Stretch: The Dream
Writing Exercise #34
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Stretch: Write about wait-staff
“Hey hold on a second I’m about to order,” He said as he approached the counter. He held his hand over the receiver of his cellphone. “I wanna large latte, double shot espresso.” He put his card on the counter and turned away. “Yeah sorry just got here…”
“Sir the…the card reader is right there…” he didn’t hear. She picked up his card and put it in the reader for him. Bypassed PIN. He had his back fully turned to her. She clicked 25% tip. “Sir? Sir?” She tapped him on his shoulder with his card. He snatched it out of her hands. “Would you like your—okay.” He didn’t wait to hear—just snatched his card, walked to his table, and sat down heavily.
She marked him, in her mind. Rude Customer No. 1. She set about making his latte. Thinking about what she could do to get revenge. Should I give him a triple-shot, watch his heart beat out of his chest? Should I bring him a regular coffee? She sighed quietly. In either case, he would probably just make more trouble for her. Better to get his drink exactly right and be done with him.
She rotated off the cashier and began making his drink. She peered up every now and again to see what he was doing. He had a notebook and a pen. He had ended his cell-phone call. Another man in a suit walked in, sat opposite him. The second man put a paperback book on the table. They began talking excitedly.
His mug was full to the brim with coffee and foam. She began walking carefully over to his table, and began catching snippets of his conversation:
“Yeah, and the blurb should say something about—like, I dunno, a rags-to-riches story. Paid my way through college, got my MFA, now I’m a bestselling author.” She heard him say.
“I can do something like that. This should be ready for publication in a—ope.” His collaborator noticed her standing there with his coffee.
“Hey thanks babe, put it here.” He tapped the table where he wanted his mug, and continued talking to his partner.
She winced, and placed the mug, and returned to the counter. As she walked away, she heard: “I think that price is fair for the book—I put more effort in than that girl did making my coffee, right?”
= = =
She got home after it was already dark. Between being a barista, and her internship—she was exhausted. But as she walked in the door, she texted her friend:
Accountability partner: 500 words. Gonna do it. been a LONG DAY. But I’m gonna do it.
She tossed her phone aside, put on some water for her herbal tea. She grabbed her laptop, and put her feet up on the couch.
She found a file called manuscript v3.doc. Opened it up, and 63,000 words appeared to her. It was almost ready.
She forgot her day, closed her eyes, and imagined the characters of her story. She could see them, swords drawn, in the final climactic battle.
She began to write.
(516 words, wordcounts no longer have meaning)
Talk to me!
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Have you ever worked a service job?
How long is your favorite manuscript?
Don’t you hate it when people are rude?
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy! Come back next week for another writing exercise!
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Thank you and God bless!
I can relate to the barista all too well, lol. I don't have a formal manuscript. I just have chapters written on Google Docs organized in folders.
Love it! Just enough info in the eavesdrop. And my longest fiction manuscript so far is … about 2400 words. I can do short form pretty well, and I’m stretching stories as my skill improves.