“Sure,” I said and stepped to the side so she could pick her mug out. While the two women in front of me each held four mugs in their hands, the woman behind me started chatting about them. “I saw an email a few days ago about the second series of these coming out this week. I hadn’t paid attention to the date, though.”
“What are they?” I asked her as she held two in her hands and examined them while she decided on the one she wanted to purchase.
“They’re the Socks and Coffee line. These four are series two.”
“They come out every so often?” I asked as I picked one up. My eyes were drawn to the colorful, goofy socks.
“Yes, it’s locally designed and made. It’s two kids.” The woman paused and laughed. “Two twenty-somethings. Anyhow, they design the mugs exclusively for the Three Brothers Coffee shops, and all of the proceeds go to the L.A. initiative to stop human trafficking.”
An ice-cold chill ran down my spine and temporarily paralyzed me. I felt like I could be sick to my stomach in an instant. The woman turned the mug over and showed me the verbiage about the proceeds and the exclusivity for Three Brothers Coffee. I flipped the mug in my hands over and stared at the words “Socks and Coffee by Brandon & Salem.”
I wasn’t okay.
My son had been a victim of human trafficking… and was into fun socks.
“I picked up the entire first set when it came out this summer. I’m going to grab these two today,” the woman behind me said as she stepped back in line. I clutched the one in my hand. I was getting this one. I’d eventually get them all, but right now I wasn’t stable enough to carry more without dropping them. I truly felt lightheaded and as though I could pass out at any moment.
I nodded and cleared my throat before I attempted to speak.
“These are cool designs,” I managed to say.
An employee came over carrying a small box and began replenishing the shelf with more mugs. She smiled when she saw several of us in line had some in our hands.
“Grabbing up some Socks and Coffee mugs, huh?” she asked us.
“Yes! I was at the store yesterday down in Huntington Beach, and they were all out of this design,” one woman said from the other side of the line.
“I saw the email about them and am glad I came in today.”
“Do you know if it’s just these four designs for series two?” one woman in front of me asked the employee.
“Yes, four designs in each series,” the employee said as she looked around the display. “It looks like we’re out already, but the series two socks were so darn cute. They matched the socks on the mugs.”
Oh my God.
“Do you know where I can get those?” I asked as I took a step forward in line.
“You can try one of our other stores or try back maybe next week. We should be getting more of these in. They’re so popular.”
“I can see that. These are really great. It’s the first time I’ve seen them.”
“The mug series has become so popular. All the proceeds go to the initiative to fight human trafficking.” The woman pointed to the cardboard info card that stood upright on the shelf. “They’re designed by two of our employees,” she added.
I played dumb.
“Oh?”
“Brandon and Salem.” The employee stood on her tiptoes and looked around the store. “I saw both of them a little while ago.”Oh my God, was he here?“Salem is sitting down over there.” I turned to look in the direction the employee gestured with her hand. A young woman with jet black hair and a bright purple streak sat at a table with a bunch of plastic boxes. “And Brandon is behind the counter next to Andrew—Andrew is the owner.” The woman went back to putting the mugs on the shelf.
Nothing else registered that was going on around me. Absolutely nothing. He was right there. My eyelids quickly filled with tears as I looked at him. There was too much for me to digest.
He was tall, like me.
He had very light brown hair, like me.
My heart started to pound wildly when he picked up two coffee cups and walked out from behind the counter. He was almost within touching distance. It felt as though a vise was around my chest, slowly squeezing it as he walked between the counter and the line.
He had bright blue eyes, just like me.
