Tying a bow into the back of her apron, and giving herself a brief once over in the bathroom mirror, Lucy nodded slowly to herself. Screw it, if anyone could make a ‘Busy Bean’ tee and an apron work, she was sure as hell gonna give it a go. Flattening the top of her hair, she exited the staff bathroom and found herself in the backroom of the coffee shop. Peeking out and taking a quick glance at the the busy flow of customers – if nothing else, the establishment was very true to its name – she bit nervously down on her lower lip. Back home in Colorado she’d only ever worked a paper round, hopping on her board and flying through the neighbourhood at full pelt, often narrowly escaping Mrs Dawson’s yippy little dog that had tried to take a bite out of her when she was four years old. And while she wasn’t opposed to doing the same here in Wellington, that was more Levi’s turf, and she always prided herself in her eagerness to try new things. So, what better way than to apply for a job as a barista?
When she’d been for her interview and been informed that the job was hers, she’d bounced up onto Scotty’s back the minute he entered their apartment, while whooping about how she was now a respectable, working girl. Scotty had been nice enough to take her out and treat her to coffee and donuts, though she’d glared at him when he’d taken her to A Novel Idea instead of her new place of work. While she actually really liked the coffee-shop-come-book-store, and had frequently visited the place (if only to pester James at work), she had stated, sarcastically of course, that she and James were now number one rivals and that Scotty had better haul ass and take his business over to The Busy Bean.
Now, staring out onto the shop floor, uncertainty coursing through her, she scanned the area behind the counter in the hopes of spotting the lady who had been appointed to train her on her first day. All she had been told was that her name was Jutta, and that she was German which, quite frankly, wouldn’t have been difficult for her to figure out on her own. Given that she had no idea what she looked like, and that there hadn’t been anybody there to greet her, she pouted to herself before swiftly turning on the spot and bumping straight into somebody.
“Oof, whoa!” she cried out, before steadying herself and staring up at the unfortunate soul she’d tried to trample. It was pretty unlike her, always incredibly careful, her ballet classes having taught her how to move a little more delicately than either one of her brothers. But she’d been caught off guard, and felt a blush rise to her cheeks. “Sorry, man! Didn’t see you there…”
The person in question, a boy who was a fair few older than herself, didn’t seem too put out, and he only smiled back at her. Despite Scotty’s belief that she thought all boys were trolls and that they looked like the back of a bus, her attraction to girls certainly didn’t make her an idiot, and she knew a cute guy when she saw one. This boy, in particular, she couldn’t help but think that Scotty might even like. He had very soft features, almost like something out of a Disney movie, and while her brother certainly wasn’t anywhere close to accepting his own feelings regarding men, she’d seen the way that he looked at Alfie, and she was sure this boy was just his type.
Too lost in her own thoughts, she almost missed the girl standing behind him, who was looking at her curiously. She must look like a total nut. A complete stranger standing before them, wearing their assigned work clothes while gawking at a boy she’d never even met. The girl was very pretty, all long blonde hair and gorgeous eyes. Both were wearing the very same matching t-shirt and apron combination as herself, and she figured there was no harm in asking if they could help her.
“Uh, hey,” she said, smiling at the two of them. Pointing her look towards the girl, she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, before informing them just what she was there for. “I’m looking for Jutta? Uh, that wouldn’t happen to be you, would it? Or maybe you know where I could find her?”
Fiddling nervously with the string of her apron, she internally scolded herself for being so uncharacteristically uneasy. She prided herself in being as confident as she could in every situation, embracing life and everything that it threw her way, knowing full well that she could achieve anything she so wished no matter what society tried to tell her.
“Just, um, I was sorta told that she’d be my supervisor, I guess,” she elaborated. “It’s my first day, which you probably guessed by the fact that you don’t know me and I almost knocked you guys over.”
“You will like this one, Bret! It will make you look like a dog!” Jutta encouraged her brother’s best friend. As soon as he tried to slyly shuffle away from her, she tugged him back by the strap of his apron, slinging her arm around his neck in the mimicry of a very gentle chokehold, making it impossible to escape. Naturally, Bret was too sweet and kind to not oblige her which was why he humoured her and posed for her camera, the Snapchat filter she had chosen giving them dog ears and noses and big pink tongues.
“See, you look so cute!” she squealed, saving the photo to her camera roll before adding it to her story with a quick swipe of her thumb. With a knowing look at the man, she prodded him teasingly on his arm. “I’m sure that Dennis will agree as well.”
His answering blush was all it took for her to throw her head back and allow a tinkle of laughter to escape her. She still wasn’t sure if she liked Dennis Archer very much and thought that Rosy’s nickname of ‘Grumpy Dennis’ suited him well, but even the mere mention of him brought that same shy little smile to Bret’s face, which must mean he possessed some good qualities.
Eventually giving into Bret’s pleading when he insisted that they had to get back out to the shop floor and actually do their job, Jutta heaved a dramatic sigh. She liked her job as a barista for the sole reasoning of her being able to talk to lots of different people that came in and out of The Busy Bean. Plus, her outfit actually made her look kind of cute as proven by the amount of times she’d posted a selfie on Instagram while wearing it. What she couldn’t be doing with were all the demanding people that filed into the café during rush hour and demanded that their soy vanilla latte with a dash of cinnamon had to be ready soon or they would report ‘that lazy beanpole of a barista’ to the manager. Jutta let most of these insults roll off of her, simply returning her attention back to Candy Crush when shouty businessmen began raising their voices, but Bret had kindly attempted to tell her that she shouldn’t do that anymore.
Resigning herself to a day filled with people who did not understand basic manners, she was about to step out behind the counter after Bret when he let out a noise of surprise, having evidently bumped into someone. Jutta didn’t recognise the girl who was now apologising and, though she spent a lot of time giving her sole attention to her iPhone, she knew she hadn’t seen the stranger before.
Blanching a little when the girl asked for a Jutta, the blonde’s first reaction was to nudge Bret with her elbow in an attempt to keep quiet.
“Do I know a Jutta?” she pretended to muse, shuffling onto the shop floor and pretending to fiddle with the dials on one of the machines. She knew better than to fiddle too much however, as the last time she had done so had resulted in coffee grains spilling out everywhere. Upon hearing why the girl was looking for her, her head snapped up and she looked appalled.
“I’m meant to be a supervisor?” she asked, eyes wide. “What’s that?”
She directed her look of terror towards Bret and shook her head helplessly. The job sounded like far too much responsibility for her liking.
“Did I get promoted?” she quietly wondered.
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