Davidsons
After Nine Years
The bell rang as the door opened. The sweet aroma of the coffee beans circled the cafe. The freshly prepped waffles were laid on the counter. The warmth was welcoming, the faint glimmer of lights as the sun shone through the windows - a soothing burn. Brown coated walls gave a cosy feel as the right side wall gave it life- covered in vibrant sticky notes filled with little stories written by people who visited.
''One Cappucino and Caramel Macchiato please.'' Her head turned towards her first customer. With a smile, she patted her apron straight and tied her hair up in a bun with a pencil. She left the cash counter and strode towards the coffee maker. The wall behind had framed photographs - her arm draped around her boss's shoulder, the twentieth anniversary of Ben & Larry's cafe, champagne glasses raised a righteous way to mark the twentieth year of a cafe. The one; that held close carried her happiest moments; candles lit fairy lights covering the walls - her seventeenth was a miracle.
''Sir your Cappucino and Caramel Macchiato.'' She said, handing it over to the customer. For a second, her eyes flickered towards the empty jar that sat on the counter to the right. A red ribbon wrapped across the lid with the words "Tip for my Heart" penned onto the jar.
''Thank you,'' The customer said as he dropped the change into the jar.
The bell rang as the door closed. Her eyes lingered towards the jar, a million little things crossing her mind her struggle to breathe under an open sky - normality leaving its traces behind the path she had forgotten about.
With a sigh, she dropped her gaze and looked around. Such emptiness at this hour triggered the hollowness her heart carried so hopelessly. To soothe the ache that came with her heart leapt towards the story wall. Her hands grazed the notes feeling the stories scribbled underneath. She read as her heart filled up with faith.
"I got a call from my doctor while I drank my coffee. I am pregnant!!" - Daniel & Ella.
"My grandma died. This place has become my solace." - Chris.
"Sent my resignation letter. Will pursue my passion now." - Olivia.
"Dropped the sorry ass of my cheating boyfriend today. Hope your coffee warms his wounds." - Katherine
She chuckled, reading it. She stepped away, a delicate red paper heart caught her eyes. She turned towards it touching it; her eyes glimmered, reading those words; hands felt those familiar handprints left years before.
''She and I met here three years ago. We are getting married now.'' - David & Isobel.
She stared at the words as the bell rang, and the staff tumbled in. Taking her eyes off that story, she stepped back.
"Man, I love this story wall," Madison said from behind her. She looked over her shoulder and smiled.
"Yeah, it's filled up with every sad beautiful and tragic story. Carrying so many memories of every human stepped here. Holding their emotions in it for years." She said, a million little emotions whirling around inside her. Madison raised her eyebrows, and with a glint in her eyes, she smiled.
"Chop chop, Anna, back to work now." She said. Anna turned around - leaving her feelings behind. Then, with a smile, she walked back to the counter.
The cafe bustled with people as the clocks struck 8. Her job was to make coffee, but today she had to look after the cash counter also. With Ava on maternity leave and the anniversary coming up, the cafe had been keeping Anna occupied. Hospital visits were no fun either, with the senior year on her tail.
As she cleaned the counters, the nametags laid there eyeing her helplessly. To avoid getting the names or the orders wrong, she came up with nametags for customers. Though Ava got them wrong too, and those nametags ended up in the corner of the counter.
"Never using these again?" Maddison said, raising her eyebrows.
"Actually, yes," She said and picked the first nametag her fingers touched. Next, she picked the marker and came back to the front of the counter. People kept adding up in the queue the voices raised. She sighed heavily as her eyes scanned the cafe. With so little staff on the weekends, the cafe turned into a chaotic mess.
Her breaths so heavily lingered onto the air around, collapsing as her heart would burn in ache. Her lips parted, hands resting on her heart, her struggle to breathe under an open sky. She was a miracle drowning in the abyss of hollowness, breathing in to let the cold soothe the burns.
It became her solace the cafe brought back the lost serenity in her. The hushed whispers the echoing laughs made her heart breathe a little calmly. But today, as the people bustled in her heart withered away from her. The chaotic mess of the cafe caused her hitched breaths. She wasn't drowning and breathing. The sky above her head cleared, the clouds moved, and the air suffocated her. She looked over to Maddison, handling the cash counter with ease as the nametags from her hand fell onto the counter near the jar. Closing her eyes, she tried taking a deep breath in. As her eyelids flickered open, she picked the nametags, her eyes landing onto the jar that sat half empty. She sighed and peered at the long queue.
She felt the lost rhythm of her heart again.
She handed over the nametags to the customers. They wrote their names and the order, and she pasted them onto the cups.
"Exhausted yet?" Maddison asked. She looked over her shoulder and nodded with tired eyes.
"We have to take the props out as well." Anna nodded as she walked towards the coffee maker. The aroma of coffee beans aroused her, those droopy eyelids lifted open.
"We will need help decorating the cafe tonite." She said as she poured the steamed milk into the shot of espresso, preparing it for someone called J. How specific, she thought.
Closing the lid of the 15th coffee, she walked over to the counter and called out the names of the customers. Maddison moved away from the cash counter and walked towards the supply closet to get more ice for the ice maker.
A few people settled down as some exited the cafe. The sticky notes laid in the basket on the right corner of the counter kept decreasing as the stories filled the wall. Her eyes landed on the heart-shaped sticky note stuck in the middle of other stories. The words "getting married" kept running in her head in circles as the name written at the bottom sent tingles down her arms.
"When are you leaving?" She turned around towards Maddison's voice. She checked her watch.
"In exact 5 minutes." She said, leaning away from the counter and taking her apron off.
"You will be back for decoration, right?" Maddison asked, adjusting the tray of croissants into the containers. Anna murmured a small yes while gathering her things. It was 12 pm now; the queue had died down a little though the cafe remained full. Madison marched back into the supply closet, and taking advantage of her absence, Anna picked a sticky note from the basket. A black heart-shaped.
Scribbled a few words onto it and walked towards the story wall sticking it right below the red heart.
With a sigh, her hands fell to her side; the black heart stuck onto the wall shadowing the red heart.
The blackness it carried darkened the soul of love that grew years ago and fell apart as the hushed whispers echoed in the halls, and the flickering glances undressed the newfound love as it danced wrapped up in other peoples arms. Those lips stole the kisses behind the closed doors, and the burning vows were heard.
She took a deep breath and turned her back to the wall; the red heart stuck loosely, ready to be ripped apart, yet she walked towards the door to leave the cafe.
The doors opened, the bell rang as a cold breeze in the mid of July hit her. The wind gusted inside the cafe as she stepped outside; the stories flapped still glued to the wall. As the wind howled, some hearts flew and landed on the ground.
On the wooden floors, the black heart laid perfectly still; the words scribbled in haste so bold and loud yet lost their sense when seen on the ground; it needed a red heart by its side. The missing place of it only she could find.
"A lie that still lives. A promise that shattered." -