StarStruck Coffee

Salted Caramel Latte

"Hey Beth, the usual please." Zach stood at the counter of 'StarStruck Coffee', his favourite little coffee shop just off the corner of Maine and 7th. He loved everything about this little independent coffee shop; the atmosphere, the plants hanging from every nook and cranny, especially the terrible 80s music playing in the background.

He'd found this place on his very first day at KT University, he left his seminar early, because he was absolutely fucking exhausted from moving in literally the night before and on his way back, not surprisingly, he got absolutely lost. He spent well over two hours trying to figure out how to get back to his flat with no luck until he stumbled upon this little place. The wood-panelled walls and the soft yellow lights instantly intrigued him, so he went inside. The little bell rang as he opened the door, and a brown frizzy haired girl came bouncing in.

She couldn't have been much older than him. He would say 20 maybe 21, her hair was like melted chocolate, but he was instantly (and ironically) StarStruck, "I see why they call this place StarStruck Coffee now." he joked rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. A horrible cramp was just starting to form. Perfect timing, he thought to himself.

The girl stood there quizzically staring at him before remembering that he was a customer. She had a voice like a one-hundred-person choir all singing in perfect harmony, it was so beautiful he almost staggered back; "Afternoon!" she chirped, "What can I get ya?"

It took Zach a second to regain his composure and steady his heartbeat, "Um... Do you do Salted Caramel Lattes?" He stared at the chalkboard at the back. It looked like it had been scrawled by a toddler if he was honest. "Of course, of course." The girl pointed at the board, "See. Right here!"

Zach decided if he squinted hard enough, he could see something resembling "Salted Caramel Latte" on there but still this girl looked fun to tease, "I'm sorry but that looks like a toddler wrote it." he started with a wink.

"Hey! I worked hard on that!"

"You did that?" Zach looked at her quizzically

"Yes I did. And if you don't mind, I'd prefer if I knew your name before you start insulting my handiwork?" she pouted.

"Oh right! It's Zach. Zach West," he held his hand out for her to shake, she looked at it for a second; it looked as if she was still deciding whether to take it when she replied, "It's a pleasure Zach, I'm Beth" she finally gave in and shook his hand, thank God my arm was getting tired he whined inside his head.

Just as Zach was going to say something more Beth turned around and started making his drink. About five minutes passed of Zach absentmindedly tapping his foot to the music until Beth turned around and shoved the to-go cup in his face.

"One Salted Caramel Latte, for Zach." She beamed.

Zach returned the smile, "Cheers Beth," he turned to see if she had spelt it right. Everyone always spelt it with a 'k' at the end not a 'h'. It was fairly annoying but at least it was a conversation topic with new people.

He looked up as he was turning it and saw Beth looking at him excitedly, "You didn't poison this did you?" he asked, taking a sniff; it smelled like coffee, good coffee, "No. I didn't poison it" she pouted again, Zach was mesmerized by her pouty face, "Just turn it around.'' She seemed trustworthy so he did. Under his name there was another scribble- wait- was this? Her number??? Zach had never actually gotten a girl's number without asking before. This was new territory for him.

"It's my number! You seem cool, so I thought we could be friends. As you can see, we don't get many customers here; in fact, you're the first one all day"

He looked at her sympathetically but when he met her eyes it wasn't sadness but a strange sort of joy. At the thought of a new friend or a new customer, Zach wasn't sure.

But he was excited to find out.