Page 29 of Zimyra

“HWC?”

She smiles. “Heavy whipping cream. You must not come to coffee places much.”

“I don’t.”Because I usually have someone to pick up my coffee under normal circumstances.

“Well, you’re in good hands here. How’d you find out about this place?”

“I believe it was your sister-in-law who told me to come here…said this was the best coffee in Columbia.”

Her eyes brighten. “Zimyra?”

“Yes. That’s her.”

“Oh, cool. How do you know Zimyra?”

“I work for her. I’m the maintenance man at Atlantic Properties.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“Axel Jennings.”

“Nice to meet you, Axel. I’m Nykendy.”

“Nice to meet you as well.”

“You must be new at Atlantic?”

“Something like that. I just relocated here from Bridgeport.”

“Nice. You’ll love working with Zimyra. She’s as sweet as they come.”

I grin and say, “You must not know her as a boss.”

She chuckles. “Not really, but if she’s anything like she normally is, I know she’s good to work for.”

“We’ll see, I guess.”

“Well, welcome to Columbia. You’ll love it here. The people are friendly, and we really do have that Southern hospitality culture, except for when we desperately need our morning coffee, so I suggest you hurry up and pay before they start a riot up in here.”

“Right,” I say, pulling my wallet from my back pocket. I hand her a twenty and tell her to put the rest in the tip jar.

“Thank you. I’ma have to thank Zimyra for sending me a new customer.”

“While you’re at it, tell her to be nice to me, too.”

I take my cup and head outside. I take a sip before I get into the whip. It’s heavenly – tastes so much better than the stuff in the lobby, not that the coffee in the lobby is bad. It’s just not premium like this. I can clearly taste the difference.

I get inside my vehicle and start it up. The clock shows it’s 8:32. I have a little less than a half hour to get to the job. It’s not far from here. The drive will probably take me about fifteen minutes just as long as I can cruise through his traffic.

Then I run into an accident. The cops and a firetruck have all lanes impassable. All I can do is sit here and wait.

Five minutes pass.

Ten.

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