To Denver, his punishment seemed to be a gift of its own right. Because in that moment he'd met again the girl who he thought forgot her promise, that night of the red haired girl that made a promise to appear before him once again. She had done so; she had kept her word, and she even brought it up, even though it did take her a few days. She did show up, and she even told Denver her name. Sweet and lovely Melanie, his first time meeting her and his second time meeting her are both very memorable occasions. It's a memorable occasion that will stick with him for the rest of his life.
He thought this as she got up from her table, she left the cup where it was. She had finished all her cookies, which shocked Denver.
How did a slight frame like that put all that sugar away? What is with that maybe the second stomach for sweets is true? She had noticed his staring, raised her left hand to her mouth, then extended one finger, placed it along her lips, and whispered something which Denver couldn't quite make out. She waved with the same left hand, and turned with her hand still up in the air, and walked out the door. That's when she called, "See you soon, Denver," and she left, not in a hurry but in a somewhat quick way.
Ah Melanie, what a sweet sound. Denver rang the name through his head and replayed it in his mind multiple times, so many times, so that he had actually lost track of time. In doing so he had angered a very tall person who slammed both his oversized fists on the table, saying, "Excuse me, you rude coffee maker." At this twist of events Denver looked at him with a strange face. He was grateful he wasn't insulted but he wanted to laugh and he couldn't hold back. He just started laughing and he apologised, "I do apologise sir. I was just in the presence of an angel." He almost let slip that the next line in his mind was "And now a giant" but luckily he stopped before he could run his mouth any further. Denver wasn't good with words, only getting in trouble.
Denver then asked, "Good day sir, what can I get you?" To which the man replied, "Some better service and a cappuccino." All Denver did was reply, "Yes." In his mind he thought the best comeback would be, "I'm sorry we don't sell that brand of coffee," but he decided not to say it. This man looked very large and like he could reach over the counter and hit him and this idea did not sit too well with Denver. He did not like the idea of pain though if Felix was still here he could probably get Felix punched; that wouldn't be so bad. His mind started to spiral out of control and he popped to it as usual. He made the coffee, handed it to him, and gave him the price. The man paid and left but before he left he stood at the door. He turned around and said, "Work on your customer service," and left.
Denver was glad he left because he was the last customer of the night. Denver began busying himself with a closing up procedure. Everything closed up was the goal but there was a check list. The first thing they did was:
- move the concertina back into place to hide the bar.
- gather all the empty drinks glasses and place them at the back so the kitchen staff can clean and wash up.
- close the doors.
- put the close sign on, which just turns. It's not one of those tasteless signs that says "Sorry we're now closed." It says "We are closed. Caffeine comes again tomorrow. Please wait" and that's basically the best sign he had seen all year Denver thought.
Denver thought he would have gone for something a little more wordy. That said, "The coffee fairies have gone home. Please make your own coffee or something like that."
Denver then thought perhaps one day when he gets his own cafe he will do the same. Put a sign on like that but not open when the sun goes down. When the sun's down the place will be closed, a cafe for the day, not this mischievous one we work in now.
Denver was standing at the counter waiting for everyone to finish up so he could lock up. He waited, he waited, he waited. Then the door at the back finally opened with everybody streaming out, going home. Headed out the door, which wasn't locked, it was just closed, but since the sign was closed people generally didn't try the door. Even if someone would try the door we would have to tell them, "No sorry, we're closed. Please go" or something less rude perhaps. It hadn't happened yet so Denver hadn't tried just then.
The last person to come out with a change room was Tim, bushy brows deluxe special. Denver couldn't help but say, "Hey hurry your bushy brows up; it's time to go." He was knocking on the counter. Tim got up to the counter, Denver handed in the paperwork for closing and said, "Please check and sign if it's again it's correct. I'm going to change."
Denver left handing a pile of paperwork to Tim, he then went to the change room, got changed very quickly, and came out to see if Tim was ready. Turns out Tim was happy; he signed, put away the paperwork, and locked it up in a safe.
Then we headed up the door together, locking the door and switching on the alarm system so nothing gets stolen hopefully. While locking the door the second lock was giving a bit of trouble so it took a bit longer to get done. For some reason Tim was standing around waiting; he should have gone home already.
