Mary felt very bad, every step weighed on her, but she had to go to work because her tuition could not pay for itself.

She was a very sacrificing girl, because she was an orphan and wanted to better herself, so she studied and worked part time to pay for her studies at the university so she could graduate as a lawyer.

A few days ago, her aunt Ana, the only relative Mary had, took her to the hospital for a check-up because the girl was always sick. After a lot of tests, the doctor said he found nothing, so he came up with the brilliant idea of forbidding poor Mary to drink coffee.

Not to exaggerate, but from that day on Mary no longer had the energy to smile. Every morning before sunrise, Mary leaves the house to get to her classes early. At noon after lunch at the university cafeteria she goes to the library for a couple of hours to do her homework for the next day and at 5:00 p.m. she starts her shift at the gourmet restaurant on Fifth Avenue where she is a waitress.

Many times Mary works 2 shifts in a row and gets home in the wee hours of the morning. She is a very smart girl but she abuses her physical abilities.

That night, Mary waited on table 6. A couple of elderly millionaires who don't give a damn about anyone else, let alone a young waitress.

Mary, with her usual smile and kindness, served the gentlemen while listening to a lot of barbaric talk between them.

That the vendors on the boulevard make Fifth Avenue look ugly. That the buses are hindering the traffic with their Ferraris. That their employees don't serve them like they used to.

The girl was trying not to lose her patience while serving the most expensive dish on the menu to these two customers, when she heard one of them say that the people in the neighborhood had such a weak organism that they couldn't even have two cups of coffee or they would die of an overdose.

The other old man told him that he would bet anything that someone poor in the neighborhood was not crazy enough to accept that challenge.

As this pair of old men passed the time impressing each other and playing "my house is bigger than yours" they soon put a price on their bet: $250,000 that you can't find a fool in the neighborhood who drinks too many cups of coffee at one time. Said the old man who seemed to be older of the two.

Dude I'll double the bet because there is no one who will accept that challenge.

Mary placed the bottle of champagne in the center of the table and said to both of them: I accept the bet.

The whole restaurant was completely silent. Mary's colleagues who knew about the doctor's prohibition asked her not to take such a risk. But Mary knew that $500,000 would give her the opportunity to finish college and she would set up her own gourmet restaurant in the neighborhood so that all people could taste this delicious menu at an affordable price.

Mary told the rich old men to bet the $250,000 each, she had the college scholarship fund in case she lost, but she was sure this was a walk in the park for her.

She took her waitress friend's hands and told her if she died to take her plants and cat to Aunt Anne. She said goodbye to everyone in the kitchen while the old men at the table were very quiet as they heard the girl was forbidden coffee and with that haggard look they knew she wouldn't make it.

Mary poured herself the 5 cups of coffee and told the gentlemen to get their checkbooks ready.

She began to drink the steaming, delicious coffee. It had been so many weeks since she had tasted it that she felt her body tremble with each sip.

He slowly drank one after another cup of espresso coffee, which was what the old people had agreed upon. When she only had one cup left, one of the old men said that for the deal to be fair Mary had to drink coffee from each of the cups in the restaurant, missing the giant gray cup where the chef drank coffee.

All the employees of the restaurant protested, the old men wanted at all costs that Mary did not comply with the challenge. But the girl, who was very brave, told them that she could do it. So they filled the giant cup to the brim and Mary felt that this was the sweetest and most delicious part of the encounter with her favorite drink, coffee.

She drank every last sip and the gentlemen signed the checks.Mary didn't sleep for a week but it was worth it. She regained her energy, she regained the real and radiant smile that characterizes her. The coffee gave her back her joy and gave her a new reason to live which was her little restaurant in the corner of the neighborhood.