My mind raced, I couldn't think straight. The whole time standing in line to receive my "gift" or whatever you want to call it, I was worried I'd trip walking across the stage and causing all possible suitors to scoff and my clumsiness. You see, I am a very clumsy human being, I trip on air at least once a day. My mother told me I would never get married if I couldn't learn some balance. I have tried all my 17 years of walking to learn, but it's harder than it looks.
Anyway, the line moved closer and closer to the stage and before I knew it, it was my turn. "Abigail Reed," the voice called. I took a deep breath and walked up the stairs. Carefully choosing my steps, I made my way to the center of the stage. Blinded by the lights, I stood, anxiously awaiting my future. "Your soul mate's first words to you will be 'Welcome to Starbucks, how may I help you?'"
A quiet murmur arose from the crowd, a ringing began in my ears and I stood frozen for a second. I soon remembered to walk off the stage. My mind was racing as I stepped off the last step. The good news was that I made if on and off the stage without tripping, but the bad news was that I had absolutely no idea how to discern who my soul mate was based on this information. Everyone else received words like "My dog can't stand to sit any longer, would you like to take a walk with me?" Those people were the lucky ones, they would have no question if that was who they were meant to be with.
I, on the other hand, would probably never go to a Starbucks again, unless absolutely necessary, hoping that I would meet my soul mate a different way. They tell you that doesn't happen; they say the only way to meet your soul mate was for them to say those exact Words to you. The trick was to just live your normal life and it would happen to you. You don't know when, you don't know how, and you don't know what the person will look like. You might not meet them until the day you die, but you also might meet them the day after the ceremony.
I followed the hallway down to the room set up for all of us. We could chat and discuss the Words given to us, but the time was mostly spent sitting silently, thinking of all the places these Words could be said to us. I found an empty chair on the backside of the room against the wall. The room was soundproof, making it impossible to hear what your friend's Words would be.
My friend Lauren was sitting on the same side of the room as me, so she walked over and asked what my Words were.
"'Welcome to Starbucks, how may I help you?'" I replied.
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Wow," she said, "how vague."
"I know. What were your Words?"
"Um, they were 'I think you're in my seat, do you mind scooting over?'"
"That's... odd," I replied, trying to lighten my own spirits, I joked, "are you going to purposely sit in the wrong seat every time you go to the theater?" We laughed.
"I thought about it!" she replied, "What about you? Are you going to go into every Starbucks you see?"
"I was more thinking about avoiding it." She asked why. "I don't want to go into every Starbucks and think that every person who works the register is my soul mate. I'd rather die alone than make a mistake every time I get a latte. What would I even say? 'Hey, that's what my soul mate's supposed to say to me!' Talk about embarrassing!"
"But what if 'That's what my soul mate's supposed to say to me' is what their soul mate's supposed to say to them?" she asked.
I laughed thinking about the sheer awkwardness of the situation and decided it was time to change the subject, "What about you? What are you going to do when someone asks you to move seats?"
"I don't know. I've thought about it a long time and I can't decide what would be best. Whether I play it cool and move over or if I say something witty about him being my soul mate. I wish they would tell us what we're supposed to say."
"Wouldn't that be nice?"
By this time, the room had filled up quite nicely and there were no empty seats. We were squished in there, but the noise level was low, the only talking was the quiet murmur of friends comparing Words. As the last person entered the room, the same voice who announced our Words came over the speaker saying, "Congratulations to all, you have been given a great gift, use this knowledge wisely and keep your ears open, but don't expect to hear from your soul mate right away. Go back to your families and live your lives as normal, enjoy this time in your life, you will never have such mystery again."
We all slowly filed out of the room and headed to the front lawn of the building where our families were waiting for us.
Looking around for the tallest people on the lawn, I found my family. I was the shortest of them and they never let me forget it. Now there were these vague Words that I've been given and I knew my brothers would be saying them to me every time we went somewhere and passed a Starbucks. I thought about moving out and leaving town just to escape the confusion and ridicule that might come with a mistake.
My parents greeted me with a hug and said encouraging words meant to sooth me. It wasn't working. The ride home was long and quiet with only male voices spouting insults and jokes at each other. They would raise their eyebrows at me every time we'd pass a Starbucks, sometimes saying thinks like "What if your soul mate was in there right now?" Shrugging them off, I'd look the other way. They were all older than me and unmarried. None had met their soul mates, and I doubt they were worried about it.
