I'll Make My Cup of Coffee [Adrian]

[Amelia Pace]

Amelia Pace had worked at the Talon Café for a little under two years. Once her mother had upped and moved her from Louisiana, she had to find a new job in St. Louis. She had been a waitress back in Baton Rouge so it made sense for her to seek the same profession up north (at least North of Baton Rouge). For the last two years Amelia and her mother had lived above a small Haberdashery, which was situated across the street from the café. On their arrival, the café had been advertising for Waitressing staff, and being new meat, Amelia had been a shoe in.

Over the two years Amelia had seen a number of things. Hectic, ‘I want to die in a corner now’ days, to ‘h my god if a person doesn’t walk through that door now I’ll blow my own brains out’ days. Today had been an ordinary day, not too busy, but with just enough custom to give Amelia something to do at any given moment. It was getting to that time of day that Amelia had come to enjoy the most since moving to St. Louis. The time where only a few people would grace the café and Detective Adrian Connery would sit in the corner to mull things over, working on his current case. She just made sure he got through his paperwork with a constantly supply of hot coffee and an apple and cinnamon muffin.

She couldn’t help it if she spent the time that Adrian was in the café ignoring the other customers. He was interesting to talk and not that bad to look at. She had managed to spill coffee over him a few times when she found herself a little bit too distracted with looking.


Amelia cleared same old abandoned coffee cups from a table by the window, and wiped the table over with a damp cloth. How some people could drink so much coffee she had no idea. But then, she would with it all day and was quite sick of it by the time she go hme. After her six day week she usually wanted nothing more than t never go back. But by Sunday evening she would miss her daily dose of the detective. Not that that was what she worked from, but it was enough.

For now, everybody was fed and coffeed. So she set her coffee jug back on the hot plate and stood behind the counter. Her colleague busied herself with the washing up. Any other time of day and Amelia would have been assisting but there was only her for front of house and somebody had to keep an eye on the punters. Plus, it was a well known fact that Amelia was the girl to deal with Adrian Connery, nobody ever mentioned it, but they all knew it.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, Amelia could see Adrian was late. Not that she worried too much. He didn’t arrive exactly on the dot each day, but nearly always. She’d give it five minutes and if he wasn’t there then, she’d worry – or feel slightly offended that he had given up and gone to find his coffee else where.

[Adrian Connery]

Stressed, that’s what he was, stressed beyond belief. Adrian fought against a particularly cold and powerful wind to get to his favourite cafe. He was in desperate need of the Talon’s coffee and amazing Apple and Cinnamon muffins after the day he’d had. Dealing with smug gangsters who knew they were going to walk free at the end of the day was a routine that the man was beginning to tire of.

No matter who he had arrested they always walked and it didn’t help that he suspected it was his own partner’s meddling that let the mobsters go. And now he had a briefcase full of criminal files so he could go through the same thing tomorrow. He would be grateful once he had a cup of warm coffee, a muffin and the excellent company that one of the waitresses there always provided. In fact he looked forward to another chat with her.

To Adrian the cafe’s door seemed to shine like a beacon in the dark and stormy evening light. It was his salvation, it and coffee. The bell of the door rang cheerily as he pushed through it into the warmth. He shivered as his body got used to the new temperature, the welcome smell of fresh coffee invaded his senses.

Automatically Adrian headed to his usual booth in one of the corners of the shop, oddly it was always empty and it was a good spot, not that that was a bad thing. Like he did almost every other day, the man pulled out case files and began to read and muse over them. Agitatedly he tapped on the table as he read so many dead ends and missing witnesses were making cases pile up.

His usual blonde haired waitress delivered his coffee and muffin and Adrian smiled at her gratefully. He felt bad that he couldn’t quite remember what her name was. She waitressed him every day and he still wasn’t sure what her name was.

“Thanks... Amelia?” he made an attempt at saying her name, at least he hoped it was her name. God that would be embarrassing if it wasn’t. He needed to distract her from the name thing and quickly as well as himself from his work. “Bit of a storm growing out there,” he said offhandedly. It was a pathetic attempt at conversation and to make sure he didn’t say anything else equally pathetic he began to pick at and eat the fresh muffin. “This muffin is the bee’s knees,” he remarked as he ate it.

[Amelia Pace]

Amelia loitered at the counter for anther minute before she spotted the detective across the street. She smiled to herself and plated his usual muffin and readied a cup so she didn’t look too prepared. She may have known his exact time of entry and order for everyday but she didn’t want to look like she was waiting for him – even if she was.

As he entered, she allowed herself to smile brightly in his direction and poured his coffee – freshly brewed just for him. She approached his table and places his order in front of him. His gratitude was welcomed and the correct attempt at her name. It wasn’t like she had a name badge and she had only introduced herself once. She jus had the knack for remembering things like that. “No worries, Adrian,” she replied, ”Anything else?” like normal she expected a ‘That’s all thanks’ but the one day she didn’t ask would be the day he wanted something.

”It’s been sketchy all day,” she admitted. It was what had kept her moderately busy – people sheltering from the rain. The sky was a horrible shade of grey, full of clouds, threatening to pelt the world below with their contents. People were still out in the streets, umbrellas at the ready. Once the first drop fell the street would be littered with black blobs moving back and forth before her.

She smiled at him, ”Freshly baked everyday,” she added with her adopted Louisiana drawl. After two years of living north of her hometown, Amelia was starting to lose it. But occasionally she would slip back into it. ”You had a good day so far, Detective?” she asked politely, quickly checking if the customers around her wanted anything. The Lord was in her side – they didn’t.

