The sounds of San Francisco in rush hour met me like an old friend as I stepped out into the open air. It was chilly but just cold enough that all I needed was my jacket over my jumper and a hot chocolate in my hand to keep me comfortable. The first part of my mission for warmth was checked off, as my jacket had been kept as far away from any air conditioning in the office as possible, so obviously, my next destination was Starbucks. Normally, I would wait until I was back at my apartment before I was drinking anything hot, but it had been a long day, so I thought I deserved to indulge myself.
The rest of my work day was pretty bland and I left before Oscar and James did. I saw them walk past me into Katie's office after the meeting, which I assumed to be for feedback on the check Oscar had mentioned to me.
It was the coffee mad hour, as everyone finishing work seemed to have the same idea as me. 10 minutes in, I was finally at the front of the queue. Or so I thought, as a certain grey suit walked right last patient coffee addicts and in front of me, beginning his order.
Oscar seemed to have the air of importance about him that dared anyone in the line to complain.
It probably also made them wonder which celebrity tabloid they had seen him in. (I later found out that it was an article about 'up and coming billionaires' in Cosmo. Spoiler alert: every one of them was either naturally gifted in the looks department or had enough money to buy the gift themselves.)
I felt almost immune to Oscar's greatness, but a voice in my mind was telling me to keep quiet. I then saw Oscar glance over his shoulder to look me in the eye, a raised eyebrow imploring me to speak up.
"I'll have a Venti Caramel Macchiato, 5 shots, extra milk, extra syrup- you know, the vanilla one. Yeah, the vanilla one. And a hazelnut one too. Yes, both. No, both. With whipped cream. But can it be the skinny milk thing? Yeah, that. And-"
I snickered, unable to help myself. I knew that Oscar was aware I was stood behind him, but he seemed to ignore my amusement.
"-And whatever she's having."
My laughter stopped and barista eyes were all on me. An awkward second (that felt like a hundred) later and I realised that I should probably be listing off my hot chocolate order.
"Grande hot chocolate with cream, please. Take out."
The barista took my name and wrote it on the cup, probably grateful for my simple order and probably wanting to get Oscar's awful one finished so that they could leave before midnight. Between the tired employees and annoyed customers, I was probably the only person in the room who didn't hate Oscar.
"So strange bumping into you, Elizabeth." He said nonchalantly, though the grin he was trying to push off his lips suggested that this was not an accidental meeting, "Small world, huh?"
For some reason, Oscar was exaggerating each and every syllable, making sure everyone in the café knew that he definitely hadn't planned this. His act was quite funny, leaving me laughing to myself, just quiet enough that the whirring of milk frothers drowned the sound out. I was thankful- I didn't like my laugh all that much and yet Oscar seemed to draw it out of me.
I opened my mouth to reply, planning on going along with the 'bit' Oscar has created. I was interrupted by a barista shouting 'Eliza'. I guessed they didn't bother with finishing writing my name.
"I guess that's me?" I said, turning to go and get my drink. Oscar beat me to it, earning an unconvinced from the barista. Perhaps it wasn't believable that he was Eliza.
