The Best Investment
The smell of freshly ground coffee beans always brought the memories rushing back to Marcus. Today, the corporate world was treating him well, but his mind was trapped in the late 1990s. Back then, he was entirely broke, surviving on student loans that barely covered his tuition, let alone proper housing. His “room” was a shared living room couch, loud and devoid of privacy.
The local coffee shop had been his makeshift office. He remembered the humiliation of being asked to leave by an unfriendly manager because he hadn’t bought a second drink. He vowed back then that if he ever made it, he would never forget the suffocating feeling of having nowhere else to go.
Now, standing in the middle of a crowded downtown café, Marcus spotted a kid trapped in that exact same survival mode. The young man’s eyes were bloodshot, and his posture screamed exhaustion.
Marcus ordered a premium dark roast, paid for it, and walked up to the cashier with a stern look on his face.
“Excuse me, I need to complain.”
“Oh, what’s wrong?” the employee asked, adjusting his cap nervously.
Marcus pointed directly across the room. “That guy.”
The student caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. “Me?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly with worry that he was about to be kicked out.
Marcus stepped over, the professional exterior cracking into a warm, paternal smile as he set the hot cup down. “You’ve been here for hours. Thought you might need a refill.”
The kid let out a breathless laugh, the tension leaving his body in an instant. “Haha!”