**Longest of the stories, I think**

Vanessa hated the opening shift. It started early and it ended late. Of course, the hospital never closed. Ever.

But the coffee shop in the lobby did. And everything that closes opens again, at some point, so the coffee shop opened at 6am every morning and closed at 6pm every night. Usually, Vanessa liked to work the closing shift. It was noon to close, and even though she sometimes had to stay late to clean up, she liked it. It was quieter.

See, most, if not all the surgeries in the hospital were schedules early in the day, so by 1 in the afternoon, the hospital had emptied to just the families visiting long term patients, or the doctors who were working late in the emergency room.

But good things never last. The teenager had gotten moved to opening shift about 3 weeks ago because her general manager had quit. The manager in question was pregnant, and due any day now. So the knocked up manager-extraordinaire had left, leaving the coffee shop in the hands of the very tired teen who liked to take naps in the stockroom.

Opening shift was 6am to noon, which wouldn't have been too bad if it didn't include the 5am stock check and the post-shift check with the next shift's employees.

To top it all off, Vanessa had not been given any promotion. No, she was still just a barista. Not a general manager, not a shift manager, not even a head of milk steaming. She was nothing.

Originally, she and the general manager were the only two workers. The general manager took the early shift and Vanessa took the afternoon shift and a slightly smaller check. It was a good system, despite the wage difference.

Now, Vanessa was the early shift nothing, and the new employee who worked the afternoon shift was the laziest boy the teen had ever met. He was only working in the hospital because his mom was a nurse and had asked Vanessa for a personal favor to get him hired.

Vanessa was a doormat with teeth, she liked to think. Yes, people typically liked to walk over her, see the above paragraph for point and case. It was hard for the young woman to really do anything about it, she was extremely shy and quiet most of the time. She found it incredibly difficult to stand up to anyone, and she often just gave in to whatever was going on.

The teeth comment, that's what you're wondering about, right? In many ways, Vanessa was tough in a backhanded way. She was the queen of insults muttered under her breath as people walked away. In everyone else's eyes, she was a push over. In her own head, she was a force to be reckoned with. Just wait for her snide comment or her quiet insults.

Vanessa's biggest issue, though, was how jaded she could be. There was little to no interest in the world anymore, especially now. Especially now that she had lost her brother to a drunk driver. Especially now that her mom had cut her off financially, and her dad was getting remarried. Especially now that her last boyfriend had proposed and then run off with the girl down the street. Especially now that she had a leaky faucet in her apartment and no way to hire someone to fix it.

If you put a gun to Vanessa's head and told her to say one word to describe her, she'd say say "smart." What's the difference between smart and jaded, really? After a life like the one Vanessa had lived, not much.

One word descriptions don't work. Vanessa was more than jaded, she was also pretty. She had long, dark hair, nearly black, actually. It was straight, down to her lower back. She kept it in a long ponytail and she had some bangs that she was growing out, so they sat on either side of her face. She had big eyes, not big like freakishly large, but big like they shined more than usual and they were a bright green. She had some freckles on her shoulders and some on her nose, but the ones on her shoulders were darker and more noticable. She was thin and strong. Her arms were developed from months of carrying large boxes of coffee and supplies. She liked to run, so she had strong legs, but she wasn't overly defined. In short, she was fit and pretty and kind to those who were kind to her.

Vanessa was really funny. She was witty in the way that she could flip a phrase without batting an eye. She loved romantic comedies and kids movies, but she almost always cried during the sad scenes. She was an ugly crier; she had mascara smeared on her right eye usually because it watered more than the left. She wore a lot of perfume, particularly one that smelled like roses and wild woods.

Vanessa had a lot to give but very little hope anymore. Why would she hope if she had already lost so much? If she had hoped before and then had it ripped away?

It was early in the morning. About 5:30. Vanessa was running stock check, getting ready to order anything they might need. The coffee grounds were already prepped and ready, the pastries were set up, and the tip jar was emptied. Normally, the dark haired teen kept the lights off so that people wouldn't start coming in before they were officially open, but her eyes were still trying to wake up so she had turned on the lights to read the catalog in front of her.

There was a soft knock at the door. Vanessa looked up, already forming the words "I'm sorry, we are not open yet" behind her tongue.

There was a woman at the door, and by the looks of her, she had been at the hospital all night. Her hair was short, but sticking up at strange angles. It was clear to Vanessa that she was not American, but she wasn't sure what background she might have. She had dark skin, it was almost like chocolate cake. It was freckled with darker dots, giving it that look of the night sky, reflected in a perfect pond of dark water. The woman had deep brown eyes, sparked with gold and rivers of black. Her eyelashes were long and her hair was curly in every way imaginable. She wore a brightly colored skirt and a tight top, with a matching band around her head. She wasn't as thin as Vanessa, no, she had curvy hips and stretch marks on her thighs and her arms were a little thicker.

Vanessa faltered; the woman before her was far too pretty. That didn't stop the woman, though. She spoke with a clear voice, it was the kind of voice that commanded silence when she talked. It almost had a sing-song quality to it.

