Wednesday Morning- The Barista Stares in the Face of Danger

There were no regulars left in Abri at this time. The only person other than Hal on this sunny Wednesday morning was a frail-looking man in a dress shirt too big for him. Despite the air conditioning in the cafe, this man had been sweating ever since he came in. He had not bought a single drink since walking in and checked his phone frequently. He constantly looked up at Hal, but every time Hal asked if he was ready to order, the man mumbled something incoherent and checked his phone. Hal could usually relax in situations where there was only one quiet customer in the cafe, but something about this man kept Hal on her guard. It could have been the sweat, it could have been his pale face or the way he pushed up his glasses, but Hal’s suspicions were all but confirmed when the man went up to the counter to talk to Hal.
“U-um, excuse me.”
“Are you finally ready to order something?”
“U-um no… I j-just need to ask if y-you’re…”
The man kept stumbling over his words before his voice faded out and Hal was forced to drag an answer out of him.
“I’m what? What are you, uh, talking about?”
“L-let’s start over. My name is C-Campbell. Campbell Rivers. Ring any b-bells?”
“Hm, I don’t think so. Have you come to this cafe before?
“N-no. Th-that’s not what I’m asking. Are you h-here for a reason?”
“Woah, are you trying to get existential on me? Cause we don’t do that here anymore.”
“N-no! I was just trying to ask i-if you’re the one that I’m here for.”
A puzzled glare crossed Hal’s face. She had no idea what Campbell’s statement meant, but she was pretty sure it was offensive.
“Is that a threat?”
Campbell put his hands up, seemingly sweating even more than before.
“O-of course not! But if you’re the o-one-”
“Alright buddy, that’s enough. I think I might need to remove you from the cafe.”
Campbell’s bony arms twisted to cover his face as he finally blurted out his true intentions.
“No! I-I’m just trying to ask if you’re the girl I’m supposed to meet here for a date!”
Hal’s brain shorted.
“Wh… What?”
“A-are you not Gardenia?”
Her mind desperately tried to catch up with the information being thrown her way, but kept tripping over non-sensicals. Finally, she came to the one possible conclusion that would make everything make sense.
“Did someone phish you using pictures of me or something?”
Campbell chuckled nervously, wiping sweat from his extremely moist brow.
“H-hopefully not. She said t-this picture was from several years ago. A-and that she still basically looked like this, but with black hair.”
Campbell took out his phone to show Hal a picture of a girl with bright pink hair posing while drinking bubble tea. The girl looked nothing like Hal. Hal frowned with immense power.
“Black hair would literally be the only thing I share in common with this girl. Are you sure your glasses have the right prescription?”
Campbell whipped his phone back into his pocket.
“O-of course they do! This is the first match I’ve had on any dating site in the longest time! I made sure to ingrain Gardenia’s image into my memory so that I’d be able to spot her from a kilometre away!”
Hal noted how whiny Campbell’s voice sounded and carried on with little compassion in her voice.
“Then how did you mix her up with me?”
Campbell looked taken aback and when he spoke, his voice only got higher and whinier.
“Tactical deception! I bet she planted you here as a trap to see if I was worthy!”
Hal stared at Campbell, trying to gauge if he was joking or not.
“Of having decent facial recognition? I can’t believe you even failed at that…”
“I-I did not fail! Besides, I know Gardenia will be smart enough to deduce that I was only pretending to think it was you all along!”
“And let me guess, you know this from the three texts she sent you.”
“Thirty-seven, actually! And I also know that she’ll look much better than your plastic smiles!”
Hal pounded on the counter with pure rage, bringing her face closer to Campbell’s.
“What did you say?! Your skin’s so pale, you could pass for a clown!”
Campbell eeped, suddenly losing all his confidence. He did his best to match Hal’s anger, but ended up sounding more terrified than terrifying.
“W-Well, you’re an oven!”
Hal paused her rage and stared blankly at Campbell.
“Could you, uh, explain that one?”