Then next few weeks I explored other coffee shops in town, trying to find a barista who could make my favorite drink the way I liked it, like the one at the closest Starbucks. So far I had struck out. I thought about swearing off coffee, but that idea was quickly shut down the next morning when the only tea we had was caffeine free and a headache started to set in. I suffered through the bitter taste of the black drip coffee my mom made and would head off to whatever I had to do that day. I did this for a month.
My parents discouraged my actions, telling me that I wasn't supposed to change my behavior because of the Words. I couldn't help it though.
Lauren had already met her soul mate. It happened a week after being told when she saw Much Ado About Nothing in the theater. Her and her soul mate did everything together so I never saw her or talked to her. I became better friends with someone else from work to fill the space Lauren left. As far as I knew, we were no longer friends.
I longed for the day I found my soul mate, or at least someone I could bond with over the search for our soul mates so I wouldn't miss Lauren so much. She called me about a month later and wanted to meet for coffee. I was elated when she asked to hang out, I tried to convince her that we should get lunch or something other than coffee, but she was adamant about meeting at the Starbucks by my house at the same table we used to sit at every week. I was reluctant to go, but agreed anyway.
I arrived late, as usual, and saw that Lauren was already at our table and she waved enthusiastically. I smiled back and walked over, skipping the coffee line.
"Aren't you going to order something?" Lauren asked. I said I wasn't thirsty and sat down. "Why not? There's a cute guy working the register."
"That's why," I replied, "I'm not in the mood to find love," I forced a laugh and looked away. We sat in silence for almost a minute before one of the baristas called Lauren's name to get her drink.
"You should order something," Lauren said when she came back, "please? It would make me happy."
"Fine," I said, "If it makes you happy." So I stood in line, yawning every couple of minutes. Maybe I really did need the coffee. The man in front of me finished paying for his drink and walked towards the pick-up counter; it was my turn. Taking a couple steps forward, I glanced at the guy at the register, mostly keeping my eyes on the menu.
"Welcome to Starbucks, how may I help you?" he asked. My face burned as the redness traveled down from my forehead, I smiled awkwardly as best as I could manage. My voice shook as I gave him my order. "Can I get a grande mocha with an ounce of orange flavoring with cinnamon sprinkled on top? And can you make it a little less hot than normal drinks please?"
The look on his face made me nervous. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open. His coworker nudged his elbow after what felt like an eternity. I didn't know what to do, this guy could be my soul mate or just a regular Starbucks worker who thought my order was super weird.
"I - I" he stumbled over his words, "I think you're my - my," he struggled to get the last word out, clearly as nervous as I was, "soul mate." A slight smile came to my face as I accepted the events for what they were: a miracle. "I'm Alexander," he stuck out his hand awkwardly. I introduced myself and shook it. "Nice to meet you Abigail," he said.
His manager yelled at him to get the line moving again, but when I looked back at the people behind me the women were starry eyed and were whispering to their friends about us with smiles on their faces. The men seemed oblivious to what was happening and didn't care that the line was held up. "Will you come back at 3 o'clock? My shift ends then and I'd like to talk to you some more."
I agreed. My hands, shaking noticeably, extended my debit card to pay for my drink. "It's on me," he held up his hand to decline my card, "but you have to come back and see me."
His manager yelled something at him again, so I quickly said. "Thank you. I will be back."
Lauren and I enjoyed girl talk about what we expect our lives to be like from now on, and we left around 1:00. I came back at 3:00, like Alexander asked. He saw me as he counted his till, waved, and smiled to himself as he looked back down. My face grew hot and I could tell I looked of roses. I picked out a spot on a comfy chair in the corner and waited.
He finished up his closing duties, took off his apron, and came over to me. I stood up, he greeted me, and we walked outside.
It seamed so awkward, to have met the person I was destined to be with. I was clumsy and would stumble over my words. But so would he. I would say something to impress him, bending the truth just a little, but then I would have to come clean later on, as casually as I could, as if I remembered a detail that made that one extravagant part untrue. But so did he. It was awkward as we realized we had walked around downtown for almost two hours, and I panicked as I new I would be late for dinner. I also panicked because I knew I would have to tell my family, but I didn't tell Alexander just how nervous I was. He told me not to worry, that he would take me home. It was awkward as he opened my side of his car door and walked me to my front door. But what was the most awkward was how not awkward the next event was. As he leaned in and kissed my cheek, I expected my face to flame up, for my voice to get shaky again, but none of my worst fears came true. It all seemed so... natural.
