“Sugarplum’s been naughty.” Chestnut looked way too pleased with himself as he took another sip of his coffee.
“What’s that in your hand, Chestnut?” Jolly Santa raised his stick-on white eyebrows in such a way they hit the brim of his hat and fell askew.
I covered my mouth to stifle a fit of giggles. Oh dear. I smoothed my eyebrow in the hopes it’d give him a hint.
Santa propped his hands on his hips. “I’ll deal with you two later.” A few kids ran up, so he bent down, all smiles and open arms. “Ho, ho, ho! Don’t you look nice? What wouldyoulike for Christmas?”
As soon as Mr. Hoynes saw them, he gasped and ran over to fix Santa’s hat and stick-on facial hair.
While they were distracted, I took the opportunity to sneak behind a tree, stir a crumbly candy cane into my coffee, then take a sip.
Yuck.Still bitter. Just mintier.
Next time, I’d order a cookie and tea. Next time with Harvey.
7
Latte Business
Our 'next time' happened two days later during my dinner break. Chestnut was happy to send me money to get him caffeine and I was all-too-eager to see Harvey, if that was, in fact, his name. The guy with a man-bun was at the front register, but an olive cap poked out above the espresso machines, so at least I knew my favorite barista was working.
The cashier stuck his thumbs in his black apron pocket and leaned back on his heels. “Hey, can I take your order?”
What did I want again? Besides a smile from a certain someone with a pierced lip?I scanned the menu. “Coffee? One regular, please.”
“Will that be all, miss?”
“Yes, thanks.”
“Name?”
“Sugarplum.” I peeked over at the espresso machine, but Harvey was busy.
Right as the cashier scanned my card, I realized I forgot to order whatIwanted. “Actually–”
The cashier glanced at me, sucking in an apprehensive breath. It’d probably be a lot of work to modify the order.
“Never mind.” Oh well. At least Chestnut would get his caffeine. I selected a tip amount on the machine and walked over to the pickup area. A cup and saucer held some kind of latte. The steamed milk foam on top had been crudely dragged out to form snowflake tips.
“Wow, that’s so cool.” I beamed at the person reaching for it.
The customer smiled. “Thanks.”
They didn’t make it. But I supposed they had good taste. They sipped the drink on their way to their table, where another person waited for them. Why wouldn’t they show the art to them first? Or at least take a picture.
Harvey scanned the order screen. “Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up.”
I gulped and wrung my hands, glancing at the others waiting for their orders. Was he talking about me?
He snagged a sleeve and slapped the canister on the counter. “Order 358, Steve.”
'Steve' strode forward, grabbed his coffee and waltzed straight off, casual as could be.
The barista’s dark voice poured into my soul as steam hit my cheek. “You took the cookie and you didn’t even review me.” The darkest roast in the world had nothing on his gaze. From the way he dragged his lip ring between his teeth, I worried he wanted to rip into me.
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.” His jaw flexed, but he kept his cool as he worked on getting the coffee, his eyebrow piercing glinting from the overhead light.
