I wait for her response, but nothing comes. Instead, the front door chimes open not a minute later, with a worried looking Penny rushing in and a tired looking Autumn resting her head against her shoulder.
“What the fuck happened?” she asks, concern etched on her brows.
“It was nothing. Really.” I try to placate her.
“Nothing? You texted me saying you were almost robbed and now you tell me it was nothing? Tell me what happened now, or I’ll rewind the footage and find out for myself.”
I sigh and explain, “It was Kyle. And it was a fake gun.” I’m trying to make it sound like it was no big deal when in fact it was a very big deal.
“Kyle had a gun? I’m going to rip that little shit’s fingers off. Did you give him the money? Please tell me you gave him the money and left it at that?”
I cringe. “Not exactly. I may or may not have flung the money in his face after ranting about how he’s robbing a small business. Granted I didn’t know it was him at the time.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? If this ever happens again just give the person the damn money. He could have shot you in the face!”
I cringe at the thought of that actually happening.
“How did you find out it was Kyle anyway?” she asks.
“Um, Mr. MI6 took him down like it was child's play, and ripped his mask off so we could see who the perp was.”
“Who is Mr. MI6? Is that a new sexual term I don’t know about?”
I roll my eyes. “Just a new customer that has been here every morning for the last few weeks. He dresses like he’s walking a Hugo Boss runway and keeps to himself.”
“Is he hot?” she asks with gleaming wide eyes.
I’m not entirely sure I should tell her how hot he actually is, but I know she’s for sure going to check the cameras when she goes back up to her apartment, so I relent. “Yes. He’s hot. But he has a resting bitch face, so it makes him a little less hot. That’s beside the point though. We're talking about Kyle trying to rob your business.”
“You two could have resting bitch face babies!” she says with excitement, getting off track. I give her a look, and she finally gets serious again. “As far as Kyle is concerned, I think we should call the cops on him. He’s eighteen. He knows better.”
“No. Please don’t do that. It would destroy his mom and she’s already struggling. He said he needed the money. Just let me figure it out, okay?”
She looks anything but pleased, but her expression eventually softens because we all know and love Mary. “I can’t believe I’m going to suggest this.” She rubs the bridge of her nose. “What if… what if I hired him?” she asks reluctantly. “He’seighteen. It’s not like this is a bar so he only needs a food handlers card. The shop could use the extra help. He could be on cleaning duty to make up for the major shitstorm he created this morning. And I’ll pay him minimum wage.”
My eyes widen because that’s not what I thought was going to come out of her mouth. Does Kyle deserve this kindness? Absolutely not. But leave it to my best friend to turn a bad situation into something positive. “Can I tell him? I was going to go over to his place to talk to him and his mom after my shift.”
“Sure. He starts tomorrow morning on your shift. Tell him to come over here after you're done with him, and I’ll have a chat with him myself.”
I wrap my arms around her and Autumn. “You’re the best,” I whisper in her ear.
She waves me off. “Now tell me about the dating app. You said that was part of your morning too.”
I groan and cover my face. “Everyone I matched with decided to start a conversation with a dick pic. I’m pretty sure one had herpes.”
“Ew. Can I see?” She signals for my phone, eyes twinkling with delight.
“Hard no. In fact, I think I’m going to delete my profile. If that’s the kind of guy vying for my attention, I don’t want anything to do with the app.”
“At least go on one date. Preferably with someone who doesn’t lead with their penis. And then I give you permission to delete it.”
I give her the stink eye, but I know she won’t let this go. “Fine. One date. What about you? Have you matched with Mr. Tattooed Torso? Are you two talking?”
A blush stains her cheeks as she hesitates. “I’m going to call my parents to come take care of Autumn. Even though it wasonly Kyle trying to rob us, I don’t want you here by yourself right now.” And she turns on her heel towards the front door.
“That’s not an answer,” I yell to her retreating form, and let the conversation drop. There’s a story there and she’ll tell me when she’s ready.
A slew of customers trickle in before Penny’s parents, Alex and Briana, come and grab Autumn. We’ve done this song and dance for so long that we get everyone their drinks, without fail, while Autumn colors in the back office.
