Elliot stood in line, ordered his drink and his pastry, and waited patiently for it to be completed. The woman in front of him was huffy and rude and impatient and it took a lot from him to not stick his foot out so her stupid half-cal soy milk extra steamed extra hot bullshit would fall out of her far too manicured hands. But he held it in, smiled at the baristas and dropped a few extra bucks in their tip jar. They always put just the right amount of sugar in his coffee; not too much, not too little. He was a simple man with simple tastes, after all. None of this froo-froo shit. It was his unfortunate fate to be taking a bite of his cheese danish when a woman stopped him from stepping into a spill. His mouth full of sweets and his eyes wide with surprise, he looked down at the steaming mess on the floor, then towards the customer she’d been referring to who was exiting the building. It clicked. “Oh yeah,” he said after swallowing his bite. “She was a real piece of work at the counter. Probably some trust-fund broad who never used her hands for anything other than throwing money at us servants.” He snorted before offering a thin smile at the woman.
"Really? I was thinking maybe she was a royal diplomat from another country... that apparently doesn't have manners." She offered a grin back, before setting her drink down at a nearby table. "Could you watch this for me real quick, please?" She hurried back over to the counter, grabbing as many napkins as she could. Of course, the barista insisted she clean it up, but Violet waved her off. "No, no, I've got it! Don't you worry, you just focus on those delicious drinks!" She laughed over her shoulder as she returned to the mess, dropping down napkins and mopping them around with her foot. "I mean, it's a little sad that I deal with teenagers that have more manners than her... and that's saying a lot." Considered she worked with adolescents in juvenile detention, she wanted to say, but that was a little personal to be offering to a stranger. "Oh, thanks for watching my drink. I mean, I don't think anyone would have spit in it, or even taken it for that matter. A lot of people think lemon in coffee is weird..."
