It was still dark out when Elisa Underwood opened her coffee shop, The Rest Stop. She had work to do. The day would start soon enough and she needed to be ready so that everyone else could be ready. She opened the door and locked it behind her.

She didn’t turn on too many lights, not needing to run up her electric bills. She walked into the back where the bakery was and turned those lights on. She turned on the ovens, having gotten the dough ready yesterday and put it into their fridge. She set them to the proper temperatures and waited for them to warm. Her first batches were bagels of different types and some cinnamon rolls.

While they baked, she started grinding her coffee beans. While that worked, she went through her store making sure that everything was in order and clean. The girls had done well the night before, they almost always did. If she found things less than ideal, she usually figured that there was some problem. Some idiot was causing problems.

The place that she set up was reflective of what she thought it would be like to have a peaceful mind. There were plants hanging from hooks in the ceiling. There were several tables lining the walls for two or four people. They were made of a nice, hardwood. The counter took up most of the back and to the right was the bathroom.

She got things ready, long rows of bagels and other pastries. Everything worked the way it was supposed to. With everything where it needed to be, she checked her phone. It was time to open. She turned the sign, clicked the lock and got behind the counter. She started a slow count to twenty and got to work. She prepared an onion bagel with cream cheese and a coffee with one sugar and two creams.

Brett Tomm, real estate agent extraordinaire came through the door.

“Onion bagel with cream cheese, coffee with one sugar and two creams,” they said together as Elisa held it up to him.

“You are a goddess,” he said as he pressed his credit card against the pinpad.

He hit the 20% for the tip and was out the door. Ready to make deals and help people find their homes. After he was gone, she started getting several lattes ready. A gaggle of cheerleaders came in on their way to their early morning practice. She handed them off to each of them. They thanked her and passed cash over to her.

Georgia Hartman came in next, dressed in her park ranger gear and ready to hit the trails. Large coffee black and a cinnamon roll.

“Watch out for the bears,” Elisa said.

“Watch out for low hanging ceiling beams,” Georgia said.

Elisa laughed as her old friend took her morning meal and left.

She started cooking a pair of eggs, some cheese and ham on the griddle. There was a small pile of hash browns cooking next to it. She applied a fair amount of salt, pepper and ketchup to the bagel. She wrapped everything up in a bag and threw in some ketchup packets as the bell over the door rang.

Chuck Trainor, quarterback of the local football team walked in. He was the star of the school but he was also quite and polite. Unless you did something wrong. Some out of towners had been causing problems in her shop one night. Being rude to the girls and making a mess. Chuck had been passing by with his girlfriend. He had stopped and Elisa had seen a look of fury on his face that she had never seen before. He yanked the door near off its hinges. He shouted at them with a voice like thunder. They had stopped to look at him. He ordered them in that same voice to clean up their mess and then give Elisa money as recompense. When they had left, his girlfriend had to comfort him as he did not like being angry. Elisa had made him a cinnamon roll as a thank you.

“Thank you miss,” he said as he took his bag and gave her the payment and a tip.

“You’re very welcome, Chuck,” she replied.

He gave her a slow nod and walked out of the store. After he was gone, a young woman entered. Elisa had never seen her before. She was short but given that Elisa was six feet and four inches tall, most people were short in comparison to her. The young woman was Asian and pretty with a round face and chipmunk cheeks. Her hair was a dusty brown. She was wearing comfy clothes, a zip up jacket and sweat pants. She looked at Elisa who was a tall white woman that reminded her of a corn stalk with her yellow hair at the top of her head being held down by a handkerchief. She was also wearing a dark blue apron, overalls and a t-shirt.

This would be fun.

“Hi, how can I help you?” Elisa said.

“Yeah, can I get a cinnamon roll, coffee and an egg, sausage and cheese bagel,” the young woman said.

“Let me get that going for you.”

“Thanks.”

While Elisa worked on the bagel fixings.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” the young woman asked.

“Sure,” Elisa said.

“Are people really lame about how tall you are?”

“Hunh, no one has ever phrased it like that.”

“Sorry, I just I’m on the road all the time and I’m bad at conversation.”

“I never said it was offensive. It’s just most people just make jokes about my height.”

“I think it’s cool. Wish I was that tall. Can you dunk?”

“I did get through college on a full basketball scholarship but I can’t dunk, no.”

“Dang.”

She started putting the bagel in the bag.

“What do you do?” Elisa asked.

“I’m a courier and truck driver,” the young woman said.

“Now that is cool.”

“Really? It’s just a job to me.”

“Yeah, but it must be nice to be out on the open road.”

“It is.”

“Are you going to be local around here or just passing through?”

“I just moved here so this is going to be like my home base.”

“Well, then I’ll be sure to have your items ready when you get here.”

“I shouldn’t be eating this every day.”

Elisa smiled at her.

“My name is Elisa Underwood,” she said.

“I’m Jenny,” the young woman replied.

The two shook hands.

“Be safe out on the road,” Elisa said.

Jenny gave her a long look.

“Yeah, see you soon,” Jenny said.

Jenny left and Elisa realized that she was behind schedule. She started preparing the next round of food and coffee while trying to get the butterflies in stomach to stop.