"Hey, baby, can I get a coffee?"

The dark haired teen smiled a little, but she was still trying to find her words.

"You gotta voice?" The woman chuckled a little. Her smile was infectious and Vanessa cracked a smile.

"I do, sorry. We aren't open right now, could you-" Vanessa trailed off. She felt bad turning the obviously exhausted woman away. "How about you sit? I can make you a cup, on me."

The teen stood up and shut the book. Her chair shuffled back.

"You're a sweetheart. A regular doll," The woman paused before continuing. "But I think, ohhh correct me if I'm wrong, you're a doormat with teeth."

Vanessa stopped cold, the portafilter in her hands ready to go. "What?"

"Oh, I don't mean any harm! You're real sweet, but you always do what you're told! You always say those snide remarks! You're so... oh, what's the phrase... Jaded! Oh, baby, you're jaded!"

The dark haired girl paled a little, but she was trying to keep her composure. She smiled. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

The older woman smiled a little. There was only the sound of milk being steamed in the cafe, and both women were quiet. Vanessa finished up the coffee and brought it out to the woman. She sat across from her as she lifted the cup to her face with both hands and took a deep breath in.

"So... have you got a name?"

The older woman smiled a little and sighed. "Hope. And you?"

"Vanessa." The younger teen gestured to her name tag, which had a little sticker of a squirrel on it. It was a little worn, of course, but still so cute.

Hope smiled. "I like the squirrel."

The two women were quiet again. Vanessa pushed her bangs back a little, and took a breath. She left her mouth open, as if she were going to say something, but she shut it again. Hope waited for the younger girl to speak.

"How did you... How did you know that I always... I always thought I was a doormat. With... teeth?" Vanessa stumbled through the sentence, as if she didn't know what to say or how to bring it up.

"It was a hunch, baby, nothing more. Why don't we talk about it, though? Why do you feel so angry all the time?"

Vanessa was silent for a moment.

"I guess I'm not... I am angry. I am. But it's because the world is shitty. The world is full of moms who aren't great and dads who run off to Mexico with your old babysitter and brothers who die. And girls who screw other girls' fiances. And then you're working to keep your apartment and you're GM goes and gets pregnant, so you have to take over, take over her shitty shift and don't get a raise."

The two of them were silent for a moment. The dark haired teen watched a very rushed doctor hurry passed. He was a tall man with brown hair and a white coat that billowed around him like a cape. His slacks were fit and clean and tailor-fit. He was texting on his phone, rather rapidly, too.

The older woman broke Vanessa's watchful gaze on the doctor. When she spoke, the girl looked back at her. Her gaze wasn't all there, it was like she was looking past Hope. It was clear that she was stuck up in her head. Thinking.

"Alright, honey, we're gonna have a chat. Listen, life isn't all that, is it. And by now, you've figured that all out, but it doesn't mean there's no hope at all. Tell me, if your father was so upset with your mom, enough to leave her, wouldn't that mean he had reason to lose hope? His once truest love, the mother of his children... no longer in love with him? But then he found Katy. And Katy gave him hope again because, yes, he fell in love again. See? Hope lives on. Always."

Vanessa's gaze returned to the lady's face. She shook her head slightly. Sure, some of what this lady was saying made sense, but... the names. How did she know all the names?

"How did you know my dad's new girlfriend's name?"

Hope smiled a little, more on the left side of her face than the right. She set her coffee cup down. "You didn't think it was just a name, did you?"

Vanessa was quiet again.

"Listen, baby, hope is always there. I am always there. You can't stop time or life or... fate. When it's time, it's time. Your brother died in a stupid accident, but... You know who lived? The other driver's daughters. And the grandma who got smashed between your brother's car and the car behind her. And all the people who lived had hope that they would. Your brother did, too, but there is nothing I can do to stop Death or Life. Or any force of nature. I can only give people hope."

Vanessa didn't stir much, but she was listening. She was listening for sure, taking in what the older woman in front of her was saying.

"But, honey, you gotta get some of that hope back. 'Cause I know some real bad shit happened in your life, but its changing. Its changing because once you've had so much, you get strong. And no, it doesn't mean you get all the good stuff, it doesn't mean that you've 'had your fill of bad', but it means that you... well, it means that it takes a lot more to make you feel down now. A fire burns down the apartment? Well, at least no one you loved died. The difference now is that anything slightly better is good."

Vanessa smiled. "Its true, I guess. Any boy who isn't screwing my neighbor is gonna look pretty good. And if Katy makes my dad happy, maybe he can help with my college money instead of mom..." The young woman trailed off.

"Now you're getting it!" Hope put her cup down and sighed. "Now, baby, I think it's time for you to open up."

The woman got up and began to leave.

"Wait," Vanessa stood up suddenly. "Thank you."

Hope smiled and left. Vanessa wandered over to the door, unlocked it, flipped the open sign. And then she had hope for the day.