When Alexa walked in to the coffee shop that morning she’d known something was off. The whole atmosphere of the place felt congested, like the life had been squeezed out of it mere moments before, leaving behind an eerie devastation. She could predict many things that would happen that day. Suzy Lin would order a nonfat soy latte with no whipped cream. The teenagers that surrounded the back corner after school would leave without returning their mugs to the counter; and sometime, between two and three p.m., Dylan, Alexa’s best friend, would step inside to deliver her a sandwich from Donny’s Deli, like he did every Tuesday on his way back to his office building. All of these events were inevitable, certainties that were not to be questioned, but what happened just after 6 p.m. at the coffee counter? That couldn’t have been predicted. The result was chaos and an uncertain future.
Alexa stood at the counter, a customer standing opposite her on the other side. He had dark hair, wore a suit, and had the attitude of someone who expected to be worshipped. He had to be an executive for a company, Alexa decided. He’d been standing in front of her staring at the menu board behind her for what seemed like an eternity. The line behind him was growing restless with impatience. The woman behind him had already given up. She’d walked out the door dejectedly after several minutes of this man staring at the menu without saying a word. Alexa had had enough.
“Sir, why don’t you step aside while you’re deciding what to order.” Alexa suggested forcing a smile and a pleasant tone.
The man didn’t react, acting as if he hadn’t heard her. He continued to stare at the menu board, refusing eye contact or any other form of engagement.
Alexa cleared her throat, “Sir, there are a lot of people waiting. If you need time to decide what you want, please step aside and allow the next person to order.”
The man didn’t move, but quickly made eye contact and stared into her eyes with the same, blank expression on his face he’d had since he’d walked into the shop. His eyes, however, reflected anger, disbelief at how brash Alexa was being.
After staring her down for a moment, he finally spoke, his words lashing out like a whip ready to strike her for daring to be so blunt, “Maybe you should think twice before being so rude to a customer. You never know with whom you could be speaking.”
He wore his entitlement like a jacket, using it to keep warm in the presence of a stone cold reality check. It didn’t matter to him whether a small, local coffee shop lost customers due to his lack of empathy. This was a power struggle meant to showcase his ability to win because of who he was in this scenario: a customer.
Alexa had no tolerance for the manipulative scene that was unfolding before her, “Was that a threat I just heard come out of your mouth?”
“That depends,” his words were sharp with a clear separation between them, “Do we have a problem here?”
“I’m looking at it. If you aren’t going to order anything then I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“I don’t have to do anything until I’ve spoken to your boss. After all, the customer is always right.”
“You’re not a customer until you’ve purchased something. Either order something or leave.”
Alexa stared into the man’s eyes, burning through to test his will. Surely he would give up and find some other place to disturb with his toxic male entitlement. The murmuring around the shop came to a pause as the bystanders anticipated what would come next. What the man did next would determine whether Alexa would be able to keep her job. The last order before he’d walked in was finished and placed on the pick-up counter beside him. His eyes slid over to the ceramic mug on the counter, carefully plotting his next move.
Before Alexa knew what was happening, she was covered in a burning hot latte. The man’s ignorance had quickly turned into an all out tantrum. Alexa thought it was embarrassing considering he was at least in his mid-thirties. She froze for a moment, the burning hot liquid scorching her skin. At that moment, Alexa’s burning temper exposed itself. Right there, in the middle of the late rush, she raised her arm and brought it down against his face as hard as she could earning gasps from all who were watching.
“Alexa!” The voice behind her was angry, sprinkled with disbelief.
Alexa turned around in time to see her manager rush to the counter and push her aside. Her brow was furrowed and her usually calm expression had turned to a mix of horror and anger.
“I am so sorry, sir!” Edith had already picked a side without knowing it.
Alexa didn’t listen as Edith tried to smooth things over with the man. She was more focused on the coffee burning her skin and cleaning it off of herself. As a result, she didn’t hear a word spoken between Edith and the man. A minute later, Edith was suddenly in front of her.
“Alexa, get your things and go.” Edith had never sounded so emotionless, but maybe that was seething anger.
“Edith, you have to know that wasn’t my fault,” Alexa started, but Edith cut her off before she could say anything more.
“Go. You can return your apron and visor tomorrow.” Her voice was cold, pretending not to care what would happen to Alexa as a result of her actions.
“You’re firing me?! Over some hotheaded executive who was wasting everyone’s time?”
Edith just looked at her, answering with her eyes. Indeed, the man had made a mess of the front counter and assaulted an employee, but Alexa would pay the price because she let her temper take control for a split second at the wrong time and place. It wasn’t fair, Alexa thought, but she knew better than to argue to the woman. She was in her forties and had raised three kids. She knew how to stand her ground, even when it was difficult.
