As it turns out, there was still even more of a price to pay.

When the boys walked in, the entirety of the inside of the store was quiet, save for their shuffling feet as they accidentally tripped over boxes or ripped out paper that had previously been taped to the floor. About half the booths had already been installed, and Asher could just make out a friendly floral pattern underneath the white sheets that covered all of the customer-facing furniture. A variety of tables and chairs were stacked up against the only wall without a window, and the wood on the counter still bore traces of sawdust–which Asher traced with his finger to confirm.

Asher didn't make any effort to continue their conversation from outside, and Danny, likely sensing the awkward air between them, boldly announced that he would go find Jenna and bring downstairs, and that Asher should "not move a muscle", because, allegedly, he would "be right back".

He was cynical of Danny's definition of the world "right" in that preceding phrase, and justly so, as now, five whole minutes had passed–based on the time of the old German clock immediately to Asher's left, which, admittedly, may not have been the best source–and the only new signs of life were shuffling and what sounded like strained whispers coming from the upstairs.

And so, he sat on the floor, resting his back against a table that lay sideways in the middle of the seating area.

It was then that he finally saw her–a mess of curly blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, a splash of freckles across her face, smile lines with just-noticeable depth on her cheeks, and matching worry lines across her forehead.

"Alright, so!" Danny proudly announced. "Jenna, Asher. Asher, Jenna." He turned to his sister. "He's been working hard with me on painting the outside, so I figured he is more than entitled to one of your signature cups of coffee, sis."

"Oh, really?" Jenna's shoulders seemed to relax for a moment, even as her expression remained a little overwhelmed. "I suppose that's only fair. Though I'd appreciate a little warning before you bring friends around, Daniel–especially with all the mess…" She glanced at the line of sawdust Asher had traced, and tried to stifle an embarassed grimace.

Asher replied with a sheepish grin. "Naw, I mean, the place doesn't look that bad."

Jenna frowned–which was unexpected for Asher. "Daniel, I can't just give out free cups of coffee to everybody who wanders in off the street. I've got a real business to run here."

"Aw, c'mon! He'll work for it! I bet he'll even make a cup if you show him how!"

She scoffed. "You think he can make a real cup of coffee?"

"Sure! He was one of the smartest guys in my class, hand to God. I'm sure he can pull his own weight."

Asher meekly raised his hand. "Do I get a say in this?"

They both ignored him.

"Fine. But you'll need to run back to the truck and get some beans for us. Grab a bag from the top-left stack, alright?" Jenna placed a hand on Danny's shoulder.

Daniel groaned. "But that's so far away!"

"I'm not going to let him use the old stuff lying around here–we're going to make a good first brew, no matter what." She looked over at Asher. "C'mon Daniel. Do it for me. And do it for him."

"Bah, fine." Danny jogged over towards the door. "Be back in a few!" He called out, then disappeared.

Asher stared dumbfounded at the doorway.

"Welp, I suppose you're my first student. Ready to get started?" Jenna asked, cutting through the silence.

"…can we even get started without coffee beans?" Asher replied meekly.

"Of course!" Jenna gave a mock look of offense. "You're forgetting the most fundamental part." She dusted herself off, and tilted her head towards the back. "Follow me."

Shrugging, Asher stood up himself and dragged his feet behind Jenna, as she fiddled with a latch in front of a giant metal door. "I don't mean to be demeaning, really–but aren't there like only two ingredients in coffee? Cuz, again, she doesn't like the fancy shit, we just need straight black–"

"Uh-uh." Jenna cut him off, holding a hand up to his face and closing her eyes. "Think about what you just said. Two ingredients. There are the beans, and then… there is… the–!"

Punctuating her last words, she heaved open the metal door. A rush of cold air blew back the hair on both of their heads, and before Asher stood a giant refrigerated room, with shelves stacking up twice Asher's height, filled top to bottom with clear, multi-gallon-sized containers labeled 'Norway Spring'.

"Wow. The tap around here not good enough for you?" Asher smirked, following Jenna as she stepped inside.

Jenna nodded vigorously as she scanned the shelves. "It tastes really off. Something's definitely up with it." She identified the one single jug that wasn't full–conveniently on the right, sitting just above the ground–and hoisted it up into her arms. "Ah, didn't Daniel say you were a Marine Bio major? I bet you'd know what sorta crazy chemical they're putting in the city water."

Asher reached out his hands, tacitly offering to carry the jug for her, but she was already headed out the door. He dropped his arms and shook his head. "I dunno what you're talking about–Palma's city water is some of the purest tap in the world. It's almost unnatural."

"Or so they tell you!" Jenna called back. Asher heard a thud as he presumed she set down the jug of water on the counter.

He chuckled. "You might want to lay off the conspiracy theories for a while–I tested it myself at home. Actually, my undergrad project was going to be getting a whole team out here to test it and try to figure out how it stays so pure, especially when we're so close to the ocean. Y'know, for humanitarian reasons and all that."

"Fantastic, I guess it turned out that you're one of them." Jenna let out an exaggerated sigh. "Next you're going to try to tell me that the Earth isn't flat."

"…you believe that–? I, uh…" Asher stuttered as he walked up to meet her at the counter. As he leaned over to the side, he saw the hint of a smile underneath her somber expression. "Oh. You're screwing with me."

"Just let a girl say that your city's water tastes bad." She stuck out her tongue at him.

"A girl, maybe." Asher scoffed. "A woman, on the other hand, should know better than–"

Her animated expression disappeared in that instant, and she stared down at the ripples in the Norway Spring container.

