This will be my summer

Chapter 5 - new life, new work

The next day was a Thursday. Today I would get to see the little coffee shop where I would work over the summer for the first time.

Ashley didn’t know how to cook. When we were still living at home, she tried to make scrambled eggs once for breakfast. The result was something dark and burned and a horrid smell that lasted for days. Oh, and her parents had to throw away the pan because it was beyond saving. So now Ashley pretty much survived on a mix of frozen food, dining hall, ordering food and going out to eat. One of the places she went to was this coffee shop. She usually stopped there before class to get a huge coffee and sometimes she came back later because they also had sandwiches and some food, but not like a full restaurant. She was a regular and the owner knew her, so when she saw a sign saying they were hiring it didn’t take her much to get me the job. I had worked as a waitress before so it shouldn’t be to hard. Still, I was excited. Since I didn’t really know if I could count on my parent’s financial support after break (probably not), I really needed to save up some money for med school. I had scholarships, but they didn’t cover everything. Besides, this was the first step to taking back the control over my life. It belonged to someone else for long enough.

Ashley was still asleep when I left around noon, but she gave me keys to her apartment and told me not to wait on her, so that wasn’t a problem. It only took me five minutes to get there as the coffee shop was just two blocks away. It was a cute older building among the more modern ones with a front porch with seating. But given the still burning heat and despite the fans going crazy, there was only one girl seated there. Slowly, I entered. It was just as cute inside. There were different chairs and tables scattered around and a bookshelf on one end. It had a really cozy feel to it.

Relieved I breathed out loudly. I had been kind of scared, because the whole town was circling around the private university and all the money everybody had. So I had been afraid the shop would be cold and business-like, but this actually felt like a place I would come to study too.

At first, I had wondered why they even needed help during break, because my university’s town was usually deserted during break and no one would hire additional people. But here, most of the students didn’t have to go home to work, and if they didn’t get an internship or were travelling around, they usually stayed here to party with their friends. Which created a demand for people working, but also not a lot of people willing to work. Just what I needed to get hired.

Slowly I walked up to the counter, still a bit intimidated. “Hi, I’m Ava, I’m supposed to start here today?”

The girl behind the counter was a few years older than me and had just finished serving a man that seemed to be in a rush. Her brown her was tied up in a messy bun. “Hey, sure, Chrissy told me about you. Give me a second.”

She finished serving someone else, then there was no one else in line anymore. “Alright, so I’m Natasha, I’ll mostly be your supervisor and I’ll show you around. Morning rush is already over and lunch rush hasn’t really set in yet, so we have some time. Just come behind the counter, there is a room behind those doors with an apron for you. You can wear normal clothes beneath it, they just have to be appropriate. Go put that on, leave your stuff in the back and come back to me. Chrissy, our boss and the owner, isn’t here today so I’ll train you.”

She barely finished her sentence when she already took another order. As fast as I could without breaking anything I made my way to the back and did as told.

For the next few hours she showed me a lot of things, how the very big and scary looking coffee machine worked, how the register worked, where they stored their food and so on. After that I spent some more time getting the orders she took ready, as she didn’t want to give me a register of my own yet. I really appreciated that, as there were so many different options to choose from while ordering I could barely remember them all. After that I cleaned some tables and the kitchen before it was closed for the day. Someone else came in for the late shift, an older guy named Eric. I barely saw him, because he pretty much showed up when Natasha told me to leave. Before that she added me to a group chat and told me I could pick up as many shifts as I would like to but was required to work at least three a week. And she told me I did well on my first day, which made me proud.

With a smile on my face and a swing in my step I made my way back home to Ashley. When I walked in she was watching tv, but immediately jumped up in excitement. “How was it? Did you meet Chrissy? Isn’t she great? Please tell me you behaved!”

I laughed and gave her one of the sandwiches I brought for us from the coffee shop. “Good, no, don’t know yet, and you bet!”, I replied.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, don’t hold back”, she said in a sarcastic tone.

Worn out from today I let myself fall down on the big red couch right next to her. Before I started telling her everything about my day, I grabbed a blanket to go with my sandwich and snuggled in, making myself comfortable. Then I told her how it went, that I hadn’t met Chrissy yet, but Natasha was very nice and the work was hard but just what I needed. After I finished we sat in silence for a moment.

“We should go out tomorrow, its Friday. The whole town will be out”, Ashley suggested.

“I wish”, I sighed. “Natasha asked me if I could cover for her tomorrow afternoon and I didn’t want to say no on my first day. I’ll be way too tired after that.”

Ashley pouted. “But you’re off tomorrow morning?”

“Yes?” What was she up to now?

Ashley’s face lit up. “Okay, I’ll let tomorrow night slip, but tomorrow morning we’ll go shopping. If I see you wearing one more leggings and shirt combination, I’ll set it on fire myself.”

Now it was my turn to pout. “What is wrong with my style?”

“One can tell that it is very comfortable. That is what’s wrong with it.” Ashley looked at me, an eyebrow raised. “You’re so pretty, stop hiding behind all those ugly clothes.”

I sighed again. “I really don’t have the money for a shopping spree, you know that.”

“Yeah, I’ll cover that”, Ashley said with a smile. I shook my head strongly. “I can’t let you do that; I am already living here for free. You’re not going to buy clothes for me.”

Ashley waved her hand and dramatically sighed. “I didn’t want to let it come to that, but I have to tell you. I’m not doing it for you. I am literally embarrassed to take you anywhere dressed like that. So, I said it. I’m doing it all for myself.”

I just stared at her terrible impression of an arrogant face for a second. I didn’t want to accept that kind of gift. She always had had more money than me, but our friendship had never been about that. Usually I would never ask her for money, I only asked her to let me live here because I was out of options and even offered to pay rent, which she refused. But I also knew that she honestly cared about me and that she could easily afford it with her allowance. And I also knew that no matter what, I would do the same for her if our roles were reversed. I would always be there for her.

After a moment, we both started laughing. When we calmed down, I simply said: “Thank you.” I knew she would understand everything I wanted to say with it.