Alexa went to the back of the shop and grabbed her bag before slipping out the back door. Her life was suddenly filled with the uncertainty of what she would possibly do next. She’d worked in the coffee shop since she graduated high school, and suddenly she’d been booted out. It wasn’t like she was particularly attached to it. Sure, it was familiar and Edith treated her like she was her daughter, but did it really matter that much in the grand play-out of Alexa’s life? There were other things she could do, more enticing things. She hadn’t ever thought about what she really wanted. All Alexa knew was what she didn’t want, and that was the cookie cutter life of a business executive such as the one who’d just cost her her job. Being like him would not make her life whole.
Alexa threw her bag into the backseat of her car and sped off. She wanted to get away as fast as possible from the scene of her demise. As she drove, her boiling blood simmered back to normal. After a shower and a fresh change of clothes, it would be as if nothing happened. Maybe this was just what she needed; something to force her to take control of her life. The coffee shop was only meant to be a temporary gig anyway, until she discovered what it was she really wanted to do. It was time to do something exhilarating anyway.
She knew just what she needed. There were only so many places you could go after such a disastrous day. Fortunately, she had no shortage of options where she would be welcome. One in particular seemed favorable, though.
Alexa stepped into the jazz club feeling less infuriated. After taking a warm shower and putting on a classy dress, she felt refreshed and ready to conquer the next challenge she faced. The jazz club was alive with several groups of people sitting in their separate corners, enjoying the live performance on the front stage. The bar at the back was empty, as per usual. No one really came in to drink most of the time anyway.
“Alexa!” From behind the counter, Rafael already had a wine glass ready as he greeted her.
Alexa made her way over and sat on the barstool closest to where he was standing at the end of the bar.
“How’s the night life, Raf?” Alexa inquired with a hint of insinuation.
“I meet the nicest people, Al. I had the night of my life last night with this guy from the west side. Changed my life.”
“Don’t get overly attached, my friend. You don’t really know him until you’ve experienced that at least three more times. He could turn out to be a crazy stalker.”
“What’ll it be tonight, my friend?” Rafael ignored her overprotective warning. He was used to her voicing her opinion without a filter.
“Red. Something real smooth. I’ve had my fill of rough today.” Alexa reminisced.
Rafael looked up at her for a moment attempting to read her face, likely wondering what she meant. He quickly turned his attention back to the selection of red wine in front of him.
“How about Merlot? I just got a nice, expensive bottle that I’m sure you’ll enjoy.” Rafael wagged his eyebrows once and gave her a deviant smile.
“You sure do know how to make a girl swoon.” Alexa nodded as she quipped.
Rafael began twisting a corkscrew into the bottle as Alexa made herself comfortable on the stool as she watched him.
“So, what’s got you in a mood tonight?” Rafael finally pressed as he removed the cork from the bottle.
“The short version is that I got fired.” Alexa blurted.
Rafael looked up at her in disbelief, “Edith, mother to all, fired you? What did you do?”
Alexa shot a glare at him as he slid the now-full wine glass across the width of the bar to her. She wasn’t in the mood to explain and didn’t appreciate his assumption that what had happened had been her fault.
“I may have lost my temper after an entitled business executive threw hot coffee all over me. I asked him to step aside while he took an obnoxiously long time to decide what he wanted to order.” Alexa felt slightly guilty and she hid part of her face behind her hair.
Rafael laughed, “How bad was it?”
“I slapped him. And that’s all Edith saw, so it didn’t look good.” Alexa sipped her wine.
“We’re always looking for help around here if you want to add some spice to your routine.”
“I’ll pass. But I’ll let you know if I decide I want drunk guys hitting on me to the tune of a saxophone.”
Rafael laughed before turning his attention to another patron waiting to be served. Alexa had always admired how laid back he was. It didn’t matter to him that chaos could erupt at any moment with people drinking alcohol in his club. She supposed that was why he marketed towards a more sophisticated crowd with the jazz music. Rafael hated jazz.
“So,” Rafael was in front of her once again, leaning on the counter, “if you’re not going to take me up on my offer to work here, what are you going to do?”
Alexa shrugged, “I don’t know, but I’ve been catering to the public for long enough. It’s time I find something to do that I’m passionate about. Or, at the very least, something interesting.”
“Maybe you need something unconventional, like a pyramid scheme!” Rafael’s suggestion had more jest than help attached to it.
“Only if I started as the top dog and immediately made millions.” Alexa shot back.
She took the last sip of her wine and slipped some money out of her purse, placing it on the counter in front of Rafael, “It was a pleasure as always.”
“Come back soon. It’ll take a lot of drinks for you to learn what you want in your life.” Rafael winked as he picked up the money and her wine glass.
Alexa took a deep breath as she stepped out into the cool night air. The street was fairly empty, save for the occasional pedestrian on the sidewalk. Alexa began the walk back to her grandfather’s house considering what Rafael said. She wasn’t sure how an unconventional path would be any different than the choices she’d considered before. There would be advantages. Alexa had always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but she’d never known where to begin with it. It was reasonable, she believed, to treat her situation as an opportunity to demand more control over how she spend her days.