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Startled at this discovery, Birgit looked at her sister in disbelief.
“It can’t be,” she said in a hollow voice, fumbling for her phone. Sure enough, though, the numbers on her phone read 5:04, and she let out a groan.
“How long have you been sitting here?” Frieda asked, her tone unusually gentle.
Birgit rubbed her face tiredly.
“I haven’t gone to bed yet,” she admitted. “I kind of found out some shocking news last night. After Chris went home, I came in here to grab a cup of coffee. I guess I lost track of time.”
Frieda came closer, looking from her sister to the coffee cup. “How many of those have you had?”
“I don’t know,” Birgit shrugged. “Four? Maybe five?”
Frieda’s eyes went wide. “Jeez! How are you not crawling out of your skin right now?”
“Oh, I am,” Birgit admitted with a dry laugh. “Just not sure that it has anything to do with the coffee.”
Birgit felt Frieda gently touch her arm. Her middle sister wasn’t always the gentlest of creatures, but she did have her moments.
“What’s going on, B?” Frieda asked, her voice as gentle as her touch.
After taking a moment to gather herself, Birgit explained what Chris had told her. She had barely finished speaking when Frieda thumped the stainless steel counter with an open palm and began pacing. Despite her sadness, Birgit looked at her sister with amusement.
“I’ve always hated him,” she snarled, shaking her head. “And her. And they’re together? Ugh! It makes my skin crawl just to think about! But I guess it makes sense. Like begets like and all that. So what do you want me to do? Tell Frank, obviously, but what else? Nair in the shampoo bottle? Turpentine in her face wash? She probably has to use it anyway to get all that makeup she wears to peel off.”
“Hold on, hold on.” Birgit laughed, holding up both of her hands.
“While I appreciate the enthusiasm, none of that is necessary.”
“The hell it isn’t,” Frieda shot back, her eyes alight with rage. “The two of them have racked up all kinds of bad karma. It just so happens that I’m the one that can deliver it.”
“No,” Birgit pleaded, realizing her sister was serious. She got off of her stool and stood in front of Frieda, putting a hand on each of her shoulders.
“If they want to have this affair, that’s on them. And yeah, I feel bad for Frank. Really, I do, but this is not our secret to tell.”
“But you’re upset,” Frieda countered.
“I’m more confused than anything,” Birgit replied. “But if I’m being honest with myself, I don’t exactly feel hurt or jealous. Just really surprised. And I do feel bad for Frank.”
“Well fine. If you don’t want justice for yourself, at least let me get justice for Frank,” Frieda replied, pulling a knife off the magnetic strip on the wall.
Birgit closed her eyes and hung her head as she began to chuckle.
“Alright, Free. Come on. Put the knife down and be serious,” she urged. “Besides, we have other things to worry about. Like what we need to do about the hot chocolate issue. We still haven’t decided whether or not to call the police.”
Frieda rolled her eyes.
“Even if we did, what would we tell them, hmm?” she asked, bringing her hand to her face like an imaginary phone. In an overly feminine tone, she added, “Hello, police? Please come help me! Somebody broke in and spilled all of my hot chocolate!”
She dropped her fawn look and stared at Birgit with a deadpan expression. “Come on, B. Now it’s your turn to be serious. Besides, with the cameras turned off, we don’t have any evidence. We just need to keep our eyes peeled and give the staff an incentive to keep a closer eye on things.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Birgit sighed, pouring the rest of her coffee down the drain. “We can’t fix yesterday, but we can prepare for tomorrow.”
“That’s dad’s line,” Frieda teased. Birgit smiled.
“Well, it’s a good one,” she replied.
“What is the next event anyway? Frieda asked, pulling her apron on.
