Kristina Springer - The Espressologist

"Um ... riiiiiight," Em says.

"Oh, shut up," I tease. "It was cute. It was a cute thing, not a creepy thing."

"If you say so. Personally I like having my arm rubbed with plastic spoons, but, you know, whatever turns you on," Em says, dodging the pink-lips pillow I throw at her head.

"He was talking all seductively to me, too," I add.

"Really? What did he say?"

"Okay, the words weren't like über-seductive, but his tone of voice was. He was all deep and smooth and velvety. And he was telling me how he really needed a special someone in his life to share cold nights with–"

"Cheesy!" Em interjects.

"Whatever!" I return. "Anyway, like I was saying, he said he wants someone special and he was hoping that I would be able to find his perfect match on Friday night."

"So, you are really going to do it? You are going to match him with you?"

"Definitely," I say. "Enough with this flirting and teasing, I want to actually go on a date with Will. I'm going to tell him I'm his match. But after The Gabby Girlz thing is finished. I won't be able to think of anything else until the interview is over.

"Oh, Jane, I'm really happy for you. Really. I was feeling bad that I am all happy in love with Cam and you still don't have anyone."

My stomach drops a little. "Are you really in love with him now, Em?" I ask. "I mean really?"

"Well, I think so. I mean, it's not like Jason or anything. But nothing is going to be like Jason, right?"

"Is Cam in love with you?" I ask.

"I don't know," Em murmurs, thinking. "He's not that open with his feelings."

We are both silent for a moment. "Well, I'm happy for you, too, Em," I say, trying to look the part. Though I feel like crap for not actually being happy for my best friend.

I'm already getting anxious as I head into work today.

Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow I will be on TV.

Tomorrow I will meet the Gabby Girlz. I've been shopping all morning, looking for the right outfit. Okay, so I took one more tiny emergency day off from school. Just this one last time. I mean, I'm meeting the Gabby Girlz, who always look perfect, so I've got to look perfect, too. Not to mention I'm hooking up with Will tomorrow night as well.

It's a HUGE night for me. I found the dress after three hours of shopping this morning. It's a clingy black (Derek insists that I still wear black under the red apron) V-neck dress with long sleeves that widen a bit at the wrists. It comes down to just above my knees, so I'm going to wear it with my new high-heeled suede black boots. I'm going to look hot. Em and I are going to get our hair and makeup done tomorrow afternoon, too.

I pull open the door of the café, ready for the familiar blast of holiday music and the smell of brewing coffee, but I'm stopped dead in my tracks. What the heck is this?

"Hey," Derek yells. "Come in and shut the door. You are letting all the cold air in." But I can't move. What happened to my Wired Joe's?

The place has been completely overhauled, or I should say it is still being completely overhauled. A crew of people I've never seen before are moving things around the store and adding various touches. The blue velvet chairs are gone and now there are several big velvety red loveseats with silver heart-shaped throw pillows. Every table is covered in a beautiful red tablecloth. The walls are covered with fabrics–all whites, silvers, and reds. Weird silver art pieces hang from the fabric. The blue, green, and white swirly covers of the lights hanging from the ceilings have been removed and replaced with red, white, and silver swirly covers. Beautiful antique-looking table lamps are set out everywhere, giving the whole store a more romantic lighting. Silver candelabras with red taper candles are set up on some of the shelves, and small canvases with quotes from famous love poems are spread throughout the store. All the tables have been removed from the north side of the store, and there is a big dark cherry-wood desk and a big Victorian-looking red velvet chair behind it. I run my finger along a large wooden sign lying on the desk, waiting to be hung. THE ESPRESSOLOGIST IS IN is artistically etched into the wood. Is this where I will be sitting?

"What do you think?" Derek asks, coming up next to me. "Is the sign all right? We are going to hang it up behind you."

"It ... it's amazing," I finally say. It really does look beautiful. "I can't believe how different the place looks."

"It does look good," he agrees. "We needed a face-lift for the show. There are more touches we'll add tomorrow night. Things like rose petals on the table and such."

I stare around the room. I suddenly feel people's eyes on me. The customers, ALL the customers, are looking at me. "Why is everyone looking at me?" I whisper.

"Because they know about tomorrow and they know you are our Espressologist. You are a celebrity."

"This is so wild," I say. "I'm going to go put my stuff down and relieve Daisy. She's giving me a dirty look. Not that that's a new thing." I head toward the break room. I can feel everyone's eyes following me. It's hard having so many people stare at you! I'm going to have to run to the bathroom and make sure I don't have a booger hanging out of my nose or anything.

I've been taking orders for about an hour or so now and I'm semi–getting used to people staring at me. I'd really rather they not stare, but it isn't nearly as jarring as it was for the first fifteen minutes or so. I suddenly feel a whoosh of happiness as I see my number-one former regular come through the door.

"Gavin! I'm so glad to see you. Where've you been?

Did you give up coffee?" Gavin steps up to the register, leans over, and gives me a big smooch on the cheek.

"Hey, Jane."

"Ooh la la, what was the kiss for? Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"For finding me the love of my life," he says emphatically. "Simone?" I ask.

"Yeah. She's wonderful, she's just ... everything to me.

We're totally in love."

"Oh, Gavin, I'm sooooo happy for you! Here, let me pay for your iced vanilla latte today. You know you were my first Espressology match, right?" I ask.

"No. I didn't even know you matched me until Simone told me how you hooked us up and Sarah explained the whole Espressology thing. I had to come in to see for myself."

"Yeah, where have you been? You used to come in every day. What happened?"

He looks at me sheepishly. "We've been going to the Wired Joe's near Simone's apartment."

I grin. "You two-timer!"

"I knew you were going to say that," he says, laughing. "So, it's like that, huh? A girl comes along and it's bye-bye, barista? Typical." I shake my head. "Aw, come on, don't be mad."

"I'll forgive you on one condition," I say. "What's that?"

"Can you and Simone come in tomorrow night? The Gabby Girlz are going to be here interviewing me and since you guys were my first match, maybe they'll want to talk to you.

"Really? The Gabby Girlz? That's cool. Sure, I'll talk to Simone about it tonight."

"Great. Here's your iced vanilla latte," I say, passing him the drink. "See you tomorrow, hopefully."

"See you," he says, and heads out the door.

"I swear I'm going to fall over right here and die of nervousness," I announce to the room. We are in the living room of my apartment doing last-minute beauty touches before leaving for the coffee shop. Everyone is coming to the Espressology night with me: Mom, Dad, Em (though she will be working), Katie, and Ava.

"Stop moving," Em says, breathing hot garlicky air in my face. Never a mint around when a girl needs one, is there? She's busily plucking at a few of my stray eyebrow hairs that seem to have appeared from nowhere. We're all dressed up (even Em bought a new outfit to go under her blue apron) and ready to go, but Em keeps finding things to fix on me. "You have to look perfect. You are the star of the show."