Chapter Text
Market chipping had really chilly mornings, Sophie didn’t like walking on the damp sidewalk and the gray shawl on her shoulders didn’t do a great job covering her from the cold, it sneaked in from several sides at once, even under the expensive scarf she was wearing. Eyeing her watch saw it was thirty past five, before which she tightened her step a little, feeling that the humid air chilled her to the bone.
Sophie did not like very much being the one who opened the store, if she saw it on the positive side, the quiet hours of the morning allowed her a few moments of peace and solitude. In the silence of the early hours Sophie imagined thousands of adventures, she saw herself traveling and meeting new people, she saw herself having an intrepid and very interesting life, in the solitude of a cold cafeteria, she allowed herself to dream.
Once in front of the door, she opened the locks on the wide glass door one by one, the store was located on the corner of one of the main streets, so despite the early hour many cars were already moving, as well as some people in long trench coats, which, due to the dim street light, were only contrasts of gray and dark colors, walking at a fast pace due to the cold.
The store was one of her favorite places, it was comfortable and elegant at the same time. The cafeteria had gone through many renovations, she personally preferred the store as it was from the beginning; with wooden furniture, many plants as part of the decoration and serious colors, a bohemian and warm atmosphere. Of course, he couldn't be against the changes Fanny had made to the place after her father passed away, she had given a new life to the establishment. The now double height ceiling was white, giving a clean and illuminated effect, two of the walls had been replaced by windows that reached to the ceiling, removing the small and homey vibe that it once gave, now the space felt spacious and gave a some what Elegant vibe.
Although it seemed a bit excessive, she was not bothered by the two giant pillars that Fanny had included as decoration between two of the main rectangular tables.
Between the windows, the pillars and the black and white furniture the place gave a very comfortable yet elegant feeling, it was an ideal place for, on Sophie's consideration, have a warm cup of tea and forget about the world or maybe, Create one, as one of her regular customers, who happened to be a well-known writer in Market-Chipping.
She smiled a little as she entered and was greeted with a faint coffee smell.
Despite the many problems that used to come up to her from time to time, she had no reason to hate the cafeteria, she had been working in it for a long time and at some point she ended up considering it as her home, it was something that reminded her of her father and his proud look every time he talked about his successful business. Leaving her gray shawl on the back along with the scarf of the same color, Sophie set about starting the day.
The store uniform was one of the many things that had changed thanks to Fanny, one of the first models that the always eccentric young woman had proposed for the cafeteria had been a little inconsistent with the aesthetics of the place, with a striped white and black scarf at the neck, a blouse similar to those used in kitchens and a small apron at the waist with the same design as the scarf. Thanks to the many interventions by Martha and Lettie, the uniform ended up being a simple set of a black shirt with pants of the same color, which had a khaki apron at waist level over them.
Sophie liked the way the colors combined with the aesthetics of the place and avoided small problems such as drops of chocolate syrup and cocoa powder permanently staining the uniform.
Once in her khaki apron on, Sophie set about turning on the machines, it was a bit annoying having to check the coffee machine almost every day, but she knew that despite how ridiculous it might sound, between 33 and 27 seconds to ground the coffee beans, there was an important difference.
Once the coffee bins were filled and the pastries were in the oven, Sophie started cleaning. It was still quite early so she didn't have to worry about ingredient deliveries and some desserts until later in the morning.
One of Sophie's favorite activities was cleaning the cafeteria, she liked the order and was a little distracting, it even served as exercise! Before starting to mop the floor, she put some black tea in one of the containers so that it could be infused in what she had finished doing the work.
A few minutes later, and having sanitized the bar and tables once more, Sophie finished with a sigh, everything looked gleaming. She took the broom and mop in one hand and several rags in the other to carry them to the cleaning closet.
With everything in place, she sat in one of his favorite armchairs to watch people on the street, it had started to drizzle so the figures were moving even faster than before, their shoulders down trying to cover themselves from the cold. Sophie had taken over the cafeteria for a few years already. Ever since her father had passed away, Fanny had made the tough decision to remove her and her two sisters from school for a season. Martha had started working in a small herbalist store with a family friend, while Lettie, on her part, had opted for one of the pastry shops that had supplied the cafeteria for years, the three of them hardly saw each other due to their hard schedules, which initially depressed them a little.
Over time both Martha and Lettie were able to return to school, never neglecting their part-time job. For her part, Sophie had to stay in the family cafeteria, in a place like Ingary, someone like the eldest of three sisters was destined to fail, so she didn't mind much about not going back to school.
Sophie was a dreamy person, she came to have expectations when she was young about going to college and studying some career. She also came to think of traveling the world and perhaps getting to know the sea. Unfortunately her dreams were left behind somewhere along the way, she ended up putting all her energy into her work and despite everything she felt calm, she ended up loving the people who went regularly and the people who worked with her. The future was nothing like her dreams, but one way or another she could make it work, she knew her destiny and it had nothing to do with long travels or wild adventures.
After cleaning the cafeteria, Sophie waited for the remaining 20 minutes to open the store, five minutes before 7 her companion arrived with a hurried step, it had started to rain harder so once she passed the threshold she left a few traces of dirt on the white linden floor, with a sigh Sophie said good morning and hurried to clear the small path that had been created in the entrance.
Customers did not wait after the OPEN sign outside light, at that time in the morning the most common thing was to receive orders for double espressos and pastries. Sophie liked to carry out orders more than taking them, but she could not deny that having someone just taking orders and someone other carrying them was not such a good idea, when she had brought this idea to the table Fanny had told her how difficult it would be to complete orders correctly, so in the end she had given up on the idea and they ended up setting a routine. Which they could not deny worked quite well.
By midmorning they were placing various orders, Market Chipping was a lively and prosperous city, so shops like cafes and restaurants used to be very good deals.
