Forever Enigmatic

Chapter 3

"A CARAMEL MACCHIATO COMING right up!"

Sierra gave the girl her change before turning around to make the drink ordered.

Business was slow at The Cream Accent after the usual morning rush. The appearance of some college students wasn't rare, but they never appeared until the café was almost empty, trailing in from Lockfell U's campus with droopy eyes and heavy bags.

Her coworkers stayed in the back unloading the inventory. Their order had gone in a little later in the day, so it had been a hectic morning trying to make what they had last. However, now she was left alone to work the counter unless summoned.

She didn't mind. She liked meeting new people and making sure that their customers were satisfied with their purchase. But there were times where the café was in complete solitude, and she found herself drifting from reality until one of her coworkers snapped her back.

She poured the hot coffee into a foam cup and drew in a tiny smiley face on the side before turning to the girl, who chewed on her fingernails whilst scrolling through her phone. Sierra wore her customer service smile and placed the coffee down.

"Here you go," she said. The girl thanked her before scurrying over to a lonely table, slowly sipping her coffee and going through her phone. The bags under her eyes was a sight Sierra resonated with. The girl probably stayed up for the majority of the night. Why? Sierra couldn't tell, but whenever she looked like that, it was because she crammed new material the entire night before heading into an eight am test.

The door opened right as she was going to come up with other excuses as to why her customer looked so worn down, so she moved to the cash register. She frowned when it was none other than her new trainer: Kyle Oshiro.

When he glanced up, he did a double take before slowly approaching. Sierra cocked her head to the side, wondering just how many times she had seen him before she went to The Gain.

"Sierra?" He asked. She nodded, already chewing on the insides of her cheeks. "I'd never thought you'd be a barista."

She frowned. "Why not? What'd you think I was?"

Kyle shrugged before pulling out his wallet from his back pocket. She noticed he wasn't dressed for the gym, so that meant he was free. She wondered what he was doing around her job. It wasn't like the downtown area had much to offer. That was where college students, such as herself, went to regain some of their sanity by doing the bare minimum: buying coffee, watching a movie in the drive-in theater, or staring at art showings.

"I thought you'd be more of a radio host or a podcaster," Kyle said.

"What? Why?" She let out a small snort. "That's random."

Out of every option up for grabs, she would have never thought of becoming a radio host or a podcaster. No one ever suggested it in her life. For all she knew, she'd go crazy on live radio just thinking of others tuning in to listen to what she had to say. That was too much attention and a big responsibility she did not want.

"You never stop talking. Seems fitting," he pointed out. She rolled her dark green eyes before asking him what he wanted to order. "Black coffee."

"Wow, even your coffee is bitter," Sierra chuckled, "anything else?"

"No." Kyle shook his head as if in dismay. She smiled, her infamous shit-eating smile, in response. Sierra punched in his order and quickly started brewing a new pot of coffee.

Kyle leaned onto the counter as Sierra went about cleaning her area as the coffee brewed. She sneaked glances towards her trainer, noticing how his muscles bulged out even through his long sleeves. His body was phenomenal, which was a good sign he knew what he was doing as a trainer.