It was raining heavily that morning and Jessica had no choice but to stop by a coffee shop for shelter. The walk from her apartment to her faculty was about 5km and she was hoping that she wouldn’t be late to class that morning. Jessica then looked around the coffee shop and there weren’t many people.  She decided to order something for herself while waiting for the rain to stop. There was a bar seat near the counter, so she went on to sit there.

“Can I have a hot green tea?”

“Right away miss.” The waiter behind the bar nodded his head. Jessica then decided to read up a bit before entering the class. It was actually her first day of her doctoral graduate program. She took English Literature as her major and was planning to write a thesis focusing on post-colonial literature. She also did the same area of study when she was doing her masters so it would be the right decision to focus more in depth on the subject matter. (Sorry I only know literature)

She had waited for that day ever since she got the acceptance letter for the doctoral program last month. She even quit her job so that she could focus her time to pursue her Phd. Jessica took her notebook and opened it. She had notes written in advance last night. The first thing she had to do was to look for the most suitable supervisor that she could work comfortably with. She wanted a supervisor who could guide her with African English writers during the post-colonial period.

She even had her research title ready with her inside her notebook. “Post-Colonial Readings of Resistance and Negotiation in Selected Contemporary African Writing”. The moment she came up with the title she knew it was perfect. She knew nothing could stand in her way of writing the most perfect doctoral thesis in the history. Yes, she was so full of herself and was really pumped up that morning.

“Hmm can I get a low sugar coconut water..” Suddenly Jessica heard someone coming from a few seats next to her at the bar seat. Jessica took a glance at the person. The person was clearly wasted. “Sorry Soo, we have ran out of coconut water..” The waiter informed.

“What?? You had it yesterday!” The person exclaimed in frustration.

“Well yeah, yesterday was the last one. You had the last one.” The waiter smiled as he approached the woman. “Urghh..” The person landed her face on the bar table. Her head was spinning.

“What about ginger water? It can help to ease up a bit with the headache..” The waiter informed.

“Urghh yuck..” The woman refused. “Seriously I feel like throwing up..” She added. The waiter just laughed while he prepared a drink for the woman. Jessica then quickly tried to regain back her focus while staring at her notebook. Suddenly she heard a loud burp coming from the same wasted woman.

“Here you go..” The waiter placed a drink in front of the woman.

“What is this?” She went on to ask.

“It’s just coffee.” He laughed.

“Oh really? Is this black?” She asked. Apparently she couldn’t even see colors anymore at that point. It shows how wasted she was at the time.

“Soo, what were you even doing last night?”

“Dancing, drinking, staying up late eating this hot girl’s ..” She replied with a straight face before she took a sip of the coffee.

“Excuse me??” Jessica was so shocked with what she just heard. The fact that the woman just burped out loud and then went on to talk disrespectfully was just too much for her. “You’re in a public place for goodness sake!” Jessica exclaimed.

“Miss, I’m so sorry. She’s just not in the right state of mind right now. She’s usually not like this.” The waiter nervously apologized to Jessica.

“You expect me to believe that? The fact that she came here for coconut water yesterday showed that she was wasted too.” Jessica said sarcastically.

“That’s an irrelevant accusation. I just happen to love coconut water by the way. It’s my ultimate favorite drink.” The woman had to defend herself.

“Do you think I’m stupid? Low sugar coconut water is one of the proven cures of hangovers.” Jessica made a statement. “Did I say that you were stupid?” She asked back with a frown.

“No you didn’t.” Jessica said.

“Goddd, what coffee is this???” Suddenly the woman exclaimed out loud.

“Oh I put two ginger capsules in it..”

“Yes, gingers can help with the headache, constipation, gas, bloating..” Jessica added.

“Excuse me? Bloating?”

“Yes. You are so wasted that your face is red and bloating.” Jessica said with a straight face. “I don’t even know how you could go to work looking like this..” Jessica mumbled looking at the woman. “I’m not even surprised if you’re out of job later today.” She added. The woman just smiled to herself after hearing those remarks.

“You must be new around here..” She turned to look at Jessica.

“Yes I am.” Jessica nodded her head before she took another sip on her green tea. “I’m a Phd student so I’m a future doctor by the way.” She added. She didn’t know why she was being cocky all of a sudden. Usually she was not like that. Probably because the woman was just so rude and disrespectful just now.

“Wow, a future doctor eh?” She was surprised. Or maybe she was acting as if she was surprised, Jessica couldn’t tell. “Congrats in advance then. I am so happy for you.” She added. Jessica really couldn’t tell whether it was a sincere congratulations or not. “You’ll definitely be one annoying doctor for sure.” Suddenly she said.

“Excuse me??” Jessica turned to look at the woman.

“Soo, be nice.” The waiter straightaway interrupted.<