WE Tuesday: Exercise #4 - Mr. Tinker's Visit to Starbucks

   AJ parked his older Mercedes Benz in the almost empty lot and stepped out, securing the door. It seemed absurd to him to lock it, since he'd have difficulty opening the door with his coffee and due to the hour he'd likely not have any incident anyway. Still, he always kept up the image. It was a cheap, re-built Mercedes--very low in price. But Mutter had been elated he had bought a fine German automobile with status, not some Volkswagen. It would have never occurred to her that he would buy a car not made in Germany. He smiled as he recalled choosing a low priced version that would still make Mutter beam with pride, while reserving the money he would need for the Jaguar.

   He stepped inside to the aroma of coffee and immediately removed his hat. This early, there were only two other customers inside. One was drinking coffee while tapping on her laptop. The other, complete with hardhat, was ordering. He stepped into place...as expected. AJ didn't like to frequent Starbucks. He did because he did like the coffee there. He found the faux Italian a bit too much for his taste.

    "Can I help you?" asked the young barrista at the register.

    "Short coffee, please." AJ knew 'short' wasn't on the menu but was available. If you asked for small you got 'tall' instead. 12 ozs. was not a cup of coffee, it was a cup and a half. Short was 8 ozs. and excess was a bad thing.

    "Yes Sir, Komodo or Yukon?"

   "Kimodo." It was much bolder than the smooth Yukon. Against his better judgement, he glanced yet again at the young blonde working the laptop. Probably a student, certainly an athlete. Under other circumstances...

   He knew, though, that he needed to pick up some items before it got too late and he had not only looked twice at her but was one of a very few people inside this early.

   "Sir? Cream or sugar?"

   "No."

   He walked out with his coffee and noted two cars by the door. Employees were asked not to park by the door.

   A pickup truck and a Carmen Ghia. He set his coffee on the roof and counted keys in his pocket until he reached the door key and unlocked his car. Having secured his coffee and seatbelted himself, he started the car and pulled from the parking lot.

   ...but not before checking out the license plate number on the Carmen Ghia.