getting coffee
I'm stumbling out of bed and into the bathroom where I open the mirror cabinet swinging it wide open to clumsily grasp for my contacts. I deftly assign my contacts to each eye, then brush my teeth, change my clothes, shave my stubble, finally styling my hair with some product and a comb into a matte, messy slick back. Into my tote, I throw in two books, one non-fiction and one fiction, a notebook, pen, and one water bottle. I grab my keys and walk out of the door and into my car, turning the engine on and plugging in my phone for carplay.
Driving into The City, on this particular morning there's no traffic and I quickly get to neighborhood with my favorite coffee shop. I arrive at the coffee shop, walking in, I immediately smell the coffee aroma wafting through the air.
I walk up to counter to order a cappuccino, the regular-to-my-schedule barista quickly notices me and comes to the register. Her lips forming a soft smile as she approached.
"Hi, how are you doing?"
"Good. Good, how are you?" As always, I can't help but stare into her eyes every time I see them. They seem to almost change color in the light, sometimes they are a deep coffee color and other moments they look like beautiful jade.
"Good, what can I get for you?" Her smile almost communicates that she is genuinely happy to see me, reflecting the lovely relationship we built between these small interactions.
"Just one cappuccino please," I say as I look to menu then back to her stirring eyes. I watch her look down at the kiosk to type in my order— "Is whole milk good?"
"Yes, that's fine." She looks back down at the kiosk to complete my order. As she tilts her head toward the screen, small bits of hair falls forward to form tendrils framing her graceful face.
I take my wallet out as I see the kiosk light up and display the tap to pay sign. I place my card onto the glowing symbol and wait to hear the beep and quickly put my card back into my wallet and my wallet into my pocket.
"Thank you, if you can just tap through the next screen..."
I see the screen display a tip page, I tap on the $1.00 choice and then wait for the final screen. In college I rarely tipped, I didn't really think I had the money, but these days I generally tip every time.
"Need a receipt?"
"No, thank you."
"Alright, we will have it right out for you." She gives me a final smile before she turns around to start on my drink. I walk towards an empty table to set my things down and relax as I wait for my coffee.
I pull out my two books to chew on while I wait. The first contender is "Katabasis" by Rebecca F. Kuang, always been a fan of novels with a academia setting. Then the second book is the "The Law of Thought" by Tom Griffiths. A historical adventure through the development of using math to describe logic, thoughts, and behavior. I ponder on this choice for a minute... I think I got it, I'll read—
I hear an angel's voice calling my name! No wait, my coffee is ready. I look up calmly to see my barista putting the cup down on the counter. I make my way over to grab my cup. Before taking it, I inspect the art on the cup, a brown and white panda meets my eyes.
"Thank you very much!" I say with a little more enthusiasm than usual. I give my barista a glance, while she's already focused on another order, I can tell she is very much pleased with her work. And maybe I notice her slightly blushing, but I think that's my imagination. I go back to my table and sit down.
I drink the coffee. The initial note begins with a strong sharpness of cacao, caramel, and butterscotch. Then, a mellow bitterness develops within my mouth. I feel the coffee start from within my mouth, then the fragrance flows to my nose, and then it warms my belly as it travels down. I lean my head back and sigh softly. My eyes close as I bathe in the caffeinated bliss.