A place near me

The next exercise was to describe “a place near me”. Here is my effort.

Steam rises from the frother as the barista prepares the steamed milk for my cappuccino, the hissing sound filling the air around me. My drink is placed on the counter, I pay and take a seat by the window. Cheerful classical music emanates from the hidden speakers dotted around as I take stock of my surroundings. 

Young mums with babes in prams sit in groups discussing the joys of motherhood. Other customers are hunched over their laptops The advent of flexible working means cafes now serve as inexpensive office space. A couple of cups of coffee is a cheap price to pay for somewhere to hold a meeting. What kind of business are they in? No suits, just casually dressed. Maybe every day is a dress down day like it is for me.

Pedestrians scurry past the window wrapped up to ward off the biting cold wind. This is Chipping Norton, one of the highest places in the Cotswolds. The cafe is a refuge from the cold and is extremely popular on days like this and indeed every day. I jokingly refer to it as my “Chipping Norton office”!

I take a tentative sip of my drink. Today it is frothier and more chocolatey than usual, a trainee barista served me, it still tastes good but I end up with a milky moustache. No one notices as I wipe my face. Everyone is either chatting away or studying their laptops or newspapers to pay any attention to my predicament.

Leave a Reply

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked *