Spilled Cup

[Zachary Elwood]

Even when your finances are a little tight, there are some things that are just too essential to pass over. Like coffee. Zach couldn’t say he was a coffee addict but everyone needed to stay hydrated and it might as well be with a beverage that had a good taste. Plus, with one coffee, he could stay there for a little while and try to work on his article. To him, it was a win-win.

The line was rather long. Luckily, most people tended to take something to go and he already spotted a table he wished he could claim once he’d finally get his coffee. It gave him time to think. He wasn’t so sure he liked the idea of writing articles about mutant but it was still better than to go for boring stuff meant only to fill a blank with something else than advertisement. He just needed one good article and he could go somewhere. He wanted something better than to write news no one read past the title.

While he was very lost in his thoughts, he still kept one small part of his brain focusing on the line. Thanks to that, he saw it was his turn. But it was probably also the reason why he didn't see the girl turning around with her own beverage in hands. Being too close of her while she made a move to leave, what happened next was inevitable: the drink splashed the two of them.

Zach instinctively backed away. It could be hot and he didn't want to burn himself, but he still received some of it. The girl got more. “I’m so sorry, are you alright? Here,” he said, getting some napkins. He would have helped her clean up but he figured women preferred strangers not to touch their chest area, be it a helpful gesture or not, and so he handed the napkins to her instead. “I’ll take one large coffee, one cream two sugars and... what she had,” he told the barista, pointing at the young woman next to him.

TAG: Fern Abbot

[Fern Abbot]

Fern was so used to being invisible. Most people looked at her, sure, but it was usually met with disinterest or annoyance. So when she felt the hot liquid pour down her shirt, imagine her surprise when the guy actually bothered to apologize. Perhaps her view of Americans was a little skewed. Perhaps she was being judgmental in her flustered state. All the brunette could do was stare at the man, dark brown eyes wide.

It took the mentions of napkins for the brunette to properly connect with her surroundings and the scolding heat spreading across her chest. Wide eyes turned into a deep frown and taking the accepted napkin, she started rubbing her red, raw skin. She could already tell it wasn't a bad burn, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"No, no," she muttered, "It's okay." She could feel the crimson river flow through her cheeks and instinctively, her eyes dropped to the floor. "You don't have to," she continued, head shaking, "uhm."

[Zachary Elwood]

Zach felt terrible for the girl. Had it just been water, or even juice, it would be a bummer but a few napkins and an apology was enough. But the liquid was hot. He could tell from the few drops he got himself. He didn’t pay much attention to his own clothes however, seeing how she got the most of it. She must have been in a worse state. Plus, and it was a factor that played in her favor, she didn’t start shrieking or turned into a monster because of the incident. Zach could name quite a few people who’d make a whole scene over this. Maybe it was the reason why he chose to pay for another coffee.

One napkin was not enough so he took a few more. Guilt increased as he saw her skin turned red from the liquid. It couldn’t feel very good. He kept holding the napkins for her to take as much as she needed, ignoring what she was saying. “Maybe you should go to the bathroom?” he suggested. Some cool water may do some good. He wasn’t sure, it wasn’t like he suffered a lot of burns in his life, at least not of that kind. Plus she may be able to see better where it splashed on her clothes.

“I’ll just be here, with your drink,” he assured. After all, his plan had been to find a table and stay there for the next hour or so, it was not like she changed anything for him. One cup was placed on the counter. Judging by its look, Zach could tell it was his coffee. It was so plain, it wasn’t hard to make. Zach didn’t get what was the fuss with all those syrups, flavours, cream and whatnot people added to coffee. It wasn’t coffee anymore, it was drinkable sugar. If he wanted that, he’d order that but he wanted a coffee. “I’ll be...right there,” he said, pointing at an empty table. He had to pay first though. And get her drink too. That wasn’t exactly how he planned to start his day.

