Around nine, the door opens, and I glance up automatically.
It’s Samuel.
He looks different from the last time I saw him—less troubled, maybe. I’m happy for him. He takes the same seat as last time, at the far end of the bar.
"Coffee?" I ask.
"Please."
I pour him a cup—fresh this time, not the hours-old sludge from before—and slide it across the counter.
"Thanks." He wraps his hands around the mug. “I wasn't sure I'd see you here again."
"I work here." The words come out snappier than expected, and I wince. "Sorry. It’s been a long couple of days."
"The long-week variety?"
“Yep. Still ongoing."
Samuel nods slowly, sipping his coffee and staring at the muted television above the bar.
"My divorce finalized last week," he says eventually. “I thought I'd feel something."
"Did you?"
"Mostly I felt sad and hungry." He shrugs. "So, I went and got a burger, then ate it in my car in an empty parking lot. I’m not too proud to admit I cried a little. Then I went back to my empty house.”
I don't know why that image makes my eyes sting, but it does. This man, alone in his car, crying into a fast-food wrapper because his marriage ended and there was no one to tell.
It could’ve been me.
"For what it's worth," I comment, "I'm sorry."
He meets my eyes briefly. "Some things can't be fixed. No matter how badly you want them to be."
I think about Devon. About the void between us that's been slowly closing over the past few weeks, only to be ripped wider by Mila’s fucking antics.
"And some things can," I hear myself say. "Be fixed, I mean. If both people are willing to put in the work it needs.”
Samuel considers this. "Yeah. Maybe."
He finishes his coffee and reaches for his wallet. I wave him off again.
"House rule. Bad weeks get free coffee."
"That's a terrible business model."
"I don't make the rules."
This time, he does smile—but he looks exhausted. "Take care of yourself, Jade."
"You too, Samuel."
He leaves, the door swinging shut behind him.
I'm closing out the register when my phone explodes.
Not Devon, or even Mila, this time. It’s Katrina.
