“I know. He’s the big-business guy. And I get that we need jobs here, but small businesses are the lifeblood of any community. This place has been here for hundreds of years. If we just keep losing places like this, New Orleans loses its charm.”
“I agree,” India said.
“You do?”
“I do,” she replied. “Even though I work for a corporation.”
“Where?”
“Next door. Southern Roastery.”
“Oh, I love that coffee,” Maisie said. “I grabbed some this morning from the one down the block. I take it, you’re not workingina café, though. Either that, or you never spill anything on yourself because you wouldn’t wear those clothes if you did.”
India smiled and said, “Corporate, yes. But we started here, and weweresmall before we got big.”
“Yeah, I’ve read the story of the founding on the walls of the cafés before.”
“Maisie, can you come up here for a second?”
“Yes!” Maisie yelled after the young girl India now knew as Sarah up front. “Sorry, I’ve got to go.”
“No problem,” India said. “Maybe I’ll see you in here again?”
When Maisie gave her a smile with a small nod and then walked past India to the front of the store, India pulled out the button and looked down at it. Maisie Lincoln was running for a city council seat, the same seat her brother currently held and was trying to hold on to.
CHAPTER 5
“Hey, Sarah?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you watch the place while I run next door?”
“Are you looking to buy a super short skirt or something?” Sarah asked.
“No,” Maisie said, laughing. “I’m grabbing coffee.”
“Coffee, where? They serve coffee there now?”
Maisie grabbed her wallet and phone off the desk in the world’s smallest back office.
“No, at Southern Roastery next door. They just opened a café inside, so I don’t have to go down the block anymore.”
“We needed another coffee place in this city?”
“Apparently,” Maisie said as she walked to the front.
“Well, we have zero customers, so I don’t think it’s a problem to watch the place, no.”
“Great. I mean, not great that we don’t have customers, but thank you. Want a coffee or something?”
“Can I get a tea, maybe? They have a good peach one.”
“Sure,” Maisie replied. “I’ll be back in ten unless there’s a long line or something. Oh, if anyone calls about the campaign–”
“Boss, you say that every time you step out, but no one has ever called about the campaign.”
“Right,” she said.
