Jumpstart Café

Addie swore under her breath at the iced coffee that now covered her favorite pair of blue jeans. She was already in a bad mood after the nagging conversation with her mother earlier that morning, and now she had wet pants and no coffee. After rifling around in her purse for a moment, Addie pulled out a tube marked Stain-Be-Gone! and applied it to the dark spot on her jeans. In seconds, the spot faded away until all that was left was a small damp patch in the fabric. 

Now, onto her second problem: coffee. Addie couldn’t handle her obnoxiously upbeat boss without it. A quick GOgle search revealed a coffee shop called Jumpstart Café only a few minutes from her location, so she tapped the navigate button on the screen of her car and allowed it to take her where she needed to go.

Upon entering the parking lot, Addie directed the car over to a parking space. She would have opted for drive-thru, but she hated holding up the line when she didn’t know what to get. Inside, she overheard the customer in front of her order a medium black coffee with a shot of charisma. The barista, a perky pixie with spiky blue hair and matching periwinkle wings, turned to prepare his coffee, and Addie smiled at the stout dwarf waiting for his drink. “Charisma?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He turned and winked at Addie. “Big presentation at work today; I need a boost.” Addie had no idea how the extra shot of charisma worked, but she nodded and wished him luck then turned to peruse the menu herself. Alongside normal coffee items like lattes and cappuccinos was a category labeled “Booster Shots.”

Booster Shots

Energy

Charisma

Happiness

Humor

Courage

The barista handed the dwarf his coffee and turned to Addie. “What can I get started for you today?” the pixie asked. Her voice reminded Addie of wind chimes twinkling gently in the breeze.

“A large iced latte please.”

“Any Booster Shots with that?”

“What are they exactly?”

“Potions exclusively crafted by Jumpstart Café; you can think of them as magical pick-me-ups.”

Addie glanced at the list again, the exhaustion of the morning dragging heavily on her. “An energy shot sounds good.”

“That’s my favorite one!” the pixie exclaimed. Addie couldn’t say she was surprised. The pixie practically vibrated with energy as she read off the total for Addie’s drink. Addie paid then shook her head when the barista turned to make it. Scrounging up enough money for rent each month was hard enough already without spending five Quince on one drink, hence why she always made her coffee at home.

The barista slid the coffee across the counter toward Addie, and Addie took it with a quiet “thank you.” As she left the shop, a lithe woman with green hair and matching green freckles sauntered in. From over her shoulder, Addie heard her order a Dragon Berry tea with a shot of happiness.

