It could have been hours, but in reality only a few moments have passed. To Adrian, he feels like he’s in that awful scene from the film Midnight Espresso. He remembers the scene well, where a poor little bean smuggles artificial sweetener and ends up in a Turkish Coffee prison.
He’s more than aware of the glares he’s receiving from his other security guard beans. Afterall, the evidence is right there on the CCTV footage. It’s his arm – his tattoo – his memory of Arabica.
Oh, sweet Arabica. They met many cups ago when Adrian was sent off to the war. A war that lasted decades in the fight against Instant Coffee. He was a soldier, and she – a pretty green bean stuck in a war-torn town. In fact, he too was a little green around the edges. Hell, they all were – it was so long ago, before any of them were even officially roasted.
Stationed just near the border of Plunger City and seedy Moccona Town, Arabica was the sweet waitress in the soldier’s hangout – The Nes Cafe. Adrian and his best mate would spend hours in that cafe as he tried to pluck up the courage to even speak to Arabica. Eventually though, magic did happen. Supported by his best mate and wingman, he finally managed to ask Arabica out. It was the beginning of a beautiful romance. It was also the beginning of a terrible tragedy.
As many stories go, when Adrian and Arabica were in full swing with their love, it left little room for anything else. Increasingly Adrian’s friend was left on the outer. He rolled around Plunger City, picking fights with older roasted beans he knew he couldn’t win. Some said that he even had a secret desire for Arabica he knew he could never fulfil.
The war raged on and appeared to never want to end. Troops were needed to the north. Arabica had family there, in the lush plantations. One morning, Adrian announced to his friend that he had been accepted as a personal guard to the Cafe General in the north and would be leaving the next day to start his future with Arabica. Adrian remembered so well his friend’s face – that mix of anger and fear covered up with a “I’m happy for you” smile.
But by the time Adrian was due to leave the next day, the world was a different place. The soldiers of The International Roast had all but taken Plunger City. Many soldiers and locally roasted beans were reduced to little more than grinds. Adrian searched relentlessly, but after many days had to admit to himself that Arabica and his friend had surely perished.
“OPEN UP THE CENTRE – RELEASE THE BEANS” – Bob was commanding the other security guard beans, “We have our villain right here”. Bob’s booming voice extracted Adrian from his memories. The security beans were scrambling round, walkie talkies in hand to start raising the shutters on the mall. It was going to be chaos.
Adrian, defeated and downcast, raised his eyes to watch his fate unfold. He knew he was in for a flurry of insults. No-one liked a dirty mall cop, least of all other security beans.
But just then, as he could hear the alarms turn to silence and the shutters begin to rise – his eye catches something on the CCTV monitor. There, looking up from the furniture department of David Jones – a face he hadn’t seen in a lifetime, his old soldier mate, Hugo smiling right up at him – the glint of a jewel in his sweaty palm.
“STOP” Adrian cries and as if in slow motion, pounds down the button on the console to plunge the centre into lockdown again.
“It can’t be”, he says to himself – knowing it actually is.
Can Adrian prove to the other security beans that he is innocent?
Will Hugo get away with the jewel?