111 Her Stressful Pandemic (1/2)

I knew that she was expecting me to already know what to order, so I continued to play my role as a loyal secretary and asked the barista: ”Can I have a medium cup of Latte and a small cup of Mocha please.”

”Yes Sir, that'll be $5.50”

Fumiko's expectations were met as she smiled with joy but quickly concealed under her serious guise.

This was the one of the easiest things I had to do which was to memorize any dislikes or specific likes all of my customers have and make sure I am able to put good use of that information.

The barista was suddenly surprised when Fumiko whipped out her wallet to pay for the coffee but those secretive glances at me were always familiar.

My role is only to serve my clients and customers but not necessarily pay for their needs.

Whatever obligations they may feel or wherever they wish to be accompanied, they would be paying for such things but it was very uncommon and would only be done if they were rich.

I don't have a thin enough skin where I would blush at every little inconvenient thing otherwise I would be in poverty while my sister would have to join me but I neither have thick skin to be shameless.

That's why I ordered a small cup of coffee as I would rather have my client save money for my next visit instead of these small things.

Just being truthful… I would rather go to the local coffee shop near my house which roasts their own coffee beans, allowing them to sell for a very cheap price of $1.00. But it would be rude and out of my act if I were to say that.

Fumiko was staring at her phone listlessly with a hollow glow that lacked any enthusiasm while I was waiting to grab the coffee.

Once I placed her Latte in front of her, I made sure to carefully observe the amount of sugar she was going to take.

One bag of sugar usually meant that she was in a good mood and would usually begin to act alike lot more energetic once she talks about her hobby.

Unfortunately… it was two bags of sugar.

What this usually signalled was that she was lacking a lot of energy due to the stress that may have accumulated during work and meant that she was about to calm herself and go on a rant.

However I do like listening to the perspective of another person, it just feels like you're slowly getting closer to a person and understand yet accept them.

But physical contact was the most direct way of getting a person's acceptance

Fumiko took a large sip after she had poured the sugar into the coffee and looked towards my direction with interest while a compelling sadness started to gleam from her eyes: ”Hey can you listen for a moment…”