Y-you know, because ovens build up heat and you’re p-pretty mad right now.”
“Sure, but that’s still-”
“O-oh! And ovens are related to the kitchen, so y-you could construe my comment as m-misogyny.”
“Ah, I guess that makes sense.”
Hal unpaused her rage and soaked in Campbell’s insult.
“Oh, that’s it!”
Hal rolled up her sleeves and was about to do some sort of intimidating action, if it weren’t for the bell above the front door chiming softly in a timely fashion. At the sound of the bell, both Hal and Campbell turned to look at who opened the door. She was wearing a low-cut shirt and baggy pants, with a beret on top. However, the thing that Hal naturally gravitated to was that the woman who walked through the door, indeed, had shoulder-length locks of black hair.
“Campbell? Is that you?”
Campbell shrunk further back and began to stutter heavily again.
“G-Gardenia! Y-you, um, l-look lovely!”
“Ahaha, thank you! Let’s discuss over drinks.”
Campbell looked extremely uncomfortable, aided by the realization that he would have to order from the woman he berated just seconds earlier. Hal revelled in this fact, his realization plain on his face.
“Listen G-Gardenia, I think we s-should move-”
“I can take your orders now!”
Campbell glared at Hal as she loudly interrupted, but Hal could do nothing but smile spitefully.
“Oh, great! I’ll take an iced coffee!”

Campbell look at Gardenia and sighed in defeat before shakily running his hands through his hair, trying his best to grin.
“I-I’ll have what s-she’s having.”
He wore a face that screamed ‘I was waiting to say that line!’ and it suddenly made more sense to Hal as to why he hadn’t gotten a match in years.
“Two iced coffees, right away.”
Hal took out coffee beans and started grinding while Campbell and Gardenia took a seat near the window. Hal usually found herself most relaxed at times like these, when customers would talk amongst themselves with no regard for the barista quietly listening in. Though she often asked customers directly about themselves, Hal also found immense pleasure in piecing together facts based on what she could pick up from a conversation. It was a much more passive action that rarely happened within the cafe, so Hal made sure to enjoy these moments. This particular one, however, she found near unbearable. Hal did not consider herself the best in social situations, but she had gotten much better throughout the years. Campbell, however, was very much at the level of social skills that Hal was in high school and every odd sentence he said or weird reaction he got from Gardenia reminded Hal enough of those days to evoke strong second-hand embarrassment.
“S-so Gardenia, how are you?”
“I’m great! I was so excited for our date today! How are you?”
“I-I’m okay. I was r-really nervous today for some reason.”
“Oh no! Was it because of the date?”
“O-of course not! I-It must have been b-because of the game I was playing before this!”
“Oh, you play games?”
“Y-yeah. I’m r-ranked Platinum in one of the g-games I play.”

“What does that mean?”
“I-it means I’m better than most p-people. I-I’m actually kind of a big deal online.”
Campbell may have sounded proud when he said that line, but Hal wanted to die the moment he uttered those words.
“Wow, that’s amazing! I play a few games too! Maybe we could play together some time!”
“W-what games do you play?”
“Well there’s that one super cute game where you make friends with animals. I think it’s called Cranimal Ossing.”
“Cranimal Ossing? So you’re not really into games then.”
“H-huh?”
Campbell began to speak with surprising fluency, somehow shedding his stuttering in a fit of passion.
“People who only play games like Cranimal Ossing and Sweets Squish aren’t really into games. They don’t care about how good games actually are and just play them to waste time. They’re just casuals. Casuals aren’t true gamers.”
Both Hal and Gardenia were left stunned by Campbell’s response. Hal in particular desperately wanted to leave the cafe to drink heavily.
“Um, Okay…”
Both Gardenia and Campbell fell silent. Hal had finished grinding the coffee beans. The cafe was deadly quiet and Hal needed sound, any sound, to alleviate some tension. She tried to wait it out, but the silence only got worse. Hal braced herself and, in a spot of vulnerability, broke the silence on her own accord. Her voice came out sudden and hoarse, a tree falling in a completely silent forest.
“B-by the way, do you guys want cream and sugar in your iced coffee?”
Hal couldn’t tell if alerting her presence to the couple made things better or worse. She tried to give a shaky smile, but the stab of two sets of eyes in a tense situation made her immediately turn her head.
Worse. Absolutely worse.

Gardenia was the first to speak.

