Snippet #930699

Despite the early morning, Wired Café was busy, which was how Celeste liked it. The noise pierced through the haze shrouding her thoughts as she walked up to the counter and ordered her usual, a large hazelnut cappuccino with two packs of raw sugar added before the foam. She hated to kill the foam as soon as she got the drink, before she'd even had a sip of it. She ordered a biscotti, too, although with some hesitation. Dylan, her ex, had always told her biscotti was the plural form, so she couldn't have just one biscotti; she had to order one biscotto. She'd tried it once and the cashier, a dirty though smart looking individual, stared at her as if she were an alien. She felt a fool. Typical of Dylan.

Waiting for her drink and biscotti, she rubbed the charm she always carried inside her purse. It was a little early in the day to be needing good luck, but she had recently realized she rubbed it anytime she thought of Dylan and, well, she was doing it again. What an ass, in both senses of the phrase.

"Celeste," the barista called as she handed her the drink. "Gorgeous name," the woman added.

Celeste recognized her in her yellow and red smock, the woman lived up to the name Wired even at opening shift. It seemed as if she was always there when Celeste was. "Thanks."

The barista's "Welcome" was accompanied with a short smile and tilt of the head as Celeste moved to sit down at the window, where she could look outside onto the sunny morning streets.