At this moment, the hope I had gathered for humanity has become a bottomless pit.
"Ma,am, it's a slice of cake that has been refrigerated over the span of 24 hours which, to simplify it for you, might result in the cake being dry in the first place. No, our food case isn't storing our desserts at the wrong temperature, maybe with common sense, you might understand that the cake is indeed dry." I calmly countered her argument.
"It's definitely not right for a cake to be this dry." She stubbornly retaliated.
"It's a sponge cake not a cheesecake." Boredom laced my tongue.
There were curious eyes circulating the dramatic scene the lady had created and the aroma of espresso beans and steamed milk wasn't helping. Soft whispers were heard all around the cafe and this stubborn woman still wouldn't budge.
I inhaled deeply, "Listen, I have offered you a new cake, and you have already used your dirty hand to touch the cake, hence I can't serve it to anyone anymore. Either you take the cake or I will return the money back to you." I tried to keep my tone polite as my smile strained to stay put.
She rolled her eyes at me, "You're not listening to me, I'm telling you that the cake is dry and I don't want you serving it to anyone else."
I do not deserve this at 8a.m.
"Excuse me." Someone abruptly intruded into our conversation and relief had washed over me instantly. "I couldn't help but overhear." He said.
"You can have my cake instead, rest assured it hasn't been touched. It's a New york cheesecake, the bestseller cake here. The strawberry shortcake is relatively much drier than the rest and might not be a good choice to get for the early morning." He smiled politely at the woman.
"Now that's how you treat a customer right." She seethed at me before taking the plate from him and left the counter to join her group of friends. The whispers quietened down and the usual chatter was back on volume.
"Rough morning?" He questioned with a grin.
"I owe you, Zion and what brings you here so early?" I greeted him. A week flew by quicker than I had expected and it has been a few days since I saw him.
"I have this presentation going on later and since I got to campus early to do last minute preps, I decided to give you a visit and get my coffee too." I marked his usual order onto the takeaway cup and sent it to the bar while I continued our conversation.
"Zion Lee functioning at 8 in the morning is a rare sight." I remarked.
"And what's Ares Wang thinking, working at this hour?" He countered back as I passed him his vanilla latte.
"Ares had to cover someone's shift. We've been short-handed here ever since our recent employee left." Verity, a co-worker aka my work bestie, hopped into the conversation with ease.
"Isn't there something like a commitment period when you start?" I shrugged my shoulders while Verity proceeded to tend a customer who had just entered the cafe.
"Look at your eyebags, at this rate you're going to be a grandma." I flinched when he rubbed my under eye with his thumb as his eyebrows creased at the sight of my sleepless eyes. I swallowed, waiting for him to let go when Verity whistled at the scene.
"My eyes are burning, please take your make out session elsewhere, not at the cash register. People don't wanna choke on their coffee and die, thank you." She gasped. I turned away from his hand and thankfully he let go.
"Careful with your words, he has a girlfriend y'know and I don't plan to be murdered anytime soon." I retorted her as Verity rolled her eyes at me.
"Well, since you are that worried about Ares, how about you try working here? Some of our regulars kept asking about you, you are always here to the point where it convinces them that you're working here." Verity stated.
Zion took a moment to consider, "Maybe." All of a sudden, An alarm rang in his phone and his eyes widened immediately.
"Crap I'm going to be late." He muttered before taking his coffee and running out the doors of the cafe.
I always know that he's known for stealing people's hearts but I take it back, there were some moments where he was charismatic and some where he's definitely not and this time it was the latter. My eyes followed his silhouette getting smaller the further he ran as it disappeared slowly while he kept getting further. It was until everything stopped when I saw a familiar figure waving to him as Sophie walked with him together.
I sighed, "Whatever." and got back to my work as usual.
Time passed by swiftly and I found myself clocking out of a 6 hour shift. I stuffed my apron into my bag hurriedly as an alarm rang from my phone, alerting me for the second time that I was going to be late for my course.
"What was I thinking of covering someone's shift when my whole afternoon was already fully booked in the first place?" I groaned at myself for my forgetfulness. Zion was so right for giving me a reality check last week.
"What's gotten you in a rush?" Verity entered the backroom as I slung my tote bag over my shoulder and ran out of the backroom. "I will tell you about it later." I shouted as I left the cafe, in hopes of the bus arriving as soon as I reached the bus stop.
