Free The Espressologist by Kristina Springer Page A

wouldn’t even know if she’s lying.”
    Derek smirks at this, but then quickly goes back to stone-faced.
    â€œOkay, like I said, I don’t want to take one employee’s word over another’s. But if you are giving away free drinks, you need to stop immediately. It is grounds for dismissal.”
    â€œI’m totally not, Derek,” I lie, but mentally promise myself to never do it again.
    â€œAll right,” he says. “Go on back up front and finish setting up.”
    I nod and rejoin Em.
    â€œUnbelievable,” I say in a low voice when I’m within earshot of her.
    â€œWhat?” she asks.
    â€œI’m going to totally kill Daisy when I see her. She told Derek that I’m giving away free drinks to my friends.”
    â€œOmigod, what a witch!” Em says. She stops refilling the cookie tray to look at me.
    â€œYeah, I can’t believe she’d do that to me,” I say. I twist my hair with my fingers.
    â€œEspecially when I’ve seen her giving away low-fat muffins to her Jazzercise friends!” Em says.
    â€œJazzercise?” I giggle at the thought of Daisy dancing around a room with a bunch of women. “Yeah, I guess I can see that.”
    â€œWell, I know why she did it,” Em says.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œShe wants your job.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œUh-huh. Daisy thought she should have been promoted to assistant manager.”
    â€œWhy? I’m totally better than her and I’ve been here longer,” I say.
    Em shrugs.
    â€œWhat a brat.”
    â€œYou definitely have to put her in her place,” Em says.
    â€œI will,” I agree. “For starters, I think someone should be on bathroom cleaning duty for at least the next month.”
    Em nods and gives me a thumbs-up.

    By five-twenty a.m., we’re ready to open up the store.
    â€œYou still haven’t asked me about Cam,” Em says.
    â€œI’m sorry, I meant to. What’s going on?”
    â€œWell,” she tells me, her eyes lighting up, “he’s taking me roller skating tonight! Can you imagine? I haven’t been roller skating since I was like ten.”
    I smile. “That is so cute.”
    â€œThen he wants to go to a fifties restaurant for cheeseburgers and milkshakes.”
    â€œIt sounds like you guys will totally have fun.”
    â€œSeriously, Jane,” Em says, refilling the stack of cups by the register, “I didn’t think this was a good idea at all, what with the whole Jason thing, but it has really made me feel better! And Cam is awesome. You are such a great Espressologist!”
    â€œA what?” Derek appears behind us, fastening an apron around his back, preparing to help us with the expected crowd.
    â€œOh, um . . .” Em stammers, looking back and forth between Derek and me.
    â€œNothing?” I offer.
    â€œNo, I heard you guys. You said Jane is ‘a great Espressologist.’ What did you mean? What is an Espressologist?” I look down at the floor, shaking my head slightly, indicating to Em that I want her to keep her mouth shut. Em glances at me and then looks back at Derek.
    â€œI’ll tell you but you can’t get mad at Jane. Because it’s totally a cool thing.”
    â€œEm!” I warn.
    â€œWhat’s the big deal, Jane? It is so cool,” she says.
    â€œNow you are making me nervous. Start talking,” Derek says.
    â€œWell, like I said, it’s really awesome,” Em begins, and I sigh heavily, trying to prepare for another verbal lashing from Derek. “Jane has been keeping this notebook for a really long time. She records all the drinks people order and what type of person they are. It’s kind of like she’s typecasting people based on their coffee preference or something.”
    I inwardly recoil, closing my eyes and remembering how I had lied and told Derek my notebook was for my notes on drinks for the