winedime3
confetti connoisseur
- Local time
- Today 1:24 AM
- Messages
- 647
Pristine, polished nails, manicured to a length just past the fingertip, drummed impatiently against the steering wheel of the stylish midnight black Kia Sorento Stacia drove. It felt as if she'd been in this damned drive thru line for a lifetime, the thin line of patience she did possess had been whittled down to nothing, and she sighed repeatedly as she watched one car and then another pull up to the box, skim the menu and then place their order.
"So much for quick service.." She muttered irritably under her breath. Her hand moved from her steering wheel to the panel on the arm rest of her door to let down the automatic window as she finally coasted up to the drive thru menu. With her fingers busy, her left leg immediately took up the task of dispelling her pent up frustrations and bounced wildly.
"Gooood morning!.. Give me oneee moment please, I'll be right with you!" The voice on the other side of the box chirped cheerfully at her.
You've got to be fucking kidding me! Stacia's face contorted with rage and her hands swirled wildly in the air, gesticulating her frustration for no one in particular, as a heavy exhale filled the cab of her vehicle. How fucking hard was it to take a goddamned order and make a goddamned latte?!
She dropped her hands back into her lap with a defeated sigh and glared at the license plate of the beige Buick in front of her.
It was worth noting that Stacia was in a rush, and late, which were per the usual, but her overall attitude recently had been uncharacteristically pessimistic as well. Her job was boring, both her love and social life was nonexistent, and everything on the news was either depressing, dread inducing, or deplorable. She was beginning to accept that people, as a whole- just fucking sucked. Though she would, of course, conveniently fail to see herself as one within that very mass. As far as she saw it, society was in a never ending 'shit' state, yet everyone around her seemed to refuse change and instead found solace in the consistency- it was downright pathetic! Needless to say, more and more often these days, she found herself lacking the overall motivation to do much more than exist, and even that in and of itself was somehow exhausting beyond measure.
8:42 AM. She sighed again as her eyes took in the time on the dash. Stacia had left her flat with just enough time to make it across town in twenty minutes, and though she hadn't factored in an impromptu stop at the coffee shop, once she'd seen the sign and what she'd thought was a relatively short line, her mind had been made up. She was already going to be late for work, no reason not to make her tardiness worth something, right?
Now, as she waited for whatever incompetent barista had been assigned to the cash register that morning to take her order, she realized she had gone from just 'a bit' late to 'very' late. The white tips of her fingernails cut into the leather of her steering wheel angrily, instantly far less convinced that the caffeine reward superseded the corporate cost. Financially, she was not overly concerned. One quick application of girl math and the expense was basically free- seeing as how it was under $10 and all, but Stacia was unable to apply any made-up math to explain away the write up she was surely going to be the recipient of when she finally did show up at the office. She could already see her boss, their foot tapping expectantly as they stood over her empty desk, and feel the heat that would radiate from their eyes as they glared at both her and her fresh coffee with contempt.
She inhaled sharply and tried to still her mind as it began to spiral. Dark eyes flickered toward the speaker box she was waiting to speak into, and then skirted to her rear-view mirror to check for the umpteenth time that she was, in fact, stuck in her position in line by the massive suburban behind her. Everyone and their fucking mother just had to come for coffee on the day they've got Hellen Keller working the fucking window… Her left leg bounced wildly as she took another steadying breath, narrowly resisting the urge to lay on her horn.
Jesus fucking christ, come ONN...
"Thaaaank you for waiting. It's a great day to get you, your coffee, your way, what can I make for you?!"
As if reading her mind, the same overly zealous voice from before sounded off again and the surprise caused Stacia to flinch.
"Fucking hell.." she muttered to herself, frowning, unimpressed, at the speaker box before leaning partly out of the window and speaking in a monotone voice.
"Uhhh- yeah, let me get a quad shot over ice in a medium cup... Add a drizzle of white chocolate syrup, and another of caramel. Vanilla cold foam to top it off..." Stacia rattled off her order in a single breath, and quickly added, "Oh, and whipped cream.. Yes, that'll be all. Thanks.." before the barista had the chance to say another word. Stacia didn't even wait for her total before she'd pressed down on her accelerator haphazardly, lurching her vehicle forward in line.
