Heavy with Vintage Rings

The beginning might as well start with coffee. That is in fact how I start my day. Addy Manuel may seem ordinary now but let me prove to you, she is anything but.

In a blur, drinks transfer from hasty hands to sleep deprived ones. Talls for those calorie conscious, Grandes for the ones who happen to find a few extra dollars in their pockets, the Venti. It takes courage and most times sheer desperation to order a Venti. It always leaves the one who ordered feeling daring and rebellious. "One venti chai tea latte!" The consumer is met with looks of admiration and understanding from fellow Starbucks fiends. Ordering a drink of that magnitude can mean one of two things, hours of studying, or one last desperate attempt to improve ones life just a little bit with an overdose of caffeine. The massive mug passes from its maker, wearing a green apron and visor, to its petite buyer.
    "Merci." Jazz music ungulates and bounces up and down irregular scales as she mounts the stairs to the seating area. Taking a seat by the window she takes a long awaited sip of her purchase. The nutmeg, cinnamon, overcast sky and music instantly transports her back to Christmas in California.
    Six months before four friends took their seats at a coffee shop in their hometown, Railroad Square. The town was known for its long deceased train station and set of train tracks making it a prime destination for artistic souls in search of rugged, red brick and abandoned cabooses. Despite the hands on the clock insisting it was noon the dull gray sky and spin chilling fingers of wind made all day feel no later than eight. Huddled around lattes, chais and Italian sodas, Addy Manuel, Sue Hewitt, Caina Garn, and Tristan Chandler, gossiped and giggled while exchanging gifts. They were all happy then, they were young. They only saw light in their futures. Nothing that would suggest tragedy or hurt. Now separated by seas, mountains, and highways their only way of contact was through letters and emails, the occasional phone call and never ending posts on Facebook.
    Addy Manuel mindlessly played with her necklace looking out the Starbucks window at the bustling streets of Zürich, Switzerland. A venti chai tea latte warming her left hand. Tears threatened to fall. She closed them focusing all her attention on the nerves in her hand. She could have sworn she could feel every particle in the cermaic mug she held infront of her.
    Outside, a dark ethnic girl dragged hungrily on her European cigarette, her navy blue trench coat grazing the tops of her gray boots. Her white scarf and brown bag gave her a slightly less than sophisticated look. She sauntered over to a trash can, delicately placing her cancer stick within. The number fourteen tram pulled up and she was gone in one graceful stride. Off to some destination only tram fourteen could take her while a jazz piano sent a caffinated teen into a foggy sky of memories and jumbled thoughts. Was the reason for the cigarette because she lost her parents? Or walked in on her boyfriend with his "other girlfriend?" Or was it because she couldn't stand to be around her best friend who made her feel ugly and worthless? Addy took a swig of searing hot chai trying to erase her trip down memory lane which had so quickly gone sour.
    "Kann ich sitzen hier?" Addy jumped, shaky from her caffinated breakfast. Before her stood a tall, brunette girl about the age of nineteen, her perfectly manicured hand, heavy with vintage rings, on the back of the chair across from her. Addy`s German was not so good, her Swiss-German was even worse but she understood her newest acquaintance`s request.
    "Ja," she smiled, "Go ahead." The girl`s face lit up and looked as though she was about to say something but instead she pulled out the chair and sat down,
    "Danke." The two sat in silence, Addy practicing her German in her head and attempting to finish her drink before it went cold. "I`m sorry. I was wondering if you could help me?" Her accent was thick but her English not bad. She flipped around her laptop for Addy to see. On the screen was an application for the Club Med resort in Florida. "I just finished school and want to work here during my year off... before I go to the University," she explained, Addy nodded, kind of a cool idea.
    "What do you need help with?" the application looked pretty much filled out and ready to send off.
    "This," she pointed at the box labeled, Zip Code.
    "Oh!" Addy was proud she actually knew this one, "Postleitzahl." The girl flipped the computer back around to face herself,
    "I knew it! Dankevielmal. My name is Charlotte," she extended her hand across the table. Addy made a somewhat awkward reach,
    "Addy," she shook her hand. Did she just make her first friend in Zürich?

Author's Note

When writing I draw from real life experiences. Of course I will never say which is real and which is simply fiction. PLEASE give me writing advice:)

Reviews

[Amelie Poulain]

Ko!! This is amazing!! Really, really good and I am completely truthful!! I can tell which is true because I know you... Advice: gosh I can't think of anything... I can't wait to read more!!!

[Tumnus]

I don't know about writing advice (definitely a novice myself) but what I found striking when reading this was that you've taken a fairly classic story and made it your own by integrating very modern quirks, starbucks, laptops, facebook. The tale of the 'girl who leaves home' usually makes me think of battered suitcases, dusty train stations, etc, but the voice you've added to this is unique, a new retelling. I think this could work as a short piece, or as a continued story. I might be imagining the contrast between two eras, but I quite enjoyed it :)