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He always kind of thought hearies like that would make a good inspiration for a sci-fi movie where people became possessed by aliens. Their eyes got all wide and buggy and their mouths opened so wide, like they were unhinging their jaws. They turned all reds and purples with the force of their screams after they realized that no matter how loud they got, he would never be able to hear them.
He watched as her fist banged on the counter, and she turned to gesture at her group of other moms who mostly looked vaguely embarrassed, though a few of them were nodding along with her little tirade. Cocking his head to the side, he debated about letting her wear herself out like an unruly toddler, but a second later, the kitchen door swung open, and Wren appeared in his periphery.
Caleb turned his head toward his brother and laughed quietly when Wren reached up and pulled his implants off, setting them on the counter. “What the hell is going on?”
“No idea,” Caleb said. “She’s either possessed by a demon or really upset that she can’t use her voice to order.”
“Did you show her the menu?” Wren asked. Caleb rolled his eyes so hard that Wren put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, yeah, sorry. Do you want me to deal with her?”
“In sign,” Caleb said. “Voice-off.” He pressed two fingers to his temple and rubbed it to try and relieve some of the pressure. He realized in that second it was kind of hot and he glanced up at the A/C vent to see the little strings they’d tied to the sides of it weren’t blowing.
Fucking great.
Wren pinched the bridge of his nose, but Caleb knew he wasn’t going to argue. Sometimes Caleb erred on the side of protecting cash flow and let irritated hearing people order from one of the baristas who spoke. But right now, they were far too popular for him to indulge her little fit.
“I’m going to go check on the A/C. Does it feel hot in here to you?” Caleb asked. His hands froze in mid-air when something hit him on the shoulder and he turned to see the woman breathing heavily through her nose, and there was the sample to-go cup sitting at his feet.
Did she justthrowsomething at him?
“Let me handle it,” Wren signed quickly.
Caleb nodded and took a breath to calm himself down. “Don’t serve her. Don’t serve any of them. Call the cops and have them thrown out if you have to.”
Wren nodded, and although his face was a bit more passive, Caleb could see the fury in his eyes. Caleb had more of a hair-trigger, but Wren was meaner, and that’s what comforted Caleb as he walked through the kitchen doors and stepped into the hallway.
He was able to take five breaths to calm himself before all hell broke loose.
He had his hand resting on the wall and he felt a strange, vibrating thump. Turning around to see if there was someone with a cart behind him, he felt a rush of air.
And then a cascade of water rained down on him.
The shock of it kept him rooted to the spot for far too long before he finally snapped out of it and scrambled back out of the flow, but the floor was so slick that he fell on his ass and his back hit the wall. After swiping water from his eyes, he looked up to see a basketball-sized hole in the ceiling where the waterfall was flowing.
The water had slowed to a trickle, and he knew what it was. It hadn’t happened in their shop before, but he’d been warned by the HVAC guy during their last inspection that they needed an upgrade. He just hadn’t been able to afford it at the time. And then, well.
Frankly, he’d just forgotten.
A huge mistake, he was just realizing. A scream started to bubble in his throat just as the back door swung open, and Luke came in. He froze for a second, then he let out a laughing sob which made his chest ache as Luke rushed forward and eased him to his feet.
“WTF?”
Caleb just shook his head and gestured weakly to his office. Luke kept a strong hold on him as Caleb’s cold fingers fumbled with the doorknob, and eventually he stepped inside. The room was sweltering from the lack of A/C, and it was the only comfort in that moment as Luke pushed him down into his desk chair, then began to root around in one of the boxes.
He came back up a few seconds later with a pair of Jori’s chef’s pants and one of the café t-shirts, and Caleb stood on shaky legs as he stripped down to his uncomfortably wet boxers.
“Take those off too,” Luke ordered. “Jori isn’t going to care.” Then he turned his back and Caleb followed his friend’s orders with a sort of surprising calm. He hadn’t realized he needed someone to jump in and take control until right then, and it made the urge to cry even worse.
He was sick of being an adult, damn it. He was sick of all the responsibility resting on him. He had never really gotten along with his parents, but he had a sudden fantasy of just going home and crawling into his childhood bed and staying there until everything bad passed by.
For whatever reason, that thought helped him calm down enough to take a few deep breaths and chase the tears back. He finished pulling the dry shirt over his head, then stomped his foot on the floor, waiting for Luke to turn back around.
“Thanks.”
Luke rolled his eyes and waved him off as he walked forward and once again backed Caleb into his desk chair. “Have you eaten today?”
Caleb lifted his hands to answer before realizing he didn’t know. He’d snacked on a few things Jori had asked him to try before he left for the day, but a meal? He sheepishly ducked his head and shook it. “No. I don’t think so.”
He could see how heavy Luke’s sigh was by the rise and fall in his shoulders. “Don’t move. I’m going to have Wren close up and start making some calls. You have an HVAC guy, right?”