“Yeah, uh, sure. Just a pinch of sugar, though.”
Hal blessed Gardenia for making things seem somewhat normal at the cafe again. And then Campbell came in.
“I-I’ll have what she’s h-hav-”
Campbell coughed mid-sentence, suddenly realizing that his one-liner didn’t sound very slick in this context.
“I m-mean, yes. S-sure.”
Hal put the grinded beans into the french press and poured in hot water, trying to play it cool like the background character in the couple’s date that she was supposed to be.
“Great, I’ll make sure to, uh, make a note of that.”

Hal carried on with brewing iced coffee, stirring the pot and breathing a sigh of relief.
If Lilac were here, she’d congratulate me. See Lilac? I just defused a situation within the cafe! Yeah that’s right, give me another headpat.
Hal inserted the plunger into the french press and then went to the cupboard to grab glasses. She tried to pay no mind to Campbell and Gardenia’s chatterings, but it was hard not to with them being the only other two in the cafe.
“S-so G-Gardenia, what are your h-hobbies?”
“Hm… Well I like to read!”
“That’s, uh, n-nice.”
“Do you read a lot, Campbell?”
Campbell stuttered for a while before eventually letting out a strangled answer.
“S-sometimes.”
Gardenia’s eyes sparkled and she clasped her hands together.
“Wonderful! What do you read?”
Campbell paused, but it wasn’t a pause to remember what books he had read last. It was clear to Hal that the pained expression on Campbell’s face meant that he already had an answer. As to why Campbell was withholding it, Hal had no idea. She plunged the plunger further into the pot and poured coffee into a pitcher as Campbell finally chose to speak.
“F-fantasy, mostly.”
“Oh really? I read a lot of fantasy too! Have you read the Game of Chairs But Also Snakes and Ladders series?”
“Um… N-no.”
“You should! GoC-BASaL has one of the greatest fantasy worlds in recent literature!”
“G-GoC-BASaL?”
“Oh sorry, that’s the abbreviation for the series. Sometimes I get so caught up in talking about something I like that I alienate the people I’m talking to!”
Gardenia laughed to herself and Campbell tried to copy her enthusiasm, though his laugh came off much creepier. Hal popped the pitcher into the fridge to chill and sat back to watch the show. At this point in the conversation, Campbell had left the zone of relatability and was no longer a stark reminder to Hal’s high school days. Hal could finally enjoy herself again. She was also glad that Gardenia was having fun, though seemingly of a much different variety.
You know, GoC-BASaL’s been going on for over ten years now. I only started reading it last year, but can you imagine reading a series for over ten years?”
Campbell let out a nervous, high-pitched laugh.
“Hahaha! I-I have no i-idea what you’re t-talking about!”
“Are you alright, Campbell? You look a little pale?”
“I’m p-perfectly fine! Just k-keep talking about GoC-BASaL or whatever!”
“Hm? Alright then… I’m not actually caught up to GoC-BASaL. I have two more books before I’m caught up, but the one I’m reading right now is almost a thousand pages! After I've finished those two, though, I’ll be waiting for the next book’s release like everyone else. I can’t imagine having to wait months for another book to release! I’d die waiting to know what happens next!”
Campbell seemed to convulse for a brief second before returning to normal. Gardenia didn’t seem to notice.
“But seriously, Campbell. You have to read GoC-BASaL. The worldbuilding and characters are on a level you’ve probably never seen-”
Campbell interrupted Gardenia, finally blurting out what he had in mind.
“Single Portion.”
“Wh-what?”
“You have to read Single Portion. Its worldbuilding and characters would blow GoC-BASaL’s out of the water, I’m sure of it.”
Hal was expecting an awkward silence on par with what happened earlier, but Gardenia seemed to take Campbell’s outburst with great interest.
“Oh, Single Portion? I’ve never heard of it! I’m gonna look it up right now!”
“H-huh?”
Gardenia pulled out her phone to look up the mysterious book series while Hal observed as Campbell fell out of his passionate state and snapped back to reality.
“I-I’m not s-sure if you’d l-like it! I-it’s pretty niche, actually!”
“Well I’ll read the summary and decide that for myself!”
While Campbell panicked, Hal took ice from the freezer and put them into the two glasses. She then took the pitcher and a carton of cream from the fridge and filled each glass equally with the pitcher before pouring in the cream. She grabbed the sugar from the cupboard and put a small spoonful into each glass. Finally, Hal took two spoons and gently stirred the drinks, leaving the spoons in the glasses when she was done.
“Oh. Hm. Is this the Single Portion you were talking about?”
Gardenia held out her phone for Campbell to see.
“Y-yes.”
“And it’s a… Comic?”
“I-it’s actually a foreign g-graphic novel. J-Japanese, I, uh, b-believe.”
Gardenia turned the phone back to her, tapping on it and scrolling with one finger.
“Let’s see here… It’s about pirates. Alright, I guess… Sounds a bit childish, if I’m being honest.”
Campbell looked like he was just shot through the heart.
“M-maybe you should g-give it a try… I th-think you might enjoy it after all.”
“I don’t know… I don’t really like the artstyle either.”
Campbell looked like he had just been stabbed multiple times, as well as shot through the heart. Gardenia looked up from her phone.
“Do you read a lot of these Japanese comics?”
Campbell looked miserable. He gave up on any semblance of being subtle.
“M-manga.”
“Right, manga. Do you read a lot of them?”
“Y-yes… Anime too...”
“Well, I might not try Single Portion, but some of these other manga look kind of cool.”
Campbell instantly resurrected. He looked to Gardenia, who had already turned back to her phone, as an angel.
“Like this Sword-Draw-Internet series looks pretty cool.”
Campbell looked as though he had just endured severe torture right after being shot through the heart and stabbed multiple times. Hal finally decided to spare Campbell by announcing that the drinks were ready.
“Two iced coffee with cream and a pinch of sugar!”
Gardenia stood up first to get the drinks, but Campbell, also getting out of his seat, gestured for her to sit down. Gardenia insisted.
“It’s alright. I can pay for both of us too.”
Clearly unprepared for this situation, Campbell abruptly speed-walked over to the counter anyways. He whipped out his wallet and paid for the drinks. Hal conversed with him in a hushed voice as she rang him up.
“So, how’s the date been so far?”
“I-it could be going better.”
“Oh really now. I thought you would’ve left the building by now with how it’s going.”
“I would have, if not for Gardenia. Ah, Gardenia, what a pure soul…”