[Adrian Connery]

“No, that’s all thanks,” Adrian answered politely, living up to her expectations. He wondered why Amelia even bothered to ask him. Every time he was asked if he wanted anything else the answer was always the same. She should have known that by now but the man supposed the day she finally didn’t ask would be the day he decided he wanted something more than just an amazing tasting muffin and a nice hot cup of coffee. Both of which he was enjoying very much; they were his favourite parts of his day.

He threw a quick glance at the outside world again, following Amelia’s gaze. The sky was looking even more ominous now he had the light of the cafe to compare it with. Hopefully the heavens wouldn’t open up until after he’d walked back to the station to get his car. It wasn’t that he minded getting a little wet; it was his briefcase that worried him. Last time he’d been caught out in the rain water had gotten into it and ruined several case files. It had been a fun night at the typewriter trying to re-write them that night.

“As good as could be expected in this line of work,” Adrian answered Amelia politely with a smile. For a moment he couldn’t help but let his gaze linger on her for a moment. She was most definitely a looker and he’d recognised the slight accent. “Why don’t you have a seat, if you can that is?” he beckoned to one of the empty seats at his table. He hoped that she stayed; he could really use a friendly face. “You born on the Bayous, around Baton Rouge way?” he enquired curiously. Moving some of the files out of the way for her if she decided to join him.

[Amelia Pace]

She smiled, just as she had expected. He was a very predictable man, not that there was anything wrong with that. ”Well, if you change your mind, you know where I am,” she said with a smile. Most of her day she spent forcing the smile onto her face, whatever mood she was in she had to smile at people, and make them feel like she wanted them there. It was a skill she had developed over the years.

”Oh, but I’m exceptionally busy with all these people that I have to serve,” she replied sarcastically, looking pointedly at the old couple in the corner, one of which was attempting to sip their coffee, then she looked at the mid-forties man who was sat at the counter, ”I guess I could spare you a couple of minutes,” she said, slowly pulling her order pad and pen out of the pouch in her white apron and resting them down on the table, sitting down in the seat opposite Adrian.

”That’s me,” she answered, ”My aunt moved us up here when my Mom died,” she lied, like she had to every other person she had met up here. It made her life easier, in many ways. People weren’t as quick to judge, taking her as a person not the illegitimate child of a teenage mother. Lying came so easily to Amelia now, she had been quite impressed with herself with how easily she had done it. She’d say I was in her blood but her mother was a bit hopeless. Instead of lying, she tended to pretend that she didn’t exist.

[Adrian Connery]

Absently Adrian shuffled through some of the files in front of him and took a sip from his coffee. The bitter liquid felt good and the taste, as always, was amazing especially as the coffee blended with the cinnamon of his muffin. Once again he smiled appreciatively at Amelia, without her and the Talon Cafe he wouldn’t know what to do with himself after work. He chuckled at her sarcastic remark about the patrons and glanced at the almost empty cafe. “In that case I get you all to myself,” he smiled at her and laughed. It wasn’t long before he began to grow more than a little self-conscious. Agitatedly he ran a hand up through his hair then began to tap the table.

It felt awkward to hear about her mother. In the past five minutes he’d learnt more about her then he’d ever bothered to before. “I’m really sorry about your mom,” Adrian said quietly, smirking. Such personal information was making him feel compelled to share something about himself. “If it’s any consolation both my parents are dead,” he said quietly, glancing sympathetically at her. Now it was really awkward. He coughed and tried desperately to try and think if something to say. “So... how has St. Louis been treating you compared to the Bayous? You wouldn’t happen to know the last name Roe from back in Louisiana ?” he threw the name out there curiously. It was the last name of the mother of Edward Heatley, Cajun from the same area and suspected gang hitman.

He shouldn’t be asking about work, Amelia most definitely did not look like one who would be caught up in the underworld of St. Louis and just because she was from Louisiana didn’t mean she’d know who he was talking about. “On second thoughts, never mind,” he dismissed with a wave of his hand. Adrian needed more conversation but checking her out fully was starting to distract him. Why hadn’t he paid her much attention before was beyond him.

[Amelia Pace]

’That you do,’ Amelia thought to herself, and she didn’t mind at all. She just hoped that the idiot customers didn’t decide that they suddenly needed her to refill their coffee or a bus full of people didn’t arrive gasping for a cup. She’d just try and pretend she didn’t work there if they did. She remained silent whilst she watched Adrian ruffle his own hair and still fidgeting. Tapping on the table tops was one thing that annoyed her, especially when it was on the front bar, it was like they were trying to boss her around – that and clicking at her. She made a point of ignoring customers who clicked at her.

”It’s okay. It happened a while ago,” she would have continued to tell him how her Mom pretty much sucked anyway, but she felt her jaw drop, ”I’m sorry to hear that,” now she felt bad, she still had her Mom, technically. Even if she was lousy and a waste of time and liked to pretend that Amelia really wasn’t her daughter – charming that was.

”Life here is good. I prefer it to Louisiana, it gets far too warm down there,” that and here people didn’t get her dirty looks for her family – here they pitied her because she was supposedly an orphan. ”Roe? No, don’t think so. I didn’t really know too many people.” she answered truthfully, laughing to herself as he told her to forget about it.

She smiled meekly at him, he was watching her and she was fully aware of it, so she briefly ran her eye over the café - nobody needed her, ”So then, Detective, why d’you come here every day?” she asked flippantly, return her eye contact to him and offering him a warm grin.