Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

Cian had received a phone call from the occult shop telling him the things he'd ordered had arrived in. He had stayed overnight in Vegas and had spent the day working on the new diesel truck the owner of the casino had picked up 'for a bargain', understanding why the price had been so low. He sometimes wondered how a man smart enough to build a business the size of the casino was able to be taken for a ride by a car salesman like he had in this instance. He'd finally cleaned himself up and headed over to the shop, making it just before closing, and picking up the order. Not having eaten all day he decided to eat at the cafe next door before heading back down to Cottonwood Cove and the marina.

He went inside the Cool Beans and sat down, giving the menu a quick look, deciding fairly quickly what he would have.

Comments

[maddy_ricks]

"Be with you in just a sec," said Maddy. She stood on tiptoes to retrieve a couple of novelty mugs for another customer, who doled out three bucks apiece for the purchase. She closed the cash drawer and headed to the table, restoring the flipped corner of an oriental area rug on her way. She recognized the man's posture before the face and remembered him as the guy who kept looking at her necklace. "Hey you're back," she said. Maddy stretched her memory for other details. "Ireland doesn't smell like patchouli but your house did. You going stag tonight or should I come back?"

[cian_oneill]

Cian looked up and smiled, amused that she should remember those things.

"Good memory there, no wonder y' doin' so well with y' French," he replied with a grin. "I'm here on m' own, again," he continued, indicating the bag on the floor at his feet, marked with the logo of the occult shop next door. "Just had t' collect some things, then heading back home."

[maddy_ricks]

"Well, valued customers tip more," she said with a smile. So he, too, remembered details. Maddy balled her fists into the pocket of her apron and pressed downward to stretch her arm and shoulder muscles. "So what sounds good?" The bell jangled on the door and she took a quick gander at their backs and their abandoned table. Next to the check, there was a wad of battered bills and some change.

[cian_oneill]

"Some of those sandwiches, say three?" he answered, casting a quick glance in the direction she had looked then looking back at the cabinet with the food on display. "And if y' got any of that lemon meringue pie, I'll 'ave a slice too."

[maddy_ricks]

"Three sandwiches. Wow." Maddy nodded. "Your stomach means business. Back in a sec." She went to the small kitchenette and placed his sandwiches on a plate. She grabbed a dish of pie, rolled silverware, and a cup of coffee, all of which she balanced carefully as she wove back to his table. Depositing the items was harder than picking them up and walking with them. "Heeeeeere ya go. If you need me, I'll be over there, pretending not to read a book under the counter."

[cian_oneill]

He reached up and helped her unload the food, taking the cutlery before they became lethal weapons in the unloading process. "Thanks, and uh, enjoy not readin' y' book," he chuckled putting the cutlery roll down on the table. As she walked away he picked up one of the sandwiches and basically demolishing it in a moment.

His appetite was big at the best of times, but having not eaten all day he was fairly hungry.

[blackirish]

Mike supressed a yawn as he walked through the door. Running the Dive kept him up into the wee hours of the morning most nights, but that was the price one paid for a career in the bar business. It was especially true when you were the owner and trying to keep costs down by doing a lot of the work yourself. So he'd only been up a short while before making his way into his favorite breakfast spot in Vegas.

He surveyed the place when he came in, deciding where to sit, and found his normal spot occupied. Giving a mental shrug he made his way over to the counter and plopped on a stool. "Mornin'"

[maddy_ricks]

After returning to the counter, Maddy had climbed onto a stool and cracked open her paperback. Now she tucked it into a shelf by her knees. "Hey, Mike." As a regular at the Dive -- onstage and off -- she was on first-name basis with the guy who signed their check. Today he looked a little worse for wear.

"Regular coffee or hair of the dog? Don't tell the boss, but I'm packing."

[blackirish]

"Hmm, tough choice." Mike rubbed his jaw, absently noting that he really ought to shave. Don Johnson he was not. "A bit early, but I think a little Irish coffee wouldn't go amiss today. The boss doesn't have to know." He'd done worse at earlier times of day over the years, one leaded coffee wouldn't kill anyone.

[maddy_ricks]

She poured a cup of steaming coffee, laced it from her stash, and passed it to Mike with a small jug of cream and a dish of sugar. She laid a spoon on a napkin. "Let me know if you want some food."

At that, she plucked a laminated menu and left him to his sleep-deprived thoughts.

[blackirish]

Mike studied the menu for a few minutes as he sipped his coffee, not touching the cream or sugar. His stint in the Navy had cured him of the habit of adding things to his coffee - other than the occasional dash of alcohol - and he"d never gotten back into it.

It was getting late in the day but he still was in the mood for breakfast food. "Maddy, could you sweet talk the cook into rustling up some pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs?" Not the healthiest meal in the world but he'd eat an apple later as his in between meal snack. "I'd owe you one."

[maddy_ricks]

Maddy didn’t look up. “It’s a coffee shop, not a diner, Mike,” she said. “I don’t order pizza at the Dive.” And she wouldn’t. Bleh. “We’ve got sandwiches, baked goods, and a microwave.” She licked her finger and turned a page in her brand new copy of a Dean Koontz book.

[blackirish]

"Yeah I guess you're right." Mike sighed, a bit disappointed. See if he did her any favors at the Dive if she asked. Oh well.

"How about two of those big blueberry muffins then?" And no microwave, I don't trust those things."

[maddy_ricks]

She prepared the muffins for him, as well as a pat of butter on each dish. "Here ya go." She needed to deliver the bill to a small group of customers in a booth by the wall. But before leaving the counter, she called, "Hey, Irish, you need anything?"

Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

Cian looked up about to say he'd have another cup of coffee when the door opened and a large group of eight walked in. The table next to Cian was the only one available and it only seated four, so he stood up, collected his plates and cup and carried it across to the counter, letting the large group descend on his table and begin to rearrange the furniture to accommodate them all.

