The damnable machine mocked him as it bathed his face with its neon green light. Gerald had lost patience, trying simply to retrieve his drink, yet fate had seen him unfit for dark mocha, and so he was reduced to curling his lips into an ugly snarl and banging at the infernal contraption with a gauntleted fist. But, just as he was about to turn back, the can had managed to drop into receiving slot, and he retrieved it with a hand that shot out forth like a striking snake.

“A-ha!”, he cried triumphantly. “Gotcha, you son of a bitch.”

The sergeant opened the can and drank heartily. He shook his head as he sighed in contentment. “Ahh~~!”

The curve of a dumb smile was on his face, but it eased out into a straight line of indifference as he looked to the side to behold one bulkily-clad man in white who had rounded the corner and stopped in awkward astonishment at Gerald’s gross public display of his love for coffee. He was rather fat, the stranger, and his face was plump and round, much like his belly. [i]’Probably an engineer,’[/i] the sergeant thought, as he gave the man a crisp salute, which was returned.

“‘Ey,” greeted the man.

“Hello,” reciprocated Gerald.

They did not maintain eye contact as they went their separate ways.

[i]’Well, that was slightly embarrassing,’[/i] concluded the sergeant, whilst taking a swig of fine Turkish roast. [i]’Note: don’t do that again.'[/i]