talesofourworlds:
People watching would prove fruitful today, as a young customer entered with a large book bag draped over one shoulder and the sort of look on his face that said he’d been up all night. A lot of pressure was on him as the youngest kid to get in to school, and he had to keep impressing his professors. Which meant needing to be as thoroughly prepared for his tests as possible. And today’s test was right from Professor Haus, one of his favorite professors.
He took a moment to pause, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to look less tired, before approaching the counter. Truth be told, he’d only been partially aware of Stella seated nearby and people watching. The blond barista at the counter, one Jude knew pretty well by then as Guy, flashed a pretty cheery smile his way.
“Let me guess. The usual, Jude?”
“Heh… yeah… just the coffee and the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich,” he answered. Jude rubbed the back of his neck. Was it embarrassing to be recognized as a regular of a coffee shop? He wasn’t too sure. Still, Guy didn’t seem too bothered. That was a good sign, if nothing else. He reached into his pocket to retrieve his wallet, but that was when his heart sank.
“Shoot… no, are you kidding me?” Jude felt around, and sure enough it was gone. Probably still in his room. A groan escaped him.
“I must have left it in my rush to get here so I could review my notes and everything,” Jude said. “Sorry… guess I’ll have to pass on that usual after all.” Disappointing, but surely one missed coffee to keep himself awake and one missed breakfast wouldn’t kill him. It was only then, as Guy said it was fine and for him to just focus on his review, that he noticed Stella.
Well. If he hadn’t been embarrassed before, the notion that someone might have been watching that interaction certainly cemented it. He moved away from the counter, now knowing there was no purpose to be there, and settled into a chair nearby. As he started to lay out his notes, he gave his head a small shake.
“Some honors student. I remembered all my notes and books but couldn’t remember my wallet…” He wasn’t familiar with Stella, so he assumed she wasn’t a student at the medical school. But while she was older than him, she still looked like she might be going to school in the area. If she was listening, he decided to continue. Just to try and make conversation.
“My own fault. There’s a big test with my favorite professor today and I wanted to do well. So I guess I was more focused on getting everything related to that than anything else.”
Stella’s empathetic by nature. Or maybe it’s true that she’s sensitive to a fault. But whether it’s the former or the latter, she still hasn’t felt too sure about herself. She’s been in therapy for what, only six months? Naturally, it hasn’t undone much of the lifelong scrutiny she’s experienced. Nonetheless, at this point she’s simply accepted that it’s just second nature. Having overheard Guy’s conversation with the customer at the register, Stella feels bad for the boy and smooths out the skirt of her dress as she gets to her feet. The chair creaks loudly when it pushes backward, and she’s walking across to the counter while tapping on her Apple Watch. One part of her is worried she’d come across as nosy, and the other part of her is anxious about how if she doesn’t do something about this situation, the boy would have a worse day than necessary over something with such a simple fix. “Here,” Stella interjects and sticks her arm over the register. The Watch is queued up for Apple Pay. All the while, she gives the embarrassed boy a warm smile. “I mean... only if that’s all right with you. I wouldn’t mind paying for your drink. Really.”