Back in her car, Addie finally tried the latte. She hated to admit it, but it did taste significantly better than the ones she made at home. Whether the improvement was simply because someone else had made it for her or because the coffee shop ingredients were better, she had no idea. Addie took another sip and felt a buzz of energy zip through her, goosebumps springing up over her whole body. Suddenly feeling much more prepared to handle her day, Addie touched the Work button on her car, and it started moving toward the office.

~~~~~

Addie avoided Jumpstart Café for the rest of the week, despite craving the zing of energy that the Booster Shot had given her. Energy shots seemed fairly harmless, but emotion-altering coffee shots felt like crossing a line. Although, when Saturday came around, all her thoughts about the drawbacks of trying a shot of happiness disappeared. It was the anniversary of Alex’s death. Her twin brother had been killed in a car accident one year ago, and the phone call from the officer still ran through her mind every day. When she got the news, it had taken her a moment to remember how to breathe. A moment longer to remind her feet to finish crossing the street. And many, many moments longer than that to remind her heart that life kept on going without him. 

Today, Addie decided to celebrate Alex’s life by wearing his graphic t-shirt featuring his favorite anime, Phantom Shadows, and getting herself a happiness infused latte. When the liquid hit her tongue, she sighed at the delicious coffee flavor then grinned as a feeling like molten sunshine seeped into her pores. She basked in the afterglow of the happiness shot, closing her eyes in relief at the escape from the sadness she hadn’t been able to shake in 12 months. 

The feeling faded much too quickly. By the time Addie reached her car, the happiness had faded into a dull nothingness, the glow from moments earlier dissipating. Still, feeling nothing was so much better than being stuck in the black hole of her grief. The coffee was like a life buoy in the storm swept sea of the loss that had shattered her life.

At work, things that normally bothered Addie bounced off her like she was surrounded by her own personal No Negativity Bubble. The lack of teamwork from her coworkers in their group pitch and that one snarky comment from Dave in accounting didn’t annoy her as much as they might have before. Susan’s fake compliments and constant drama no longer made Addie want to rip her hair out.

When Addie returned to her apartment building after work, it was a different story. The light buzz of tolerance from the happiness shot had faded, and familiar sadness washed over her. Thankfully, Addie’s miniature dragon, Melvin, flew into her arms the second she entered the living room. He nuzzled his warm nose against her chin and let out a low rumble of contentment. “Hi bud, I missed you too. Are you hungry?” The corners of her mouth turned upward into something resembling a smile.

Melvin chirped and glided down to the ground. Sparks erupted from his nostrils, and when Addie didn’t immediately fill his bowl, he grunted in annoyance, prancing back and forth in front of the refrigerator. Addie laughed at him and grabbed a half-thawed bird from the fridge. It had hardly plopped into Melvin’s bowl when he dove for it, snarfing it down like he had never seen food in his life.

Addie left Melvin to finish his dinner and pulled out her phone, dialing her mother’s number. Despite her fervent wishes that the call would go to voicemail, her mother picked up on the second ring. “Adeline, I’m surprised you called.”

Addie bristled at her tone. “Would you prefer I hadn’t?”

“Of course not,” her mother huffed. “You just have a habit of disappearing when things get hard.” Addie contemplated ending the call then and there, but her mother continued with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have said that; I’m sorry honey. Today is hard for all of us.”

“How’s dad?” Addie asked.

“He’s in the living room. I can give him the phone if you want.”

“No, that’s okay. Tell him I said hi though.”

“I will.” Melvin came into the room and plopped down next to Addie, begging for scratches at the base of his wings. She obliged. “How are you doing?” Addie’s mom said after an uncomfortable silence. 

“Okay. I tried something new in my coffee this morning as a special treat.”

“Oh, like hazelnut?” Her mother seemed relieved to talk about a more mundane topic.

“They’re called Booster Shots. They just give you a little pick-me-up along with your coffee. I tried a happiness one today, and it was pretty cool.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line. “I’ve heard of those. You know how your father and I feel about mind-altering drugs; they are bad news.”

“They aren’t drugs, mom.” Addie sighed. “Nevermind, I shouldn’t have brought it up.” There was another tense pause. “Anyway, I should probably take Melvin outside; he’s done eating.” She said goodbye and hung up before her mother could say anything else. Addie frowned at the phone then shoved it in her pocket. She shouldn’t have bothered to call; the conversations only frustrated them both lately. Melvin spun in circles, and Addie reached down to pat his smooth blue scales before clipping on his leash.

Outside, Melvin pounced on a fallen leaf, spitting sparks at it until it erupted into a blaze of flame. It reminded her of all the times when she and Alex were little that they used to stomp through the crunchy leaves in the street. A tear streamed down her cheek, and without realizing it, Addie’s feet had drawn her to Jumpstart Café. She paused outside the door. Having two happiness shots in a day felt like crossing a line, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care.

After tying Melvin up outside, she ordered the same drink from that morning. She sipped it as she walked down the street back to her apartment, Melvin chirping happily by her side. She sighed in relief as the sadness she had been feeling drained away once again. When she got home, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and didn’t have a single dream.

~~~~~

Over the next few weeks, Addie found herself drawn to Jumpstart Café more and more, trying to reach the level of numbness from that first day. It became normal for her to have, three, four, sometimes even five happiness infused coffees each day.

One afternoon, after her fourth happiness latte of the day, Addie received a notification. “NOTICE: We have not received your rent payment for this month. Please submit the full amount plus a 10% late fee by the time we close tomorrow evening.” Addie swore. Did she really forget to pay the rent?

