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“Shit,” I hissed, and Jade gave me a weird look.
Thankfully, she didn’t question the fact that I was crouching on the floor, because she had to serve the newcomer. It was Julian. In a voice that sounded bored, he ordered a flat white, and Jade got to work. I stayed where I was, wondering how making a flat white was taking so damn long. By the time I heard the clicking of the cash register, and Jade ducked down to tell me that Julian had left, my knees were stiff from crouching.
Every single one of my co-workers peered out from where they were, eyes sparkling with intrigue. I rolled my eyes, and tried to wipe down the counter, but Jade wasn’t having any of it.
“Would you care to explain?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Not really,” I replied primly.
“I would care for you to explain!” she said, swatting me with the rag she was using to clean the counter.
“I know that guy,” I said like it was no big deal.
Apparently, that wasn’t a good enough answer, because Nick huffed and marched over to the counter. He grinned at me.
“Tell me or you’re fired.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal, Nick,” was my response.
“C’mon,” he moaned, stomping a foot like a kid, “We’re just curious!”
“I don’t know…”
“We won’t tell anyone!” Jade swore, making a cross over her heart.
The entire staff was nodding and still leaning over.
“God, you guys need to get lives.”
“Yeah, we do, now tell us,” Nick insisted.
“Ugh, fine, I have a little crush on him,” I relented.
“And?” Jade prompted.
Nothing got past her. She knew that there was more.
“And he kind of rejected me the other day.”
Jade and Nick’s mouths opened in twin looks of shock.
“No way!” Jade exclaimed, “That guy?”
“Yeah, that guy.”
This prompted all of them telling me that I was wildly out of his league, and generally boosting my ego to what would have been astronomical proportions if I didn’t know that Julian was just about the most unavailable man I could have chosen to have a crush on. I assured my co-workers that it was nothing, and eventually, we had to return to work for the afternoon rush. I was thankful for the influx of customers—it distracted everyone from asking questions about Julian.
Once my shift was over, I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door as Nick switched on the lights for the evening bar crowd. I couldn’t deny that although it had only a tiny dancefloor, the bar was well stocked and the atmosphere was nice. Outside the cafe-turned-nightclub were a few early-arriving patrons, already smoking. It reminded me starkly of the night I had called Hannah, not least because she was parked outside.
“What are you doing here?” I asked when she rolled the window down.
“Eh,” she shrugged, “I wanted to drag you out clubbing.”
“I’m kind of tired and sweaty from work,” I said, “Plus, I smell like pastries and coffee.”
“Who doesn’t want to pick up a girl that smells like pastries?” Hannah argued.
“Me. I don’t want to be picked up because I smell like pastries.”