[Fern Abbot]

She kept patting lightly at her skin with the napkin. Thankfully, it didn't seem as if the burn was that bad. It hurt, sure, but truthfully, it likely could have been a lot worse. Brown eyes lifted once the man spoke again. He said something about the bathroom and she slowly nodded. She turned her head, brows furrowing as she tried locating said bathroom. "Uhm, yeah," she said once she saw the sign.

Chewing on the inside of her lip, Fern offered the man a quick smile before she turned around and headed for the bathroom. She felt far more flustered than what she probably should have. Entering the bathroom, she went straight for the sink. Turning the handle for cold water, Fern placed her hand under the pouring water and splashed her face before she started the project of cleaning the coffee residue of her skin and attempted at getting some of it off of her shirt, though without much luck.

Once the brunette felt satisfied enough, though, she walked back into the shop. She looked around, eyes moving towards the table the guy had mentioned before. She half expected him to have left.

[Zachary Elwood]

The girl seemed rather nervous. She must be one of those shy types. This little accident putting the attention on her must have been really hard for her then, more than the accident itself. It made Zach feel even more sorry for her. He did consider himself an introvert but he didn’t think he was shy. He already brushed off what happened. No one in here would remember it anyway, except maybe those super impatient ones who’ll curse at the two idiots that bumped into each other and so caused them to lose a few precious minutes at the coffee shop today. Zach cared even less about them though. While he too could grow impatient when someone took really too much time, this was not the same thing. He could forgive an incident more than someone who just had to take fifteen minutes just thinking of what they would order. What was waiting in line for?

He got the table and put his bag on it. While waiting for her to come back, he might as well pull out his computer and get settled. As he did this, he kept looking up for her. When he finally saw her coming out of the restroom, he lifted a hand in the air in a sort of embarrassed wave. He wanted to get her attention so she’d come and pick up her cup but he also didn’t want everyone else to look their way. He gave her a little smile where the same awkwardness showed. Should he lift her cup? He opted not to. She knew where he was and she heard him order her another cup, it wasn’t like she needed to see the proof before coming to him. She’d have to reach him to get it. Besides, a small window showed him he was connected with the cafe’s Wi-Fi and his attention went to that instead.

[Fern Abbot]

Brown eyes searched the room before finally landing upon the guy from before. He sat at the table with his computer pulled up and for a moment, Fern decided not to bother him. Until he lifted his hand and gave her a wave, of course. Chewing on the inside of her lip, she nodded in his direction before moving forward. She wasn't sure which option had been better - maybe she would have preferred him ignoring her so that she could... She didn't know.

Once she reached the table, she offered him a sheepish smile before she took a seat. A flash of horror panged through her chest then; what if he hadn't meant for her to sit? What if he just wanted to give her her coffee and send her off on her way? Well... She supposed it was too late now. "Uhm, hi," she croaked.

[Zachary Elwood]

There was something a bit humorous at seeing the girl so uncomfortable. He was the one who was at fault here, yet you’d think the opposite while looking at them. It was true that, as soon as he sat down and pulled out his laptop, he felt a lot more at ease and it showed. Seeing how it was not the same for her, Zach felt the need to reassure her. “It didn’t burn you too badly I hope?” he asked as she joined him at the table. He really didn’t mind her sitting. She could take her drink and leave, it was her right, but he also didn’t mind if she chose to stay a little while longer.

He could see where she washed her shirt. There wasn’t a single dryer in any public restroom that could fix that. Hell, most of the time it couldn’t even dry hands! He pushed her cup towards her. “Here’s your drink. Sorry about that, again. I really didn't see you. I can’t say it happened to me before.” He felt bad about it. Should he blame those behind the counters for not having a clear lineup? Not really. He didn’t want to blame her though but he still felt like his excuse was not to her advantage either. It wasn’t like he wanted to insult her or suggest she was forgettable. “Hard to believe it,” he said, staring at her, hoping that she wouldn’t believe he previously meant that she was plain-looking. She was not. He gave her a sheepish smile. “Must have been in my own bubble, busy thinking about work and all.” He had a chuckle at that. Wasn’t this the disease of this world, that you would think of work even when not working? He had no idea he had this problem as well.