Julie opened up the coffee shop. Her head was still ringing from the night before. Who thought drinking the night/morning before opening was a great idea? Greg. That's who. Dickhead manager.
She got the key into the door on the third attempt. As the lock clicked, all she could think about was how her friends would be in bed for another five or six hours. Some of them together. Stupid friends.
She put the keys on the hangers behind the counter, flipped the light switch for the back room and collapsed into the hammock chair in there. When she worked up the strength to open her eyes, she strained to point them towards the clock. It was 5:47. Jez was meant to be here too. Jez was late. Stupid Jez.
5:52. She stood up and got to it. Pulled the switches to give the coffee machines their juice. That was really annoying. Jez was fun. Well, at least more fun than opening alone. Things had been awkward between them since...that random Easter party. Why they celebrated Easter with a piss up in Camden was beyond Julie.
6.15. She tied her hair back with her gangsta bandana, rolled up the sleeves on her arms and flipped the 'closed' sign. The door didn't burst open instantly, thank Christ. This gave her chance to sort out her playlist for the shift. That was one benefit of Jez not being there, his music sucked. Like major suckage. There was a reason no one remembered Third Eye Blind.
Half an hour had passed. Only a couple of suits had ventured in on their early morning rush. All lattes, no breakfast. There could be no future with a man like that. The place was empty. Julie turned her back to the door to clean the foam off the steamer. The door opened and shut.
"Morning, how can I help you?" Julie's barista instincts kicked in.
"Yeah...Jez sent me?"
Julie turned. There were shoes, nothing but shoes, in a man sized pile. Converse, Nike Air, Birkenstocks; all kinds of shoes in a disorganised mess. Julie stood and blinked. No one moved.
"He said I could cover his shift for him?"
Julie walked round from behind the counter. She poked the shoes. They leaned back, none fell. All the while, Spoon leaked out from the store's speakers. It was a serene scene.
"Are you ok?" The shoes asked, after regathering their balance.
"I thought I was...so, how do you know Jez?"
"We went to Uni together. I've just moved here, he said I could pick up a couple of his shifts while I looked for work."
This didn't compute with Julie. Jez didn't seem like he cared about footwear, why would he take so much of it to Uni? And then offer it his shifts? Why was a big pile of shoes looking for work anyway? So many questions and it wasn't even 7am yet.
"Are you sure you're ok?"
"Sorry, yeah, dazed out, early start today. Have you and Jez checked this with Greg?"
"Who's Greg?"
"The manager."
"Ahh, we were thinking that we'd keep this on the down low? It's all above board, but why waste time on paperwork?"
Julie like the cut of these shoes' jibs.
"Ok, I could do with the help. So what do I call you?"
"Saul."
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Other musings
Being ill sucks.
There's a new My Bloody Valentine record out.
Moving house soon. Party.
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