#trufflebread

Alice wasn’t one to hold much against people but her coworker at the small bubble tea shop that she had recently been hired at was testing that notion. Not only had he been the one to train her, in a rather detached and grumpy way but he clearly seemed to hold her in some disdain.

She had literally overhead him muttering to another worker, “Why is some rich girl here trying to make some extra cash?”

As if Alice was here to steal some of his own paycheck away. But it wasn’t like she was actually rich. Yes, she dressed a bit more formally than her peers and the way she spoke was  a bit of an indicator that her upbringing was a tad bit more posh than others, but that was all remnants from a life she was trying to escape from. From people she never wanted to associate with in the first place. From a “father” best left behind and forgotten.

Being able to work at this rather quaint bubble tea place was the first time she had truly felt independent and the atmosphere was so cozy and inviting that for once, Alice felt like this place could offer a small bubble of safety that had eluded her since the day she lost her parents.

Yet, this one man, this grouchy Norton Campbell was permeating her safe space with his brusque rudeness and subtle animosity towards her. They had barely exchanged a few words outside of her onboarding and customer orders when they worked together. And even when Alice in all her good-naturedness tried her best to be pleasant and kind to him, Norton remained obstinate in keeping a cold distance from her.

Alice was almost offended if it wasn’t for the fact that she was a rather patient person herself, but it was reaching its limit.

The boiling point came on a particular day when the was an unexpected rush of customers coming into the store on an abnormally cold day in October when a special Halloween promotion proved to be a bit too popular. Their speciality drink of the season, the Ghostly Pumpkin Spice Latte, was tied to rewards from a game called Identity 6. Alice wasn’t much of a game person herself but she was a little baffled when she heard people played it religiously despite being a 1 v 5 and the terrible balancing decisions but to each their own. 

Anyways, that was the least of her problems as someone thought it was a good idea to only have TWO people working the busiest shift of the day and naturally that was her and good ole grumpy Norton.

The two danced around each other, taking orders, making lattes, and delivering them to impatient customers who excitedly chattered away about the latest livestream of IDVI. 

Alice paid no attention to it, but she did find herself focusing on Norton who was in work mode and while she knew internally he was probably cursing out their boss for putting them in this predicament, he never seemed to reflect that onto the customers except the handful who were unnecessarily rude to them. That was the customer service life after all.

Yet, her admiration for his work ethic was put on hold when in the mad rush of taking orders, making drinks, delivering orders that after an unfortunate mishap which caused Alice to spill a couple of orders onto the floor.

The customer who had been waiting on this particular order screeched in horror. “You! Girl! Do you know how long I’ve waited to get my drinks? Over an hour! In the cold. I hope I don’t have to pay again for your mistake.”

While Alice did feel bad for messing up terribly, she also felt that this lady was being a bit too unreasonable. Yet, she held her tongue and apologizing profusely reassuring the lady that no extra cost was necessary.

“For your slip up, you should give the drinks to me for free,” the lady humphed in response.

Before Alice could say anything, Norton who had just delivered his own order and was in the process another, looked up from the cash register and snapped, “You’re not the only one here who’s been waiting that long. There’s only two of us here and we’re doing our best here.” He glanced over at Alice with a look that said ‘leave this to me.’ “I’ll redo your order. For no extra cost, but your money stays with us unless you want the cops called for stealing?”

The lady blanched and honestly would’ve left right then and there but she honestly needed the extra reward of 20 echoes to pull on the upcoming story essence because clearly it would help her pull that S-tier skin…clearly.

The rest of the shift went rather peacefully and Alice and Norton were able to close the shop with enough sanity intact to not have to schedule a therapy session.

As they both took a breather, sitting at the counter together, Alice couldn’t help but look over at Norton and say, “Thank you for earlier. You didn’t have to do that.”

Honestly, it had shocked her that he had stuck up for her like that. Maybe he wasn’t that bad despite her complaints from earlier.

At first he just grunted and said nothing else as if it was no big deal. Then after a few moments, he mumbled, “For a rich girl, you’re not half bad in this line of work.”

“I’m not rich, Norton. I need the money just as much as you,” Alice responded defensively as she thought how back-handed his “compliment” had just been. Maybe she was a bit too rash thinking he was changing.

He scoffed. “Then what’re you doing this for? It’s not that enjoyable. Dealing with people like that certainly isn’t.”

Alice didn’t say anything at first as she wondered if there was any merit to confessing her dreams to a person like Norton, but upon gazing at him for a moment and seeing that through his gruff exterior was someone that probably held some semblance of care, she caved.

“I’m trying to earn enough money to pursue a degree in journalism. Naturally, a part-time job can only do so much, that’s why I’m trying to do some freelance work on the side…or trying to. While my dream is still far away, I still hope to undertake some formal study in journalism.”

Norton didn’t say anything but just gave her a look that didn’t betray any emotion whatsoever, he just looked as if he was finally looking at her for the first time ever. Like really looking at her beyond the facade of this “rich girl” image he had built up in his head.

Then after a long few moments of silence, Norton turned to look out the window at the night sky filled with twinkling stars that reflected the endless expanse of space and sky. It made him feel small but also made him realize how trivial some of the ideals and notions that he held within him including the feelings of aversion he had felt towards this woman.

He slowly turned back to her and said, weighing every word with purpose, “After watching you work here all this time, I feel like if it’s you, then you’re capable of whatever you set your mind to. I used to believe hard work and merit would grant me anything in life. That changed as I’m still stuck at this deadend job at my age…” He looked away from her. “But maybe I’m starting to believe again.”

Alice was surprised and was speechless for a moment before realizing the implications of his words. A smile slowly grew on her face. 

“Norton Campbell, I never took you for being such a romantic. You’re truly more soft-hearted than I thought.”

“Shut up.”

A stifled giggle. “But thank you. I’ll take your words to heart.”