Katie

[nola_littlemermaid]

Maybe this was a bad idea.

There was a beignet place down the street from Phoenix Effect. It was no Cafe Du Monde or Cafe Beignet, the two great rivals for the title of best in the city (Andy would give it to the latter, hands down, any day of the week), but it was nice and inexpensive and had decent seating, which he was currently taking advantage of. It also had chickory coffee Andy himself had not brewed, which was a treat on its own, though loyally he thought the recipe at Phoenix Effect was better.

So the location part was fine, but the social interaction to come—that was the bad part. Maybe. The nervous anticipation, of course, was terrible, but he remembered his school therapist (mandated by the district, which his dad had reluctantly agreed to but scoffed about in private) saying how breaking through shyness, making friends, only got easier with a lot of practice. And he actually had gotten better, thanks to being a barista—he could make light small talk while making a drink, answer questions and chuckle politely at bad jokes.

But face-to-face, direct interaction with a potential friend? That was way more intimidating. Especially since he couldn't help but suspect Katie was just doing this because he'd offered to mention her mural services to the manager. Which was fair! He guessed! He certainly couldn't have said anything that made him seem genuinely interesting.

Maybe it would be better if she just didn't show up. Or maybe that would be much, much worse.

Comments

[nola_jeangrey]

2019 was going to be Katie's year. She'd made a vision board and everything, mapped out her goals, started bullet journaling. Sure, she was an artistic soul, but she wanted to get as much as she could from life and her creative spark, which meant being smart about the things she wanted and the time she had to give to those things. So right now a retail job was unavoidable. Okay, fine. But she could actively pursue artistic work, try to make opportunities on her own, and build up a stronger connection to her city.

And, she wanted to spend more time with people. Katie never meant to be a loner -- she loved people, she was warm and social -- but she spent so much time in her head, in her art and daydreams, that she spent a little too much time alone with her own creations for company.

So hanging out with Andy had a lot of benefits. Sure, it might lead to some art and some work and a stronger portfolio, but more than that, she really could use a few more friends. She liked hanging out with good guys, especially ones that seemed sweet and secretly fun, and she had a theory that Andy was probably secretly fun.

The beignet place was cute, and Katie was reasonably cute-looking (no paint smudges anywhere!) and when she spotted Andy, she walked right over and sat down across from him, grinning. "Hey there. I'm so glad you showed. I had a whole routine that involved fake checking my phone and acting like I had walked into the wrong place planned out, just in case."

[nola_littlemermaid]

It was silly how surprised Andy felt, realizing that what he'd just been worrying another person might do could be turned around on him. "Of course I showed," he blurted out. "You already know where to find me."

[nola_jeangrey]

Katie laughed, and she didn't expect to laugh, but that was so cute and so true! "Sure, and I would go back there, and probably pretend we were never supposed to eat together, and it would be awkward forever. Usually, I would've said I'd never go back to Phoenix Effect, but I'm in love with that stupid place." It had weirdly good light, and some tables seemed made to sit there for hours and sketch.

[nola_littlemermaid]

"It's a really nice place," he agreed, and it was true. There was something cozy and comforting about it, even when it was crowded. Or at least that's how it would seem if he had time to hang out there outside of work.

After a beat, he remembered that conversation didn't work well when it was all just bland agreements. "The baked goods are my favorite part, probably. But we don't have beignets."

[nola_jeangrey]

"Nothing can be perfect, I guess!" And it meant Katie got to make a friend somewhere else! "Speaking of beignets though, I should get us some. And coffee?"

[nola_littlemermaid]

"How about you get the beignets and I'll get the coffee?" he offered quickly. Katie wasn't going to trick him into letting her pick up the whole bill.

[nola_jeangrey]

"Teamwork, I love it. Deal." And she really wasn't trying to pay for everything, so that was a nice offer. "Do you get very specific about your coffee now that you're an expert in making it?"

[nola_littlemermaid]

He smiled as he stood up from the table. "No, I'm a local, so as long as it's chicory coffee, I'm fine." With plenty of room for milk, of course. "Do you want your usual, or...?"

[nola_jeangrey]

"I would love that. You remember everyone's usual?" Katie's memory was nowhere near that good, and she was touched that he'd committed her order to memory.