Time seemed to crawl by still. Stacia busied herself with her wallet, fiddling with the clasp and withdrawing her chosen payment method as she counted her breaths. On her fourth extended exhale, the truck two cars ahead of her reached a pale hand out of the window for a beverage and then pulled away. As the next vehicle inched forward, she began her count again, her left leg still bouncing frantically all the while.
Hurry up, hurry up, hurry uppp...
"Finally!" Stacia exclaimed as she jammed her accelerator once more and then brought her midsized SUV to a hard stop next to the drive thru window.
Before she could complain, the barista leaned forward, pushing open the small window, held out her coffee and told her cheerfully. "Goood morning ma'am! The car in front of you already paid for your drink!"
Stacia balked, stunned momentarily into silence by the kind gesture from the stranger in the car before her.
"Oh, well... ok..." She took the drink and stared at it for a moment longer, eyebrows still furrowed.
The credit card waiting, ready, in her other hand, seemed to ask what purpose it served now and, as she briefly contemplated tossing up a peace sign and pulling off with her free drink, Stacia simultaneously realized the hope she'd been foolishly hoping on humanity to display, had clearly ceased to exist within herself. No wonder she couldn't find it anywhere else! The discovery was profoundly humbling, and Stacia was silent another second as she suddenly recognized all the ways she'd allowed unchecked negativity to color her perspective and dictate her narrative just this morning alone… let alone the last few days and weeks. She was appalled she'd allowed herself to slip so severely into darkness and vowed to do better in that instant.
Her eyes flittered back over to the barista. She was intrigued by how quickly the unexpected kindness had grounded her perspective and inspired change… Perhaps her kindness could touch the next stranger in some way. A smile spread across Stacia's face as she hurriedly lowered the coffee into a cupholder and then waved the card in her hand to keep the girl's attention. "Well, run mine for the next guy!"
The girl beamed and started to reach for Stacia's card, "Their total is $11.13. Are you sure?" Stacia smiled and nodded patiently, realizing with another glance at her dashboard, that her spontaneous stop had actually only taken nine minutes in total.
Not terribly long at all, she thought with a renewed joyfulness as her fingers tapped along gaily to a tune she hadn't even noticed her radio had been playing. "Here, let me add a tip too.."
"So much for quick service.." She muttered irritably under her breath. Her hand moved from her steering wheel to the panel on the arm rest of her door to let down the automatic window as she finally coasted up to the drive thru menu. With her fingers busy, her left leg immediately took up the task of dispelling her pent up frustrations and bounced wildly.
"Gooood morning!.. Give me oneee moment please, I'll be right with you!" The voice on the other side of the box chirped cheerfully at her.
You've got to be fucking kidding me! Stacia's face contorted with rage and her hands swirled wildly in the air, gesticulating her frustration for no one in particular, as a heavy exhale filled the cab of her vehicle. How fucking hard was it to take a goddamned order and make a goddamned latte?!
She dropped her hands back into her lap with a defeated sigh and glared at the license plate of the beige Buick in front of her.
It was worth noting that Stacia was in a rush, and late, which were per the usual, but her overall attitude recently had been uncharacteristically pessimistic as well. Her job was boring, both her love and social life was nonexistent, and everything on the news was either depressing, dread inducing, or deplorable. She was beginning to accept that people, as a whole- just fucking sucked. Though she would, of course, conveniently fail to see herself as one within that very mass. As far as she saw it, society was in a never ending 'shit' state, yet everyone around her seemed to refuse change and instead found solace in the consistency- it was downright pathetic! Needless to say, more and more often these days, she found herself lacking the overall motivation to do much more than exist, and even that in and of itself was somehow exhausting beyond measure.
8:42 AM. She sighed again as her eyes took in the time on the dash. Stacia had left her flat with just enough time to make it across town in twenty minutes, and though she hadn't factored in an impromptu stop at the coffee shop, once she'd seen the sign and what she'd thought was a relatively short line, her mind had been made up. She was already going to be late for work, no reason not to make her tardiness worth something, right?
