Roll with the Brew

Roll with the Wind

It was a cloudy late afternoon as vehicles of all sorts puttered along the roads. But in one particular bus, passengers stared peculiarly at a young woman arguing over her phone. The volume of her conversation ebbed and flowed till one last outburst; then she ended the call. She knew she had been loud – and those stares were ignorable initially – but those sympathetic looks afterward made her thankful her stop was next.

She dragged herself out of the bus and toward the nearby Tim Hortons. Once in line, her mind drifted to that phone call, anger coursing throughout her body. She had her suspicions, of course; she wasn't completely blindsided. Yet it still hurt her, and with that hurt came the whispering of doubts. Her goals, those afternoon kickboxing classes – what would have happened if she had chosen more of him? Given more? What then? But maybe that was irrelevant. Maybe some people were just jackasses no matter what. She squeezed her hands into tight fists.

"Uhhh, ma'am? May I take your order?"

The man's voice at the register snapped Cora back. "Yeah, sorry."

"No problem. What would you like?"

His stare was a kind and patient one, almost coxing her to forget the last hour. Unfortunately that jackass' effect continued looming over her like a dark storming cloud. She ran her hand up and down her flushed face trying to string together a sentence.

"Everything alright?"

"Uh, yeah, s-sort of... Any suggestions?"

"Well, we have a new drink– the Cold Brew. Comes in original and vanilla cream."

"Vanilla cream sounds alright. Medium size, please."

Cora glanced around while she waited. The store was quiet for its time of day and location which was unusual, but at least nobody else saw her zombie-like state. The Tims' worker soon returned with her drink. "Hey, chin up. Breakups are never easy."

"How did you-"

"You have this look, and I've seen it once too many times."

Cora scrunched her face, "In a coffee shop?"

"That would be strange, eh," he flashed a grin. "I work as a bartender on weekends, so you pick up a few things."

"As well as working here? Why do you do that to yourself?"

"You got to do what you have to for family." Cora slowly nodded. "That and university books are not cheap," he chuckled.

"Oh don't I know it. Third year here."

"Second... fourth if it wasn't for-" he paused briefly. "Well anyways, sometimes you gotta roll with the wind."

Cora nodded. Those last four words – they were simple yet struck a chord within her.

"You take care, alright?"

"You-you too."

As she slowly walked back home she sipped her drink, savouring that sweet and creamy flavour. Suddenly, a small beam of sunlight broke through the clouds while a gust of wind whirled through her hair. Roll with the wind. It was at that moment she determined to herself to visit more that one Tims.

For the Cold Brew, of course.