A quiet murmur arose from the crowd, a ringing began in my ears and I stood frozen for a second. I soon remembered to walk off the stage. My mind was racing as I stepped off the last step. The good news was that I made if on and off the stage without tripping, but the bad news was that I had absolutely no idea how to discern who my soul mate was based on this information. Everyone else received words like "My dog can't stand to sit any longer, would you like to take a walk with me?" Those people were the lucky ones, they would have no question if that was who they were meant to be with.
I, on the other hand, would probably never go to a Starbucks again, unless absolutely necessary, hoping that I would meet my soul mate a different way. They tell you that doesn't happen; they say the only way to meet your soul mate was for them to say those exact Words to you. The trick was to just live your normal life and it would happen to you. You don't know when, you don't know how, and you don't know what the person will look like. You might not meet them until the day you die, but you also might meet them the day after the ceremony.
I followed the hallway down to the room set up for all of us. We could chat and discuss the Words given to us, but the time was mostly spent sitting silently, thinking of all the places these Words could be said to us. I found an empty chair on the backside of the room against the wall. The room was soundproof, making it impossible to hear what your friend's Words would be.
My friend Lauren was sitting on the same side of the room as me, so she walked over and asked what my Words were.
"'Welcome to Starbucks, how may I help you?'" I replied.
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Wow," she said, "how vague."
"I know. What were your Words?"
"Um, they were 'I think you're in my seat, do you mind scooting over?'"
"That's... odd," I replied, trying to lighten my own spirits, I joked, "are you going to purposely sit in the wrong seat every time you go to the theater?" We laughed.
"I thought about it!" she replied, "What about you? Are you going to go into every Starbucks you see?"
"I was more thinking about avoiding it." She asked why. "I don't want to go into every Starbucks and think that every person who works the register is my soul mate. I'd rather die alone than make a mistake every time I get a latte. What would I even say? 'Hey, that's what my soul mate's supposed to say to me!' Talk about embarrassing!"
"But what if 'That's what my soul mate's supposed to say to me' is what their soul mate's supposed to say to them?" she asked.
I laughed thinking about the sheer awkwardness of the situation and decided it was time to change the subject, "What about you? What are you going to do when someone asks you to move seats?"
"I don't know. I've thought about it a long time and I can't decide what would be best. Whether I play it cool and move over or if I say something witty about him being my soul mate. I wish they would tell us what we're supposed to say."
"Wouldn't that be nice?"
By this time, the room had filled up quite nicely and there were no empty seats. We were squished in there, but the noise level was low, the only talking was the quiet murmur of friends comparing Words. As the last person entered the room, the same voice who announced our Words came over the speaker saying, "Congratulations to all, you have been given a great gift, use this knowledge wisely and keep your ears open, but don't expect to hear from your soul mate right away. Go back to your families and live your lives as normal, enjoy this time in your life, you will never have such mystery again."
We all slowly filed out of the room and headed to the front lawn of the building where our families were waiting for us.
Looking around for the tallest people on the lawn, I found my family. I was the shortest of them and they never let me forget it. Now there were these vague Words that I've been given and I knew my brothers would be saying them to me every time we went somewhere and passed a Starbucks. I thought about moving out and leaving town just to escape the confusion and ridicule that might come with a mistake.
My parents greeted me with a hug and said encouraging words meant to sooth me. It wasn't working. The ride home was long and quiet with only male voices spouting insults and jokes at each other. They would raise their eyebrows at me every time we'd pass a Starbucks, sometimes saying thinks like "What if your soul mate was in there right now?" Shrugging them off, I'd look the other way. They were all older than me and unmarried. None had met their soul mates, and I doubt they were worried about it.
Then next few weeks I explored other coffee shops in town, trying to find a barista who could make my favorite drink the way I liked it, like the one at the closest Starbucks. So far I had struck out. I thought about swearing off coffee, but that idea was quickly shut down the next morning when the only tea we had was caffeine free and a headache started to set in. I suffered through the bitter taste of the black drip coffee my mom made and would head off to whatever I had to do that day. I did this for a month.
