***
NOTE:
This story doesn't jump right in to people getting their freak on, nor does it have explicit sex. If that's what you're after, feel free to hit the back button. Maybe jump to the end to pick some of the 'related' story links.
Thanks for stopping by, and PLEASE vote and leave a comment.
***
After three straight weeks of work without a day off, I finally got some free time after the huge project was completed. I had a whole week off, but had nothing planned except sleeping in. After two days lounging around the house, compared with the frantic pace of so much time at work, I was bugging to get out and *do* something.
Not sure what exactly to do, I put the laptop and a few other essentials in my backpack and drove my company van to a random strip mall across town to go wandering. While I was kind of hoping to find some inspiration, I didn't really care if I only got some fresh air and exercise. None of the stores looked interesting, and I was almost ready to call it quits and go somewhere else when I saw a new little boutique coffee shop. The Grand Opening sign was starting to look worn, but I had never seen the place before, so it was still new to me.
The second I walked in, I knew it was the perfect spot to spend an hour or three. Even though there wasn't anyone in line, I stood to the side as I tried to figure out what what goodies my sweet tooth would demand of me.
The barista's voice snapped me out of my trance.
"Good morning sir, is there something I can get started for you?"
"Gurackks...."
-Ahem!- Clearing my throat, I realized this was the first time I'd spoken all day. Chuckling a bit in my head at my lazy start to the day, I tried again.
"Sorry miss, I had a frog in my throat. Ya, can I get a large cup of regular drip coffee? For here please."
"Sure thing, which blend would you prefer? We have a large selection. Our best sellers are Kona, Sumatra, this wonderful new Ethiopian ........"
As she spoke, I kind of got a 'deer in the headlights' look as she rambled off some names I couldn't follow. Hell, I just wanted some regular normal coffee, not some foo-foo mixology blend of stuff.
She only went through a few more names before I held up my hand.
"Hold on, hold on a second please. I actually don't know what most of those are, but I did recognize the 'Kona' name. Can I have one of those please?"
"Yes sir, right away."
What surprised me is that I realized I couldn't see any carafes or thermoses ready to dispense the dark black brew I needed. There were about a dozen canisters of beans, and she picked the right one and took a scoop of beans to bring to the grinder. My cup was put under a brew basket, and she put the ground beans in it and started working steaming-hot water through it. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry!
This was a lot more work than I had expected, but as I looked around I got the impression this was a specialty shop. This was about the whole 'experience' of coffee, not the coffee version of a fast-food place that I'm used to. This was really cool, and I was glad to have some time to spend here.
"Excuse me miss, but can you maybe change that order to a small cup?"
"Absolutely sir. Is there something wrong?"
"No, no, not at all. I've never been in here and I was just going to have one cup and take off. Now that I see what this place is all about, I'm thinking about staying longer and trying out several types of coffee. I have the day off and nothing to do, and this seems like a cool place to hang out for a while."
"Well lucky you!" she said, deftly sliding a smaller cup under the basket, then pouring in the dark liquid from the larger one.
"So if you will be while, did you want to start a tab?"
"Ya, that's a great idea. Also, can I get one of those ham&cheese croissants to go with this?"
"Sure, if you want to pick a table, I'll warm it up and bring it out to you when it's ready."
We traded my credit card for the cup of Kona, and I turned to find a table. There were plenty to choose from since there isn't much of a rush at 10AM. Spying a tall table with two bar stools, I made my way to the far wall and checked out the view. Perfect. It had a nice view of the whole (rather small) shop, and my table was overlooking a lower level seating area. It was two steps down from my level, and there were six over-stuffed armchairs in groups of two, with a small table between the groups.
My backpack got one stool and I got the other, and once I got out my laptop and situated everything, the barista showed up with my sandwich.
"Here you go sir, enjoy."
"Thanks much. But if I'm going to be here a while, can you stop calling me 'sir' please? It makes me feel old. My name is Mark."
Offering her my hand to shake, my eyes dropped to her shirt to look for a name tag. There wasn't one, just the local college logo, and now I felt like a perv for staring at her chest.
"Deal. My name is Karen, and it's nice to meet you Mark."
My cheeks started feeling warm as I realized I was still gawking at her chest. It was a nice view, I have to admit, but totally not appropriate.
"Uhh, sorry, I wasn't trying to stare. Really. I was just looking for a name tag."
Now looking back at her face, I swear I caught the barest trace of a smirk before she wiped it away and replied with a straight face.
"No that's OK, I spilled a bunch of syrup on my uniform shirt, so I had use the shirt I wore in here. Don't worry about it. Enjoy your coffee sir. Err, Mark."
That damn smirk made it's appearance again as she turned to leave. Karen had only gone a step away when I remembered what else I was going to ask.
"Oh hey, Karen, one more thing."
She stopped and turned only her head, her back still mostly towards me.
"Do you have Wi-Fi here so I can get online?"
"Ya, the name is 'java' and the password is 'caffeine '."
She tuned back and walked off, leaving me to say "Thanks" to her back. As I stared at her ass, it seemed she started to sway her hips a bit more the further she got away. The light cotton skirt was bouncing nicely, and it held my gaze much longer than it should have. Just before she turned to go behind the counter, her head turned back and caught me.
My eyes jumped up to her face again, and that smirk showed up for a millisecond before she walked past the display rack and she was out of sight. Once again, I could feel my cheeks get hot. Don't get me wrong, I love eye candy as much as any other person. But a 30 year old married guy getting caught by a 20-21 year old college girl as he openly gawks at her is embarrassing. If she worked as a stripper, she would expect to get ogled, but not if she's dressed appropriately and working in a coffee shop.
Still, I couldn't shake the image of her. She really wasn't showing anything off. Her skirt was at mid-thigh; her button-down shirt had a wide neck, the top button was undone, and while it was low-cut it was not showing off anything. It was a nice demure outfit, and she was a fairly average looking girl (cute but not model quality), but for some reason the whole package was just..... wow....
'Damn it Mark, stop being a perv' I yelled to myself in my head. Shaking my head to snap out of whatever funk I was on, I got back to my computer and set up the connection.
For the next few minutes I cleared my head and focused on eating my sandwich and enjoying the coffee. This really was good coffee, and as a side benefit, I could focus on enjoying the beverage to get my mind out of the gutter.