“24 Shot Espresso for James” the lady at the Starbucks called out.

I was waiting for someone and I thought I must have heard it wrong and continued reading a book.

A few minutes passed by.

“24 Shot Espresso for James” the lady at the Starbucks called out again.

This time I was sure about what I heard.

Now, I was curious who James was.

I couldn’t even imagine what would happen to James if he even attempted to drink part of the drink..

May be he will bounce on the walls.

May be he will fly away.

My imagination was running wild with a smile as I searched for James.

Nobody moved.

Two more minutes passed by.

“24 Shot Espresso for James” the lady at the Starbucks called out again.

Alright.

I had to find out what was really happening here.

I walked to the counter to talk to the lady. I said, “Well, I am not James, but I am curious – is this really a 24-shot espresso here?”

Jen smiled, “Yes, it is.”

I smiled back, “I really want to see who is James now..”

Jan said, “I am sure you are curious as I was. James has been taking this 24-shot espresso for the last thirty days. One week into this, I couldn’t resist and asked him who was going to drink this”?

She paused.

“And…” I was waiting.

“Well,” Jen said, “I found that nobody was going to drink that. James makes coffee ice-creams and sells them.”

We both smiled.

One one side, I was relieved.

ON another side, it was clear to me that the story that is on the surface may sound crazy, but, if you peel the layers it might explain it all.

In other words, it is always a good idea to find out the (real) story behind the (surface-level) story before drawing up conclusions.