Maya Meets the Barista
The early afternoon sunlight beams down from the sky, and Maya wonders why she decided that "exploring the city" would be a fun way to spend her classless afternoon. People hustle and bustle around her, frantically trying to get to wherever they're going. It's hard to just saunter around New York City.
People don't relax here the same way they do back in Texas. But they also aren't nearly as conservative or homophobic, so Maya supposes that she should just deal with it. Her lesbian ass can take a little hustle and bustle as long as it's accepted more.
She sees a sign that reads "Topanga's" that looks a little like a coffee shop. One of the hipster ones as opposed to a corporate one, like Starbucks. Maya could use a cup of coffee, and those hipster coffee shops seem like good places to draw. She's willing to give this one a go.
The barista is adorable, and Maya can barely remember her own name when the girl asks her what she would like, let alone a complicated coffee order.
"Uh," Maya says, "I dunno." God, she sounds like an idiot. The girl's eyes crinkle when she laughs.
"First time?" She asks.
"Um," she says, "yeah... What would you suggest?"
"My favorite is the peppermint mocha," Riley says with a big grin, "but that's not in season yet." Her brown eyes twinkle with amusement.
"What's your favorite flavor?" She asks Maya.
"Caramel," Maya says. She says it the way that she always has. Two syllables, car-mull.
"You might like the Caramel Macchiato, then," the barista says. Car-a-mel, three syllables, which is somehow really cute for some reason.
"I'll take it," Maya says. She grabs a sharpie off the table and a bright, green, paper cup
"What's your name?" She asks. Maya's still so stuck in her "cute girl" haze that the words don't even register.
"For the cup?" The girl elaborates.
"Maya," she says, "sorry."
"Maya spelled like M-I-A?" Riley asks, "are you missing in action?"
"No," Maya says, though she realizes that would be cool, "it's M-A-Y-A." The barista scribbles it down, and then she starts to leave. Maya has to sneak a peak at her name tag quickly, before she looses that chance forever. "Riley: I like rainbows and Pluto."
Maya's face turns scarlet as she finds herself wondering the reason that the other girl likes rainbows. Would she just advertise the fact that she's gay at her place of employment? Maya's only been in New York two weeks and she has no fucking clue whether or not that would fly.
She sits down at a small table by the window, and starts sketching Riley as she takes another customer's order. She's creepy, alright? But the other girl's just so beautiful, and Maya's never been able to resist drawing beautiful things.
"One caramel macchiato for Maya," Riley says, and Maya scrambles to the counter to collect her drink.
"Thank you," she says, sending the barista a little smile.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Riley says. It's something that employees say all the time, and Maya knows that it doesn't have to be flirty, and it probably isn't. But her heart still does a somersault and she says,
"Yeah, definitely." She grabs her coffee, and sets it down on the table beside her art supplies. She takes sips of the drink often enough to not look suspicious, and to justify her hour long use of the table. The drawing isn't finished, and she knows that it will take at least another day. She decides that's as good of an excuse as any to come back and get coffee again tomorrow.
Maya ditches her college algebra lecture the next day to come see Riley again. This is completely fine, she reasons, because she took this class in high school. The credit just didn't transfer properly because her local community college is shitty and lies, and her art school is a little pretentious and really expensive. She doesn't mind though, because she got herself a full ride. She just hopes that she doesn't lose it, trying to chase after the cutest barista that ever walked the earth.
She walks right up to the counter and sees Riley smiling at her.
"I came back," Maya announces.
"You didn't have to come back today," Riley says, blushing, "it's just an advertising thing."
"I wanted to," Maya says, and she realizes how pathetic that sounds.
"The coffee was really good," she adds, trying to make herself sound less pitiful.
"I'm glad that you enjoyed it that much, Maya," she says, airily, and Maya's face catches fire. She remembered my name, she thinks, dizzily. Riley, the cute, amazing barista remembered her name. She's so fucked.
