vending machine | ethan torchio

iii

the sound of the coffee machine cutting down fresh beans made flavia's head pulse more persistently. she yawned, leaning against the bar in an attempt to keep her eyes open while doing a dreadful job.

in an ordinary world, not a whole lot of people sit down in cafés early in the morning. the italians on their peninsula, however, were an entirely different story. most of the working class didn't bother with breakfast considering the tight schedule they were running on, but a shot of espresso was a must to get them through first half of a day.

this was why flavia's morning shift began as early as 6 a.m. and occupied her with fills and refills for the next two to three hours. some were only after their energy boost for the day, others picked out a small croissant to go along with their drink and some were regulars that liked sorting out their online work in one of the cozy corners.

by the time her yawns have become uncontrollable, it was 9 and there was no longer a line forming in front of the local. marlena was one of the most visited and long-lived cafés on this side of rome, which was amazing considering the ever-changing economic climate. somehow their boss, signor rossi, moved his ship in these waters so effortlessly.

which didn't mean that he hesitated to lay off any worker that showed lacking when he was around. thomas, flavia's coworker for the day and something of a best friend, nudged her just as her head was starting to fall down on the counter. she moaned in annoyance, barely keeping her head up, which thomas took as an invitation to pinch her elbow.

flavia jumped, startled, and blinked the tears away from her tired eyes.

"i'm awake, i swear!", she said, turning to see if their manager or boss  were around. the café was fairly filled with people but no new orders were coming in.

"no sleep again, via?", thomas asked, shaking his head in fake disappointment.

"you're the one to talk", she said with a frown on her face. as far as she was concerned, they were having a full on contest on whose hair and face will look worse in the same shift. and thomas was always a competitive type.

he rolled his eyes. "i for one at least have a good enough excuse. practice was tough yesterday."

this she couldn't make fun on even if she wanted to. the band was one of the few remaining venting systems her friend had and something he really hoped would turn into a full-time career at some point. flavia attended their practice (at one of the member's garage but it was still better than nothing) a few times and even though she had very little sense of music and rhythm, she could tell that they had the potential.

"i think you need to take yourselves more seriously in order to make that whole thing work", she said as she started to clean the coffee machine for the hundredth time today. it was way past its prime period but still serving the purpose. "have you thought about x factor? their audition tryouts should start soon enough!"

"really, and what's next? winning sanremo? entire europe throwing itself in front of our boots?"

flavia looked from behind the machine and smiled from ear to ear as she saw the person that just sat herself in front of her.

"victoria!"

the beautiful blonde was one of thomas' band mates, no less than a bassist, but the two of them have been friends since middle school, which is about the same as forever ago. she and flavia naturally met through him and immediately clicked, teasing their younger friend any chance they got.

"i'm glad you're rooting, beautiful, but we're far from ready for any type of tv embarrassment. besides, going to x factor would mean that we'd have to come up with a name and that we just don't care about at the moment."

thomas and victoria liked to brag about there being no need for labels of any kind, but flavia knew them long enough to know what no name was code for.

"no one came to your drummer auditions again, huh?"

the way they both shook their heads while looking away almost made her feel guilty for asking.

"that's what happens when you rely on a facebook add. we keep paying that shit to hold up longer in hopes of anyone seeing and when the day rolls around... nothing!"

flavia pouted empathetically and started picking up dirty cups and plates to get them to the sink

"bacci! my office, twenty seconds!"

the shout almost made her drop everything but luckily she just froze and looked up at thomas who was now returning the favour of feeling for his friend. some part of her still thought that it was because he was glad the manager didn't pick him as today's victim.

"pray for me", she begged the two and rushed to the back of the local, since twenty seconds actually meant fifteen when it came to their manager.

***

three minutes. that's approximately how long it took that man to completely ruin flavia's day. not that it was going that great to begin with, but efforts could've been made if it wasn't for his preaching passed down in shouts and professional insults.

the rest of the morning was a blur and she did vaguely remember passing out on the couch as soon as she walked into the apartment. she woke up hours later, disoriented and feeling three years older, wondering if she should look for any gray hairs in the mirror.

she sighed, realising the day was wasted and that she was still in her work uniform, so she went on to take a shower and put on some fresher clothes. when she found the courage to look at the clock, it was some time past midnight and the papers on the table were calling out to her. the unfinished menu upgrade that she now hated with criminal passion.

sitting down, though, she couldn't help getting distracted every so often. what distracted her the most, however, was a can of cherry coke abandoned in the corner opposite of where she was seated. although empty, flavia couldn't bring herself to throw it out for some reason.

but whenever her eyes passed the can, her mind would go back to the moment it was still full and unopened, passed to her from strangely big hands that didn't look like they should be carrying fragile things.

what if, tonight...

no, no, she immediately shook that thought out and went back to staring at papers with ingredients and pictures from culinary magazines. but the minutes went by and she felt the familiar sting of curiosity poking her stomach and tying it in a tight knot more and more often, until she couldn't take it anymore.

picking up a jacket and a pair of sneakers, the same ones she jogged in last night, flavia walked out into the street convincing herself that boredom has once again gotten the best of her. or sugar craving. or both.

the walk was longer than she remembered it or she just walked slower than usually. she saw the familiar corner from faraway and stood for a moment to look at it from a distance. she was either going to regret this and feel like an idiot or walk away like she usually would, a drink in her hand and everything back to normal.

but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. not with a ridiculously perfect face popping out in her sights as soon as she turned the corner.