Nice Teeth

This one goes out to the awkward in love.

Dr. Donald Connors gritted his perfect teeth as he tried to figure out how to “loosen his look” before going to spend his mandatory 5-hour shift at his sister Delilah’s coffee shop. Typically you would never catch him drinking coffee, and he frequently chastised his patients at his office about their choice of beverage whenever he examined their coffee-stained teeth. Now he was getting ready to don a purple apron with the nametag “Dr. Connors”. Donald liked rigidity, he found it comforting. He made a career in helping people keep their teeth perfectly straight and proper, and his love for the job reflected in the way he kept his own teeth (and life) the same. He was unmarried, no children, and perfectly happy that way �" he didn’t need any variables like that altering his securely predictable way of life. His sister and her daughter, Delilah and Lucy, were more than enough crazy for him. Despite his constant nagging about the dental crime of coffee, the mother-daughter business-savvy duo had opened a “vintage style” coffee shop named Coffee Stained in downtown Seattle, and had been begging him to come visit for some time now. He of course refused, but when he recently lost a bet (he’s sure it was a set-up) as to whether or not his niece could avoid eating any sweets for a week, Lucy had made him pay his due by agreeing to one shift at the shop. Being a man of his word, Donald agreed, and is now finding himself straightening his bowtie in the men’s room and preparing to take orders. It goes about as well as you would expect for the first hour and a half. Donald takes every order politely, as well as politely informing each customer exactly what their chosen drink will do to the color of their teeth. Finally, Donald’s sister steps in.

            “Donny, you have to stop telling customers the consequences of their coffee. At this point they already know, and they don’t care.” Delilah told him. Donald shrugs uncomfortably at his least favorite name.

            “Please don’t call me that. What kind of oral healthcare professional would I be if I didn’t inform them of what they were doing to their teeth?” Donald replied to her stiffly.

            “Oh, Donny. I will always call you that. You know it's pointless to ask me to stop. As for what kind of dentist that would make you? It would make you one whose sister will let him leave his shift early if he can get at least one customer to tip him.” Delilah replied with no small amount of manipulation in her look.

            “If you’ll excuse me.” Don says as he walks back to the register, motivated by the idea of going home earlier than he anticipated. The next few customers come through his line, and Donald keeps his mouth firmly shut about their oral health, eyeing them as they ignored the tip jar. He begins to get frustrated and takes a small break. His niece finds him in the bean room, where customers can pick and bag their own beans. The two of them don’t really say anything; Lucy knows that sometimes he just needs a minute to think. She stands next to him quietly and pats him on the back. After a few minutes she makes Donald look at her, and then points to her teeth with an exaggerated smile. Donald looks for a minute, and then rushes back to the register as her clue clicks with him. The next customer he receives is a woman that looks to be about his age, wearing a black pencil skirt, grey blouse, and a tight bun. The friend she comes in with nudges her towards the counter, and she smiles at him nervously.

            “Um, can I get a coffee please?” The woman asks Donald.

            “What kind?” Donald replies.

            “Um, I don’t really know what I should get. My friend made me bring her here for her birthday. She wants me try something new. I don’t really drink coffee.” The woman replies with another shy smile.

            “I can tell that you don’t, you have a beautiful smile, and perfect teeth.” Donald tells her, his own smile reflecting his sincerity. The woman starts to blush, and she and Donald continue to have a short conversation about their preference for tea. After ordering Earl Grey (Donald's personal favorite, coincidentally), she slips a tip into the tip jar along with a note that has her name (Dottie) and number written in beautiful cursive, and shines her pearly whites at Donald one more time before stepping away from the counter. As Dottie heads for a table near relatively close to the counter, her friend leans over and waves at Delilah and Lucy.

            "Piece o' sugar-free cake girls, wouldn't you say? I told you they'd be perfect for each other." She winked at Don, and then followed Dottie to their table. Delilah walks up and hugs Donald’s arm sheepishly.

            “See? Not so hard! A deal is a deal, you can leave - just promise not to be mad.” Delilah says.

            “I think I’ll stay. Some nice teeth here. Very nice teeth.” Donald says, not taking his eyes off Dottie and her friend as they chatted across the room. Lucy watches from behind the bean room door as her uncle stares at Dottie and her homeroom teacher, and she smiles. Mission accomplished.