It was a day like many others, but also not. I was in the coffee place, sitting by the window. I like to watch people. My pencil was moving on my paper, making lines and shapes, not really drawing anything that made sense to others, but it made sense to me. The world has so many things to see, so many feelings moving around. I like to think about these things. Sometimes I look at numbers, like on the clock or on a receipt. I can tell you if a number is prime very fast, just by seeing it. It is a strange thing I can do. Most people do not care about this, but I find it interesting how some numbers can only be divided by themselves and one.
A young woman and a man came in. They found a table near the counter. The woman, she had shiny hair and wore a bright pink shirt. Her face, it told a story that she was the most beautiful person in the whole world. Her smile was big, but it did not reach her eyes. Her eyes looked like they were always waiting for something good to happen, but only to her. The man with her, he looked at his phone a lot. He did not smile. He looked like he carried a heavy bag on his back all the time, even when he was sitting down.
They sat for a little while, and I watched the steam curl from my cup. It made a funny dance in the air. The young woman, she kept touching her hair and looking around. She seemed to want everyone to look at her, but when people did, she would look away fast, like she was shy. But her face still said, “Look at me, I am important.” She was not skinny, but she carried herself like she was very light, like a feather.
Then, she made to stand up. She went to the counter. The man just kept looking at his phone. The employee behind the counter was a young woman too, with a kind face. She always smiled when people came to order. I watched the young woman in the pink shirt talk to the employee. Her voice was a little louder than most people’s. I could not hear the words clearly, but her hands moved a lot, pointing to things on the menu.
The employee nodded, then she shook her head. Her smile did not go away, but it got smaller. The young woman in the pink shirt, her face started to change. The big smile went away. Her mouth pressed into a thin line. She pointed harder at the menu, then at herself. It looked like she was saying something about it being her special day. I felt a feeling that something was not right. It was a feeling like when you try to fit a square peg in a round hole. It just does not want to go.
The employee, she started to talk, explaining something slowly. Her hands were open, like she was showing there was nothing more she could do. But the young woman in pink did not like this. Her voice got much louder. People near the counter looked up from their phones. The man with the young woman, he did not look up. He just kept looking at his phone, but I saw his shoulders go up a little, then down, like a big sigh without sound.
The young woman in pink, she put her hands on her hips. Her body language said she was very upset. She talked very fast now, and I could hear some words. She was saying things like, “I deserve it,” and “It is not fair,” and “I am a good customer.” But I had never seen her in this coffee place before. I come here often. I know the regular faces. She was not one of them. The employee, she still had a small smile, but it looked like it was glued on. She tried to offer something else, pointing to a different part of the menu.
But the young woman in pink, she did not want that. She wanted what she wanted. She slammed her hand on the counter, not very hard, but enough to make a sound. A little child, sitting at a table with his mother near the counter, heard the sound. He had been quietly playing with a toy car. He looked up, his eyes wide. Then, for no reason I could see, he threw the toy car on the floor and started to cry very loud. His mother quickly picked him up and tried to calm him, saying soft words, but the crying kept going.
The young woman in pink turned her head fast to look at the child. Her face was angry now, not just upset. She frowned and made a shushing sound with her mouth. The child cried even louder. The employee looked from the young woman in pink to the crying child, and her face showed a little worry now. She quickly went to the back, maybe to get a manager, or maybe to take a breath. It was hard to tell. She was gone for a little while, and the young woman in pink stood there, tapping her foot, looking at the counter like it had personally offended her. The man with her, he finally looked up, just for a second, at the crying child, then back to his phone. He shook his head very slowly.
When the employee came back, she held a small cup in her hand. It was one of the small cups they use for samples. She offered it to the young woman in pink. She said something about a special taste, a new flavor. It was not what the young woman wanted. It was not a free big coffee. But the employee was so kind, her voice so soft, her smile almost normal again, that the young woman took the cup. She looked at it like it was not good enough, but she took it. She turned and went back to her table, grumbling words to the man, who just nodded without looking up. She sat down and sipped the small sample, her face still looking like she had been cheated, but the big scene was over.
The manager never came out. Maybe they were too busy in the back. Maybe they knew the kind employee could handle things with her soft voice and brave smile. The little child stopped crying after a little while. The coffee shop sounds came back to normal. The young woman in pink finished her tiny drink, then she looked at the man. She stood up again, and this time, the man put his phone in his pocket and followed her. They walked out without buying anything big, and the young woman still looked around, like she expected someone to thank her for being there. It made me think that sometimes, even when people make a lot of noise, they still get a little piece of what they wanted, and then they just walk away, like nothing happened at all. And the numbers on the clock, they kept moving, just like always.
