Scent Notes: A funereal wreath of white lilies and black orchids sprinkled with a dusting of graveyard dirt. A somber wake feast of dark chocolate drenched raspberries and a shot of dark rum.

Working a minimum wage job after graduating with a master’s degree is demoralizing on its own. But working at the same minimum wage job, at a coffee shop, on-campus at the very place you got said degree? Humiliating. At least it was for her, especially when they changed her work schedule (yet again), and she somehow became an “opener,” aka, had to be at the store at 5am to work until 2pm. Let us be clear: she was not a morning person. The free coffee wasn’t even enough, and most mornings she showed up with some kind of canned caffeinated beverage full of sugar and, allegedly, b vitamins.

The change to her work schedule hadn’t helped her sleep schedule either, as her insomnia liked to rear its ugly head the most when she needed to go to sleep early, but her body was too full of caffeine to fall asleep. So most mornings she showed up a few minutes late, dark circles on display, dirty hair piled high on her head, her face frowning as she tied the ugly green apron around her waist and started brewing the huge vats of coffee the college students and professors consumed throughout the day. 

All of this she could have endured. But, as luck would have it, she was training a new employee, and he was a morning person.... Click here to read the rest of the story!