“Alright, alright, I get it. Now get back to her before I try to kick you out a second time.”

Campbell brought back the drinks and the date continued as per usual. Hal enjoyed watching for the most part, though, every so often, Campbell would say something that was all too relatable to a past experience Hal once had, pushing her to the brink. Throughout the date, she had also found herself consistently surprised with how much Gardenia was enjoying herself. While awkward moments found their way into the conversation every so often, Gardenia didn’t seem to mind and often carried on with the conversation quite quickly. It was most surprising to Hal when Gardenia started to talk about plans for a second date for dinner. Campbell, with all of his stuttering and weird outbursts, had somehow managed to charm a real girl for once. Hal was thoroughly impressed and tried to congratulate Campbell in her head, but all that came to her were misgivings about the future.
Yeah… They’re not gonna last long, are they?
When all was said and done, Gardenia brought the glasses to the counter, an unusually kind thing for a customer to do. As she was about to turn away, Hal interjected, her curiosity taking the better of her.
“Pardon me for asking, miss, but you know you could be doing a lot better than him.”
Gardenia looked surprised, but then she smiled.
“I know, but you were listening in, right? You saw how he talked and acted around me. He even called me an angel!”

Gardenia’s smile turned upwards. She spoke in a low voice that hid many more secrets than she let on, whispering so that Hal could only barely hear her.
“Men like that are soooo fun to play with.”
Gardenia turned her eyes towards Campbell, then licked her lips and Hal felt a shiver run down her spine.
Th-they’re not gonna last long, r-right?
Campbell and Gardenia parted ways just outside of the cafe, with Gardenia, back to her usual bubbly self, waving goodbye and Campbell oddly bowing to her. Hal watched them until they were no longer in sight. She looked around to make sure no customers were about to enter the cafe, checked the time on her phone, and decided to take an early lunch break. She needed a time to enjoy the immense amount of relief she felt at the moment. After all, the stressful moments, Hal found, made the breaks all the more enjoyable.