A Local Coffee Shop

I put the book and my pen into my rucksack, then headed into town. This place is one of those chain coffee shops, and while the coffee isn’t all that good I am pretty sure I’ll find somebody who has forgotten to bring their money out with them, or their card is declined, and I can treat them to a coffee by slipping some cash in their pocket or something.

I sit down near the counter with my coffee and my book on the table.

It doesn’t take long before I have my target. A short woman wearing a pinstripe business outfit is at the counter. She has already been tutting and complaining because there is a bit of a queue, grumbling about how long it takes to make a coffee around here, they should let her just come around to the machine, she could do it herself much better and quicker, the only reason she comes in here is because it’s on her way to work.

She’s on her phone while the barista is taking her order. The barista is patient, but I can see that he doesn’t really have time for this. She’s talking to whoever is on the phone while he tries to take her order, and I know it’s going to go wrong.

Sure enough, she takes a sip of her coffee as she walks away, and spits it out on the floor. She storms back to the counter. ‘This is dairy, I wanted oat milk. What is wrong with you? I waited for half an hour to get this shit, and how do you know I don’t have an allergy…’

I zone out. I don’t like her at all, and I feel really bad for the barista having to deal with her. I decide to help him out.

While she’s talking I have an idea, and write my notes. When I close the book an eerie silence suddenly descends on the room. Everybody is frozen in position. That was my idea. I stopped time, and it seems to have worked. I have no clue if I’ve stopped time in this café, or in this town or country or the planet or the entire universe. All I wrote was ‘Zanzibar realised that time had stopped, and everything and everybody apart from him was suspended in this moment.’ I know this is not exactly starting small, but I’ve done it now. I don’t know how it works, I suppose I should try to ensure I don’t accidentally destroy the universe with this sort of nonsense, but fuck it.

The main thing is I’m going to do a good thing, and help the barista. And I’m going to do this by dealing with this rude woman.