Blend 4

Hachi whipped up a coffee for himself. A strong double-shot long black. The bitterness masked the taste of iron in his mouth. His body was breaking down. The ADV was taking its course. He didn’t have long left to live.

With his death impending, Hachi would soon have to make an important decision. What would his final coffee be? Would it be better to play it safe and go for a Latte? Would it seek something a little cheeky like a hot chocolate?

And then what of the milk? Standard? Or even oat milk with the right blend ratio may be better. Then again, soy also worked well. How could he decide between such amazing options? Why must there only be one final coffee? Couldn’t he have them all? But then, which would be the last?

Hachi tried to push these thoughts out of his head. He had a job to do. Serve coffee to whoever enters the door. He certainly couldn’t leave it to Clara at this point in time. She still hadn’t fully mastered coffee brewing just yet. There was no dying today.

“Mr Hachi, how can you drink such strong coffee?” Clara commented.

“Because I like it,” Hachi responded nonchalantly.

“But like, isn’t it too strong?”

“I like a strong coffee.” Hachi shrugged.

“But you had a latte yesterday.”

“Yeah?” Hachi responded, confused as to why this needed to be pointed out.

“So I thought you liked sweeter coffee.”

“I like all coffee.”

Hachi thought this was where the conversation would end. But, as with most things Clara-related, she had to drag it out unnecessarily and tiresomely long. He perhaps could ordinarily deal with it, but with the pain from ADV playing up today, he was in an irritable mood.

“I see.” She sighed. “I should have known that you would respond with something like that. I just haven’t seen you drink a strong coffee like that before.”

Damn, she’s quite observant. Hachi thought to himself. He didn’t want to let Clara know about his condition, so he tried to shut the conversation down once again.

“It was what I felt like today.”

“Any reason in particular?”

Damn it, she just won’t let it go, He continued to think to himself.

“Nope, I just like to mix it up sometimes.” He responded.

“I see. So it’s not always so binary between sweet and bitter?”

“You got it.”

There was an awkward silence. Luckily, it didn’t stay quiet for long. The bell rang, and a person with long, brown hair, wearing a hoodie and jeans, entered. They looked somewhat awkward as they approached the counter. Their eyes fixated on the ground as they made their way to the counter to order.

Hachi had seen all sorts of people working in a café, so he instantly recognised someone who was introverted and likely wanted to keep to themselves as much as possible. It was one of his favourite types of people to deal with. They always appreciated the coffee he made. Generally, they also kept conversations to a minimum, and when they did, he knew how to make their day.

“Welcome to 8-blends. What can we get for you today?” Clara commented, awfully cheery.

Although Clara was awfully good at dealing with most customers, Hachi instantly recognised that Clara’s outward personality might overwhelm an introverted customer like this one. Perhaps this would be good training for her, experience in how to read and handle different types of customers.

“Umm, sorry to ask this before I order, but are you an inclusive store?” They shuffled a bit as they asked this.

“Diversity?” Clara responded.

“Like queer people,” the mumbled barely audible.

“Are you gay?” Clara asked excitedly. It was as if she thought the customer was an exotic animal. Hachi didn’t like the way she was clearly overwhelming the customer. Normally, she was excellent at reading the customers; it was a strength of hers. But today, she didn’t read the customer at all. They looked extremely uncomfortable.

“I’m not gay. But I am questioning things.” They mumbled on. Clearly, they were feeling quite uncomfortable with Clara’s line of questioning.

“So you think you are gay?”

“Ummm, not questioning regarding sexuality…” They trailed off, looking like they were about to run out of the store, terrified.

Clara looked confused. Hachi thought it was time to redirect the conversation so as not to frighten off the individual.

“Do you like coffee?” He asked.

“Huh?” the customer responded, confused.

“If you do, then you are welcome here regardless of any other reason.” Hachi smiled at the customer.

The person let out a breath as if they had been holding it for an extended period.

“Thank you, I do like coffee. Not all stores are tolerant of diversity.”

“Well, you are more than welcome here.” Hachi smiled at them.

The person looked up at Hachi and Clara for the first time. Perhaps Hachi’s reassurance put their mind at ease.

“Then could I get a dirty chai and that lamb and rosemary filo looks nice, could I get both of those, thanks?”

“Of course,” Hachi replied. “What size?”

“Could I get a regular?”

“Regular…” Hachi scribbled down the note. “And are you having it here or as a takeaway?”

“Oh, sorry, umm, I’ll have it here if that’s alright.” They awkwardly shuffled.

“Of course, please take a seat anywhere, and we will bring that out to you.”

They walked over and took a seat in a corner. A corner seat is often a place one goes when they don’t want to socialise much with anyone. It is also a spot where they go to feel comfortable and sometimes stay for an extended period of time. In some ways, it signified a sense of comfort.

Hachi knew all this and was glad they seemed to feel at ease in his café. That was all he could ever ask.

“Clara, can you please prepare the filo? I will go make the dirty chai.”

“Righto.” She responded

Hachi got out a coffee mug and set to prepare the dirty chai.

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End of Chapter 4