FtF Anthology 2022

Prompt 8 (Royalty in a Name)

It was quite perplexing, the fact her name was written on the cup her steaming coffee had came in. She couldn't remember giving it to the barista that took her order, she even paid in cash. The barista couldn't have seen her name on her ID or any of her cards. She couldn't fathom how they already knew her name, especially since it was her first time at the little cafe. 

Amber colored eyes stared at the name scrawled across the cup in quite a beautiful script, curls and wisps adorning the ends of each letter. Yes, it was her name that was indeed written, but it was quite alarming as to how the barista's already knew what her name was. 

Amarith

Shaking her head, rose colored curls bounced around her head as she done so. Amarith was attempting to push the thought from her mind as she raised the cup to her lips and took a slow sip of the steaming hot liquid. She didn't want to think about how her name was already known by the staff of the shop, she only wanted to enjoy her coffee before she had to continue on with her day. 

Before Amarith could remove the cup from her lips, one of the young baristas came over and took a seat across from her at the table she temporarily claimed. The male occupying the seat across from her wore a smile on his face, his own amber eyes staring directly at her. It was making Amarith extremely uncomfortable, her own gaze shifting around the cafe before returning and landing back onto the barista. As she did so, she slowly lowered her cup and gently set it back in front of her on the wooden table. 

"Can I help you with something?" 

The barista across from her couldn't have been much older than herself, even with his youthful appearance she could see that. 

His black hair was cropped short and combed back from his face, kept out of his glittering amber eyes. He had that baby face anyone would die for, he even had those puffy cheeks that made you want to reach out and pinch. The young man's eyes seemed to sparkle alongside the smile he was giving her, it seeming just as bright as his eyes were in the light. The very sight was making Amarith extremely uncomfortable. 

"Nope, you've already helped us enough." 

Amarith followed the barista's gaze while he motioned towards the counter where his coworkers currently stood. 

A tall woman with a petite frame and curly black hair was wiping down the counter. Her hair was pinned up into a messy bun of frizzy curls, almost like how her own was in the morning before she styled it. The other barista stood awkwardly behind the counter. She was short and a bit stockier than her other two coworkers, but compared to them, she seemed to have a sweeter disposition to her. Anyone could tell that by just looking at her. 

The shorter woman had short hair that poofed out from what remained of the curls she tried to get rid of. However, it was the rose color that her hair had that caught Amarith's attention. It wasn't every day that you saw someone with the same rose colored hair that she had, it not being a very common color that she knew of. Amarith wondered if the girl's hair was natural or if it had been dyed at some point. 

After receiving identical smiles from both female baristas, Amarith looked back towards the black haired male still sitting across from her. Curiosity and confusion mingled within her gaze as she pinned him with an accusing glare, alarms within her going off with every little thing going on in regards to the baristas. Something wasn't right and she knew it was time to get out of there before something really happened to her, especially with the lack of people in the cafe that morning. 

"I don't know what your game is, but I'm not playing it." 

Amarith seethed, pushing her chair back and standing.