ArchivedLogs:A New Thing

A New Thing
Dramatis Personae Melinda, Nate
In Absentia	2015-01-03 I care less for the taste of things frequently then by the capacity for it to keep me up.
Location <NYC> Montagues - SoHo
Montagues harkens back to the day when SoHo was filled to the brim with artists, with its mismatched furniture, all plush and decorated heavily with carved wood, but remains trendy enough to keep its newer patrons by making sure that furniture is clean, in good repair and inviting. The antique tables all have been reinforced to seem less creaky. The real draw of the cafe is the smell: fresh roasted coffee mingles with perfectly steeped teas. Spices from crisp pastries mingle with the tang of clotted cream but don't overwhelm too much the scent of chalk on the menu boards. Sunday night, Montagues is enjoying a somewhat relaxed and ... well, somewhat absent crowd. The zombie-pocalypse is winding down and people are heading back out and about again, but with the decreased population and the fact that it isn't one hundred percent safe, the patron numbers are still low. Melinda seems to be the only staff member visible in the small coffee shop, drifting between the cash register and the espresso machine. There are several small tablets locked into the countertop, allowing for wordless ordering should the customer desire it. The head manager is a tallish woman with long, midbrown hair and a long face to match. Her lips purse as she concentrates and her brows knot up when she accidentally burns her hand on the steaming wand, but she doesn't spill. Her face lights up as she turns back to the customer waiting for their drink and hands over the ceramic cup. Nate seems to find his way into Montagues for the first time ever. His eyes make note of the people who entered into the small cafe. His eyes glance down to his watch to check the time before he starts walking towards the counter. He hums a soft tune as he looks at the varied choices arrayed in front of him. He waits a moment before he says with the light irish accent, "I will have whatever drink you have that has the most caffeine." He slowly looks down over his shirt and brushes a piece of lint from it, "Why does lint appear everywhere I go." "The highest concentration of caffeine comes from espresso shots. How many would you like? Would you like them in milk, water, more coffee, or straight?" Melinda looks Nate over quietly, her gaze sliding down his torso and then up to his face. "And I can't tell you anything about link. I'd wager it's from you coat." She is wearing a mustard yellow sweater that is warm and fuzzy, more for comfort than professionalism. "Um... Apologies?" "No no, it is fine. I think I heard one of my interns referenced a red eye? Is that a thing. Like several shots of espresso in a cup of coffee? If that is possible I will try that. I had not been able to find a fricken red bull." Nate shakes his head and sighs before he takes a step closer to the counter and pull out his wallet from his back pocket, "Yeah. I seem to have the worst luck when it comes to keeping these shirts clean. Though, it is far better to have lint then what my scrubs look like at the end of a shift." Nate offers a bit of a laugh before he looks back towards Melinda and holds out his amex to her. Melinda blinks at him for a moment, looking him over again, then reaches out and takes his card and slides it through the credit card reader. "One red eye coming up." She gives him a small smile when she hands back the card before heading over to the machine to work her magic. She starts the espresso before moving grabbing a to-go paper cup and starts to fill it. "Supplies still seem scarce these days," she offers quietly while the espresso machine burbles out darker coffee. "You could always order a case off google." Nate inclines his head a moment, "Well, at home I do have them as well as in the office. But, just forgot to grab one when I went for my stroll this fine night. So, this lovely drink you are making will be great." His green eyes look around and snag the receipt to sign it and then tosses a couple dollars down in cash for the tip. He slowly wanders down towards where Melinda is and then he says in a warm voice, "Who knows, maybe this will be my new thing." "Well, okay then." Melinda finishes at the urn and heads back to the espresso machine, pouring the two shots of espresso into the cup before applying a cover to the top and slipping it into a cuff to protect the customer's fingers from the heat. "I have to warn you, coffee is definitely not the same as an energy drink. Yes, the caffeine may be the same but there's the bitterness to take into account." She offers a small smile before placing the cup on the counter next to Nate. Nate inclines his head, "Yeah, well. I care less for the taste of things frequently then by the capacity for it to keep me up. I'm Nate by the way." The man shrugs a second before he takes a sip from the glass and closes his eyes as the liquid finds its' way into Nate's veins. He grins again before he takes a few steps back from the counter, "Well, I think that I may need to be getting back towards my side of town. Always nice to find a new place to fill my caffeine fix." Nate flashes a grin before he starts walking back out to the cold. Melinda gives a small nod of her head, smiling all the same. "Well, you seem like the type to know more about the downsides of caffeine abuse than I would." She pushes away from the countertop. "You have a good night -- and stay warm, okay?" She then starts wiping down the counters as demands of a coffee business are never ending.