"an iced Americano" said a woman in yoga pants and heavy sunglasses, Sophie had more than experience with such clients, she couldn't help but shudder when she wrote down the order.
"Good morning" Sophie replied calmly. "How big would the iced Americano be?"
"Venti," she blurted out clearly annoyed perhaps because the young cashier hadn't guessed something as simple as the size of her order on her own.
"An iced Americano in a Venti ma'am, can I offer you something else?" She replied with a forced smile, which was answered with a grimace.
That would be a no, Sophie thought.
"No, that would be all" she replied echoing his thoughts as she handed her a bill, seeing everywhere except the redhead, with a sigh she turned quickly and started with the order.
She had been working in the cafeteria for so long that it was very easy to lose herself f in her thoughts when she started working on drinks, especially when with Iced Americanos, this was one of the most common orders, she used to do them almost in autopilot, you just had to take the freshly ground coffee, extract the coffee shot. In a Venti, add ice, cold water, add the double espresso and voila, your order was ready.
With the same practice and crazy ideas from Fanny, they had concluded that giving orders in beautiful bamboo trays was the best option, with little decorations here and there even the most difficult customers could not help but feel satisfied when their orders were presented in elegant ways.
From one o'clock in the afternoon the day began to get a little more busy, several desserts arrived at the same time as spices and ingredients, two orders of double espresso and three orders of pastries to take away had been stacked. Sophie liked peak hours, allowed her to be distracted, and the more absorbed she was in her work, the less time she had to think of wide beaches with crystal clear waters and houses in the mountains surrounded by beautiful flowers.
For some reason Americanos and lattes were one of the store's most famous drinks, personally Sophie thought milk teas were better or maybe teas alone, either way, she was just making and serving.
Her partner looked a bit frantic taking the orders, her bun was lopsided, some strands of hair were sticking out the sides, and her face was looking a little red, perhaps from the heat, so Sophie had to rush with the requests for The cakes, after attaching the cute red ribbons to the black boxes with gold lettering, she quickly moved to start an order of chrysanthemum tea and three Choco-choco-becchinos.
She took three blenders and quickly added the ice and the portions of milk, she had to lift a little to reach the cookie and cocoa powder from one of the white shelves on top, but once with the containers in hand she proceeded to finish everything.
The store usually offered everything in two sizes: medium and venti. It was one of those things that sometimes caused them a few problems, which did not seem to bother Fanny in the least. "It is very different to be the person who attends the problems of the store than the person who only makes the decisions" was something that Martha and Lettie used to tell her every time Sophie told them certain things that caused her problems.
Once the heaviest part of the afternoon was over, ten minutes before the shift change, the two attendants arrived at the same time, Sophie was grateful to see them, she was very hungry and had barely finished packing two other small cakes and a big birthday cake, the only thing left to do was wash the dishes and she could retire for the day.
Before she could turn to the back with the black tray with all the dishes that had been gathered in the morning the store bell rang once more, Sophie gave a little sigh, maybe she would just take that last order.
Her companion, clearly not willing to make another request, took the tray and retired with a tight step, when Sophie looked up, she met big green eyes framed by a thick fan of black eyelashes. The young man who had entered was wearing a sweater under a black raincoat the same color as his shoes and pants. Seeing that she had Sophie's attention, she smiled flirtatiously as she approached the box at a brisk pace.
The angular-faced young man was quite tall, still on the other side of the counter, Sophie felt towered for a moment. Recovering from the initial stupor she spoke in a moderate voice with the most neutral face she could manage.
"Good afternoon. How can I help you?" The cardboard smile on her lips looked almost painful.
"Good afternoon," he said softly. "Could you put me a milk tea, sugar-free in a Venti please, for Howl" he spoke slowly and with an almost flirtatious tone, as if he were talking to a scary little mouse, he pronounced the last part in an almost feline way. Sophie couldn't help but frown angrily.
"A milk tea with tapioca, without sugar in a venti" she answered somewhat quickly, without being able to avoid the annoying tint, "something else?" rectified.
the blond seemed taken by surprise for a moment and with an even bigger smile he nodded, once the order had been paid Sophie turned to prepare the drink. If she was honest, not many people used to order milk tea, when they had just added it to their menu, it became very famous, but once the novelty passed, the orders returned to being old boring Iced Americanos and fresh drinks with pastries.
Not so many people preferred this type of not-so-sweet drink and opted for caramel lattes or Frappuccinos. Sophie was more in favor of sober and not so sugar laden drinks, so she kind of gave the young man a good point for his order.
"What kind of milk?" She asked something bluntly as she took one of the large cups.
"Soy milk please" the blonde replied again with a flirtatious voice, after this he retreated with elegant steps towards some point out of sight.
Once the order was finished she took the Venti and put one of the cute cup holders that Fanny had just ordered a few weeks ago.
"It is in honor of the May Day holiday!" She had said excitedly after Sophie questioned her about the colorful cup holders, in her opinion they were just unnecessary. She could not deny that Fanny was right, making small details for the festivities added more visibility to the establishment.
When the order was finished, she placed it on one of the bamboo trays on top of a green napkin and a plastic straw on one side, counted to three slowly and with a sigh said out loud. "Milk Tea for Howl" the aforementioned had sat in one of the comfortable armchairs that opened on the window; Hearing his name, he looked up and with a cute smile approached the bar where Sophie was. The young man took the tray that the young woman had brought him over the bar.
Before leaving, he gave her a wink as he left a few coins in a cute cat-shaped jug that said in elegant letters "Tips".
Satisfied, he turned around, heading towards the same chair in which she had sat before in the morning.
Sophie turned around annoyed, she was very hungry and had very little patience to deal with someone like that, although she was grateful for the tips, she did not stop frowning until she was out of the store.