My parents discouraged my actions, telling me that I wasn't supposed to change my behavior because of the Words. I couldn't help it though.
Lauren had already met her soul mate. It happened a week after being told when she saw Much Ado About Nothing in the theater. Her and her soul mate did everything together so I never saw her or talked to her. I became better friends with someone else from work to fill the space Lauren left. As far as I knew, we were no longer friends.
I longed for the day I found my soul mate, or at least someone I could bond with over the search for our soul mates so I wouldn't miss Lauren so much. She called me about a month later and wanted to meet for coffee. I was elated when she asked to hang out, I tried to convince her that we should get lunch or something other than coffee, but she was adamant about meeting at the Starbucks by my house at the same table we used to sit at every week. I was reluctant to go, but agreed anyway.
I arrived late, as usual, and saw that Lauren was already at our table and she waved enthusiastically. I smiled back and walked over, skipping the coffee line.
"Aren't you going to order something?" Lauren asked. I said I wasn't thirsty and sat down. "Why not? There's a cute guy working the register."
"That's why," I replied, "I'm not in the mood to find love," I forced a laugh and looked away. We sat in silence for almost a minute before one of the baristas called Lauren's name to get her drink.
"You should order something," Lauren said when she came back, "please? It would make me happy."
"Fine," I said, "If it makes you happy." So I stood in line, yawning every couple of minutes. Maybe I really did need the coffee. The man in front of me finished paying for his drink and walked towards the pick-up counter; it was my turn. Taking a couple steps forward, I glanced at the guy at the register, mostly keeping my eyes on the menu.
"Welcome to Starbucks, how may I help you?" he asked. My face burned as the redness traveled down from my forehead, I smiled awkwardly as best as I could manage. My voice shook as I gave him my order. "Can I get a grande mocha with an ounce of orange flavoring with cinnamon sprinkled on top? And can you make it a little less hot than normal drinks please?"
The look on his face made me nervous. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open. His coworker nudged his elbow after what felt like an eternity. I didn't know what to do, this guy could be my soul mate or just a regular Starbucks worker who thought my order was super weird.
"I - I" he stumbled over his words, "I think you're my - my," he struggled to get the last word out, clearly as nervous as I was, "soul mate." A slight smile came to my face as I accepted the events for what they were: a miracle. "I'm Alexander," he stuck out his hand awkwardly. I introduced myself and shook it. "Nice to meet you Abigail," he said.
His manager yelled at him to get the line moving again, but when I looked back at the people behind me the women were starry eyed and were whispering to their friends about us with smiles on their faces. The men seemed oblivious to what was happening and didn't care that the line was held up. "Will you come back at 3 o'clock? My shift ends then and I'd like to talk to you some more."
I agreed. My hands, shaking noticeably, extended my debit card to pay for my drink. "It's on me," he held up his hand to decline my card, "but you have to come back and see me."
His manager yelled something at him again, so I quickly said. "Thank you. I will be back."
Lauren and I enjoyed girl talk about what we expect our lives to be like from now on, and we left around 1:00. I came back at 3:00, like Alexander asked. He saw me as he counted his till, waved, and smiled to himself as he looked back down. My face grew hot and I could tell I looked of roses. I picked out a spot on a comfy chair in the corner and waited.
He finished up his closing duties, took off his apron, and came over to me. I stood up, he greeted me, and we walked outside.
It seamed so awkward, to have met the person I was destined to be with. I was clumsy and would stumble over my words. But so would he. I would say something to impress him, bending the truth just a little, but then I would have to come clean later on, as casually as I could, as if I remembered a detail that made that one extravagant part untrue. But so did he. It was awkward as we realized we had walked around downtown for almost two hours, and I panicked as I new I would be late for dinner. I also panicked because I knew I would have to tell my family, but I didn't tell Alexander just how nervous I was. He told me not to worry, that he would take me home. It was awkward as he opened my side of his car door and walked me to my front door. But what was the most awkward was how not awkward the next event was. As he leaned in and kissed my cheek, I expected my face to flame up, for my voice to get shaky again, but none of my worst fears came true. It all seemed so... natural.
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