"What can I get you today?" Riley asks.
"I'd like a strawberry, peach French soda, please," Maya says, and Riley grins at her.
"Shaking it up," she says, and it's not really a question.
"Yeah," Maya says, "somedays you just need a change." Riley sets to work preparing her drink, and Maya settles down at one of the small tables while she waits for her drink.
The barista that calls her name this time isn't Riley, to her disappointment. But Maya goes up and gets her drink, and she nurses it as she works on het drawing. She drinks and draws for an hour straight, and realizes that if she stays any longer, she'll start to look weird. She packs up her art supplies, and throws her cup away on the way out.
Maya has nearly finished her drawing, but she knows that if she wants it to be perfect she'll have to come back tomorrow. Maya knows that she's just using that as an excuse, but she doesn't really care. Topanga's has a nice atmosphere, and God, Riley's just so cute. Maya's so gay. And weak. And maybe a little bit of a pathetic stalker. But she tells herself that tomorrow is the last time she'll stop by looking for Riley. She can wean herself off of this obsession, and then go back to her normal life. Her normal, lonely life where she doesn't frequent coffee shops just to see cute girls. It sounds boring, but she'll have to manage.
So the next day, Maya skips yet another class so she can go to the shop at exactly 2:30 in the afternoon, when Riley will almost certainly be there. She would feel guilty about this but the class is history of art, and that class is boring as fuck anyways. The possibility of seeing Riley trumps her grade in there. She walks straight up to the counter, and (thank God) Riley is there.
"Fancy seeing you here," Maya says, and she realizes that it's probably the worst line in the book, but Maya doesn't care. It gets Riley to giggle.
"So what will Maya be having today?" She asks, leaning against the counter.
"I'd just like a vanilla hazelnut latte, please," Maya says.
"Alright," Riley says, "that'll be $4:79 please." Maya takes a five out of her purse and hands it to Riley. She drops the change in the tip container.
"It's a pleasure doing business with you," Riley says, in a tone that almost sounds flirty. Maya's fairly sure that it's just hopeful thinking. Maya sits down at what has become her usual table, and waits for someone to announce her order.
"One vanilla hazelnut latte for Maya," Riley says, in a happy, chipper sort of tone. Maya gets up, and makes her way quickly over to the counter.
"Thank you," she says as she grabs her cup. She glances it over, swiftly, and realizes that it doesn't have her name on it. The only thing written on it is a phone number, flanked by hearts. Maya blushes as she realizes that it's intended for her.
"Riley?" She asks, a little frantically, "is this one mine?" She blushes as she realizes that she's never called Riley by her name before. She sounds like a creepy stalker now.
"Yeah," Riley says, not seeming to notice that Maya is a creepy stalker, "Vanilla hazelnut latte."
"Is it supposed to have-"
"My phone number?" Riley asks, sounding a little amused, "Yes,"
Maya says, cheeks blushing scarlet, "what am I supposed to do with it?"
"Call it? Text it?" Riley asks, sounding baffled that Maya hadn't picked up on that yet.
"Oh," Maya says, clutching her coffee tightly in her hand.
"I like you, Maya," Riley says, bluntly, "and I'm like ninety percent sure that you like me too." She takes a deep breath, and tries to find her voice.
"That's a reasonable assumption," Maya says.
"Shoot me a text," Riley says, "and we'll work out a time to meet outside of work, okay?"
"Okay," Maya says, "definitely. It's a date." She blushes scarlet again, and notices that a lot of the other customers have started to stare. She makes her way to her seat, and shoots Riley a text.
"It's Maya," she says, "what time works for you?" She doesn't care that Riley won't be able to respond until later. She feels better having sent it. Then, she gathers up her art supplies, and takes a sip of her coffee as she starts to walk away from Topanga's. She thinks that she might be able to finish the drawing later. It's a lot easier to draw someone when you get to know your muse.