He slid onto the stool one down from the man sitting there, giving him a friendly nod as he waited for Maddy to return to the counter. He glanced over his shoulder at the group, a loud voice telling them all to pipe down so their order could be taken.

"At least someone is in charge, or thinks they are," Cian chuckled half to the man next to him, half to himself as he turned back to the counter.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[blackirish]

Mike glanced over at the other man, lips curled upwards in shared amusement. "It's more a case of them thinking they are if the noise level is any clue." Indeed, the newcomers didn't seem remotely inclined to pipe down and kept on talking, yelling over each other to give their orders.

"I think they may have already killed their hearing."

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

"She should be able to t' wrangle some sorta order int' 'em, or outta them!" Cian laughed, looking over his shoulder as the waitress started to take control of the situation and and eventually get them sorted out. A relative calm seemed to fall across the place as the noise was reduced to just one voice at a time.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[blackirish]

"So she has." Mike observed, taking a sip of his coffee after finishing off a muffin. He sat the mug down and extended a hand to the younger man. "Mike Mackenna. You're a long way from the six counties." Mike had spent enough time on the Island to generally tell when someone was from the south or the north, and while it was subtle he could hear the clues in the other man's accent.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

"Cian O'Neill," the Were replied, shaking the other man's hand and eyeing him carefully, trying to place his accent. "I've been on the road f' a while, takin' in the sights," he continued, looking down at his empty coffee cup and then back at Mike.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[blackirish]

"Yeah?  I did that myself after I got out of the Navy."  Mike didn't throw his service around all the time, but it led into the current topic.  "Spent ten years going around the world seeing the sights, I spent almost three of them in Ireland."  Or based out of Ireland anyway, occasionally travelling over to England or the continent as the need arose. 

"How long have you been in the 'States?"

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

"About five years, give or take," Cian replied. "Mainly up north originally, but found m' way down here almost a year ago." He glanced over his shoulder at where the waitress was still wrangling the rabble, his empty coffee cup in his fingers as he wondered whether he'd be able to reach the coffee pot himself to refill his cup.

"You a local?"

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[blackirish]

"These days." Mike told him with a shrug.  "I like the weather a lot more than I like Boston's!  I run a music club called 'The Dive' here in town."

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

Cian nodded, "I've heard o' it, can't recall havin' visited. What kind o' music?" he asked, trying to recall where he'd heard the name.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[blackirish]

"Mostly Punk and Heavy Metal," Tom shrugged.  "Not exactly my cup of tea, but it seems to draw more people than anything else.  The kids love it."

His own tastes ran more toward bands like the Stones when he was in the mood for rock, or the Chieftains when he wanted a taste of the ancestral homeland.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

"Guess if y' runnin' it f' a business y' got to cater to the crowd," Cian replied, knowing now where he'd heard the name, but hadn't felt any interest in going. "No' my type o' music. Hurts m' ears," he grinned, shaking his head and tugging at his ear.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[blackirish]

"Earplugs are our friends." Mike nodded sagely.  "And the ones who come to Metal and Punk concerts like to buy a lot of beer and aren't stuck up wanting creature comforts like the yuppies are, so it all works out."

One day maybe he'd find himself a neighborhood bar someplace who's owner was looking to retire.  Or he'd quit the business altogether.  What he wouldn't be doing is running the Dive when he was fifty.  But who knew what sort of music would be popular with the kids then?  For all he knew folk music could make a comeback and that would be a lot closer to his speed, certainly easier on the ears.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

"Then y' do what keeps the payin' customer happy," Cian agreed, knowing he had to turn it on sometimes to keep the clients happy for his boss. At least it didn't damage any of his senses, like that sort of noise did. "And I know what y' mean about earplugs. Use 'em m'self." If he didn't the diesel motors would have sent him crazy a long time ago.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[blackirish]

"So what do you do Cian?" Mike asked before starting on his second blueberry muffin.  If he needed earplugs then he had to be doing something loud, and he had a blue collar look about him.  "Construction?"  Vegas was constantly renewing itself and growing at the same time, there were thousands of people working in the construction industry here.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[cian_oneill]

"Work down th' marina at Cottonwood Cove. Fix the boats, drive them when they need a skipper," he answered. Another glance over his shoulder and he gave Mike a grin then reached over to the coffee machine and picking up the pot. Refilling his mug he offered the other man one too.

Re: Cool Beans Coffee Shop

[blackirish]

Mike grinned. "I won't tell if you won't." He accepted the offer of a refill and topped off his cup, giving the other man a coffee cup salute after taking a sip.

"So, small boats huh?  I go down to the Cove every now and again, it's been a few months though.  How long have you been there?"  

[cian_oneill]

"Comin' up for a year, almost," Cian answered. "Days vary, dependin' on if there's skipper work, or just maintenance. Workin' weekends on a regular rotation sees me getting days off durin' the week." He liked the flexibility, not having to cater to anyone else's timetable. "You'd know how that is."

[blackirish]

"I do." Mike nodded. "The restaurant and bar business is in the blood and it's the same there. My father runs a bar back home in Boston and a cousin back on the other side of the pond runs the pub that's been passed down the generations over there. You never get a whole day off in this business as the boss except Sunday."

[cian_oneill]

"Mine tends t' be Thursday. Seems t' be the day people least like t' cruise," he said, "no idea why, but weekends 'r the tourist days. Just 's well 'm not lookin' f' confession."

[blackirish]

"Can't say I do either, but Sundays and Mondays are the lightest days of the week in the restaurant industry." Mike shrugged. "Weekends you get the tourists and the locals wanting to be on the lake, I'm not surprised its busier then."