Nothing Less

Chapter Eight.

Songs for this chapter are:

Never Let Me Go- Emily Wolfe

Love, Love, Love - Of Monsters and Men

What a Feeling- One Direction

...

Grind is unusually busy for a Saturday morning and Aiden's body is moving slower than his usual pace. He's forgotten two orders, written the wrong name on three cups, and dropped a bottle of mint flavoring on the floor. I was the one who mopped it up.

With Nora watching silently from the back corner, I was too impatient to wait for him to fill the mop bucket and ever-so-slowly swipe the bundles of yarn across the slippery stain. The smell was awful, the heavy aroma of the mint syrup was giving me an instant headache and I knew I could have the area mopped before he even finished filling up the bucket. He didn't thank me of course, instead, he reminded me not to forget the WET FLOOR sign.

I had hoped the constant line in the shop would keep my mind off of Nora sitting here, watching me. But it didn't. I feel anxious with her here and I can't help but look over at the table she's sitting at every few seconds. I'm working fine despite the distraction, unlike Aiden.

Apparently, he can't handle the pressure of the line of caffeine zombies. I can't remember when my brain switched from being annoyed by him, to setting him up as competition in my head. Weird.

I hand a woman named "Julie" her triple skim milk latte and glance at Nora again. She's writing something down in a notebook. Not looking at me. I can't tell what it is she's writing.

I take this moment to enjoy the view of her. She's relaxed, her pen between her fingers. She taps the pen on the paper a few times and re-crosses her legs. I love the way her lips pout. The feminine bow of her top lip sticks out a touch more than the bottom.

"Dude!" Aiden's voice barges into my obsessive thoughts about Nora's lips. When I look at him, I pay more attention to my surroundings. The line has calmed, only two more guests waiting on their drinks, but my feet are wet. Why?

Aiden's pointing to the pitcher of green tea pouring onto the floor, and my feet. I grab the handle and yank it up, replacing the lid. The puddle isn't too big, only half of the pitcher is gone.

Nora's watching me now, a smile on her face. My cheeks heat and I grab the mop. I force my busy brain to only think about mopping. Swipe, ring, swipe, dip into water. Ring again, swipe.

By the time the lobby clears out, only two hours have passed. My shirt is dirty, covered in espresso bean dust and my shoes are still damp from the green tea spillage. On the bright side, we haven't had a customer in close to ten minutes and Aiden has that look on his face that tells me he's going to start whining soon.

"I'm super hungry and I need to read some lines for an audition," he says, right on cue. His shoulders are slouched and his white shirt is stained with brown streaks. We both look like we've been through The Great Battle of Caffeine and lived to tell the tale. Nora would be the Queen we are fighting for, one of us get to take the crown and be her King.

Before my imagination can carry me away to a land far, far away, Aiden takes another step toward me and waves his hand.

"So, I'm gonna take a break, kay?"

"Sure," I glance to Nora and nod. "That's fine with me, we're empty out here anyway."

I need to sweep the trash from the floor, wipe the muffin crumbs off of the tables, and sweep away coffee rings. I need to fill up the ice bin and wipe off the counter tops. The list goes on and on.