Addie opened the banking app on her phone and blinked at the number she read. That couldn’t be right? She worked a full-time job and didn’t spend that much, yet she had less than half of what she needed to cover that month’s rent. When she got home, Addie calculated the extra Quince she had been spending on coffee, and she couldn’t believe how quickly it added up. It didn’t seem like a lot until she spent that amount over twenty times every week. 

Melvin chirped at her and stared pointedly at his leash. Addie sank to her knees and pulled Melvin into her arms. He burrowed into her sweater with a contented sigh. “What am I going to do?” Addie asked, pressing her cheek into his warm scales. Her phone started ringing in her pocket, and Melvin harrumphed in annoyance as Addie answered the call, tears making her voice sound congested. “Mom?”

“I hear sniffles, everything okay?” The genuine concern in her mother’s voice made Addie cry harder. “Addie, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what to do, mom,” Addie replied, tears dripping down her face and onto the carpet. She explained everything that had happened, from her first Booster Shot to the notice from her landlord. 

When Addie was finished talking, her mom said, “Your dad and I can lend you what you need for rent this month, but we need to get the Booster Shot thing under control, ‘kay?” Addie nearly fainted in relief. “I love you, Adeline.”

“I love you too, mom.” It was the first time in months that she could remember saying that to her mother.

~~~~~

The first few days without Booster Shots were rough; Addie had cramps and a fever so bad that she couldn’t leave her apartment. In the following weeks, it slowly got better, but one corner of her mind was constantly occupied by the urge to head to Jumpstart Café. By the time she was one month clean, Addie only thought about Booster Shots on particularly bad days like when Dave’s haughty comments got under her skin more than usual or when Susan called her inept in front of the whole team. On those days, she went straight home and spent the night curled up with Melvin.

Three months after her conversation with her mom, Addie went to visit her parents. She figured it was finally time to go through Alex’s things. She spent some time laughing with her parents about the knick-knacks she found, like the action figures from Alex’s favorite show as a kid. She also spent plenty of time crying, like when she found the letter he had written in fourth grade telling the teacher all the things he wanted to do when he grew up.

When it was time for Addie to head back to her own apartment, her parents handed her a box. “I think Alex would have wanted you to have this,” Addie’s mom said. “It was his memory box. He put something from all his favorite moments in here, so he would never forget them.” Addie’s mom swiped away the tear that was trailing down her cheek and hugged Addie goodbye. Addie hugged her back fiercely.

Addie told herself not to open the box until she got back to her apartment, but she couldn’t wait. Sitting in the front seat of her car, she tugged off the lid. Glued to the underside was a note that said, “Honorary memory box items: My parents and my sister, Ads. They were a part of all my favorite moments.” A teardrop fell into her lap, and Addie realized that her face was damp with tears. 

She sifted through the items in the box. There was a big seashell from their family trip to the beach when she and Alex were eight. Then there was the toy gremlin they found together on the playground at school. A leaf pressed between the pages of Alex’s favorite book. A half-burned candle that smelled like pine trees. Some of the memories, Addie had been there for, and some of them she hadn’t, but when she pulled the last item from the box, she felt closer to her brother than she had in a long time.

It was a friendship bracelet. A twin to the one Addie wore on her left wrist. She ran her thumb over the worn bracelet then placed it carefully on top of all the other items. She set the box in the passenger seat and clicked the “Home” button on her car, gazing out the window at the buildings she passed. Jumpstart Cafe came into view. 

Addie clicked “Pause Route.” She gazed through the large window for a few minutes, watching the steady stream of customers walking in and out of the café. Grouchy expressions quickly faded with the first sip of their drink. Addie longed for that sensation; she felt the desire in every pore of her being. Her fingers hovered above the handle of the car door for a moment, but then her gaze was drawn back to the box in the passenger seat. Addie shook her head, pulled her hand away from the handle, and clicked “Resume Route.”