I was panting and out of breath as I entered the bus looking like a crazy woman with my hair sticking out everywhere. I told myself to calm down, and started taking out what I like to call my portable brush and started brushing my hair. Do I look decent? I questioned myself, fiddling around my jean pockets for my phone.
"Crap." I cursed quietly when I found them empty. I searched around my tote bag as I started panicking but there were only a few pens and highlighters, my pill box, a water bottle and my apron which was taking up eighty percent of the space. I put my head in my hands and realised I left my phone back at the cafe. I wanted to dig a hole and jump in there immediately.
…
I sprinted into Dallas University located at the end of Wales street and found the front desk office easily. They gave me a student pass once I had filled up my student particulars in horrible handwriting and as soon as I was told the directions to a specific lecture hall, I took off again hurriedly, leaving the receptionist in shock. I took the elevator to the third level of the building and entered the fifth room as instructed.
My eyes were in awe as they scanned the highly furnished lecture hall while I stepped onto one of those expensive carpets that led up to many rows of seats. However, I was interrupted by a lecturer clearing his throat. "Excuse me, can I have your name?" He asked formally.
I retained my calm composure and replied, "Ares Wang." He nodded and typed something into his computer. After a few right clicks, he looked up from his laptop before speaking again, "You're sent here by Queenstown university to attend this course, is that correct?" He questioned.
I nodded as a response. "Please take one booklet and sit wherever you want."
I did as told and took a booklet from his desk. I turned around awkwardly as my eyes wandered around the hall for an empty seat. I realised there were already many people in their seats and reading the booklet given to them. Surprisingly, the majority of the backseats were already taken except for one at the left corner. I took it as a cue and hurriedly walked over to that specific seat and got myself comfortable in it.
I prepared myself for the 6 hour lecture about story development. It was a writing course fully funded by my university. Although my major was architecture and my minor was story content and creation, I had a lot more compassion for creative writing compared to architecture. I was recognised and complimented for my efforts that my lecturers supported me to further improve my skills since not a lot of attention was focused on my minor.
Now the important question: Why did I choose architecture as a major?
My grades could not live up to my expectations. I'm not saying that Majors that require lesser demanding grades to qualify are setting people up for a tough life. The frustration was more held towards the fact that choosing our own passion relied upon our grades. Hence, I'm blaming it all on the education system. With the benefit of doubt, I actually got along with architecture as my major and even enjoyed something other than writing which was a good thing for me.
A tap on my shoulder disrupted my train of thoughts as I turned my head to find a girl sitting next to me and she looked about the same age as me, giving me a polite smile. "Hey I'm Belle, from West Coast University." She introduced herself and bought out her hand for me to shake.
"I'm Ares, from Queenstown." I shook her hand lightly.
"Dang, Ain't that the school that offers the best design courses?" She gawked at me.
I chuckled at her positive mindset, "And what brings you here to Dallas?" I questioned her out of curiosity.
"Same as you, West Coast didn't offer the best so I took it into my own hands and found the money to attend this very course. Apparently, Dallas is known for Writing for the media. Many of the media students here got their own jobs immediately after graduating." Belle's eyes were glowing at this point.
Belle took a deep breath, her face full of reluctance all of a sudden, "I realised I must have spoken too much, my bad." She let out a little laugh while I shook my head, disagreeing with what she thought.
"It's no big deal at all. I have a friend who always cuts me off whenever I speak. You are being too considerate." I explained, thinking of Verity and Maeya. They would be the best of friends if they had met.
"And what brings you here to Dallas?" She questioned me.
"It's a long story. My lecturers decided to fund me for this course and here I am." I simply answered her as she nodded understandably.
There were a few more students entering the lecture hall before the professor decided to start class. Belle and I decided to put a stop to our conversation and continue it during our break later. I fiddled with my pen as I looked down at the given booklet, my thoughts started to wander. Somehow, with the help of Belle, the nerves and jitters went away quickly. I was grateful that I made friends with someone this early in the course. The professor began to roll calling each and every student and soon, the class began.
There is an hour interval in the middle of the 6 hour lecture as announced by the lecturer and I took that as a great sign to have a small snack for dinner in the meantime as I haven't eaten anything since my shift break earlier. Everyone was in a single file line, squeezing through the only door that led out of this hall. I took my belongings with me and was about to follow when there was a tap on my shoulder.
"Hey Ares! Wanna grab a snack with me and meet some of my friends from here in Dallas?" Belle asked, practically jumping on the spot excitedly.
I smiled, "Sure, I need some food in me anyway."