"How old are you?" A tall thin, well dressed man asked.
"Excuse me! Sir?"
The man was over forty and not the sexy Leonardo Decaprio forty. The spray tanned for twenty years and now sold used cars with a plastic smile. Jane hasn't had to deal with a forward customer in the last three years. Those types of men all buy their coffee at the beans and bikini stand, where the gals are oxy'd up and are rotated out when the rehab starts or they switch to the harder stuff.
Jane took a deep breath hoping the man would break eye contact so she could rotate off the register and make drinks, instead of interacting with this creep.
"How have you kept yourself alive this whole time? You should be.." suddenly realizing he was in a public place he lowered his voice so only Jane could here "...gone...by now."
Does he know about the attempts, the depression and manic episodes, the nightmares and the abuse. I have never seen this man before. How does he know anything about me? Jane's thoughts raced as her heart started to skip a beat and stutter, a panic attack was coming, and with a lithium induced seizure. The next thirty seconds felt like minutes as her body froze into place before her knees would unlock and her head would start falling back and down toward the cold brown tile.
The man stood there waiting for a response, the girl seemed shocked. His son Sebastain, eighteen, puffy cheeks, thin chin, a face of foundation to lighten and even his complexion without making him pale goth and a head of black hair styled bedhead messy with gelled. His father's features were broader and masculine but he carried an ethereal beauty with pride. Sebastain took one look at his father and the panicked barista and knew what was happening. His head shook for about half a second before he settled on helping or not.
"MANAGER!" Sebastain's throat cracked as he yelled and his eyes locked on the first person to turn their head to the register. "HELP!"
Ten seconds of consciousness remained on Jane's clock as her eyes were now white and starting a slow roll into the back of her head.
The manager approached an overworked and tall Latin woman. She placed her arm around Jane and grabbed her shoulder in support and solidarity. "What seems to be the trouble?"
"Your employee is about to have a seizure."
"Excuse ..." The sentence wasn't finished before Jane collapsed and started her convulsions in the woman's arms. Immediately another employee, Ruby, ran up to the manager as she was gently holding Jane into a lying position.
"Hey!" Sebastain spoke in his regular voice to the other employee. She looked at him with panic in her eyes. Must be her friend.Sebastain thought. "Put this in her mouth so she doesn't swallow her tongue and keep her shoulders pinned so she doesn't crack her skull."
Ruby took the wooden cylinder from the Sebastain, pausing to giggle at his beauty. He was a cross between a K-pop star and an Emo guitarist. A snap of his fingers and she was back to helping Jane.
Sebastain's father turned to him and said plainly "We can order from the app and pick up closer to home."
"That won't be necessary, just stop at the gas station and I'll get a white mocha from a bottle. That girl deserves some answers about what just happened."
"She ain't a girl, and no one gets what they deserve but if you want you can leave my card." Sebastain's father handed him his business card and Sebastain wrote a quick note on the back "for answers message me @vamfyboi555". He slapped the card on the counter getting a look from Ruby and walked out to meet his father.