caffeine. addicts are weird

[adam page]

"Listen, don't be scared," he started, looking into the eyes of his son. "You were swimming before you could talk." said Adam, giving Ashford a reassuring smile, squatting down to zip up the little boy's jacket. Even paradise had a swim club, and today was the first day of practice for the five to seven year old group. Ash looked as if he were about to cry, his lower lip trembled and his blue eyes watered. His daddy was about to leave him with strangers. "Chin up," Adam said, using a finger to lift Ashford's chin. "You love to be in the water, you know you do." Adam tickled Ashford's sides a bit, making him squirm and laugh a bit. "This is just like swimming at home, same water, same nasty chlorine..." He reached up to ruffle Ashford's hair, and felt a little bit more relaxed when he saw his son smile. "All right, are we ready?" Ashford nodded, and Adam stood up. "I'll be back here in two and a half hours to pick you up, I promise."

Ashford gripped Adam's pant leg, as he steered his son through the doors and into the pool house. There were about a dozen other parents and their kids, most of whom were giving their own version of a pep talk to their little one. Adam shook hands with the coach, and chatted a bit about swimming, before looking down at Ashford. "All right, time to go. Harder, better, faster, stronger, remember that's how Page's do things." Ashford had relaxed a bit more, and smiled up at his father. The coach led Ashford off to join the rest of the group, and Adam smiled as he turned and left the pool.

Two and a half hours to kill. Not enough time to really do anything serious. He gave Lyndsee a call to see if she was up for getting coffee, but she didn't pick up. She'd probably call him later. With or without company, Adam was in the mood for caffeine. He would get a cup of coffee every morning on his way to work, but that would hardly qualify him as a coffee drinker. Most people he knew drank at least six cups a day. In his line of work, he was surrounded by a sea of caffeine addicts. Adam parked a little ways down the street from the coffee shop, and back tracked on foot to the quaint little spot in paradise.

Opening the door, he was hit with a blast of warm coffee scent. The Coffee Shop was always busy. It was owned by locals, which was an added plus. Adam wasn't a huge fan of tourism, he felt it ruined everything. Resorts and Hotels brought the wrong kind of people to paradise. He himself moved here just for the scenery and nothing more. People moved to and fro, different cups of various sizes in hand. Adam stood on line, and starred up at the menu. There was a woman, two persons ahead of him that was making a scene. She apparently asked for two shots of espresso, and one shot of caramel flavor, and the woman behind the counter had only given her one of each. Sometimes he couldn't stand SoCal, for the same reasons he didn't always like New York.

[` lee]

Mid-day was always the best time to get coffee, Lee had figured out. She never needed anything to really wake her up in the morning, apart from a good hot shower. A few people she knew needed atleast 2 cups of black coffee. If you had given her even one of those, she's be on the ceiling for a few days atleast. She always had energy, to say the least. Even as a child, she didn't shut up or stop moving, at all. And she hadn't grown out of it, as many people said she would. And she stilled annoyed the piss out of alot of people.

There was an average sized line for this time of day infront of the cash, waiting to order caffine. The smell of the coffee and freshly baked pastries and cookes thickly filled the air, greeting her pleasantly. That was one of her favorite smells, one that always made her smile. She could remember a smell like it, one back when she was a kid. Every Friday afternoon she'd come home from school, and her mother would be baking some kid of cookies, along with a large cup of coffee. The smell of the local coffee shop seemed to replicate it, enough to bring a smile to her face everyday.

She stepped into the line of people, bouncing on her heels slightly as she waited for it to shorten. Some people would wonder why it was even legal for her to drink any sort of coffee, she was so short already. She only stood at 4'11, and she was twenty years old for godssake. Came from her parents, she claimed every time. Although, her mom stood at a solid 5'7, and from was she knew, her father was abut the same side. Maybe she got that freak gene that people tended to get from generations and generations back.

As several cranky customers, most likely deprived 10 minutes of their glorious caffine left to go to their respective tables or cars, there were only three people infront of her. An older woman, and guy about her age, and herself, along with several people raning from thier midteens to older 50s behind her. She glanced at the display case of cookies and such, trying to figure out what she wanted. An M&M Cookie to go with her mint latte sounded really good at this time over day. She might now overindulge on caffine, but she sure did on sugar. Thank god for a fast metabolism, of she'd still be short, but a total fatass. Nobody could resist pigging out on ice cream with a good chick flick atleast once a month, could they?

She fished around in the small black purse that hung over her shoulder for a ten dollar bill, as the older woman lef to get whatever she had order, and the guy infront of her ordered.
"Goddamnit," she mumbled, trying to find the wrinkled bill she could have swore she saw 20 minutes ago. She exclaimed a quiet "Aha!" as she pulled it out, smiling to herself. What a dork. After she ordered, paid, and picked her drink and cookie up, she went to the island they had in the store, which held the cream, sugar, and other things you could add to your drink. She sprinkled a bit of chocolate power on the whipped cream that floated ontop of the steaming drink, enough to give it a bit of a chocolately taste.

Her wide brown eyes scanned around the coffe shop, searching for an empty table. You couldn't say it was packed, but more slightly crowded. She saw a table for two near one of the windows that faced the street, with people and car going by. She picked her way through the people, making her way over. And then, ah you stupid kultz. She managed to trip over the leg of a chair, dropping the cardboard cup she held in her hand. And of course, it didn't land on the ground, but right on the edge of the table of the guy who had been standing infront of her in line.
"Ho'shit, I'm so sorry." she apologized, picking the cup up, so it wouldn't spilling any more, and reaching for some napkins in the despenser in the middle of the table. A red blush covered her face quickly, hating when she did stupid things like this.