The Story of a Free Coffee

Yesterday, a good news popped up on my phone: my friend Kawaii got hired by Pacific Coffee! I know this is not some amazingly exciting news, but for coffee lovers like us, working in a relaxing coffee shop is quite a dream. 

I asked Kawaii where’s she working but she wouldn’t tell me. That could be weird telling everyone that you got hired by some coffee chain stores. It’s like telling people you got a job from the Park’n Shop, and it’s a leading-university student we are talking about. At least that’s what some Hongkongers would think. 

But I, her BFF and a fellow freedom chaser, had never been locked up by these shallow social values. Working in a coffee shop is just awesome! Although she didn’t tell me exactly which branch she is working in, she told me the district. 

Today, mum and I went shopping together in that district. Around 3 pm, mum had a facial booking. I hanged around and went into this new Pacific Coffee. Although there are countless Pacific Coffee branches around, I still got the feeling that I was going to see Kawaii there.

I went in and walked up the stairs and there she was! She was wearing a red tee-shirt and a black apron, just like “the girl at the coffee shop” in movies and novels. The moment I stepped in, our eyes met with incredibleness and Taylor Swift’s “Begin Again” started ringing in my head. Though I somehow knew I was going to see her, I couldn’t help turning around and giggle. She did the same thing. 

We were so excited and I went up to throw out a few meaningless sentences, until I saw someone all in black and I thought he must be her manager. I quickly brought myself under control and sat down quietly at the corner. I really didn’t want to get Kawaii into any troubles on her first day of work. 

Few minutes later, I went out to order a vanilla latte. It used to be our favourite coffee during public exams. I passed by the counter and eyed Kawaii who was cleaning the bar behind the counter with a long meaningful look.

“Can I have a tall Vanilla Latte, please?” I said calmly to the manager who was standing at the cashier, as in nothing special ever happened.
“She doesn’t know how to brew a coffee yet.” he joked. 

“Sorry?” I was so shocked that I didn’t know how to react. I was expecting him to continue the drama with me. “Oh - it’s okay, haha,” I said, suddenly picking up everything with an embarrassing laugh. The corner of my eyes could see Kawaii giggling at the back. 

Back to my solo drama, my fingers scrolled purposelessly across my phone monitor without any new messages. I didn’t dare to glance at Kawaii. I didn’t want the manager to think she is some kind of blabbermouth who tells everything to her girls. 

He started brewing my coffee right away. When he finished, I took out my octopus card to pay. Then, he held up his hand. What does that mean? I gave him a “what?”-look. He repeated again. Then I realised he didn’t want me to pay. Obviously, I am not the kind of girl who is used to being treated with a dessert at a restaurant or a drink at the bar. My slowness in getting the whole situation gave away my inexperienceness completely. I said “thank you” with a brainless grin as soon as I realised what was going on, covering up my incessant shock in this 3-minute conversation. 

I took the cup of coffee with the perfect latte-art and went back to my table. it took me some time to calm down and thought through the whole process carefully to see if I had ruined Kawaii’s first day at work. I quietly sat there and occasionally glanced up to see if Kawaii was around. Looking at her, I did feel a great pleasure for her new job. 

I saw another all-black lady taking Kawaii between washrooms. She must be the other manager. Usually, one boss is the angel and the other must be the devil. If the guy who treated me a coffee is the angel, then she must be…umm… something else.

I had been waiting for my mum for 20 minutes then. I wanted to go to the washroom but I stopped myself as soon as I imagined Kawaii cleaning up the mess afterwards. After my mum was done, I rushed to a shopping mall nearby for washrooms.