Running into Coverage

Hadley nodded. She followed the direction of the man's hand and stepped behind the bar to get a feel for where they kept all of the equipment. Luckily it was late morning and the shop was silent apart from the dishwasher running in the back kitchen. Looking at the grotesquely large espresso machine and the sink to the side, Hadley knew this set up was smaller than what she was used to. Her confidence kicked in, she had his drink—and was ready for whoever else would come in the front door.

Reaching behind her, she grabbed a washcloth and wiped down the area in front of the machine. The man cocked his head and moved to the side to watch her movements. Like when she painted, she was graceful but still quick in processing his order. She tapped the espresso, tipped the spoon for the cream, and even said hello to a young woman who entered while she was pouring the coffee into one of the many mugs left for patrons sitting in the café.

Back in Seattle, it only seemed natural to work in a coffee house. It was the last thing she had wanted to do, and almost cringed at the prospect of doing so. But a job was a job, and she needed steady income to keep her in the city. Handing over the coffee to the man, she turned to the young woman waiting near the register.

"What'll you have?"

"Vanilla chai. Do you have any blueberry muffins today?"

Hadley's eyes glittered, out of habit she had caught sight of the bare pastry display. "Um, I think the last one went about an hour ago. There might be a scone in there though. Same thing, kind of."

"Okay, thanks."

A smile broke out across her face and Hadley turned to face the man, he stood with his eyebrows arched up. "I can make the chai, but that thing scares me." She pointed a freshly painted black fingernail in the direction of the cash register.

"Don't worry about it." The man walked over and rung the young woman up, but before he had enough time to give her change Hadley snapped the plastic lid on top and handed the drink over to her.

The man watched the young woman leave with both the drink and the pastry and turned back to Hadley. "Mr. Coffee, my behind."

She shrugged. "Hey, never underestimate a coffee maker."

"I damn well won't. You're hired, when can you start?"

"I'd say tomorrow but have plans. How about Sunday?"

"Sure, let me get some papers from the office for you. Fill them out and bring them back with you then."

By the end of the hour, Hadley walked out of the coffee shop and smiled to herself. If all else went south, she always had a back-up plan. In the middle of Rick's brief description of how the coffee shop started and the hours of operation, she stood behind the bar and took orders. It felt natural to make the different beverages. Something seemed so right for her to stop into that particular coffee shop, and to talk with that man. Who knew what it all meant, but for now she had a job that would be flexible with her painting schedule, something she had been lacking in since she'd gotten into town.

Hadley had been hoping to spend the entire weekend alone, drawing, in one of the parks, just to get back into her groove. After she had talked to Samantha the day before, her plans had changed. Since she'd gotten into town, they had not had a chance to see each other. Even though they talked almost daily, Sam knew her attention was focused on getting a job and trying to arrange for a cheap studio space. When they had talked the day before, Sam had reminded her of a cookout that she and her fiancé Gabe were hosting at their house just outside of the city. Without hesitating, Hadley had accepted because she had wanted to see her closest friend and of course give grief to the man who had swept her off her feet.

From the stories that Sam had always told her, the cookout was bound to be interesting. For the first time, she would be submerged in the good ol' NFL, something she knew absolutely nothing about. She came from a city where almost all the major sports were played, but the town would have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude with the teams, given the recent loss of a national basketball team. Nothing ever shook Hadley and if anything, she was more than excited to get into something new. But of course, she was glad to get into something new with someone she actually did know. Talking to Caitlin was one thing, but sitting with a good friend was something else entirely.