I scowl at El. It’s absurd she's even suggesting I receive help from someone who was literally running off my customers only moments earlier. Nobody on the planet has that level of patience. “Her name’s Portia, and I fired her. She steals all my Oreos and was sabotaging me.”
“I hope she doesn’t sue you.”
My eyes slide side to side as I mull her comment. “What do you mean?”
Arielle readies the espresso machine by wiping off the steamer with a damp rag. “Her dog had an accident onyourproperty—”
“Public property,” I cut in. “The cop even confirmed the sidewalk is public property, and I have no right to kick her off. Nobody can claim the subway.”
“Hmm.” She presses the espresso button for shots and pours milk into the steaming cup. “I almost wonder, though, if she couldn’t fight that. You know, it’s like how you must shovel snow from the sidewalk of your business, but you don’t own it. You can get sued if someone slips. Did you notice if the dog was hurt?”
“Nah. It’s not icy. It’s nothing I did.” I shake my head vehemently. “There’s no way she can blame this on me. She was trespassing.” My thoughts recoil in my head, while Arielle noisily steams the milk. Somewhere in the last hour she taught herself to run that machine fairly well, and I sit back, observing. Maybe Arielle coming to visit wasn’t such a bad idea? She can help me work until I can get back on my feet.
Arielle divides the milk into two cups, adds the shots, and seals the cups with their lids. “For your mood.” She hands me a cup, tacking on, “Just try it.”
I’m famished, craving something to take the edge off my tumultuous morning. One little sip won’t hurt. I press my lips to the lid, doing a temperature check. Who knows if Arielle actually knew what she was doing? However, the temp is perfect, and I lift the cup until the first taste meets my tongue, and it is a little liquid heaven. Delicious. So smooth, with a little nutty undertone, giving it a hearty flavor. “That’s good.”
“Told ya.” She takes a long sip of hers before lowering her cup and trapping my eyes in a lock.
“What now?” I eye her cup, remembering how two minutes ago she said she’d had enough coffee, and now she was downing a third latte. She is expensive to keep around.
“She’s pretty. I wonder if she’s single?”
“No!” I bleep out, but then play dumb. “Who are you even talking about? Who’s pretty? Maybe you should go get mesome more almond milk since you’re drinking all mine, and the delivery truck doesn't come until next week.”
She watches me coyly over the lid of her cup while taking a long sip. “I don’t have my license.”
“What license? You don’t need a license to buy almond milk.”
“Driver’s license. I’ll have to take a bus or something. It would be way complicated, especially since I have no idea how this city’s laid out.”
“There’s a grocery store next door. Wait a second . . .” I set my cup down. “How’d you drive here without your license?”
“I never said I drove. You said I drove. I took a cab from the airport.”
“Okay. How you’d lose your license?” I study her face. She never lies to me. Not that she hasn’t tried, but I can tell because her left eye twitches. It isn’t moving now. It’s beaming forward, completely unwavering.
“It’s kind of dumb, but I had a bunch of parking tickets from parking on the street at school. They were out of parking permits by the time I went to buy one. There wasn’t anywhere to park unless I wanted to walk a mile. Apparently, when you don’t pay your tickets, you get a court date. I didn’t know I had a court date because my car registration went to Dad’s address. Since I never call home, he didn’t bother to let me know. Since I didn’t know, I didn’t show.”
“You’re kidding.” Scratching the back of my head, I wonder if I missed some family drama. Neither El, nor I had ever avoided Dad. “Why haven’t you called home?”
“No, big reason. I wasn’t ready to tell Dad about school, and I knew I could never lie to him.”
“He more than likely has figured it out, but he is probably giving you space until you come to him. You know he’s not confrontational.”
“Right.” Her gaze pulls to the floor. “I didn’t want to stress him out while I try to figure out my life.”
“El, what’s going on with you?” Momentarily forgetting that I’m the hunchback of Notre Dame incarnate, I step forward, but immediately halt while I emit a loud hiss and grab my lower back.Not doing that again.I’m still concerned about El. “This isn’t like you.”
“I know.” She inhales deeply before pulling her lips to force a lopsided grin. “I lost myself at school, but I’m trying hard to get out of this funk. I need to get away from that town for a while. You know, since it’s my hometown. I think I could heal here.”
The pressure valve on my headache cranked up to double speed. I’m drowning in this Coffee Loft. I can do that because I only have myself to take care of. I did that on purpose because I have goals. That sounds selfish, but I don’t want anyone else to sacrifice the way I’m forcing myself to do. I want so badly to tell Arielle not to worry. She can stay here if she needs to. With zero sales, I don’t know how longIcan stay here.
I can’t tell her that.
“It’s going to be okay.” I pull my lips into a complicit grin. “You can stay here if you need to.”
sixteen
