Coffee and Books 1

Chapter 3

This past week I've been reading up on Norse mythology. I loved the book my uncle gave me, so I scoured his bookshelves for more books and indulged myself in them every evening. There are so many stories about as many gods or demigods: Asgard must be a crowded place!

After reading so much about Asgard and its supposed inhabitants, it makes me wonder about the people that were with Thor in the lobby. They didn't strike me as regular people, were they gods too? Did Thor bring his friends to Midgard? It is fun to think about these kind of questions while working. I have this whole theory about how the man with the sunglasses is Heimdall, who watches over everything, and how the man in black is Loki the Trickster. In the illustrated book Loki was pictured with a horned helmet, dressed for battle in black and green leather. How different did he look in a suit!

Even Chad didn't spoil my daydreaming fun when he showed up again earlier this week. I was half listening to Mrs. Willow telling another story about her late husband, half thinking about Norse gods here on earth, when Chad came in. He wasn't alone, I recognized the other guy as one of his friends from work. They got a table and Chad did his best to catch my attention. Luckily, he was in Emilia's section of the coffeeshop, so I didn't have to serve him. I did have to listen to Emilia gushing about how handsome 'those two guys' were later on, but I'm used to that.
Between her and Thomas there is a whole grading system to rate good looking men. Chad used to be in the top ten, but he lost a lot of points on personality after betraying me. However, I think he's still ranking high in Emilia's personal top ten. I can't blame her, Chad and his dark curls are easy on the eyes and he can be very charming. That is until he sticks his tongue down some other girls' throat. But it is easy to overlook that sort of things when you're 17 years old and blushing because he tells you you look pretty.

It's a quiet saturday morning. I am just cleaning up after a group of girls who went to yoga class before visiting Coffee & Books. They all had a yoga mat with them and every girl ordered green tea. Typical. Emilia is at work too, and Lisa is making herself busy making muffins.

"Good morning!" Thomas walks in through the front door, the bell at the door jingling, with a big box in his hands.

"Is that Thomas?" Lisa calls from the kitchen. She comes in, drying her hands on her apron. "Are those the new napkins? Let me see!"

Thomas puts the box on the counter and uses a pair of scissors to rip the tape. Lisa takes his place and opens the box. She takes out some of the paper napkins and spreads them on the counter. I look over her shoulder. She has designed the napkins to look like a bookmark, with room to write down the title of the book and its author, along with the page you last read.

"They came out lovely, Lisa!" I compliment my cousin. "They look so clever! I bet the guests will love them!"

"They sure look good. I'm very happy!" Lisa says with a big smile on her face.

Thomas takes a seat on one of the barstools and I make him a cappuccino. Lisa goes back to the kitchen and Emilia tends to a couple of guests who just entered. I chat with Thomas while putting the box with the new napkins under the counter. I take a couple out to fill the napkin holder in front of Thomas.
"They look really nice, don't you think?"

Thomas nods."Speaking of looking nice, have you seen Thor again?"

I shake my head and smile. "You don't meet gods every day. I doubt I will ever see him again."

"I wonder who the other people you saw are. Captain America didn't happen to be one of them?"

"Nope. I didn't see any stars and stripes on a tight spandex suit", I joke. "I don't think they were Americans, or people from Earth even! I've been thinking about it and I came to the conclusion they must be from the same place as Thor."