V
VanillaCola
Guest
Original poster
For the first time in quite a while, Ryan was trying something new. As someone who liked to stick with what he knew, Ryan had to admit that he was worried about making a change. Keeping to what you knew was safe, after all, and Ryan often liked 'safe'. It didn't carry consequences with it, it was usually easy, and it relieved him of any unnecessary stress that often managed to creep into his life. Being a professor was no easy task and often brought with it stress on a massive scale, especially when dealing with any of the students' stress on top of it. With any luck, this upcoming trimester would be a little easier, though he doubted it. College was never easy, even for the professors, so why would this year be any different?
But no, back to the change at hand. The morning had been going well, Ryan had gone through his usual routine that he did almost every day. He was dressed sharply, though not too formally. The trimester hadn't started yet, so there was no reason to get too dressed up. But he thought he looked nice in a more smart-casual outfit filled with beige and light blues. For the second time that week, he had considered shaving, only to shake his head at the thought when he remembered what he looked like with a lack of any facial hair. I don't want people to think I'm too young to be doing my job, he had reminded himself, more than happy to keep his well-groomed facial hair in tact. Washed, dressed, groomed, and with his messenger bag in tow, Ryan walked down to his usual coffee shop – only to find it closed. A notice had been stuck to the locked front door, and after peering through the window to find that there was definitely no one inside, he looked over at the note. 'Closed down indefinitely due to health and safety violations'. Ryan's eyebrows shot up. He hadn't noticed any health and safety violations, though it was clear that not everyone knew what happened behind closed doors. And even if there were rats running around or mould or whatever, the coffee still tasted good, and Ryan couldn't help but feel a little sorrowful that his favourite place was now closed. And that was when the change needed to be made, and the 'new' crept in.
With a sigh, Ryan pulled out his phone and did a quick search for any nearby coffee shops. Surprisingly, he found directions for one not too far away from where he was, one that he had never heard of before. It was a coffee and book shop, no doubt being one of those fusion-type places that some of his co-workers went to and often raved about. With just a slight bit of hesitation, Ryan followed the directions on his phone to the shop. It seemed pretty out of the way – no wonder he had never heard of it before. After a few minutes of staring at his phone and trying not to bump into people whilst walking, he finally arrived at the coffee/book shop. From the outside, it looked like a pretty nice place, and he couldn't see any immediate issues with it. Hopefully it doesn't have rats in it like my old one apparently had, he thought, still mourning the loss of his former coffee shop.
Heading inside, Ryan glanced around and immediately smiled. He wasn't used to seeing books in a coffee shop unless people had actually brought them with them, so the sight made him grin more than he probably should have been. After looking around the strangely welcoming shop, Ryan decided that he already quite liked this place. Maybe change could be good after all. He only hoped that the coffee tasted as good as it did in his previous go-to store. Looking around once more, he decided to take a seat at an empty nearby table, his gaze still wandering around the shop as he took it all in and took mental notes of anything interesting. To be honest, this place looked much nicer than his former coffee shop, and was probably less prone to health and safety violations. Taking his bag off and placing it down on the table in front of him, Ryan had a quick glance around for any members of staff, his mind already thinking about what coffee to order.