The aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air. She cleans some tables and even though the cafĂ© has just opened, the well-known face of a regular hovers over music sheets and a laptop. The headphones caress her ears while a pencil whips up and down the table surface. It’s been three months now that this musician has found her spot directly at the bar. A couple of papers almost slip. The barista fetches them for the girl without letting the cup slip from the tablet.
“Coffee?”, she asks, waiting for her customer to react, “With sugar and cream, right? Two cubes.”
She looks up, pushing the headphones down from her ears. Slightly flustered but with a genuine smile she takes the mug from her. The barista continues to work, stealing a few glances while her co-worker softly shoves her.
“So, this is her?”, pale eyes meet her dark ones, “She’s cute. I think my brother and she work at the same studio. What’s her name again?”
A blush creeps up her pale cheeks as she tries to silence her co-worker. He mumbles something between her fingers and she can barely make out the letters he attempts to form. The girl with the headphones is already deep in her music, scribbling notes on the music sheets again. The young man gently puts her fingers down.
“Persephone. Her name is Persephone.”
Weeks passed and there is no sign of her. The rain is pouring outside. Only a few people have found a bit of shelter from the water coming down in large portions from the sky above. It doesn’t feel right. The barista sighs as her co-worker approaches from the side.
“Hey, what’s with the long face?”, his blonde hair is slowly growing longer, almost covering his eyes.
“Persephone hasn’t shown up in a while.”, she sighs, gazing once again to the cup the musician usually drinks from.
Her co-worker looks over her shoulder, clearing his throat. With two bobby pins he pushes his bangs out of his face and looks again. It’s definitely the girl they have been talking about just now. She steps slowly to the two, sitting at her usual spot by the bar.
“Hey… Could I get a cup of coffee with some cream and two cubes of sugar please?”
“Of course!”, her voice made a slight pitch while saying the word ‘course’.
She softly prepares the drink for Persephone and carefully hands it over to her. She smiles and takes a gentle sip from it. Her bright green eyes wander over the coffee shop, taking in all the details.
“I seriously have to thank you. Not just this little place here but you in particular. Your support throughout those months made it possible for me to finish this song. I called it ‘Many shades of coffee’. Oh, my name is Persephone by the way. It’s only a small thing I could do but here. I… brought a CD. Hope you like it.”
“H-hades. That’s my name. And thanks! I will give it a listen!”, she is still somewhat jumpy and bumps first thing into her co-worker while grabbing the little CD-Player from underneath the empty cabinet.
Together, the two started to play the song, and it was such a lovely tone. The co-worker only smiles, knowingly that this story between them is just the beginning.
© Skylar_C_R_Wolf 2023-08-22