[nola_littlemermaid]

"Some orders stand out," he said, which he hoped didn't seem creepy. That was the honest truth of it—it was easy to remember the regular order of an artsy redhead, whereas a bland business-type would be hard to pin down. (And they usually didn't tip well anyway.) "And not everyone has a usual. Some people seem like they're trying to order one of everything on the menu."

[nola_jeangrey]

Katie was flattered that she stood out! In fact, she was going to say it. "I'm so flattered. Maybe I should be more adventurous with the things I order, I never think that much about mixing it up. I guess I like the comfort of the same thing while my mind does other new things." If they were going to talk, he might as well hear a whole bunch of her thoughts on whatever topic was at hand!

[nola_littlemermaid]

After pausing to place their order and pay, Andy said, "Coffee shops can be expensive—I don't blame anyone for sticking with what they know they'll like."

Phoenix Effect paid surprisingly well for a food service job, but even still, he wasn't exactly flush with extra income. He knew what it felt like when a splurge, even a small one, went wrong.

[nola_jeangrey]

"You're nice," Katie decided, and she felt great about that decision. "Do you like doing the food service thing?" It felt like a hard job to Katie, who hated folding expensive shirts but at least she didn't have the threat of someone throwing hot liquid in her face, or whatever.

[nola_littlemermaid]

Andy was not sure, honestly, if anyone truly loved working in food service. It was full of patrons who felt like they didn't have to be considerate of the drudges making their orders, and disgusting tasks the customers hopefully never saw, and smells and stickiness and stains. "I like Phoenix Effect," he said tactfully. "The other people who works there are great, and so are a lot of the customers."

[nola_jeangrey]

"That's so diplomatic. I get it, though. I work in retail, clothes though, and it's like, it's fine, but I'd rather be making art than folding shirts." Work friends, though, they helped, so she understood clinging to the great people.

[nola_littlemermaid]

He didn't know why that caught him off guard. He couldn't picture Katie handling credit cards and straightening up changing rooms, but most artists had to have a regular job, right? "Do you at least fold them into origami animals?" he asked, trying to keep things light.

[nola_jeangrey]

"Once I made swans out of these white shirts and I got in so much trouble." Katie rolled her eyes. "They would have looked so sweet with the window display. But they really just want me to match the pictures from corporate." They weren't even really fun clothes.

[nola_littlemermaid]

"I'd rather buy a shirt that was a swan," Andy said. In fact, he really liked the idea—it was the perfect Ugly Duckling metaphor, making something graceful out of the boring and plain.

[nola_jeangrey]

Katie smiled at Andy, so pleased. See! They could be friends! "Me too! It's like a fairy tale, right? The power of transformation. Plus, everything that can be beautiful or interesting or full of wonder should be. We don't have to do the most straightforward and dry thing all the time."

[nola_littlemermaid]

"Don't they know people get bored with straightforward and dry?" Andy preferred the romantic and moody, at least in theory. When his life actually edged in that direction, not so much. "Maybe an indie store would be more understanding."

[nola_jeangrey]

"I think they want people to be bored, because apathy doesn't really breed questions, you know? You don't have to think." Katie wasn't much of a bohemian, but it did come with the artistic territory. "And you're right, they probably would be. But I think I get caught by the apathy too, because I'm not sure I want to care about my job when I need to care about art, you know? Like, what if I have less to give?" It was an important thing to ponder, but as they sat down together, Katie was more preoccupied by not knocking over coffees or pastries.

[nola_littlemermaid]

"That makes sense," Andy agreed. He wasn't any sort of artist, so how was he to know how that worked? He was just someone trying to live, he supposed. "Is the pay at least okay?"

[nola_jeangrey]

"It's not so bad. It helps, because I can't live off my art. What do you do when you're not making coffee?" People were so much more than their jobs.

[nola_littlemermaid]

Andy looked down at his beignet, which he was picking into smaller pieces so the powdered sugar didn't get all over him. This was embarrassing—he didn't have many hobbies, which definitely wouldn't impress someone as interesting as Katie. "I like to go on long walks," he said finally. "Get lost and explore."

[nola_jeangrey]

That was interesting. "In town, or in nature, or both? Do you daydream or just take in everything you see? Do you usually do it alone or do you go with people?"