'Jaaaane!' Em sings, laughing. 'Freaking make it in the beans, girl. Change your favorite drink if you have to.'
'Uh! I can't just make our drinks match. This is serious stuff, Em!'
Em shakes her head and reaches for the phone to hunt down those history notes.
'Love is in the air.' I sigh, happily restacking a pile of coupons on the counter at work. Brenda is on the other side of the pick-up table, wiping it down.
'That was too cute,' she agrees.
The store has been pretty slow for a Tuesday afternoon, except for this adorable couple who just got engaged. The girl said that her boyfriend picked her up from work for 'lunch' and brought her down to the rocks by the lake. It was totally freezing, so she had no idea what they were doing there. Then he got on one knee and proposed. She said yes and they played hooky from work for the rest of the afternoon. They just came in for medium mocha cappuccinos for here. I drew a heart with chocolate syrup on top of the foam in each of their mugs.
'How is the best assistant manager ever?' Derek asks, setting a stack of papers on the counter while he slips on his jacket. He's getting ready to leave for the day.
'Are you talking to me?' I say, wide-eyed.
'Who else?'
He gives me an ear-to-ear grin. 'You're in a fantastic mood,' I say.
'That I am. I just got off the phone with our district manager. He said our promotion is fantastic and to keep up the great work. We did more sales than any other Wired Joe's in the district last Friday! Can you believe it?'
'Omigod! No, not really. That's insane! I mean, I knew it was busy but... wow.'
'We've got to really advertise all week and get people extra pumped up for this Friday. I want us to beat last week's sales.'
No pressure or anything, 'How are the matches going?' he asks.
'Great. I'm at eleven matched couples right now. All of them have either instant-messaged, e-mailed, or chatted on the phone. Three of the couples have already had their first date. I've been getting some really positive e-mails back from the couples all week.'
'Seriously?' Derek gets excited all over again. 'That's fantastic, Jane.' Can you get some positive quotes from your matched couples so I can put them up around the store to advertise this Friday's event?'
'Sure. I don't think it will be a problem. I'll ask a couple of them and get back to you.'
'Excellent job, Jane!' Derek says, pointing his index finger at me as he heads out of the store. 'Don't be surprised if you get a raise soon.'
Though I've never seen anyone other than a cartoon person do this, I half expect him to do one of those sideways heel clicks in the air as he walks away.
'Cool!' I reply, feeling all smiley. I can't believe how my luck is changing.
Seconds after Derek leaves, the door swings open and Melissa and Ginny enter. How does this chick continually sense my happiness and swoop in to squash it? Well, at least she should behave this time after our last talk.
'Hello,' I greet them in a professional voice. 'The usual?'
'Oh, wow,' Melissa exclaims, 'are we considered regulars now? That is so cute–just like that old show Cheers' Ginny giggles.
'Yes, Jane, get us the usual' Melissa says with great dramatic flair.
I sigh and inwardly roll my eyes. What a twit. I run her credit card through the machine, mark their cups, and push them toward Brenda to make.
'So, Gin,' Melissa starts, 'can you believe our little Jane is an Espressologist?'
'A what?' Ginny asks.
'An Espressologist. My friend Michelle from my textiles class told me all about it. Jane is matchmaking people via their coffee choices every Friday night. She even matched Michelle last week.'
'Really?' Ginny looks from Melissa to me and back to Melissa.
'Yeah. Jane's future may not have appeared too promising in school last year, but I always had hope for her. I knew she'd do something really big,' Melissa continues.
Is she being legit? Have we actually turned a corner since our big confrontation? Can we move on from all this?
Can we actually even be friends?
'Yeah, I heard she dumps out your used espresso grounds onto a table and talks to them. They tell her who your future spouse is. She's like a carny fortune-teller or something.
Whoooooo!' she says, wiggling her fingers in the air at Ginny.
Or then again, maybe Melissa is still the same big-mouth idiot she always has been.
'That is not what I do,' I say angrily. 'There is an actual science to it.'
'Didn't you get D's in science?' She laughs.
How did she know that? What, did she get a hold of my transcripts?
'Tell you what,' I offer, 'come in Friday and I'll show you. I'll match you with someone.'
'Me?' she asks. 'You want to match me? Ha! No thanks. I can certainly find my own dates.'
'Fine.' I shrug. 'Suit yourself. Looks like your drinks are up.'
Brenda calls out, 'Small nonfat lattes.'
Melissa grabs her drink and Ginny looks at me like she's going to add something.
'C'mon, Gin,' Melissa says, and Ginny follows her out the door.
11
'This is a nice surprise. What did I do to earn an escort to class?' I ask.
Em and I are powerwalking up West Jackson Boulevard on the way to my English class at the college.
'I have a pass to go to the college library and do some research for a paper, so I thought I'd just keep you company for a few,' Em replies.
Ha. Yeah, right. She knows Cam is in my English class.
I'm sure she just wants to 'bump' into him.
'Thanks. You're a sweetie. So, did I tell you the latest with Will?' I can barely keep the excitement out of my voice.
'No, you didn't. Tell me, tell me,' she says.
'He came in last night and was totally flirting.'
'Obviously.'
'No, really, I didn't know what to expect. I know he explained away the whole Thanksgiving thing, but I wasn't sure if I believed him or not. But now I do. He's so cute,' I say.
'And cute boys never lie. Kidding!' she exclaims when I scowl at her.
'Like everyone else who came in yesterday, he wanted to talk to me about the whole Espressology thing.'
'Of course,' she says, grabbing my arm and steering me around a homeless guy sitting in front of a building and yelling at people to give him money.
'He looked deep into my eyes and told me he was lonely and really hoped he could find love, too. He totally had me in a trance. I could hardly talk,' I tell her.
