I sat at one side of the bakery, looking over the guests. I am waiting for my food and waiting for my coffee to cool.
Just a table away from me sits a woman in a light blue blouse and blue striped pants. She wears it well and is quite pretty. Her water glass filled with lemons is almost empty. She is casually playing on her phone, but has taken up the entire two person table with her things. She is eating alone. Her food is delivered and it looks amazing. Thick buttered bread, eggs, and a little jar of marmalade. I ask her what she's having, she replies with a smile, "Uhm, I'm not sure, Eggs breakfast, I think it's called?" She asks the waiter walking between our tables for clarification. It is Egg breakfast. We make small conversation before I thank her for the information, and the conversation dies away. She starts to eat her food and goes back to her phone.
While I get myself situated at my own four person table, I search for a power outlet to make sure my laptop stays charged, an older gentleman approaches me. I can tell he is a blue collar worker, with a rough, sun dried face, a wrinkled blue t-shirt and a jeans, "There is only one power outlet in here." He says. "It's by my table, next to that pillar." I nod and say thank you, resigned to my time limit. He continues, "I'm leaving. So you can have my table." He turns away and starts to pack his things. I quickly pack my own and go for the move. Again, I may small talk with the stranger about how other Wildflowers have more than one power outlet, he leaves and I sit next to the pillar, now plugged into the power, no longer with a time limit restriction.
Sitting next to me are a pair of women. They are friends, possibly colleagues, already done eating and just making small talk. They are talking about people, venting about a few, which is why I think they may work together, or go to school together. There appears to be a bit of an age difference, but that could just be me being mean and judging. Still, they are enjoying each others company, and I like that.
On the other side of the room from me sits six women, all very similar age. They aren't sports related, I don't think, just because their body styles are all different. Laughs are being passed, they all seem to not be in a rush. I can see two hand bags, one that has a binder in it... School mates, looks like seniors in high school, maybe college? No insignia's to tell me. I've never bothered meeting my classmates for a project outside of school before. Well, once, for college, but all we did was tick off the restaurant we took over.
There are two servers who have caught my attention. The woman has "Baked" on her shirt, while the man has "Delicious" on his. Delicious just took woman in blue's plate. She continues to look at people. Now, she is in the busy zone, but it makes me sad. I want to talk to her, make sure she is okay... but again, that could very well be me projecting feelings. She's dressed well and looks nice. After her plate was taken, she has picked up her stuff, looked around the room and saw me. She gave me one more genuine smile and I gave one back. As she turned to leave she stopped. Her jaw dropped and she smiled. The pillar blocked my view of who she saw, so of course I peaked. It was a gentleman sitting at a table with a friend. They are making small talk and she seems to be genuinely happy. Good.
Back to Baked and Delicious. They are dressed well. shirts are tucked in. Form fitting shirt. Delicious is a good looking dude, the kind of good looking that you'd think was too good looking. The one who all the women crush on and ends of being gay, that kind of good looking dude. Baked is cute too, same form fitting shirt, tucked in, hair in a braid except for that long bang in which she could pull behind her ear as cute girls tend to do. The last server is another dude, and I don't like him much. I mean, I'm sure he's Okay, but he clearly has no desire to be here. Back to my fictional two servers - Baked and Delicious. I think Baked has a crush on Delicious. As I entered the restaurant earlier, she said "You're 20?" as if shocked. I don't know if she was hoping he was older or younger... but she seemed to need the clarification. She looks to be between 17-20 - So it could go either way. Anyway, Delicious takes this job seriously, wiping down things well, he took all the plates so far that I've seen, he took my plate.
The pair of women have left.
The table is hosting a baby and a mother. I didn't notice them leave, but Delicious wiped down the baby chair.
Unlike Starbucks, this place rotated quick, I can't keep up well. Lunch is now in session and this place has filled up. Every table is taken. I've taken two and now I sorta feel bad about it.
Unkempt server just talked to a kid and worked out where the food went (mother and brother went elsewhere at the time) and it was sweet. So maybe he isn't bad after all, just unkempt.
I like people. I am a fan of them. I truly think our fears about strangers is significantly exaggerated. It is necessary when you are a kid, but it shouldn't be when you are an adult. Halloween candy has never hurt anyone, and that's when strangers meet strangers kids the most. Yes, be cautious, but cautious doesn't mean avoid.
I am going to go fill up my cup of coffee and start up my editing.
Thank you for reading.
