That particular work day felt like it lasted a week, as Robin ran around taking people's orders and cleaning up after messy customers. She couldn't stop thinking about Ian the whole day. Her manager had even asked if she was feeling alright at one point. She was really grateful that he had taken the time to pick her up. Should she call him when she got off though? Or was that just asking for trouble? She wasn't sure. She balanced trying to decide whether or not to call him when she got off with overthinking about the past as she cleaned out the soda machine.
After that first day they met a year ago, Ian and Robin were together quite a bit. Ian would show Robin around the town and take her to all the secret little places that no one knew about. Her favorite was a coffee shop on the corner of a street of little brick houses. The shop looked like, well, a house. It was made out of the mix colored bricks of white, brick red, and black. It had shiny black shutters and a pale yellow door. And not a single sign that said it was a business. Robin remembered the first day Ian had showed it to her, a few weeks after settling into her apartment. It was about a 15 minute walk from Robin's apartment and when Ian stopped in front of it , Robin just stared at him.
"This is not a coffee shop!" She said
"That's what you think." He grinned.
"Are you planning on kidnapping me?" She said.
"Of course." He said.
He walked up the steps and made a motion for Robin to follow him. Ian opened the door and walked inside with Robin following.
"Ian!" A woman's high pitched southern accent said as he walked into a foyer with all sorts of "Drink Coffee" vintage signs on the walls. A woman of about 45 with dark curly hair pulled up in a bun came rushing over to give him a hug.
"Where have you been? You haven't visited our little coffee life in so long, darlin." She noticed Robin and said "Oh my, who is this beautiful creature?" Robin laughed and Ian winked at Robin.
"Mama M, this is Robin, she's a friend who just moved here from Miami. Robin, this is Mama M, she's my best friend from high school's mom and basically my second mother. She runs this "Mama M's Coffee Lifehouse","
"Nice to meet you!" They both said in unison. Mama M rushed to give Robin a hug.
Mama M then proceeded to show Robin around and tell her about the business. The rooms had all been transformed to look like a European coffee shop. There were a few people sitting at tables, some on dates, some working on computers. Mama M talked about how her dream had always been to start a coffee shop, but she hadn't been able to afford rent for it. Someone as a joke told her to start it in her house...Mama M loved the idea and ran with it. She talked on and on about the benefits of coffee. "And..." She added after telling Robin a list of all the good things coffee does for health, "Coffee is just so romantic. Isn't beauty?" She gave Robin a meaningful look and then kept on with showing her around. Robin turned a little pink and looked over at Ian who seemed to be paying a little too close attention to a painting of a latte. Mama M finished the story of how she started the coffee shop and said "And that my dear, is how to follow a dream. Or a calling, as I would call it. Are you a Christian deary?"
"Mama M." Ian said with a frown.
Robin, who hadn't talked about her faith at all around Ian the past two weeks she realized, said with a smile "Yes ma'am, I'm a Catholic."
"Oh... Catholic folk are nice folk. They believe in callings too don't they? Me, I'm an Evangelical. And I know God has us all pegged for something special. Right, Ian?" She shot an intense look at Ian.
"Er. Right." He took a moment to look at Robin with a look she couldn't decipher and then he coughed in the silence and went back to looking at the latte painting.
"He forgets. His momma said I'm allowed to remind him when she's not there to remind him. He may think he's a grown up, but he's still got learning to do like the rest of us." She said in a whisper as she lead Robin over to the counter that was built into the side of the wall.
Robin didn't really feel comfortable talking about someone she had just met with someone she had literally just met. So she changed the subject. She asked why there weren't any signs about the coffee shop out front.
"It's a small town. Who needs to spend the money on advertising when all the people I love will find out anyway? Can I get you something to drink?"
Robin laughed and asked for a caramel latte, Meeting Mama M that day really made her realize what a special place the town was and how God works in mysterious ways.
****
"Robin, STOP."
Robin snapped out of her memory and looked down to realize she had dumped way too much ice in the soda machine and it had poured all over.
"You've been out of it all day. I think it's time to clock out for the night." The manager said.
Robin cleaned up her mess and made her decision. She picked up her phone and dialed Ian's number.
"Hey, would you mind picking me up?
