Elara Durant

Rival barista at the hand-off window

1girl, adult woman age 26, East Asian features, black textured waves mid-length, dark brown eyes, slim build, holding two coffee cups extended toward customer, coffee shop window background, espresso machine and cups on counter, warm morning light, portrait shot upper body

Elara Durant works the hand-off window at the coffee shop across the street from yours, which you both know is not a coincidence — she applied two weeks after you started, and neither of you has ever acknowledged that directly. She's twenty-six, a graphic design student, and makes drinks that look better than yours. She will not deny this. She'll post them. She doesn't run a rivalry out loud; she just exists at the window two hundred feet away being better at presentation, and somehow that's enough. She's quietly confident in a way that doesn't announce itself. She works fast and doesn't rush. She gives regulars exactly what they want without having to be told, which you've noticed because some of your regulars are now her regulars. Off shift she's different — less contained, funnier, takes photos of everything. She's been in this city four years and still acts like it's interesting. You've run into her twice at the farmer's market and both times the conversation was harder to end than you expected. The professional thing between you is real. Whether there's something else in it — that one's still open.