"Sorry–sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were… er, well, I mean, I'm sure you're very mature, but, uh… not mature in… that… way. Y'know, just that you seem to be very self-assured and confident, and I just wanted to affirm that you're… um, empowered. Like a woman."

She let out a real sigh. "…there a chance that this is your first time out in a while?"

Asher nodded, hanging his head in shame.

"I wasn't going to say anything, but… well, now that the floodgates of honesty have been opened up, you do look a little unkempt."

"…I deserve that," Asher grimaced. "And I'm sorry. Would it make you feel better if I let you explain to me why water was secretly the most important ingredient in coffee?"

Jenna put a finger to her lips and smiled. "It would, actually."

"Fire away."

In a flash, she pulled up three small glasses from the drawer under the counter and laid them out in front of her and Asher. "Close your eyes," she instructed, and upon Asher's compliance, he listened as three sequential pouring sounds reached the peak of each cup. "Okay, you can open again."

In front of him sat three very plain-looking glasses of water, and Jenna's expectant green eyes staring back at him.

"I imagine this is one of those tests where I'm supposed to try three different types of water, each of which is going to taste remarkably different, at which point you will chastise me for saying that water is not an important ingredient?"

"More or less. You get the drill," she smiled. "It's more of a guessing game. One of the glasses contain Vallarta Palma tap, the one you so egotistically suggested could not be appreciated by my Midwestern palate. Another contains my favorite, this here Norway Spring. The last…" she twirled a finger, "is a surprise. I'll let you and your almost-Marine Biology degree take a guess."

"Ha-ha. I was a semester away from graduating, you know."

"Doesn't mean anything. Try the first." She pointed down at the leftmost of the glasses.

Asher grit his teeth–it's clear she was attempting to establish some sort of dominance as a water sommelier, but, after embarrassing himself earlier, he knew his last chance at making a decent impression was playing this game fairly. Unfortunately, as soon as the water hit his throat, Asher suddenly realized how thirsty he actually was, and downed the contents a little quicker than he had planned.

"…well?"

"Hmm." He smacked his lips, trying to buy extra time. "This one had a sharp edge to it–sort of a bite when it first hits you. Not a bad feeling though, just extra crisp. I imagine this would be most refreshing in the morning, but would pair terribly with what I imagine people value in coffee, since it would compete with the flavor of the grounds."

Jenna nodded, satisfied. "Very good so far. Next one?"

He savored his time with the next one, letting it slowly trickle out of the glass, trying to think about every drop as it slid over his tongue. "Very smooth. Almost sweet, in a tropical fruit-type way. Mostly unassuming, but sensitive, in a way that you can only appreciate once it's gone."

"I see, I see…" she nudged the last glass towards him.

One baby sip later, Asher put down the glass, his face wearing a disgusted expression. "Ugh, that one is definitely not for me. Gross aftertaste, and it smells a little saltier than it should. Is this even drinkable water? Is your surprise drink a sample from a tide pool?"

"Well, that's just hurtful. I do intend to run a cafe here, y'know. Can't be serving seawater." Jenna remarked as she scooped the glasses back towards herself. "So! You have your final response?"

Asher pressed his thumb against his chin and furrowed his brow. "…sure. First must've been Norway Spring, and while I can't imagine why you would pair it with coffee grounds, it had far too mountainous of a taste to not be that. The felt coastal and smooth, so naturally that must be Palma tap. The last… well, I'd still bank on seawater, but at this point I'll just assume it's something bottled and sold in the Midwest."

"Interesting answers!" Jenna grinned. "And the results are…!" She reached underneath the counter and pulled out a single empty Dasani bottle.

"…what is that supposed to be?"

"It's the one bottle I used to fill all three cups." Her smile twisted upwards in a devilish fashion.

"Oh screw you. That's false pretenses! How was I supposed to figure that out?"

"Well, ideally, with your almost-education." With one casual toss, Jenna launched the Dasani bottle over to the garbage can across the other end of the store. "And thus ends your very first lesson."

"What was the point of that even supposed to be!?" Asher set his head down on the cold granite.

She leaned over and patted the back of his head. "Well, if you really don't get it, let's just pretend that it means that I'm right about everything, and that you know nothing."

"Hmph." Asher grumbled with his hair flopping over his face. "I want a different lesson."

"Fine, but you have to listen this time."

Asher looked up. Jenna filled up two glasses each halfway with the container of Norway Spring, passed one back to him, then held up her own glass into the light, where the sun broke through the window and refracted off of its shimmering surface.

"There's a lot of arguments about the ratio of grounds to coffee, you know. Twenty-to-one if you like it light. Seventeen-to-one is generally the most common. I prefer sixteen-to-one. I mean, the human body itself is a whopping three-to-one. Think about that–all the flesh, blood, organs in your body–most all of it is three parts water, one part, well, other stuff. And that's true of almost every living thing on this whole planet–even coffee plants absorb a ton of water to survive and grow, so who's to say how much water it actually takes to make coffee?

"When I think about that–how even something as complex as a person, with all of our thoughts, activities, capabilities, even self-healing–it amazes me that most of it is just water. It took me forever to really appreciate what that meant, and the real meaning of the taste of water–it's supposed to taste like nothing, because of course it feels like nothing. And the only reason it tastes like nothing…"

Asher watched as a tear welled up in one of her eyes. She paused for a moment.

"…is because water is everything."