Cursory Glance: Christy’s Cafe

Most cafes have bells, sound systems, or other noise to announce the movement of a door. Christy’s Cafe relies on the whoosh of hot hair as the big glass door opens. At 11:45am, the time for breakfast is over and it’s not quite time for fancy alcoholic beverages. Except for bachelorette parties, but they haven’t arrived yet. When Cooper opens the door to his favorite coffee spot, he ushers in the humid heat of a southern summer.

“Cooper!” the three waitresses yell.

Claire is at the register. Gabby adds wine bottles to the rack near the back door. Sam, the only black girl working this shift, cooks a to-go order. They’re all gorgeous and all wearing short skirts. Cooper heard that Christy only hires beautiful women as it increases sales and tips.

Cooper grins wickedly and throws his hands like a soldier returning from victory abroad. He glides to Claire. He glances to his right, past the pastries, cakes, and other sweets, where Gabby leans over to place a bottle of wine. She’s standing on a ladder, her Irish white skin barely covered by the skirt. Cooper is always surprised at the beautiful southern women. He returns his attention to Claire. Claire is short, the shortest of the entire staff at Christy’s. She’s also one of the most tan. When someone wonders what a Georgia girl looks like, Claire is a prime example.

“What are you having today, Cooper?” Claire asks. She smiles, unconsciously giving him the biggest fuck me right here on the counter eyes anyone south of the Mason-Dixon has. They’re not intentional, but Cooper is taken aback, as he always is when she smiles. He orders two breakfast sandwiches with cheddar and sausage, as well as a caramel mocha macchiato.

“Oh! And a carrot cake slice,” he adds.

“All that?”

“You can put the carrot cake in a box to go,” Cooper says, a little embarrassed, “how are you?”

“I’m good!” Claire’s eyes remain in the fuck me right now stance. While her eyebrows move up and down and her mouth opens and closes, her eyes keep saying fuck me.

“…and I’m ready for school to start. It’s been a busy summer,” Claire finishes. 

“I bet,” Cooper feels that’s the safest answer. She always has those eyes. 

“Anything else, Cooper?”

“That’ll do it.”

“Thirty-two dollars and fifty-eight cents. We’ll have that right out,” Claire takes his card.

Cooper turns around, briefly appraising the few other customers. A pair of women work together on a laptop in the corner, probably prepping a corporate slideshow on eminent domain. A man with a big beard writes hurriedly in a journal, a coffee nearby. The doors open again, a blast of heat assaulting the air-conditioned environment. It’s one of those bachelorette parties. A few girls look like they’ve already been drinking. The rest are anxious to start. They approach Claire, the bride-to-be in the lead.

Cooper finds his usual stool on the far left of the bar. He sits down and watches Sam mix his drink. He lets his eyes wander down, seeing how her dark legs contrast with the light grey skirt. Cooper pulls his eyes up. Sam peers over and smiles.

“Hey there, Coop!” she says.

“Howdy, Sam. Making my drink?”

“Sure am! A little extra caramel for ya!” She winks.

“I appreciate that,” Cooper says.

He’s known Claire and Sam for two years, having spent many classes together at the university. Since they started working here, he visited often. They were certainly intelligent women. Cooper recalled that Claire studied psychology and Sam had her nursing practicum ahead of her. But they were damn fine looking and Cooper felt that was an added benefit to the good food and drink at Christy’s, making it worth the price. Plus, Cooper could certainly afford it.

Sam places the fancy coffee in front of Cooper and pulls a straw from her apron.

“Anything else?” She asks.

“I got some sandwiches coming,” Cooper says.

“They’ll be out soon,” Sam said, taking a slip from Claire for the next drink order.

Cooper pulls his phone from his khaki pants. He scrolls through Facebook, making snarky remarks to memes posted by his friends. If Claire were to analyze Cooper based on his childhood, she would identify that he had not received much attention and relished in it now. 

Cooper’s parents hosted parties that didn’t include Cooper. For their 15th wedding anniversary, Cooper had pooled all of his money and bought them a dart board. When Cooper approached his parents, that happened to be the instance when his father learned that his wife had been cheating for two years. And with his best friend! Cooper and his father left and moved into another house, much smaller than the mansion he grew up in. Cooper’s father, despite having custody, could not provide the attention a young boy requires. But Cooper found strength in his football career and became one of the Top 10 in his graduating class. None of that was enough to draw his father’s attention. Dad was simply too busy with work.

“Hey,” Gabby says, pulling Cooper into a hug. It was brief but nice.

“Hi!” Cooper says.

Gabby is the whitest girl in her class, certainly so on Christy’s Cafe staff. She got teased occasionally but used her Irish heritage as an excuse. Still, Cooper fancied her the most. He met her on Bumble and thanked God, despite being atheist, that she introduced herself there. Their first date was taking a walk in Battery Park. They enjoyed each other’s company for two hours before Cooper walked her home and left after a short kiss.

“Here’s your breakfast sandwiches,” Gabby says.

“Thank you, beautiful,” Cooper says.

Gabby blushed pretty easily, but especially around Cooper. It was pretty cute.

“Would you like to go to the museum later?” Cooper asks.

“Which one?” Gabby loved the museums and had visited most of them.

“Pick one you haven’t seen yet.”

“Alright. William Bennings Museum.”

“What time are you out of work?” Cooper says.

“Three pm,” Gabby smiles.

“I’ll pick you up.”

Gabby hugs him again, kisses him on the cheek, and walks behind the bar to mix drinks. Cooper feels like a king. Claire comes over. She still wore the fuck me now eyes. They almost seemed stronger. She sits on a chair beside Cooper, her skirt barely covering anything. 

“That’s cute. You and Gabby,” Claire says.

“I like her,” Cooper declares.

“How about you both come to the beach this weekend. Just make sure she wears sunscreen.”

“Sounds fun!” Cooper says. He really wanted to ask. “Are we friends, Claire?”

“I’d say so, why?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have some hardcore fuck me now eyes?”

Claire laughs loudly.

“No! Do I?” She intentionally strengthens her powerful gaze. 

“Ironically, they’re less intense if you do it on purpose. Be careful with those things.” 

Claire pats his shoulder, “Keep an eye out for Gabby’s fuck me now eyes.”

Cooper started opening his sandwich wrapper. And laughed hoarsely at that one, secretly excited at the idea of Gabby’s own version of those eyes.