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“Jack,” I call out.
He walks up to retrieve it, and I grin as I say, “Here’s your sugar with a side of coffee. Oh, and I forgot to tell you thank you for your quick reflexes yesterday.”
He takes the cup from my hand, his fingers gently brushing mine. Warmth spreads from the point of contact up my arm, and I shiver from the loss of contact as he retracts his hand.
“Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have let you fall.” He scans my face for a moment before nodding. “See you two in the morning.” His eyes gaze into mine. “Enjoy your first day.”
I stand staring like an idiot as he turns and walks toward the door. When he touches the door, it’s like I’m snapped back to the present, and I yell out an awkward and far too late, “See you tomorrow!”
Jack throws his hand up over his shoulder in a casual wave as he walks out the door. Charlie chuckles to herself behind me, but I still hear it. My cheeks burn, and I decide to ignore her amusement and busy myself getting the next customer’s coffee ready.
Focusing on work is easy, and it makes the day fly by. I haven’t been this tired in a while. My feet ache from standing all day, and my back hurts from hauling in bags of flour from the storage room to get ready for tomorrow’s baked goods.
It’s almost four o’clock in the afternoon. We’re closed, so we clean the small seating area up front, prepare for tomorrow, and close out the register.
I may be tired, but it’s been the best day I’ve had in a long time. I thought I was happy at the art studio, but I was missing friendship and camaraderie. Irene and Charlie are something else in the best way possible.
Charlie doesn’t stop talking. She either makes a joke or sings a tune to bop along to. She’s one of the most upbeat people I’ve ever met.
Irene is more reserved, quiet, but boy, does she have the perfect timing. She would chime in at just the right time during one of Charlie’s jokes or songs, having us all in stitches. I know it’s only been a day, and it may sound crazy, but there’s something about this place that feels like home.
“Well, girls, I’m beat. I’m going home. Maybe I’ll have Joe give me a rubdown for these poor feet of mine.” Irene puts on her jacket and slips on her gloves.
“Is Joe your husband?” I ask as I grab my jacket as well.
I’m not actually cold, but I’ve had this scarf on all day, and I’m pretty much cooked. Well done, in fact, but I couldn’t take it off. I’ll be so glad when the bruising goes away.
Irene just smiles, patting my shoulder as she walks past me. “No, not my husband but not from a lack of trying on his part.”
Well, that’s kind of weird.Her answer confuses me, but it’s not my place to ask personal questions. We are practically strangers after all.
Charlie comes up and wraps her arms around Irene, pulling her in for a brief side hug. “Joe is the perfect boyfriend. She’ll make an honest man out of him someday.” Her answer cryptic and Irene’s response even more so.
Irene shrugs. “Sometimes, life gives you lemons, and that’s when you decide you never really liked lemons, anyway.” She gives me a knowing look, lingering on my neck, then shakes her head. “See you girls in the morning. Andi, you did a great job today.”
I stand here in stunned silence.Oh, God. Shedidsee my bruises yesterday. It was stupid of me to hope she didn’t.
Charlie has her jacket on, standing by the door ready to lock up. “You ready, Andi? I was thinking I could walk back with you to the motel.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure, that would be great.”
I really want time alone to process what it might mean that Irene knows something is up, but I don’t want to be rude to my new friend. I’ll have time to think when I get back to the motel. It’s just me and the TV, anyway.
We walk out the door, and I stand patiently as Charlie turns to lock up. “So, I’ve been dying to ask. What’s your story, Andi?”
We start down the sidewalk toward the motel, and I immediately regret not saying no to her offer to walk with me. That question is so loaded, and I haven’t even come up with a backstory for “Andi” yet. Every day I learn something else, some step I’ve missed, in creating a new identity.
“Umm, not much, really. I needed a change, so I hopped on a train and ended up here.” I try to be as vague as I can. I don’t know how to dodge questions, but I don’t want to straight lie to her.
“How does that work? I mean, didn’t you leave a life behind? Friends? Family?”
She has no idea what I’ve left behind, and I hope she never finds out.
“All I can say is that it wasn’t going so great. I had some problems with my family, and I needed to get away for a while.”
Turning my head, I look directly into her eyes so she can see I’m being honest, but I’m also silently pleading with her to drop it. She squints at me, pursing her lips like she wants to ask me more, but stops.
“You’ll trust me one day, Andi, and it’s okay if today’s not that day.”
