Cynthia approached the counter. Behind was a bearded older man. He had white hair and wrinkly skin. His white dress shirt and black apron hung loosely from his thin frame. Next to him stood an older white lady with her curly hair dyed an unnatural orange. The sentence on her phone red “The cashier is has been working with Ethyl for seven months.”
“Hey,” said the cashier gruffly. “Eyes off your phone. Whaddya want, kid.”
Taken aback and annoyed by his rudeness Cynthia sputtered an order. “Uh. Just bottle of water and a green salad is fine.” She quickly paid and waited as the man turned to fill her order. He needed an attitude adjustment. Grinning, she changed working to pregnant.
The older woman vanished. The cashier turned around to hand Cynthia her order. She was now quite a bit younger, maybe thirty. Her dark black hair was pulled into a neat bun. Her white dress shirt covered her large breasts and tented out over her swollen abdomen. She smiled as she handed the order to Cynthia. “Thanks for coming in,” she said, smiling.
“Of course,” responded Cynthia. “How’s your day?”
“Oh. Could be better. When it rains it pours. My coworker couldn’t come in today because her son started turning catgirl this morning, poor dear. So here I am, seven months pregnant and working away.”
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that!” she said with a gasp.
“It is what it is, kid” she responded, wrinkling her nose. “Enjoy your salad.”
Cynthia grabbed her food and walked over to join Tiff and Joe. Sitting, she surveyed the rest of the cafe. At one table a man in his late twenties was grading papers, probably a grad student. At another were two muscular students and two catgirls, engaged in conversation. Finally, at a third table was a glum looking man and woman, looking like they might be having an argument.
As she sat she greeted Tiff and Joe again. Tiff then launched into annoying anecdote while Cynthia pretended to listen, all the while playing with the app on her phone