"Order up!"
I groan as I hear my coworker and now officemate announce that she's got another set of orders ready for me. I'm working the early shift at the coffee shop this particular day and I have to admit...I'm not much of a morning person. But, I guess like anything else, it eventually becomes a little easier and (most of the time) enjoyable. And I'm fairly certain I'll get used to waking up early eventually. It's been nearly three weeks since I left the Order, ever since I was officially released. I came here to this small town not having any idea what I was going to do. Not really. I just... needed a break. I wanted to be out of the spotlight, I wanted to try and have the peace I couldn't have back in the Order.
Fortunately, I ended up here, in this town, living with my friend, Lizzy. It's not much, but it's enough. And it's very nice of her to allow me to stay here with her and her son, Connor. It helps to separate myself from my past, even though I can't forget it entirely. Living with Lizzy, I get to be around people who don't seem to know what I am or what I'm capable of. All they seem to see are the clothes I wear, the haircut I have, the job I have. ...The illusion I keep up.
It's not just Lizzy and her son, though. I've actually made some friends at the coffee shop where I work. I...I'm not sure if I should stay longer than the usual length for an incubus to stay at one place. Now that I think about it... it's been three weeks and I haven't caused much trouble. I haven't had much trouble. I've been doing my job, sure, but like I said... I'm not quite a morning person and I've been pretty distracted.
Honestly, there was a time where I was worried when they hired me. I really, really didn't want to work at a coffee shop. I could have ended up working at a butcher shop and I would have been alright with that. A butcher shop was something that was far more fitting for...well...something like me. A place that provided meat. A place that has people who consume a lot of meat. A place where the cream of the crop of the world would come to get their lunch. I don't know what it was, but the fact it was called a coffee shop didn't help matters. It kept running through my head over and over. Coffee shops are places frequented by humans, scum of the earth. I didn't want to work there. Not at first anyways.
The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized how much I'd like to actually work there. In a way, it feels comfortable in how similar it is to the Order. I mean, I still have clients. I still go to my room to...well...do these things. And I still have my job. It's just on a different part of town. The clientele is different, they're not people who would normally come to a butcher shop, but they are still equally as tasty and equally as entrancing. I just don't have to wear a mask around them or hide who I am. It helps to make the job a little more enjoyable.
I step into the kitchen in the back. The kitchen is on the back of the shop and I didn't really expect having a kitchen to be something I would like, but it's...shaded, which is a good thing since I'm trying to get used to the shop's way of doing things. There isn't much more I can do in here other than make my coffee. I feel like I walk through a maze of doors and a bunch of pipes and admire one of the industrial ovens that gets used first. There isn't really a lot of privacy to talk in the open kitchen, so I head into another area.
I head into a small staff room. It's there that I meet the store manager and some of my other coworkers. I find them sitting, drinking their drinks and talking. A few of them, I recognize. There's Cara, in the middle of the table, but she's slumped over lazily on the table, clearly tired. She's bored and spent from work. Normally, she would be lighter from work, but she's been sick lately and that's one of the reasons why I'm here early. Her son, Connor, comes in and he lowers himself onto her lap. "Morning mom!" he says, wrapping his arms around her. I don't really know Cara that well and I can vaguely see what Connor's like. I can tell that he's like his mother in a lot of ways, but not the way you would have expected him to be. He's sharp and dark and handsome. But I'm not here to look at him. I'm here to look at his mother.
The rest of the day passes by. I make my green tea as usual, but I notice Lizzy coming in much earlier than normal. I watch her as she walks out of her home and goes to her car. She has a lot of bags, probably carrying them one after the other. I take this as a sign that something must be going on at home. I decided to catch her before she gets her order. "Lizzy?" I ask. She stops and turns around. "Hey, how are you doing? You alright?"
She rubs her temple. "Yeah, I'm fine. Honestly, I'm a little distracted all the time."
"Yeah," I nod and walk up to her, "you look it. I can't help but notice you're home earlier than normal."
She pauses and thinks a moment. "Yeah, Connor's home right now, but he's still sleeping. If we wait, he'll start causing a ruckus and he'll wake up or I'll wake him up making dinner. I think I'll go inside for a bit and maybe hang around for a little bit. You don't have to stay. We can have our coffee and chat."
I nod, making my way to the coffee machine. I put in my order and wait for my drink. "You don't have to leave me hanging, Lizzy. You can sit with me." She blushes. "Does it matter so much if I'm sitting with you and listening to your story? You can always let me walk you home, if you are too embarrassed."
"No, no," she shakes her head. "It's fine. I'm fine. I just need a break and I've been home way too much lately. Anyways, people would be surprised if they knew you were the one to talk to me."
I raise a brow as my drink finishes up. "What's that supposed to mean? Just so you know, I talk plenty with you and other people here."
"Yeah, but it's not often you talk with me." She turns away from me and I frown. If I flat out tell her that I'm here to talk with her, I figure she'll realize very soon that I'm not just here to have coffee.
"Well, the other people I do talk with...it's really hard to get them to talk.