Chapter 4

The arrival of two police officers shifted the entire atmosphere in the coffee shop. The murmuring of the customers died down, replaced by a tense, watchful silence.

"What's the situation here?" the older officer asked, his eyes scanning the scene: Sabrina crying, Ethan looking indignant, and me, standing calm and composed with my phone in hand.

"Officer, thank god you're here!" Sabrina cried, rushing forward. "This woman... she went crazy! She attacked me, and when my friend Ethan tried to calm her down, she started making all these threats!"

Ethan nodded eagerly. "She's been acting paranoid all morning. She accused Sabrina of trying to hurt her, and then when I tried to put her laptop away safely, it slipped. It was an accident. Now she's trying to press charges."

The officer looked at me, his expression neutral. "Ma'am, is that what happened?"

"No, officer, it is not," I said, keeping my voice level. "I have a recording of the entire incident. It started when this barista, Sabrina Chavez, began verbally harassing me."

I played the first recording, the one with her snide comments about my "corporate" life. The officer listened intently.

"After that," I continued, "she pretended to trip and lunged at me with hot coffee and this." I pointed to the piercing gun, which Sabrina was trying to discreetly kick under a table. "I dodged. Then my boyfriend, Ethan Lester, became aggressive."

I switched to the video on my phone. The officers watched the clear footage of Ethan grabbing my laptop, the deliberate way he let it drop, and the sickening sound of it shattering. They saw him demand I pay Sabrina $500. They saw him lunge for my purse.

The younger officer' s eyebrows shot up. The older one' s face hardened.

"I want to press charges against Ethan Lester for destruction of property and attempted theft," I said firmly.

I then turned my attention to Sabrina. "And as for her, I have reason to believe she is running an unlicensed, unsanitary piercing business from the back room of this coffee shop. That piercing gun she tried to attack me with is evidence. I am formally requesting you investigate this as a public health hazard."

The mood in the room curdled. The customers who had been glaring at me were now staring at Sabrina with horror and disgust. An unlicensed piercing gun in a coffee shop?

The officers exchanged a look. A public health complaint was not something they could ignore.

"Sir," the older officer said to Ethan, his voice now devoid of any warmth. "Put your hands behind your back."

Ethan' s face went white. "What? You're arresting me? It was an accident! She' s manipulating you!"

As the cuffs clicked shut around his wrists, the coffee shop owner, a trendy man in his forties, burst through the door, having been called by another employee.

"What in God's name is going on in my shop?" he yelled.

The officer pointed towards Sabrina. "We're investigating a report of an illegal piercing operation being run on your premises, sir. We'll need to confiscate that device for testing."

The owner's face turned a shade of purple I had never seen before. He looked from the piercing gun to Sabrina, his eyes blazing with fury. The viral nightmare was happening again, but this time, the stars of the show were not me.