Coffee and Conversations

GirlWellTravelled
Jun 4
5 min read

Updated: Jun 7

Turns out, coffee doesn’t just power stories, it is one.

I’ll admit, the content of this post was inspired by a group I joined on BlueSky. Each day, they post a single word and from that word (a daily writing share tag), you find a piece of writing you’ve done that includes it. Then you share it.

It’s been much fun.

Coffee hasn’t been one of those words (at least, not yet), but it got me thinking. How many times has coffee, one of my favourite things featured in my writing?

Spoiler: it’s everywhere, painting its own picture, fuelling its own stories. As a character, backdrop, scene-stealer, storyteller and fuel. From musings on cafés and muses in Cafés to where all these stories live, The Reading Room, coffee is as constant as my cursor.

And now? It’s even turned up in a recipe. Try this Minute to make Frappe if you fancy a more drinkable caffeine kick while you scroll. Or perhaps you'd prefer to read my Qishr Latte and some golden baked goodness review.

Coffee as Connection and a Catalyst

Here coffee plays a role in forming new bonds, curiosity, possibility.

Coffee, But Not Really Sometimes, 'coffee' is the placeholder. The connection. A hook that lets you say, let’s see where this goes.

Anyway, Jess, I know you’re on your way, but I’m dying to know. How was coffee?

Interestingly, coffee wasn’t actually coffee... but lunch.

Oh? Where did the two of you go?

— Call Me Blair / Wrongdoing – Leapfrogged

Coffee at 35,000 Feet Some love stories begin over a strong black coffee. Others begin on airplane seats. This one had both and maybe that’s what made it work.

Jonathan would bend over backwards for Anastasia. He already has. Because she’s cut ties, rewrote her story, just to stand next to him. A match made in a heaven some people never get the mapping to. A match struck over coffee between the BA business class aisles, somewhere mid-Atlantic between the Caribbean and the UK.

— Call Me Blair / Wrongdoing – Room One

The Smell of Love (and Coffee) Sometimes love is simply knowing what someone needs and when to show up with it.

Josh, where on earth do we need to go at this time of the morning?

Come on. Get up and I’ll tell you.

The smell of coffee helped. Eventually, she tossed the pillows aside, opened her eyes to see him standing over her, cup of coffee in hand.

— What Happens on A Cruise, Stays On The Cruise – The Episode in Cozumel

She Measured Love in Degrees Some people don’t fall out of love, they cool out of it.

She went through relationships like cups of coffee. As soon as the temperature dropped, it was time for a new one. Yet, most of her exes remained in contact, giving her a Wikipedia of admirers of the who’s who.

— What Happens on A Cruise, Stays On The Cruise - The Episode with the White Shirt

Coffee as Comfort, Ritual and Relationship Anchor

Here, coffee is a coping mechanism, a witness to grief, success and workplace camaraderie.

The Substitute Sometimes, coffee isn’t the answer. Or at least, not the one within reach. Some days, comfort comes from whatever’s close.

I glanced around for a coffee shop, something to soften the sting, make the moment feel less painful. But I couldn’t be bothered to move. Not the car. Not myself. So instead, I reached into my handbag, not for caffeine, but for the remains of a crushed bag of Percy Pig Party Time sweets. And my phone. And in some small way, James.

— Call Me Blair / Wrongdoing – The Riesling Party

Coffee, Cake and Quiet Grief Some moments aren’t about forgiveness or understanding. But just about being human. Coffee. Cake. A quiet offering. Even when the world is watching.

Daily, the media circus spun its merry-go-round around the case. One reporter even camped outside our home. Once, maybe twice, maybe more, I brought him steaming hot coffee and slices of homemade rum cake. When he told me he was about to have a son, I gave him all the baby things David and I had kept, for the sons we never had.

— When the Rhythm Changes

Growth, Measured in Coffee Cups Growth doesn’t always look like a big win. Sometimes it’s quiet. Like owning your cafe.

Instead of one dance studio, we now had two. Renamed them Bailey Ellis Dance Studios. And instead of the moms heading elsewhere for their catch-ups, they now stayed, getting their coffee and conversation from our very own in-house café, fully staffed and always bustling.

— When the Rhythm Changes

Questions, Not Answers Success tastes different when you pause long enough to ask if it was worth it.

Two fingers tapped the side of my coffee cup, seeking an answer. The brick wall, lined with trophies, seemed to reply. At least in part.

— When the Rhythm Changes (Unpublished)

Office Rituals Some coffee moments just keep the office humming along, quietly holding things together.

Our earlier phone conversation had drawn a small congregation to my desk. Jones scooted back and Xavier who had just finished the coffee round, returned. The same Xavier who, years ago, had signed off on this very adjustment.

— The Insurance Policy – Do Better

Shared Smoke, Shared Space Coffee isn’t just a drink it’s a gesture. Sometimes, those gestures say: I’m here with you.

Ooph, it’s a bit cold today.

I say, wrapping my cardigan tighter before taking my coffee off Xavier. At our favourite spot, just across the Thames Path, I take a sip while he lights up my cigarette. And then his.

— The Insurance Policy – Do Better

Absence, Irony and Surveillance

These final vignettes bring in humour, disruption of routine and irony. Cleverly closing the loop.

Coffee and Surveillance When coffee breaks come with a side of surveillance or at least the feeling of it. But the laughter we share is always off the record.

Anyway, I’m not staying any longer, Cailin says. You know who might just be adding this coffee break into their data-tracking spreadsheet of my keystrokes per minute.

I gasped. Held that laughter firm.

— The Insurance Policy – Personal Concierge

Salt, Sea and Something Brewed Certain mornings blur the lines between nature and nostalgia.

Two cruise ships had already anchored out on Grand Cayman’s waters, taking a well-earned break after their night shift. Out on the balcony, you could smell the sea. Raw, salty... and coffee.

— What Happens on A Cruise, Stays on The Cruise - The Episode in Grand Cayman

The Coffee That Wasn’t Some absences are louder than presence. When ritual breaks, it tells its own story.

In the kitchen, the countertops were void of any coffee machine. Cupboard doors opened, closed. Nothing. Lemara’s brain finally caught up, there had never been a coffee machine in the suite. Not since check-in.

— What Happens on A Cruise, Stays on The Cruise -The Episode the Morning After

One Last Conversation, Coffee and a Song

And little dialogue over coffee and a song:

You’re such a show-off, I say to him, singing that in French.

Jess, part of the song is sung in French.

Where? I sip on my coffee, waiting for him to prove it.

Uhh, immediately after the line you just mangled in English.

She listened while Eyes Without a Face by Billy Idol continued on its journey in the background). From an unpublished chapter in the Call Me Blair series.

As you have read, Coffee and conversation, isn't not just fuel. It is function. Intimacy. Interruption. Invitation. Grief. Joy. And sometimes? All of those at once.