Coffee and Chaos

Chapter One: The Espresso Incident

Lucia Ferreira had a clipboard, a colour-coded timeline, and exactly zero patience for the man currently blocking the service entrance with a coffee truck painted the colour of a migraine. "You cannot park here," she said, in the tone she reserved for vendors who had not read their contracts. "This is the florist's loading zone."

The man leaned out of the truck window and grinned. He had paint on his forearms and a smile that suggested he had never read a contract in his life. "Relax, clipboard lady. I'll move it in ten. Just gotta set up the espresso bar." "The espresso bar is supposed to be inside the reception tent. Page four, paragraph three, sub-clause B."

He squinted at her. "You memorised sub-clauses?" "I wrote the sub-clauses." She tapped her clipboard. "Move. Now." He moved, but not before handing her a cortado through the window. It was, infuriatingly, the best coffee she had ever tasted.