First Day at the Café

Leo was nineteen, and he needed money for university. So in September, he got a job at the Corner Café, the busiest café in his town.

On his first morning, the manager, Rosa, showed him the coffee machine. “Espresso here, milk here, hot water here,” she said. “Easy. You’ll learn fast.”

Leo was not so sure. The machine had twelve buttons, and it made a terrible noise.

At eight o’clock, the customers started to arrive. A man in a suit wanted a large cappuccino with oat milk. A student wanted a small black coffee. Two women wanted tea and toast. Leo wrote everything down, but his hands were shaking.

He made his first mistake at quarter past eight. He gave the man in the suit a small black coffee. The man looked at it and sighed. At nine o’clock, Leo spilled a jug of milk on the floor. At half past nine, he put salt in a customer’s tea, not sugar.

At ten o’clock, an old man came in and sat by the window. “One hot chocolate,” he said. “Not too hot. Not too sweet. Cream, but not too much.”

Leo made it carefully. The old man tasted it. “Too sweet,” he said. Leo made another one. “Too hot,” said the old man. Leo made a third. The man tasted it, and for a long time he said nothing.

“Perfect,” he said at last. Then he laughed. “I’m Rosa’s father. I test every new person here. You were patient. That’s the most important thing in a café.”

At the end of the day, Leo was very tired. His shoes were wet with milk, and his head hurt. But Rosa smiled at him. “Not bad,” she said. “See you tomorrow at seven.”

In his pocket, Leo found a small piece of paper. It was a tip from the old man: five euros and a note. “Next time, less sugar.”