“Hey.” She tapped my arm. “Let’s go to the café and get some Frappuccino. I’m tired and hungry.”
It took us fifteen minutes to get to the café. On a weekday, it’d take us twice as long, but because the traffic was minimum andthe streets were clear, I could protect myself from getting an ear bleed against Sienna’s K-pop marathon.
I parked my van outside the café and faced her. “You stay here,” I told her. “And if you need anything else other than a Frap, just gimme a call.”
“Okay,” she said, and then began playing some BTS song on her phone.
I groaned and got out of the van.
As I pushed open the café’s door and stepped inside, the welcoming smell of coffee and bread hit my nose, making me sigh.
I realized there was a line in front of the order counter, so I slid my hands into my coat pockets before standing behind a guy ahead of me.
“I don’t understand, ma’am,” I heard Suman, the order lady, say to someone.
There was some commotion up front that I couldn’t hear clearly, so I rose on my toes to see if I could make out what was going on, but it was a pretty crowded line, so I couldn’t see anything.
“Ma’am, please; I cannot understand,” Suman said, this time in clear frustration.
More unclear commotion.
Some customers started fidgeting and began murmuring to each other.
Fuck this.
I got out of the line and made my way to the front, but around halfway through, a guy grabbed my arm in order to stop me.
“Whoa, hey. Where do you think you’re going, dude?”
He was still in his PJs, and his breath smelt all but rotten as he gave me a once over.
I jerked my arm out of his hold. “To see what the fuss is about,” I told him. “Because clearly, you or the others don’t givetwo shits about it.” I took a step forward, but stopped and faced him again. “Also, the next time you plan on getting out of the house, make sure to at least brush your teeth,dude. It’ll save lives, trust me.” I didn’t wait for him to reply; I marched straight up to the order counter.
“What’s wrong, Suman?” I asked the barista.
She relaxed when she saw me. “Myles, hey.” She then gestured in front of her. “I’ve been telling this lady that I have no idea what she’s saying, but she won’t budge, so it’s put a hold on the rest of the line. And, it seems like she’s alone, so that’s made things harder.”
I looked to my right, and saw an old lady glancing between me and Suman. When she saw me looking at her, she walked up to me and began signing furiously.
“See?” Suman said. “That’s all she’s been doing for the last few minutes.”
I ignored her and gave my complete attention to the lady.
Hi, I signed.I’m Myles. Are you here by yourself?
She beamed up at me, and the relief on her face made me smile.
I’m Annabeth, she signed.The woman behind the counter has been driving me crazy. My son is out running an errand, but he should join me soon.
I chuckled. “That’s okay. You can tell me what you’d like to order.”
Annabeth tapped both of her ears, and then shook her head with a frown on her face.
Ah, so she couldn’t hear me.
I’m sorry, I signed.Can you tell me what you would like to order? I can convey your message.
She nodded, then told me exactly what she wanted: two cream coffees, no sugar.
