“Good morning.” Aggie was merry in spite of the early hour, which Nora was certain had to be witchcraft. “This is Madison. She’s going to be the barista for the bakery area.”
“Hi,” Madison said. “I think ...”
“We know your mom,” Nora supplied. “I actually live across the street from ... your parents’ house.”
“Oh.” Madison nodded. “I thought you looked familiar.”
“Yeah. How is your mom?”
“The same. The longer she stays out, the less chance they think she has of waking up. But ... I don’t know. She’s a strong woman. I think she might make it.”
“I think she might too.” Nora wasn’t sure she really believed it, but she wanted to, considering she related to Alexandra more and more.
“That’s why I took the job. I used to work at Mix, but I quit when my parents got divorced because my mom needed so much extra help, but right now I can’t ... I can’t keep sitting in the hospital while he comes in and out with his girlfriend.”
“Your dad?” Daisy asked.
“Yes. He’s such a dick.”
Nora laughed. “Well. No argument.”
Madison was herded to the coffee-bar area, and soon Aggie was doing her readings while Daisy continued to pore over the grimoire, Nora manned the counter, Madison and Soraya worked on setting out baked goods, and Madison showed Soraya how to make drinks.
“I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to memorize all this,” Soraya said.
“That’s silly,” Nora called. “It’s just a recipe. You’re great at recipes.”
“But I don’t know how to do a job.” Soraya chewed the edge of her perfect nail, which Nora was almost sure she’d never done before.
“You seem to be doing a job okay,” Daisy commented.
“You never had a job before?” Madison looked incredulous. “Are you rich?”
“She was a tradwife.” Nora smirked.
For a second, she felt a little bit guilty, but then Soraya caught her gaze and laughed. “Yes. I was.”
“Oh. I didn’t think you guys existed off the internet.”
“Well, I don’t really exist as one anymore. Because my husband left me, and you know what happens after that—you have to get a job.”
“Wow. Shit. It’s a lot like my mom, but they had a lot more money, and she did all the committees and boards and all that. But ... I get it.”
“How many jobs have you had?” Soraya asked.
Madison laughed. “Oh. I lost track. I have historically not been a great employee. Which I know isn’t cool. But I don’t know. I get distracted, I start looking for something new. I did, like, two years as an art major, and then I decided to check out science. I didn’t last very long at that, and I dropped out. Then I worked at the quilting store, but I don’t know how to quilt. Then I worked at the yarn store. Then I got a job at Mix, but then I quit to help my mom out after she found out about Dad’s affair—not that I helped her much.”
“And now you’re here.”
“Yeah.”
Nora couldn’t imagine choosing to have a life that was that haphazard. She had one she hadn’t chosen, but she supposed that was what life could be like when you had financial stability for the entirety of it. You took for granted that you would land on your feet. But then, she supposed for Madison, life hadn’t exactly been that stable. Her dad had turned out to be kind of terrible.
“Was your dad always a dick?” Nora asked.
Everybody looked at Madison. Maybe because it was the question they were all grappling with. Were there always signs, and did the people closest to the cheating men miss them? Did other people see it?
“I don’t know. He was busy with work, but I can’t say I’m surprised he cheated on my mom. I’m more surprised about the way he handled it. Because when she found out, he wasn’t sorry. He didn’t even act like he owed her an apology. He acted like she did the wrong thing for catching him.Thatsurprised me.”
