Coffee Beans

Most People

The women laughed until Ellie started to cry. Robin couldn't help but laugh harder, very nearly spilling her coffee over herself. "Woah that was close," she said, putting the mug down on the saucer.

"Are you normally this clumsy?" Ellie asked, ignoring her phone as it rang a second time.

Robin nodded and took an overly-cautious sip of her coffee. "Well my coat managed to fall off and I tripped over it, landing face first on the pavement just up the road from here. Then a lorry came along and hit a pothole which had collected the rain from this morning, splashing it over the pavement and therefore all over me. So not clumsy as such, just incredibly unlucky."

Ellie giggled but at the same time felt bad. "I'm sure that's not true," she said softly, trying not to laugh too much. "And anyway, why were you coming down here at half nine? Surely you'd spend your evenings with friends or out partying? That's what most people do, right?"

Robin shrugged and finished off the coffee. "Most people, yeah. I live a couple of houses down but my heating's broken. I figured that since I got soaked, your shop would be the only place I could get warm and dry." She paused, running a finger around the saucer. "Again, I'm sorry for having barged in on you like this."

Ellie waved a hand and picked up the mug and saucer. "Seriously, stop apologising. I'm happy to have been able to help." She put the saucer on the work surface and put another four mugs under the coffee machine. A loud whirring resonated in the small space and the sweet smelling liquid flowed into mug after mug. "In fact," she said, getting a tray and four takeaway cups from beneath the work surface. "Take these home with you to keep you warm. It's the best I can do, I'm afraid."