After her rebirth
Chapter 57

Felix stood there, kinda dazed, his eyes flicking over to the kitchen door. Through the frosted glass, he could see Katniss hustling around, her slim figure moving non-stop.

"If she was out to get me, why'd she tell me someone was messing with my meds?" Maximilian's voice was all cool and detached, but his eyes had this sarcastic glint. "If it weren't for her heads-up, I'd probably be six feet under by now, thanks to that poison."

Felix's face went pale in a heartbeat.

"Don't jinx it like that," Felix said, frowning hard.

For a sec, he was genuinely freaked out.

Katniss whipped up a small pot of coffee pudding, set aside two bowls for Felix and Maximilian, and packed the rest into some plastic containers.

She shoved the leftover ingredients into the fridge.

No way she was taking them home. Her family never got to taste any of it. Anna probably gave it away or sold it, which ticked Katniss off.

After wrapping up, Katniss said her goodbyes and headed to the coffee shop with the coffee pudding.

Even though it was almost finals season and students were cramming, the coffee shop was still hopping.

The place originally had like a dozen seats, but now they had outdoor seating too.

Still, it wasn't enough. Tons of people were grabbing their drinks to go, forming a long line.

"Honey, let's hit up another spot. This line's insane!" The guy outside the shop was already feeling the headache coming on.

The woman, all dolled up, pouted, "No way! They got this new drink, and I already bragged about it to my friends. If I show up empty-handed, I'll look like a fool! Are you waiting with me or not?" "Alright, alright, we'll wait. Happy now?"

They quickly joined the line.

The students who came later noticed that besides the usual crowd, there were now some locals at Amara's coffee shop.

Made sense, though. Amara's place had been dropping one killer new drink after another, totally outshining the other coffee shops. The coffee elsewhere just didn't cut it.

Amara's coffee shop was the new hot spot.

Word on the street was that other coffee shops were trying to come up with something new too, but Amara's place had already made a name for itself. Drinking coffee from her shop was the new cool thing.

Inside, three girls finally got to the front of the line. One of them frowned at the new server and asked, "Where's Katniss? We want her to serve us."

The server, who was new and kinda clueless, said, "Katniss? Sorry, but we don't have anyone by that name here."

The girls exchanged looks and quickly snickered, "With her clumsy self, she probably got canned by Amara. No way they'd keep someone like her." They giggled and placed their orders. As soon as a table opened up, they snagged it.

"Hey Laura, doesn't your dad's business have a tea shop? With this coffee place blowing up, you guys thinking about jumping into the coffee game too? If you open a coffee shop, we wouldn't have to wait in these crazy lines." Laura Evans sneered, "Our tea shop caters to high-end clients. How can you even compare it to this lowly coffee joint? Besides, how much money can you really make from it? It's just popular with regular folks. You think they can open a chain?" One of the girls, hearing Laura's snobby tone, kept quiet. She scooped up some of the soft pudding and thought to herself that this coffee shop seemed to have a lot of potential, as evidenced by the constant stream of customers. She didn't know much about business, but she knew that good stuff sells itself.

She began to suspect that Laura's family was in business, but Laura had no vision, coming here just to mess with Katniss. Last time, Laura even threw ten bucks at Katniss to insult her. Such an idiot.

Just then, another girl nudged Laura's arm and said, "Katniss."

Laura looked over and saw Katniss not only skipping the line to enter the shop but also carrying something into the kitchen.

Laura's face instantly turned sour.

"What's up with that server? Didn't she say there was no Katniss?"

Laura stood up abruptly and stormed to the counter. "Didn't you say there's no Katniss here? Then who just walked in?"

The server looked confused. The other server, who had been there a few days longer and knew Katniss, quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Excuse me, ma'am. If there's an issue, let's discuss it over here."

With so many people in line, holding things up would surely make the customers impatient.

Laura slammed her coffee onto the counter. "Is deceiving customers and being dismissive your idea of good service? In my family's business, you'd be out the door for that." Coffee spilled everywhere, even getting into the calculator.

The staff hurried to clean up, but it was too late.

"Ma'am, how could you do this?"

"Get Katniss out here!" Laura was furious. How dare they mess with her? In the Evans family, everyone had to show her respect.

The people in line, seeing the commotion, were curious but also a bit anxious.

What was going on?

In the kitchen, Katniss and Amara were discussing new products when they heard the noise outside. They exchanged a glance and quickly walked out.

Katniss looked and saw that the angry girl at the front was the same one who had humiliated her with money last time.

What was she here for now? Katniss didn't even know her.

Amara greeted them with a smile as she said, "What's the matter, ma'am? Is there anything we could have done better? How about we give you this coffee for free?"

Seeing Katniss, Laura pushed Amara aside. "Who needs your free coffee? I specifically asked for Katniss to serve us, but your server said she wasn't here. Do you think we're blind? Do you know who I am? With one word, I can shut this place down!"