When Denver finished, he faced Tim asking him, "Is everything okay?" So much quicker to reply was Tim, "Yeah everything's fine but who is that fox, this fine night, that beautiful red hair of hers? I think I've seen her before; is she a friend of yours?," he asked inquisitively. Denver turned and said, "Yes we are on a first-name basis and that is why I'm not going to introduce you, so listen before you ask." Tim was shocked by this and shook it off and laughed and he said something that shocked Denver completely. He said, "Denver, I knew one day you'd warm up to me," and he started walking off. He was confused, was Denver being nicer?but what's going on? It was Tim. Where is this nice guy? Perhaps it is that. I'm just the jerk, thought Denver, but he did notice that he had less trouble with Tim. The problem was always Felix, definitely that Felix.
As Denver was thinking about this, he stood there.
He listed his troubles.
He just locked the doors, got the shock of the century from dear Timmy, and was now thinking maybe bushy brows had not been so bad. He began to worry if he drank something with alcohol in it perhaps. It dulled his mind, dulled his senses, and made him forgiving. No, can't be. It's just caffeine withdrawal, must be. Denver couldn't understand why he would think anything other than they're idiots.
After a few minutes of thinking like this, he decided to start walking home but on the way home, luckily for him, there's a small petrol station. The petrol station had a coffee machine so he thought he would stop there on the way back home.
He walked into this area of the petrol station, walked into this little shop, walked to the back counter, and tapped three times on the little bell. Someone came out and he asked for a coffee, a coffee to go.
He went to the counter with a slip that they gave you and he paid. He came back to the counter waiting for his coffee. He stood there waiting, waiting, waiting.
Out the corner of his eye I saw someone walking towards the store but he could only see the top of their head and there was beautiful blonde hair bobbing up and down above the shelves as someone walked. His heart quickened, thinking, "Is it perhaps the lady with the blonde hair?" He was nervous, hopeful, but he didn't quite want to look so he kept looking down.
Then there was a sound. It sounded like words: "Excuse, excuse, excuse me." When he realised that it was the lady at the counter with his coffee, he jumped, grabbed, and said, "Thank you very much, sorry I was spaced out." As he longed to look towards the door to see if she had come in, he didn't see anything. He slowly walked out the store, looking down the lines of shelves, and couldn't see anyone. When he went outside, he saw nothing.
He began to wonder, "Am I starting to see things? Am I that hopeful?" As he was wondering, he began to feel a stinging sensation. He was thinking so hard, not understanding what he was doing, and he was pouring his coffee out, burning his hand. He quickly changed hands and shook the one that was burning off but of course he licked his fingers because he didn't want to waste the coffee. Wasting coffee is a crime as far as Denver is concerned. The coffee tasted lovely and it perked him up right away. It might have been the pain or the burning sensation but let's go for the coffee for now. Coffee just sounds far better.
After leaving the petrol station, Denver looked around again, hoping to get a glimpse of the beautiful woman that he saw before but alas there was no one there. It was really disappointing for Denver but then he looked down and he saw the coffee and it was off to soar with joy again because coffee was the elixir of life. He wondered if he'd waited long enough to take a sip to drink it but he didn't. He knew better. After burning his finger he knew how hot it was and when he turned around and started walking, someone walked around the corner that he did not expect to see. It was the lovely Rose but she wasn't alone; she was walking hand in hand with a man Denver had not seen before who had strong features, dark hair and was tall, taller than Denver, which bothered him to no end.
As he walked past them. he ducked his head down, hoping no one would recognise him. Not fully understanding that people don't really recognise him at all. It's only his idea of self that he sees himself as; that actually is seen by people in his mind, not the real him in real life. He couldn't pick up on the conversation but it sounded like they came from some sort of party.
Denver was quite annoyed. He was working and they were partying.
All Denver could think of was how unfair this world was and he continued on home with a grimace and a face like a smacked ass. Denver was so bothered by what he saw that he didn't drink his coffee until he reached home. When he took his first sip the coffee was lukewarm but still it wasn't bad; it was a very enjoyable cup of coffee.
Denver went in, changed, had a quick shower, and laid his head on his pillow and that was all he remembered. The next thing that Denver knew there was a loud ringing. It was his alarm and so began the next day.