Chapter 1

Mel

"Five creamers!"

The sound of an old espresso machine echoed about the room as the smell of freshly brewed coffee stormed the nostrils. 

The loud chatter created a busy aura in the room, just the way Melissa liked it.

"Five creamers? Who the hell drinks their coffee like that?" she asked with a smirk to her face, brushing some of the sugar off of her brown apron and moving quickly around the other employees at the counter.

"You already know, sugar," said the aged man in front of the register, handing over a crisp five dollar bill.

"Of course, Pete. No sugar as usual?" Mel asked with a smile, flipping on machines and filling cups with ice. Her speed was incomparable to any other.

"You know it!" The barista at the register made Pete's change as Melissa made the usual for him, a regular customer.

His timely wrinkles pressed his pink lips into a little grin. "This is the best part of my day, Mel." With a laugh he went to drink his coffee within the brightly sun-lit cafe.

For once, Melissa stopped for a minute and sighed. She looked around at the fruits of her labor; a friendly, local shop in the heart of the city. Something small within something so big and busy.

Many businessmen sat on their laptops, students with their books, and men with their lunch dates. This is what she had always envisioned.

Mel had tried to go to school, but never had the money. After high school and taking some night classes, she threw herself into her work at "The Neighborhood." She wanted to rise to the top and she did. With no family left, all she did was work until achieving managerial status. 

As soon as she had began her breather, it ended. The line got longer so she made her drinks faster. She had a certain fluidity to her work.

Customers filed in and out. Some staying to sit and some running back to the street to their busy lives, back to the real world which was so different than the world inside. A young woman with her small child, an established lawyer in a fancy black suit, even an athlete coming home from practice. Everyone was so different, but they came together in this one place. Mel made sure to learn everyone's story, since her own was so small.

Mel was proud of her work, but unfulfilled.

Once again snapped out of her daydream, her attention was drawn to a coffee spill at the counter. Her reaction speed was timeless as she immediately cleaned it before it even got close to seeping towards the register. The man in the blue suit and the barista were profusely apologizing to Mel as she wiped, but she was used to events like this occurring. Being a manager prepared one for the worst. Mel sent the barista away and remade the coffee for the man at the counter.  He seemed flustered, more out of sorts than a normal customer who spilt a drink.

"Sir, I insist. It is okay! Have this on the house," said Mel, slyly passing the cold cup into his hand. 

"I couldn't," he said quietly. "I made a mess of your shop. You are the manager, correct?" He attempted to fork his credit card over. It hung useless in the air as Mel made no move to touch it.

She took the moment to readjust her brown pony tail. "Why yes. And it's seriously fine." Her blue eyes sparkled towards him, not even touching the plastic goldmine which sat in between them.

"Ma'am, don't think you are doing me any favors, here. I can well pay for my coffee." His grin hardened, afraid his finances were being insulted.

"Oh no, sir, that's not it at all. You see, we have company policy where if a drink is spilled, it is free for the customer, regardless of whose fault it may be. No favors here," she said with a wink.

The blue suit man recomposed himself at this realization and then insisted on paying for the drinks of the next three people in line. Mel gratefully ran through this new transaction as the blue suited man left the shop, iced coffee in hand, 2 creams and 2 sugars mixing themselves in. After opening the door for the woman entering, he used his free hand to push his brown hair back.

Mel sighed again, wondering the story of this particular man who had wandered into her shop that day.