(Background credit: Sara from 'Pexels')

It was a Monday the first time he met her. He remembered that it was a Monday because - as was the custom at the start of the work week - all of his customers were grumpier than usual. All of his customers, that is, except her.

After a long line of surly faces and gruffly spoken orders of "large cappucino", "small chai latte", and "regular flat white with three shots - three shots exactly, not one more nor less mind you", thrown in his face - one after the other - he was understandably not expecting a friendly face to meet his weary one, and an unusually cheerful voice to say,
"Good morning."

"G-good morning." He had stammered back in surprise, "How can I help you?"

"Can I please have a Mocha with extra foam, if it's not too much trouble?" She politely asked, surprising him with that word 'please' - so seldom said by the usual busy people who viewed a mere barista not worth the extra second it would take to take to say 'please', nor worth the consideration shown by her making sure ordering extra foam wasn't too much trouble.

"Sure thing." He couldn't help but smile back at the friendly face, "What size?"

"Oh, um... a regular please."

There it was again, that 'please'.

"That will be £2.20." He said as he rung up the cash register.

She quickly got out the required money, in exact change too, and handed it to him with a kind "Here you go."

As he put the money away and grabbed a pen, he asked with his hand posed over the cup lid on which he had already written her order in short-hand,
"What name shall I put?"

"Eleanor. Thank you." Was her sweet reply.

Eleanor. He echoed to himself as he scribbled the beautiful name down.

"Alrighty, your drink should be ready in a few minutes if you just wait over there," he said - dutifully pointed to the opposite end of the long bench, where a long line of customers were either on their phones or glancing at their watches, grumbling impatiently.

"Awesome, thank you!" She replied as she began to turn, "Have a nice day."

"Thanks, you too." He quietly called out after the beautiful woman in the emerald-green puffer jacket who had so unexpectedly brightened his day-

"Oi, you! I want to order my drink. Don't laze around!" Snapped a sour-faced man in a suit as he shoved himself in front of the cashier's face.

The man gave a small, quiet sigh. And so continued his morning...