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Post by Vanessa VanRyan on Dec 30, 2010 19:56:55 GMT -5
Vanessa was getting settled in at her new place easily enough but there were still things about America that she missed dearly. Coffee was one of them. Sure there were some places in London that sold a decent cup, but it was nowhere the same. As if fate itself were listening to Vanessa a coffee shop presented itself. She had never walked through this way before, having preferred a shorter route before when she was staying somewhere else.
Her arms were full of groceries and she had somewhere to be, but her nose refused to go in any other direction. Eyes closed her feet directed her to the shop. Inside was perfect, just the way she imagined a coffee shop should be, and it reminded her of the ones in America. She set her bags on one of the tables and just let the scent wash over her senses. She didn't even notice the man staring at her.
"Excuse me...excuse me miss..." he said having now approached her, "Are you...I mean...you look like her...but-"
He didn't have to say more before Vanessa shook her head no, she was used to this now well, used to it enough to have a decent cover, "What's funny is I'm from America myself and I've never heard of this Vanessa VanRyan person until I came to England. Someone should tell her that she has a better fanbase up here than where she's at."
"Oh...ha, I'm sorry then.."
"Don't be, I'm flattered. She's quite pretty." Vanessa said smiling to herself.
He nodded kindly to her, " She is. Well here have a coffee on me. It's the best in town."
Vanessa shook her head and put her hand up about to refuse but he cut her off.
"I insist."
"Very well then."
"Joe, can I get your best cup for my friend here..." he looked back with a kind expression, "Sorry...I didn't catch your name."
She blushed, "Actually...believe it or not it's Vanessa. Vanessa...Everhart."
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Post by Joe Dean on Dec 31, 2010 0:16:38 GMT -5
Joe broke into a warm smile at the sight of his regular customer and the pretty girl at his side. He had a lot of regulars in the shop, but he also had a lot of newcomers just discovering the shop. One thing was certain, however; no one ever came in only once. Even tourists who happened upon the shop vowed to return one day.
Joe's secret to great coffee was simple. He imported only the finest beans and roasted them fresh in his shop. Being an American, he remembered the places he used to go for his morning coffee, and he followed their secrets for success. It was the only way, he discovered, to ensure that he'd get a decent cup of coffee in this tea-loving country. He'd have to make it himself.
"Hey, Frank," he greeted his regular customer. "The usual, right? Large Costa Rican blend, cream with no sugar?"
As he went about getting Frank's order, Joe glanced at the girl. "Nice to meet you, miss. Can I get you something? Let me guess... You look like a French Vanilla to me. Or maybe a Columbian? I can get you a sample if you're not sure."
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Post by Vanessa VanRyan on Dec 31, 2010 7:41:18 GMT -5
She thought about giving him a complicated order, something to throw him off his mark but shook her head and surrendering-like told him to surprise her.
She worked a coffee shop before and it amazed her the kinds of orders she used to get and how complicated people liked to make them. But those were easy days, care free in comparison to today.
"If I'm not mistaken you're American is that right?"
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Post by Joe Dean on Jan 1, 2011 1:50:17 GMT -5
Joe broke into a grin. "Guilty as charged," he said. "Although, I've been living here for more than 15 years. Aside from the grey, rainy English weather, I really like it here."
He liked it when customers told him to "surprise them." It didn't happen very often, but it was always nice to come across someone who was a little more adventurous.
"Tell you what," he said. "Ever have a cappuccino? Apparently, it's all the rage in Italy, but I don't get a lot of takers for it here yet. I get the feeling it'll really catch on eventually, but no one ever wants to try it."
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Post by Vanessa VanRyan on Jan 1, 2011 18:35:16 GMT -5
She nodded, " A cup o Chinese dough sounds good to me." she teased with a bright smile.
She had been raised English, but stayed in America so long that her accent really depended upon where she was. She picked up the British almost delicate accent since she had been back.
"There's something very sacred about England, very sophisticated too. In America it's brash and confrontational but I think most American's are proud of that." she certainly was, she liked both locations for various reasons.
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Post by Joe Dean on Jan 3, 2011 0:21:47 GMT -5
Joe laughed. Clearly this young woman knew a little about coffee, even though she sounded very English. He did his best not to make assumptions about people before he knew them, but he was used to a lot of British people coming in and ordering tea. It was usually the younger ones, around Vanessa's age, that preferred coffee, especially if they had traveled at all.
"Comin' right up," he said as he started up the cappuccino machine.
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Post by Vanessa VanRyan on Jan 3, 2011 0:58:02 GMT -5
Quite the contrary, she knew enough about any beverages considering she was a waitress for half her life. She nodded to Joe and proceeded to have a conversation with the man, Frank, who was buying her the cup.
