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He pushed his coffee cup back towards her and allowed her to pour him another, but he didn’t pick it up straight away, his attention still caught by the paper.
“Can I ask you a question?” Kate couldn’t bear the mystery any longer.
He simply looked at her quizzically, awaiting her next words.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, right now, I’m drinking coffee and talking to a pretty girl.” He shrugged, but his demeanor belied something deeper below the surface. Kate got the impression that he was used to deflecting.
He’d called her pretty, though. She filed that away in her brain for later, when she could jump up and down with giddy joy in peace.
“No, I mean, in Miller Springs. We don’t get many new faces around here, you know?”
“I can imagine.” He looked out of the window at the street, and the row of stores opposite.
“So, what’s the story?” Kate wasn’t sure why she cared so much, but something in her just had to know.
“I’m kind of here for a new beginning, I guess.” A sullen look had come over his face, but she didn’t get the impression that he was angry at her for asking. “I’ve been looking for a job… and a place to stay. It’s all a bit overwhelming.”
“Long way from home, huh?”
“You could say that.”
Kate didn’t mean the words to come out of her mouth, but they spilled out before she’d really even had a chance to think about it properly.
“I have a spare room. Upstairs. I live upstairs and I have a spare room.”
Very smooth, Kate.
“Is that so?” He didn’t seem to have noticed her bumbling over her words.
“Yes, I’ve never rented it out before really. But, if you’re after a job as well, then we could probably work out an arrangement. I think you already know that I need some help around here.”
“I had noticed, yes.”
“Well, it’s not exactly glamorous but…”
“No, it sounds perfect. Are you sure?”
Was she sure? Letting this beautiful stranger into her home? It had been an impulsive decision to offer, but the more she spoke, the surer she became. She didn’t even know this man’s name but she recognized that look, that experience of being lost and alone. It had been years, but she still felt it keenly in her soul. Kate had been lucky enough to have someone take a chance on her when she was at that low point in her life, and now she had the opportunity to do the same for someone else. Pay it forward. It’s what Edna would have wanted.
“You already passed the plate-clearing audition, so I don’t see why not.”
“Thank you…” He trailed off and they looked at each other, both laughing nervously. She didn’t even know his name and she was about to give him a key to her apartment? Kate was sure that everyone’s tongue was going to be wagging tomorrow about this, but somehow she trusted this man already. Hadn’t he jumped in and helped, without any prompting? That didn’t seem something that a serial killer would do, at the very least.
“Kate. My name is Kate.”
“Emile,” he responded, his accent heavy as he said the word. She wondered where he was from and what had brought him here. But did it really matter? Maybe she would find out in the fullness of time and maybe she wouldn’t. It wasn’t as if she shared her own backstory with a lot of people. He was entitled to privacy and to a fresh start, just like she had been.
“It’s nice to meet you, Emile.”
“The pleasure is all mine, truly. Is everyone in America so friendly?”
The way he said ‘friendly’ made it feel like a double entendre.
“Maybe not in all of America, but I think you’ll find Miller Springs to be a pretty friendly place.”
“I have no doubt about that.” Emile folded the paper and pushed it aside in favor of his coffee, his mission for the day clearly completed.
