The Cat wasn’t wrong. Back in the front of the shop, I sat down on my stool next to Betty and took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s do this.”

The door unlocked and immediately flew open. A troll, with dark green skin, tall horns, and a dashing haircut stepped inside. A linen button up and jeans created a perfect outfit for the guy,though he looked a bit young for me. He carried a laptop under one arm and a backpack over his shoulder. His brown eyes darted around the space before landing on me.

“Welcome to Meow,” I said with a smile.

He smiled back as he made his way toward the counter. He dropped the backpack and laptop off on one end of the large wooden table. Then he was at the counter. His eyes flickered to Indigo, who was curled up in a ball on the counter, napping. The amount of bacon she’d consumed had done her in. The Cat sat near the register, but wasn’t paying attention to the troll.

“Can I get an Americano?”

“Of course, are you going to be here for a while?” I asked as I started on the espresso.

He nodded.

I pulled out a dark slate gray mug and set it on the table. It hadn’t been the one I had been going for, but it felt right, so I filled it with hot water. Then I added the double shot of espresso. I moved the mug closer to him then headed for the register. He pulled out a credit card I recognized, and I quickly rang him up.

Before the transaction could finish, the door opened again and two more people wandered in. The two women looked human, except their eyes were a brilliant green, almost like the Cat’s, and they had pointed ears. Both wore sundresses and had leather backpacks on their shoulders, and both were stunningly gorgeous.

They dropped their stuff at one of the square tables before heading my way. They nodded at the troll, who headed toward the long table. Then the door opened again and two humans entered. Except, somehow I knew they weren’t human. They headed directly to the line that was now forming, flashing slightly glowing yellow eyes.

The elves both ordered hot chocolates and stared at Indigo. Yet, the tiny dragon didn’t stir. I quickly got to work making the drinks. “Will you be here awhile?” I asked them both.

“Yeah, we have some studying to do, and the coffee shop on campus is under construction.”

I nodded, smiling, then pulled out two dainty green coffee cups. Then the drinks were done, and they had paid. Yet, in that time a line had formed with some additional folks behind the two not-humans. The yellow-eyed whatevers wanted drinks to go. A vanilla latte, and a brown sugar latte, and both kept their distance from the Cat.

The Cat noticed and stared at them. “Freaking wolves,” muttered the Cat, even though only I could hear him. It was the first thing he’d said since we’d opened. From there it was nonstop action until midmorning, when I finally got through the seemingly unending line. It had been a good mix of people staying and studying and to-go orders, so the shop didn’t feel crowded even though it had definitely been busy.

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A wolf and an elf had joined the troll at the long table. The two elven girls were at their table, deep in the study of economics, of all things. They had already gotten refills once, while the troll basically went through an Americano every hour. The last time he had gotten up and brought his mug up, I’d been ready, just needing the cup. Except, of course, I couldn’t see the future.

“Can I also get a brownie and two cookies, as well?” his voice came out super polite, and I nodded.

Out from under the counter, I set a wooden round plate and grabbed a pair of tongs. “For cookies I have chocolate chip and peanut butter…” I added a brownie, since there was only one kind.

“One of each, thanks.”

I added them to the plate, and to the charge on the register.

“You should offer him a discount card,” said the Cat. He was curled up in a ball, not even looking at people as they came in.

I paused, not knowing what the Cat was talking about. Then I noticed that there, next to the register in a small card holder, was a stack of what looked like business cards. Each one had ten coffee cups on it then the words free coffee. A hole punch sat next to it. I quickly grabbed a card and punched out three coffees, plus three more for the goodies.

“Here, you can get a free drink after a few more purchases.”

The troll looked shocked, and then smiled. His entire face lit up, and he blushed. “Thank you so much!” He grabbed the card, the plate, and the mug, carrying it all back to the table with a bounce in his step.

“I didn’t know we had a coffee program…”

The Cat’s tail flickered across the counter, and it woke Indigo up. She stretched like a cat herself, then glanced around in shock at all the people.

“I know, boo. The place is busy today,” I said, seeing her look.

She nodded, wide-eyed, then launched herself upward toward the bookcases at the far side. It was probably time for her morning lessons using the MP3 player.

I noticed the two Elven girls had stopped talking, watching Indigo fly across the room. “So, what’s today’s goal?” I asked the Cat quietly. The coffee shop was busy, with lots of chatter coming from the large wooden table, but I didn’t want this conversation to be overheard.

The Cat didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he climbed to his feet and moved closer to me. I took that as liberty to pick him up and give him some cuddles. He immediately started purring in my arms. “Something about helping a relationship along. We don’t get tasks like this often. They are not my strong suit.”

“Do we even know who we’re supposed to help?”

The Cat nuzzled my chin, and I took that as a no. He really didn’t like tasks that didn’t have any detail about them. Then, I realized that he was worried we wouldn’t be able to do it, since it sounded like he didn’t understand what it was we even had to do.

“Don’t worry, we have this,” I whispered.

He nuzzled me again, then made it clear I should let him go. He jumped back to the counter. “How about another beverage?” he asked.

I smiled to myself as I noticed my empty mug. It didn’t take long for me to make a vanilla latte for me and the Cat. The beverage was soothing as I glanced around the shop, trying to figure out exactly what we were supposed to do. It could be any relationship between any of these people, or even someone who wasn’t here yet. How could we narrow it down?