She took a sharp look around and smiled, it really was quite nice.
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Post by Joe Dean on Jan 4, 2011 18:05:04 GMT -5
Joe was quiet for a few minutes as he made the cappuccino. Aislinn was really better with the cappuccino machine than he was, and could make a drink a lot faster than he could, but he had given her the afternoon off. The afternoons usually weren't busy at the shop, at least not until the traditional tea time, so he didn't normally need much help for this time of day.
"Would you like cinnamon or cocoa powder on top?" he asked Vanessa as he poured the steaming milk froth into the cup.
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Post by Vanessa VanRyan on Mar 28, 2011 18:43:04 GMT -5
"Cinnamon" she answered, she liked the spices. Of course she cared for chocolate as well but today just seemed to be a spicy day. She checked her watch for the time, not quite sure why. She didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do, but something inside of her was antsy and she couldn't put a finger on it.
Forcing herself to calm down she set her things down in a chair next to her and took out a notepad and pen, flipping through a few pages til she came to one page with some writing down the center. It was a poem, or a song rather that she was working on to pass the time.
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Post by Joe Dean on Apr 2, 2011 22:29:39 GMT -5
"Excellent choice," Joe said with a smile. "It is my personal opinion that cinnamon makes just about everything better."
He went off to prepare her drink, humming absently to an old Johnny Cash song as he worked. Sometimes he liked to play music in the shop, but today it was quiet. He and Aislinn sometimes had debates on what kind of music to play, and it was a source of entertainment to the customers. Joe liked the classics--early rock and roll and country music, especially. Aislinn liked more modern stuff, like any young person. But of course, they both agreed on the Beatles, and more often than not, if music was playing in the shop while they were both working, it would be the Beatles.
When he finished preparing her drink, he brought it over to her seat at the counter. "Here you go," he said cheerfully. "Enjoy."
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Post by Vanessa VanRyan on Aug 2, 2011 20:28:39 GMT -5
Frank had taken his coffee to go that morning, but he didn't worry he'd run into the pretty girl again after she had Joe's coffee she'd probably be a regular. He smiled at the thought.
Had he stuck around however he would have been even more confused for just when Joe began humming, Vanessa began to hum along with him. Before she could help herself she started singing the song and tapping her feet to the music in her head.
When he returned with the cup she smiled up at him, "Thank you very much." She brought the warm liquid to her lips and found it hot but delicious.
Her expression said it all, as her eyes rolled back and she took a deep contented sigh, "I haven't had anything this good since I was in America..."
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Post by Joe Dean on Mar 27, 2012 10:26:11 GMT -5
Joe smiled warmly at her. He knew that expression well. Even the occasional Brit, used to thick, flavorless brews, were won over by his superior beans and fresh roast. She'd be back... and in no time, she'd be a regular.
"Thanks," he said. "And if you don't mind me saying so, you've got a great voice there. Have you ever considered singing professionally? There's a woman who comes in here from time to time... she's a music producer and manager. I bet she'd be interested in hearing you sing."
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Post by Vanessa VanRyan on Jul 12, 2012 20:06:21 GMT -5
"Thank you no I don't..." she thought about it for a moment, it was one thing to sing at Stu's and a completely different thing to even consider singing professionally again, besides those dreams seemed to have died with Wesley as well as most other joys in her life. Strange that she could still sing at all after everything that had happened, but it did seem to calm her.
"I don't really do it professionally, I'm a waitress down at Stu's though, and sometimes I sing for the customers...that's about it, and I'm happy."
She focused on her drink, " This is simply wonderful, after coming back to England I didn't think I'd ever run into something as heavenly ever again..."
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Post by Joe Dean on Jul 30, 2012 23:30:22 GMT -5
Joe laughed. "Yeah, I thought the same thing when I came here," he said. "The Brits do not know how to make coffee. They're all about the tea here. So I did the only thing I could do... I opened my own coffee shop.
It hadn't been an easy project. He'd had to study about how to choose the best beans, how to roast them perfectly.... he'd even had to import special coffeemakers, because the ones available in England seemed designed to make perfectly bland and tasteless coffee. But he'd pulled it off, and now he couldn't imagine ever doing anything else.
"Well, I hope I'll be seeing you again soon," he told her. He was almost certain he would.
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Post by Vanessa VanRyan on Aug 24, 2012 14:07:21 GMT -5
"I think indeed you just made a customer for life." she smiled at him and took another sip of her drink delighting in the taste.
Then Vanessa did something that she hadn't done since the start of everything. She took a deep breath and sighed in content. Memories assailed her viciously disrupting the peace she had found, how dare she sit there and enjoy a cup of coffee she was on the run for her life, her fiance had been murdered, what was she doing? A customer for life? She didn't have such luxuries anymore.
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