Resolution Writing Challenge

First Date By Allison Needles

Not long after she collapsed into a wooden chair in the coffee shop did Nora regret ever coming in the first place. The smell of freshly ground coffee beans wafting from behind the front counter sent her stomach rolling with desire. But coming here after her morning class had always been her routine, and—

“Oh, no. Not you too.”

Nora couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. When she lifted her head, Oliver, one of the student baristas, was striding forward with a sanitizer cloth in his hands.

“Hi, Oliver,” she greeted.

Oliver leaned over the table, pretending to wash its surface, but was actually looking at her in fake-horror. “You’re giving up coffee for the new year, aren’t you?”

“How’d you know?”

“You’ve been coming here for two years, Nora. I’ve never seen you without a café latte in hand. What is it, like a no-caffeine thing?”

Nora barked a laugh. “More like a money-saving thing.”

He looked amused.

“It’s my resolution,” Nora said defensively. “Don’t you have any?”

She noticed his long fingers twitch underneath the damp washcloth.

“I do, actually,” he said finally. “I’ve been meaning to do it for a while, now.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Well? What is it?”

He held up a finger and scampered off as Nora looked on in confusion. When he came back, he was holding a steaming cup in his hands. Oliver set it on the table in front of her, flashed a smile, and then disappeared again.

Nora wrapped her hands around the cup, letting the warmth seep into her palms. It wasn’t until after her first sip—café latte!—that she saw the words, scrawled in black Sharpie, on the side of the cup:

New Year Resolution: buy Nora coffee.