Chapter 2: A Free Coffee

The sun is almost down, I've been driving for nearly 10 hours now. Like I predicted, I don't have any more cell service, though that was kind of quick. I'm in a completely different city, with nowhere to go. I should probably go to a nearby coffee shop or something, somewhere with free Wi-Fi. Maybe then I can check out if there are jobs around, maybe even places to stay, though I'm not too optimistic. Would there even be coffee shops open at this time? I see one on the side of the road and I drive up to it, it's closed of course. They're all probably closed at this time of day. Well with nothing to do, and nowhere to sleep, nothing makes a more perfect bed than your own car.

I pull into a parking spot and try to get comfortable, well as comfortable as one can be in a car seat, which isn't very much. A blanket would be really nice right now, but of course I completely forgot to bring one. I guess I'll just use a hoodie in its place. Despite how uncomfortable this is, going to sleep is kind of easy after to being emotionally and physically exhausted, and sitting in a moving metal box for 10 hours.

The sun is up. I was kind of hoping yesterday was just a dream, but I guess reality isn't that kind. I checked the time, and it's 7 AM. The coffee shop I stopped next to is probably open by now. I look outside my window and see it filled with some people, perfect. I get out of my car and start walking toward the building. The chill in the air took me by shock, my skin felt cold as ice. It's not usually that cold in December, but I guess I didn't really keep track of how far I drove.

I get inside and it seems the place is pretty empty, just one person by the counter and a decent bit of empty tables. I sit down at one and go on my phone. I start searching on my phone to see where I am. It seems I'm on the outskirts of New York City, that's far away from where I started, in South Carolina. I wouldn't say that I'm in the best location to find a place and a job since rent is so high in NYC, but maybe it's cheaper when you're on the outer edge.

As I am looking on my phone for a will to live, I see someone looming over me. I look up from my phone, I see a man handing me a cup of coffee. It's the guy from behind the counter, and I see his name tag says "Samuel" on it. I look at him a little confused.

"Don't worry, it's on the house," he says while subtly gesturing for me to take it.

I do so and ask, "Why?"

"You were parked out front since before I got here." He looks out the window to my car, "No one who's in a good situation sleeps all night in front of a coffee shop," he lightly chuckles. I guess he's right, it probably did look a little weird. I look at the coffee in my hand, it feels warm. I've never been the biggest fan of coffee, but I'm always down to try it again. Maybe I'll like it this time. I take a sip; it tastes amazing.

"I could just be on a road trip." I assert, still wondering why he'd just give a stranger some coffee.

"No person on a planned road trip would sleep in their car, in front of a coffee shop, then come in and just sit on their phone, dressed up like that for winter in New York."

"What if I was about to order some coffee? Or it was a poorly planned road trip?" I ask slightly defensively.

"You were sat there for a good half-hour, just on your phone." He says back. I guess I didn't realize how much time had passed. "Yeah, I guess that does seem a little off." I sip my coffee.

"Yeah, just a little," he chuckles.

I continue sipping my coffee looking out the window, early morning here looks so beautiful. The colours in the sky are reaching out to me, trying to cheer me up. This feels like the most peaceful moment of my life, though that's probably just because it's a lot better compared to yesterday.

He takes a seat at my table, "So what brings you here?"

I don't want to give my life story to some random guy I just met, so I'd rather not give the details. "Family," I respond back to him, continuing to sip on my coffee.

"You have family that lives here? Or are you trying to get away from family?"

This guy asks too many questions of someone he just met. "I don't need to tell you that," I say, becoming a little uncomfortable from how interrogative this guy is.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to be pushy. I just like to get to know my customers. This shop doesn't get many, so I like to pass the time by getting to know them." He backs off a little, though still looking at me curiously. I hadn't realized; the shop is empty besides him and I. That doesn't exactly make me feel any safer, but he doesn't seem like he'll bite.

"Oh, by the way, the name's Samuel," he says, putting his hand out for a handshake. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, I know." You think this guy would remember that he has his name tag since he works here, but maybe he's a new employee.

"How d-," he pulls his hand away and takes a second. "Oh yeah sorry, I'm quite forgetful. I forgot about the name tag." He puts his hand back out, "So anyways, nice to meet you. What's your name?"

I hesitate a little, "Clementine," I say, proceeding to shake his hand.

"Clementine," he thinks for a moment. "Cool name. I don't think I've ever met a Clementine."

"Yeah, it's not the most common name. My mom gave it to me." I say reluctantly, still sipping on my coffee.

"Yeah, it's nice. Are you coming here to visit your mom?" Again, this guy asks too many questions.

"She's not around anymore." I say reluctantly.

He looks down and pauses, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..." I can feel the slight tinge of pain in his words, as if it was his own mother.

"No, it's fine, you didn't know." Another moment of silence passes as I continue to sip my coffee and go back to looking out the window. This moment is more depressing and scary. I begin to remember where I am and the situation I'm in, which isn't a good one. "So anyway, how did you forget you have a nametag, are you a new employee or something?" I ask.

"Oh. No, I own the place." He says with a bit of pride in his voice.

"You own the place?" I ask, a bit surprised.

"Yeah, I am what you might call the CEO. Or maybe 'manager' would be more fitting," He grins, arms crossed. This is probably the most convenient thing that has happened besides free coffee; I might be able to find a job pretty quickly at least for now. "Are you hiring?" I ask eagerly.

"Oh uh, yeah, I guess I could use another employee. But I have to ask, why do you seem so eager?" He asks curiously.

"I'm currently looking for work, at least a temporary job to help get me on my feet." I explain.

"Yeah, so it doesn't exactly sound like you're on a road trip." He says with a slight grin on his face, as if he figured me out. "You're running away from something."

"Yeah, I guess you caught me," I say, again uncomfortable. Though I feel a little better around him now that we've talked for a bit. "Though it's not like it matters."

"Well do you have a place to stay?" he asks.

"No..." I slightly mumble to myself.

"Then it kind of does matter." He says with a slight grin. I feel uncomfortable again, I don't know where he's going with this. "I have a room upstairs; you could stay there."

"For how much," I ask, expecting him to give some 'New York City-level' pricing.

"I could do it for a hundred a month." He says looking prideful, as if he's helping the poor. Though, I can't put it past him given that that's what I am now. I'm shocked, that's seems so low for the area we're in. Though it's probably too good to be true.

"Can I see it?" I ask slightly reluctantly.

"Yeah sure." I follow him upstairs. He shows me what seems to be almost half an entire house. There is a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room area all upstairs. Each room looking quite nice, and for $100 a month I was astonished. "I'll take it," I excitedly say. This is perfect, I could live here for the rest of my life if I needed to.

"Alright, well we have a deal. Do you want me to take the rent from your paycheck for now?" he asks. I had almost forgotten, "How much would you be paying me?" I ask, wondering if I can even afford it.

"I can pay you around 25 dollars an hour." He says after thinking for a second.

"25 dollars an hour?!" That's free money right there. This seems way too good to be true.

"Yeah? Is that too low?" He says, a little concerned.

"No, no. It's perfectly fine. If anything, it's too high." I chuckle a little.

"Oh so we have a deal then?" He asks putting his hand out for a handshake.

"Yeah sure." I happily shake his hand.