Now, as she waited for whatever incompetent barista had been assigned to the cash register that morning to take her order, she realized she had gone from just 'a bit' late to 'very' late. The white tips of her fingernails cut into the leather of her steering wheel angrily, instantly far less convinced that the caffeine reward superseded the corporate cost. Financially, she was not overly concerned. One quick application of girl math and the expense was basically free- seeing as how it was under $10 and all, but Stacia was unable to apply any made-up math to explain away the write up she was surely going to be the recipient of when she finally did show up at the office. She could already see her boss, their foot tapping expectantly as they stood over her empty desk, and feel the heat that would radiate from their eyes as they glared at both her and her fresh coffee with contempt.
She inhaled sharply and tried to still her mind as it began to spiral. Dark eyes flickered toward the speaker box she was waiting to speak into, and then skirted to her rear-view mirror to check for the umpteenth time that she was, in fact, stuck in her position in line by the massive suburban behind her. Everyone and their fucking mother just had to come for coffee on the day they've got Hellen Keller working the fucking window… Her left leg bounced wildly as she took another steadying breath, narrowly resisting the urge to lay on her horn.
Jesus fucking christ, come ONN...
"Thaaaank you for waiting. It's a great day to get you, your coffee, your way, what can I make for you?!"
As if reading her mind, the same overly zealous voice from before sounded off again and the surprise caused Stacia to flinch.
"Fucking hell.." she muttered to herself, frowning, unimpressed, at the speaker box before leaning partly out of the window and speaking in a monotone voice.
"Uhhh- yeah, let me get a quad shot over ice in a medium cup... Add a drizzle of white chocolate syrup, and another of caramel. Vanilla cold foam to top it off..." Stacia rattled off her order in a single breath, and quickly added, "Oh, and whipped cream.. Yes, that'll be all. Thanks.." before the barista had the chance to say another word. Stacia didn't even wait for her total before she'd pressed down on her accelerator haphazardly, lurching her vehicle forward in line.
Time seemed to crawl by still. Stacia busied herself with her wallet, fiddling with the clasp and withdrawing her chosen payment method as she counted her breaths. On her fourth extended exhale, the truck two cars ahead of her reached a pale hand out of the window for a beverage and then pulled away. As the next vehicle inched forward, she began her count again, her left leg still bouncing frantically all the while.
Hurry up, hurry up, hurry uppp...
"Finally!" Stacia exclaimed as she jammed her accelerator once more and then brought her midsized SUV to a hard stop next to the drive thru window.
Before she could complain, the barista leaned forward, pushing open the small window, held out her coffee and told her cheerfully. "Goood morning ma'am! The car in front of you already paid for your drink!"
Stacia balked, stunned momentarily into silence by the kind gesture from the stranger in the car before her.
"Oh, well... ok..." She took the drink and stared at it for a moment longer, eyebrows still furrowed.
The credit card waiting, ready, in her other hand, seemed to ask what purpose it served now and, as she briefly contemplated tossing up a peace sign and pulling off with her free drink, Stacia simultaneously realized the hope she'd been foolishly hoping on humanity to display, had clearly ceased to exist within herself. No wonder she couldn't find it anywhere else! The discovery was profoundly humbling, and Stacia was silent another second as she suddenly recognized all the ways she'd allowed unchecked negativity to color her perspective and dictate her narrative just this morning alone… let alone the last few days and weeks. She was appalled she'd allowed herself to slip so severely into darkness and vowed to do better in that instant.
Her eyes flittered back over to the barista. She was intrigued by how quickly the unexpected kindness had grounded her perspective and inspired change… Perhaps her kindness could touch the next stranger in some way. A smile spread across Stacia's face as she hurriedly lowered the coffee into a cupholder and then waved the card in her hand to keep the girl's attention. "Well, run mine for the next guy!"
The girl beamed and started to reach for Stacia's card, "Their total is $11.13. Are you sure?" Stacia smiled and nodded patiently, realizing with another glance at her dashboard, that her spontaneous stop had actually only taken nine minutes in total.
Not terribly long at all, she thought with a renewed joyfulness as her fingers tapped along gaily to a tune she hadn't even noticed her radio had been playing. "Here, let me add a tip too.."
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