CHAPTER 3 : BAD LUCK

 I turned back to see if it was someone behind me but found nobody. I turned to him and he gave me a hard glare.

This can’t be good.

I hurried towards him, my heart beating fast as far and as far as I concerned, He was someone everyone aimed to impress and I didn’t want to get on another person’s bad side. As I got closer, I could feel the attraction getting stronger. 

What exactly is wrong with me ? I tried to compose himself but this fragrance…..I shook my head and walked up to him, making sure I wasn’t so close to him

“Good morning sir, I’m here to receive your orders”

He looked at the menu again while sipping his coffee. “Get me a Chicken Cobb sandwich “, he said and looked up at me, his eyes were soothing.

“I’ll get it right back sir”, I said as I jotted it down and went to bring him and served it in his table.

“So you’re Emily Harper, the two-time winner of a coffee contest in the country huh ?”, he asked.

It was then I realized I had been hyperventilating. I relaxed and took a lungful of air.

“It’s as you said sir”, I replied, all eyes were on us . I heard gasps and whispers. The last thing I wanted was to become known, I just wanted a peaceful and quiet life and no doubt this man here was jeopardizing that. Now I was feeling nauseous.

“I would love to see that myself”, he said with an emotionless face.

I was really scared for one, the attraction was getting stronger and It was becoming hard to bear and the second one, he was mounting pressure on me.

“I would love a Ristretto and mind you, my father once had a coffee brewing company and I know the best taste of Ristretto”, he said.

I could hear my colleagues gasp and some of the customers too. Ristretto was no ordinary coffee. It required great skill.

I thought I came to Silverhood to get a good life, why was I meeting bad luck already. Isn’t it just too early ?

“You can’t do it ?”, he said with one of his eyebrows raised.

“I’ll get on it sir”, I said and was about to turn when he added “I want you to do it alone this time without any form of assistance”, he said and I left him. 

What’s this man’s deal ? Why does he want to embarrass me ? Not like I don’t know how to prepare a Ristretto but he was putting me under pressure and working under pressure wasn’t always good. I sighed and said my prayers and got to work.

I remembered my father’s word when he was teaching me this before he died.

I laid all I would use on the table; grinded coffee beans, espresso machine, porta-filter, tamper.

“ To achieve a perfect Ristretto you need enough practice and knowledge such as grind size, water-coffee ratio and extraction process, but don’t worry you’ll do extremely well with a great tutor like me”, he said proudly.

“Modest much”, I said and rolled my eyes with a smile.

“Am I not ?”

“Come on, dad. You’re the best”

“I trained you well”, he said and ruffled my hair and I frowned at him cause it took me decades to comb that hair.

“Don’t you look so cute”, he said sarcastically with a smirk as he arranged all he would need on the table.

He gave me information about each item arranged on the table and their names and then he started teaching me.

“First, grind your coffee beans to a suitable ground size similar to that used for the espresso”, he said and began to grind it . When he was done the coffee beans looked fine and like the sand on the beach.

“Next, preheat your espresso machine to maintain an optimal temperature for brewing the coffee beans. Most machines heat up within 15-30 minutes”, he said as he pulled a blank shot by omitting the espresso from the porta-filter.

“That’s to speed up the process and oh, I almost forgot you should also preheat the to ensure maximum extraction.”,

“Now measure the coffee grounds. For a Ristretto, it’s about 14 to 18 grams of coffee….. but you can measure it according to your preference but don’t make it too much or else it becomes thick”, he said as he measured on a scale.

“Now distribute the coffee grounds evenly in the porta-filter. Spread it evenly and push it to the nook And crannies so you can smoothen it, shaving sway excess coffee then tamp them firmly using a tamper. 

“What is the use of a tamper dad ?”

“Oh, that’s to be able to extract the coffee flavor, have I answered your question?”

“Yeah”.

“Ok, moving on………Now place the porta-filter in the espresso machine and initiate the brewing process. Aim for an extraction time of 20-25 seconds ?”

“Seconds but you once told me that-“

To“Oh I understand honey but the time frame is shorter than a normal espresso shot”

“Now watch the extraction, you see that it flows out in a slow and steady stream, thick and syrupy”, he said. When he was done, I realized the volume was smaller than a normal espresso shot.

“The volume is smaller than a normal espresso shot”

“Oh don’t you take so much after your father”, he said and ruffled my hair and I groaned.

“Daaad, quit ruffling my hair I just patted it down after you ruffled it. I am not Harrison or Waldorf you know”, I said with a frown and tried to rearrange it.

“You three look the same to me”, he said as a matter of fact and I sighed.

“The volume of the Ristretto is lower than a normal espresso shot because it uses less water than a regular espresso. The volume is usually around 15-30 millimeters that means the volume of an espresso is directly proportional to the water used for the extraction”, he said.

“Now when you have reached the desired amount, you put off the espresso. Since we are using a barista as an espresso, you simply pull the lever”, he said and pulled the lever.

“Now pour the rich, concentrated Ristretto into a demitasse”, he said and poured it out for the both of us “.

“Cheers”, he said and we clinked cups and took a sip.

“Hmmmmm””, we chorused as we looked at each other and laughed.

“Your father is gifted”, he said and ruffled my hair again.

“Dad!!!”.

Then came the picture of his dead body, his neck broken and all bloody all wrapped out tightly with chains and his eyes wide open. The pain was unbearable.

I closed my eyes tightly and tried to push it away, it would forever haunt me and I needed to unravel the mystery behind his death but how ?

I snapped out of the memory as I felt a hand touch me. It was then I realized that tears were slipping down my cheeks.

“Are you okay, honey ?”, Sarah asked worriedly.

“Yeah”, I said and quickly wiped my tears before slightly squeezing her hand and taking the well-served ristretto to the egotistical man.

“Hereit is sir, the ristretto you ordered, I hope you’ll like it”, isaid politely. He looked at the ristretto unimpressed and looked at him at this point I didn’t care if he was impressed or not, I just wanted to leave. I hated remembering memories of my father, they ended up demoralizing me every time. He gave a disgusted look and this time my heart fell.