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Title: Barista 4- It's All Greek To Me Daniel didn't show up for several days (8 days to be precise) and I must admit to missing him. There was just something about him, ya know? "'Morning Kira," Daniel yawns, as he slowly makes his way up to the counter. "Hey Daniel," I say casually. Don't want him to know how much I missed his presence, right? Judging by his appearance, the guy didn't sleep much the night before. My suspicions are confirmed once he ordered. "Triple tall latte." "Whoa," I reply, raising my eyebrows. I quickly close my textbook and make my way towards the espresso machine. "You're telling me," he answers, letting loose another large yawn. He rolls his neck from side to side and glances down at my book while I pull his shots. "Greek?" He sounds surprised. Now I must admit that the first thought through my head was "Yes Greek, you arrogant jerk!" Which would have been entirely uncalled for but something that naturally just popped right in. See, the day before I had the most arrogant of lawyers walk in, and he too noticed my Greek textbook. That guy had laughed and asked me if my store was going to be opening up a chain of coffee houses in Greece. Seems it never occurred to the guy that Baristas could be smart. "Uh-huh," I answer cautiously. Please don't be an asshole like the lawyer Daniel. "Μιλώ τα ελληνικά" I nearly drop the small containers of espresso in my hands. I want to say "No shit?!" in Greek, but obviously that isn't something that is covered in my ancient languages course. He speaks Greek? "Μαθαίνω να διαβάζω τα ελληνικά." I answer in a really, really bad accent. Better he should know that I'm going for Greek comprehension, not conversation. God I hope he could understand me. "That was actually pretty good Kira," Daniel says sincerely. Yeah right. "Try putting the emphasis more on the second syllable next time." He so could be one of my professors. Hmmm. I really wouldn't mind that at all. "I'll try and remember that," I say giving him his coffee. "Why are you studying Greek?" He asks pouring a large quantity of sugar into his coffee. Another sign of a late night. "I'm thinking of majoring in Ancient Civilizations and both Greek and Latin are prerequisites." "Wow- that's a pretty ambitious degree." I shrug. As if I hadn't heard that one before. "Yeah, well that dig in Israel kinda inspired me and I have become super interested in ancient cultures. Seeing as we're in the middle of Colorado, a degree in Archaeology does't seem to be very practical." Daniel chuckles, and shakes his head. Oops. Open mouth, insert foot. I'm certain I blushed tomato-red. "Man, I'm sorry Daniel, I didn't mean to imply...." "It's all right Kira," Daniel says giving me a small smile. "You don't need to explain." Doesn't matter, I wasn't going to anyhow. "No- it's just that I'm not interested in dinosaurs and such so I figured a degree in Ancient Civilizations might just get me a little further in life." Daniel nods and takes another gulp of his coffee. "I think you're right." I am? Whoa. I take several seconds to mull this over. Hey, wait a minute. He's an Egyptian archaeologist- how come he knows Greek? "Why speak you Greek?" I ask in elementary Greek 101. Daniel opens his mouth and I can just guess he is about to answer in Greek when he switches to English. Thank You! "I actually know a couple of languages," He answers sounding slightly embarrassed. It is the way he says it that give him away. Suddenly it clicks. He isn't just an archaeologist that speaks Greek. He is one of those Super Smart guys. "How many languages Daniel?" "Can I take the First on that?" "It's the Fifth, and while I'm sure you can, I wish you wouldn't." Before he can answer his front pocket begins to vibrate. He reaches in and pulls out his pager. "You did that on purpose!" I'm pretty sure he can't actually control that thing, but I can't help but give him grief anyway. Daniel laughs. "I owe you one Jack," he mutters. "Gotta go Kira." "Next time Daniel. I am going to find out next time." I smile at him and shake my head. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ten-dollar bill. "For the coffee and a little to help with the textbooks." "Thank you Daniel," I say sincerely. Still not going to prevent me from finding out how many languages you speak though! He gives me another one of his smiles. "Efharisto," Daniel says holding up his coffee cup in thanks. "Perikalo," I answer. Very welcome Daniel.
Translation: "I speak Greek." Home |Previous Chapter |Next Chapter |