Who is "xoxo G"?

You see, Frank was a college dropout, one with a money problem. So when he was 19 he took a job as a barista at a 24h cafe called “The Busy Bean” in hopes of paying off his debt. Well, turns out that it wasn’t as easy as they made it seem.

Now, five years later, he’s still working the night shifts at The Busy Bean, simply because they pay well and no one wants to work them.

Guess you could call this “the night before”. Frank’s shift started at 11pm and would end somewhere between 7 and 8am, depending on what time Hannah would be here. As much as Frank appreciated her, she was a chaotic mess. But hey, he can’t complain, she’s the one that hired him after all.

The shop was busier than usual, which wasn’t weird considering it was the last day of holiday before the first day of school. And because this was the only place in the area that was open 24/7. Frank was usually alone behind the counter, and spent most of his shift chatting to regulars, or to Ray, who was on kitchen duty every night.

It was about 4:30am when Frank decided he’d had enough of the loud teenagers messing around in the back of the cafe. He’d ask them twice already if they could talk a little softer and if they would consider the other customers. But they were still here, and one regular had already complained and some customers actually left because of the noise.

Frank took a deep breath and walked over to the group of seven for the third time.

“Hey everyone” He started. He immediately got a few eyerolls. “I’m sorry but i’m gonna have to ask you to leave.” One of the kids, a boy who was at least two times as tall and pretty heavily muscled stood up. “Why?” The boy asked. “You’re bothering our customers, it’s late, they wanna enjoy there time here in peace, is that too hard to understand?”

That’s when the girl who previously sat besides the boy stood up, clearly looking annoyed. “First of all” this time it was Frank who gave them an eyeroll. “WE are customers here as well, and we aren’t bothered, secondly who are you to ruin my birthday by kicking me out? And finally, i wanna talk to your manager!”

‘Shit’ Frank thought, Hannah wouldn’t be here for hours and no one would believe him if he told them it was Ray, simply because he never left the kitchen. So without thinking too much Frank took a step forward. “You’re talking to him riiIIiight now.”
That was a mistake, Frank’s voice cracked mid-sentence and he definitely didn’t look as convincing as he thought.

He had barely even finished talking before the girl cried out “Well, i call bullshit on that!!” and threw the remainder of her iced latte at him. Which was clearly a cue for the other six to start throwing their drinks at him as well. Frank just stood there in shock until they had left.

This was definitely his worst day yet. Actually, it was the only bad day he’d ever had.
“A-are you okay?” Frank turned around and saw Paula, one of the regulars, standing there, she was trying to hand him a single napkin.
“Yes, i’m fine thank you.” Frank kindly took it from her and wiped his face. Paula sat back down with a concerned look on her face.

Frank shuffled down to the counter and disappeared to the back. He looked around and was actually surprised to find an extra uniform, which was just black pants and a polo shirt with the logo sewn into them, but he was so thankful.
He quickly changed and dried himself with a dirty old towel they still had lying around, it didn’t matter now anyways.

He threw all of his clothes in the laundry basket that they were supposed to use for towels and tablecloths but whatever.

It was almost 6am when Frank had finally finished giving Ray a super detailed report on what had happened after cleaning up the mess the kids had left behind. But time couldn’t move fast enough if you’d ask Frank. He just wanted to go home, shower, and sleep it all off. The shop started to get really busy now, like it would get every monday morning. But Frank was really not looking forward to it right now so his customers would have to do with his obvious fake smile.

When he saw Hannah entering the doors he let out a sigh, he could finally leave. He helped her work through the line and when the crowd was a little more manageable he left. His stuff was dirty anyways so it would just get picked up by whomever would do laundry today.

Once Frank stepped outside he felt both miserable and relieved. Because he was still sticky and gross but he was also gonna be able to take a shower in about ten minutes.



When he got to The Busy Bean that evening it was pretty quiet. Hannah waved Frank over. “Hey Frank come here i need to ask you something!” Frank walked over to the counter and raised his eyebrows. “Hey so, this morning when doing laundry, we found your uniform and jacket. What was that about?” Frank looked up at her in shock. “Uhh, i can explain!” He was so focused on leaving this morning that he had forgotten to tell Hannah about the event that took place the night before.

Hannah wasn’t mad at all after hearing the story, she actually found it hilarious. She also told Frank that she had made sure his clothes were clean and on the table next to the lockers.

Frank headed to the back and found his clothes. He reached in his pocket for his locker key. ...but it wasn’t there? He checked all his pockets, front back, jacket, everywhere. And it was nowhere to be found.

That’s when he looked up, at his locker and saw the key sticking out. Did he forget it? No, it can’t be, he always locked it. Always.
Well, he had it now so he just shrugged it off and opened his locker.

Inside he saw his small collection of pens and ...a piece of paper. That wasn’t there before. Frank was already a bit late because of the explaining he had to do to Hannah so he didn’t have time to look at it now. He quickly changed into his uniform and stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket. He’d probably have the time tonight.

Frank walked out behind the counter and Hannah excused herself and left. Compared to the night before it was really quiet today. There was a couple sitting by the fake fireplace and a boy with a book by the window. He wasn’t reading, just looking at the people that walked by outside.

By the time it was around 1am the couple had left and Paula had taken their place. Making small talk with Frank every time she ordered coffee. Frank secretly wanted to know about her life. Asking why she spent almost every night in this dusty old place. But he knew i’d be better if he wouldn’t. And he didn’t feel like having an actual conversation anyways. So she had just asked him if he was okay and if the kids had stopped by again, to which he answered a simple ‘yes’ and a simple ‘no’.

Frank walked around the counter and took place on one of the bar stools. He did this pretty often when the cafe was quiet, not like anyone cared. He took the piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. It seemed like a handwritten note.

“Dear owner of this locker,

Today was my turn to do laundry and i happened to find your clothes in there, i cleaned them, no worries.
Naturally i check pockets before doing laundry (i once put my ipod in the washing machine!) and i found your locker key in your jacket pocket. I tried the key on every locker and it lead to yours.
I hope you aren’t mad at me for invading your privacy.

Xoxo, G (locker #6)”

Notes

Hey to everyone who just read this. I have no idea what to do with it.
Do i continue?
Do i let it die?
Let me know!
xx- N