My Barista

It’s time to tie up a few loose ends. I will give you a brief summary pertaining to two questions. Who is Aaron and why am I the coffee spy?

It started at the end of my sophomore year. It was the last day of finals and I needed coffee. I stayed up late the night before disregarding the helpful hints provided by my teachers. I stopped at the local Peaberry and ordered my regular medium Iced Mocha. The guy working that morning was very friendly. I had talked with him several times prior to finals but this is the time that made a lasting impression. He thought I was in college and he must have been too because I never saw him again. My theory was that he was an out of state college student and when the semester was over he went home.

The second coffee guy is Nate. I don’t stalk him or spy on him, we’re just friends. So I’d have to say he’s the only one who actually knows me. Currently he is working at Peaberry. Unfortunately Peaberry is closing some of its locations and the one he works at happens to be one of them. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be talking to him. I first met Nate when he worked at Starbucks. My mom would take Roland and me in there after Church on Sunday mornings. I like Peaberry’s coffee better than Starbucks but Aaron works at Starbucks and that inconveniences things a little.

The real reason I’m the coffee spy is because of Aaron. Jokingly I’m his stalker but in reality I just have a crush on him and I’m too nervous to admit it to him. I first remember meeting him last December. We would have conversations but they didn’t go anywhere. The first big snow storm in December brought with it more than snow. Not only did it encourage me to go out and buy a sled but it was when Aaron and I had our first conversation. I got off work after a slow night on dish and decided to grab a latte; after all it was gingerbread season. Being on dish means doing two floors, and with the amount of degreaser on the floor there is no doubt the capillaries in my jeans would soak it up. After walking outside into several inches of snow my toes froze and my jeans got stiff. This visit to Starbucks was just for a latte but it ended up being a bit more rewarding. While I was standing in line he came out with his apron full of drinks to stock the beverage cooler. He asked me if my pants were dyed to be darker at the bottom or if they were just wet. I explained that I was one dish and had to scrub the floor so not only were my pants wet but my shoes too. He mentioned that whenever he has to do the dishes and floor someone always slips or something. I must say that was an awesome use of a rhetorical strategy for an engineer. His hyperbolic language allowed him to explain that when he does the dishes it’s not the best thing that happens. (Sorry our English class is driving me nuts. Really how many essays can a person write about rhetorical strategies)? That night was the first night we actually said goodbye, and do you know what he said? “Well I hope your shoes dry.”(I can’t remember if it was shoes or pants). I told you he was weird. I’ll accept that, it’s kind of funny if you stop to think about. I guess it’s kind of cute too. “I hope your shoes dry.”

I went there more often but not as much as I do now. I never paid too much attention to who was working. Then on Christmas Eve I bought him a last minute gift. It was a simple Noodles & Company gift card. I don’t know why I did it but I did. That didn’t mean I had to give it to him, I still had the choice not to. He wasn’t working so I waited. On the 26^th I was in Starbucks talking with my mom and he came in. When we were leaving I told my mom I’d meet her at the car, little did I know she waited by the door. I waited for him to finish talking to someone and then handed him the card and said, “Here, this is for you cause you’re nice and you talk to me.” I blew it. That has got to be the weirdest thing I’ve said to him. He just said “Thanks, Merry Christmas.” “You too.” And then I booked it. I have never been that nervous as long as I remember. My cheeks must have been brighter than a holly berry. I was so embarrassed. The next time we saw each other we didn’t mention it but just moved on with our insignificant conversations. I told Adam about it and he said I should ask him out and get his number. According to Adam guys really like it when girls ask them out. It’s March and I still don’t have his number. I can’t believe it’s been that long. To make it better now Stephanie and Alison have been let in on this and they will give me no peace until I get his number. I don’t think he even knows my name.

New Year’s day we went snowboarding and upon returning home from the mountain I ventured to Starbucks. I hadn’t seen him for a while and thought possibly that he had quit. The conversation we had was about snowboarding and such. It was the first “real” conversation we had (although Katy said we don’t have very deep or fulfilling conversations. When she was there it was awkward). Aaron’s only been up once. I can’t remember if he skied or boarded. He went to Ski-Cooper, a place I had never heard of so I just went along with the conversation. His dad is in the military so they get discount lift tickets. At this point I really liked him and I was devastated when I didn’t see him for two weeks. I thought he had quit this time it was serious.

Then one Saturday morning I saw him. At the time I would have preferred not to but God has a plan for everything. I was having my new CD player installed. We had to drop Thor off at 8am so he’d be done by the afternoon. 8am on a Saturday is way too early for me. My mom dropped of Thor and I picked her up. I had planned to go back to bed after picking her up so I didn’t bother getting dressed. My hair wasn’t brushed; I just threw it up into a bun. I was in my pajamas. (Can you see where this is going)? Mom mentioned Starbucks and I agreed. After all I was under the impression he no longer worked there. Boy was I wrong. We walked in and I looked around. There was no one wearing a hat (he normally wore one) so I thought I was safe. He was wearing glasses so I really didn’t recognize him. Then he said hi. Wow for him to recognize me in my devilish sate was amazing. What was worse was that I was still half asleep standing in Starbucks in my pj’s talking to the one person who I least expected to be there. My sweatpants exaggerate my hips to the point where you’d think I had parachute pants on upside-down. It didn’t help that I had put a random pair of shoes on and my hair; it put the frizz in frizzy. I was so embarrassed but at least I knew he still worked there. I managed to find out what kind of car he drives and to expand my sleuthing skills even managed to get his license plate number. Does this explain why I’m the coffee spy? Wait there is more.

Going to Starbucks became a regular routine and yes I do occasionally go when he’s not there although Peaberry is a better alternative for coffee. When he is there of course we talk. I believe I mentioned our conversation about finals so I won’t go over it again. Obviously talking isn’t the issue, getting his number is.

So Thursday we talked about finals. Friday was Katy’s Birthday and he was working. I didn’t go in because I didn’t want to look suspicious. Saturday night is real important. It was like any other time; we talked, I ordered, and we talked some more. First we talked about work. Friday night Noodles was slammed but Saturday night it was so boring. We talked about how sending someone how usually works but it didn’t in this case. He asked me if I was going home to do homework, but I didn’t have any because of finals last week. That’s how we got on the subject of trimesters and semesters. He told me that he did the semester system on the IB Program. It must be nice to only have to take finals twice a year and not have homework over Christmas break. At this point I still hadn’t paid and then he said “don’t worry about it.” My eyes must have gotten big cause all I said was “really?” “Yeah don’t worry about it, happy end of the Trimester or whatever.” How cool is that. I like to think of it as him buying my drink but what actually happened was he just didn’t make me pay. That’s almost the same thing. Maybe that was a subtle hint? Hopefully. Adam defiantly thinks it is and now I’m under more pressure than ever to get his number or ask him to the movies or something. Agh! I can’t do that I’m way too shy.

Maybe next time I go in one of us will have the courage to say something. This is a time when it’s not a bad idea to pray to the Holy Spirit for help. Getting back to Aarons closing remarks “happy end of the tri or whatever.” How cheesy is that? Here’s a nice little moment and he says happy end of the tri. I mean seriously come on! He did come back to say have a good night but still. I guess it’ll just take sometime to get over it. But it was so cool.