what I tend to get?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:04 am
Her smile slipped further as she watched him close his eyes and the way his expression looked pained. She didn't know how to respond outside of trying to be gentle and polite. An upset customer was never fun to handle even if this guy was usually really polite and formal.
Sometimes he was gruff, but she took it as him being like that because he was clearly the errand boy for the corporate tycoons.
"You come a lot and I'm usually here," Astrid said, finding her cheeks flush a little bit. She didn't realize he never paid attention to the people helping him and she felt silly for recognizing him and his orders but she had a good memory.
"Most people don't change their orders," she shrugged, leaning forward and reaching for the paper. "Oh, yeah. I can tell you what pretty much all of these are."
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:08 am
"You can?"
The word can squeaked out a little higher than he'd intended it too, his excitement almost palpable from the way he was staring her down. "Holy crap, you are such a life saver. Oh my god, I thought I was going to get fired for sure."
The corporate credit card was handed over as he watched her ring up the order, a tremendous feeling of relief soon removing the burden that had been figuratively weighing him down. He was so relieved, in fact, that he began fishing in his pocket to pull out his own wallet, removing the single five dollar bill he'd been saving for his own weekly lunch out (a personal treat, he'd told himself) and quickly stuffed it into the tip jar to his left.
"I don't know how to thank you, seriously."
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:14 am
Busying herself with writing on the cups, Astrid hadn't been paying too much attention to what the boy across the counter was doing until she saw him fish out his card and stuff the five into the tip jar.
"Whoa, hold on. Why-- Why are you tipping me with your money, when you've got their card?" She asked, one hand wrapped around the paper cup and the other in the air, sharpie poised to write. "I mean, they gotta budget for these coffee runs right?"
She'd seen the boy coming and going from time to time and while thinking too much about it made her feel like a stalker, the buildings were made up of windows for walls, that wasn't her fault. But, he always seemed to be carrying his own made-from-home lunch.
Her cheeks colored again and she went back to writing, typing in the orders on the tablet before picking up the card and swiping, turning it over for him to sign, and tip, if he wanted.
"Sorry, that was forward and well...yeah." She exhaled a slow shaky breath. "But, I'm happy to help." She paused and then looked at the row of cups. Leaning forward and in a soft almost whisper (so other patron's didn't hear), "do you want something? You never get yourself anything, but this, it's on me today if you do."
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 8:22 am
He froze like a deer in the headlights when she'd called him out on his tipping, forcing the boy to bite the inside of his cheek. He'd expected to earn a smile for the effort, not admonishment for using cash.
"B-Because I'm grateful for your help?" He offered, the color on his ears soon passing down to join his cheeks.
She apologized, further catching him off guard, then offered in a whispered breath to buy him a drink. Eyes widened in surprise - he was causing such a headache for the poor girl and she wanted to treat him?
"I... wouldn't know what to get. I've never had anything besides what's in the coffee pot in the break room."
Which, in retrospect, probably sounded utterly stupid of him to tell a stranger, even if she was a pleasant, caring one. Why would she care what he's had? Or know what the coffee pot coffee would taste like? He was just an errand boy. He bought the coffee, he couldn't afford to drink it.
"I...." Blue eyes glanced up at the board, the words all foreign to someone who'd never in his life stepped foot into a coffee shop with himself on his mind. "Crap. Um. Water. I like water?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 9:06 am
"Yeah I know but---" Astrid sighed, waving her hand about as if it would dismiss the conversation. "It's fine, it's appreciated. Thank you," she told him and meant it.
She hoped they could just move past it and ignore her verbal blunder, especially since the line behind him was growing and she had a feeling he'd feel anxious in some way about it. Most people her age got anxious about being in the way or taking up too much time. It was part of capitalism, she mused.
"How about, I pick something and surprise you?" That seemed like the be the best option and she wasn't going to let him settle for water. "Are you allergic to anything? Need a specific type of milk?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 9:22 am
The topic of the tip was dropped, the barista moving on to talk about what he liked and what sort of drinks he consumed, putting him on the spot and making him figuratively sweat, just a bit.
"That sounds like it's probably for the best," he laughed nervously, already shuffling down the line to make room for the next person to order -- one who probably knew what they were ordering and what they actually liked to drink.
Who didn't know what they drank??
"No allergies, not picky about anything in particular."
Whether or not that was true, he wasn't about to admit it. Hands fidgeted with the ruined list as he glanced down at the smeared paper, ink already blotched against the pad of his thumb.
"Thanks, Miss Astrid."
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 9:37 am
Astrid's lips, that were lined with a dark red lipstick, pursed as she mused over what to put on his cup. A few things were scribbled onto the side of it and then it was set with the rest of them.
"A surprise it is," she told him, offering a softer, less practiced smile his way before she turned her attention towards the next person in line. Astrid got through them quickly enough and was able to step over towards the second espresso machine to assist the barista making drinks.
It meant that she was able to handcraft Reid's drink and she finished topping it off with whipped cream and slipping the lid on it before she carried it over to the hand off plane.
"I think it's a little unfair that you know my name, but I don't know yours. How else am I supposed to know what to write on your cup to make sure you know which one is for you?" Astrid asked, looking at him expectantly.
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:02 am
His tongue snaked out, wetting his lips as he arched his eyebrows.
Right, name. They wrote names on the cups -- she'd written down all of the administrators and the boss's names on their cups, helping him differentiate whose drink was whose -- his needed a name.
"Covey," came the automatic response, which was quickly caught and corrected, "I-I mean, Reid. Reid Covey. Reid. I'm Reid."
He was pretty sure every single soul in the coffee shop at that very second now knew his name thrice over. Sigh.
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 10:41 am
Astrid had the sharpie ready, hand moving forward to start writing Covey across the top when he stuttered and corrected with his first name. She blinked a few times before her hand shifted to make the C a decorated R and scrawled Reid across the cup.
For effect, she put a smiley face at the end. It was probably unwarranted, but she wanted him to know that she didn't mind his presence, if he was worried about it.
The cup was set down and spill stopper inserted, a sleeve applied and it was neatly set in the second drink tray for him. "Well, Reid, when you're in next, let me know if you liked the drink. If not, I'll try something else next time, okay?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2019 11:00 am
As the last of the drinks made it into the second holder (he had a drink - him!!!), Reid found himself automatically nodding to her comment, as he would any of his superiors when being tasked with a job to do. It took him a second to find his way out of autopilot mode, a rare smile curving at the end of his mouth at her offer to find a new drink for him to have, should he find the first not to his liking.
Surely whatever she gave him was worth a good five dollars at least and while Reid didn't know why a stranger would give him such an expensive drink for free, it felt nice at the same time.
Was this... what having a friend was like?
The thought was a bit bewildering, so he decided to table it for dwelling later as tan fingers picked up the drink holders while shoes made their way towards the entrance.
"I will," he croaked out at last, finally finding the words for a response. "Thank you, Miss Astrid."
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