Unfortunately, work doesn’t keep me at the shop as long as I would like. I stayed open a little later than usual in hopes of some stragglers, but by five, the door is closed. By six, leftovers are dropped off at the fire department this time and the deposit is made at the bank. By seven, the dough is prepped for the morning and the place is clean. Emails are answered. Inventory done. Shipment of coffee stocked.
I check the lock on Frosted’s door, then glance at the clock on the wall.
7:58.
Blood warms as it flows down my arms.
I didn’t tell Dylan I would go to the gym.
But she is expecting me.
I walk to the floor-length mirror, trying to ignore the little way it feels like my lungs aren’t taking in enough air, or how I can’t think of anything else other than how I’m expected somewhere right about now.
I brush a few strands of hair out of my face.
Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I take in the pizza sauce staining the canvas-colored apron wrapped around my waist, and the flour on my forearms that I missed when I washed up. Everything went well today.
Almost.
I always worry if customers can tell when I’m frazzled. While I’m turning a profit, even with all of the menu additions, the higher utility bills from staying open longer, and the new equipment I ordered for the ice cream stand, I still haven’t figured out the part I promised my mother I would. My time.
I need to start delegating responsibilities and training Noel or Hailey to run the shop so I can have a day off. I’m not sure what I would do with one, though. I abandoned most of my hobbies years ago, and I don’t have friends. I mean, ones not named Trent or Caruthers, at least.
I love Dylan, of course. I feel good around Aro. Hawke is one of my safe places. And Kade and Hunter would never fail me. Other than that, I think I should want friends, but I really don’t. Maybe I just find family easier because they have to accept me. With anyone else, I don’t like half the shit that comes out of my mouth, and I go home feeling like I spent hours trying to make a relationship happen that I didn’t want anyway. I could’ve spent that time cleaning something. Or researching flavor combinations. Or exercising or sleeping or reading or peacefully walking and getting lost in the breeze while listening to music in my earbuds. Every single one of those things more enjoyable than dyingslowly at some lunch or movie outing that just ends up feeling like something else I had to fit into my schedule.
Maybe I’ll just go jogging tonight, instead. Ride my bike to Eagle Point Park and run through there. It’s closed to everything but foot traffic at night. Jared won’t find me. He still hasn’t learned that he can track everyone he loves on an app on his phone. God help us when he does.
Pain strikes in my stomach, and I exhale. I haven’t eaten since before noon. I pull my ponytail out, fluff my hair, and tie it back up again before removing my apron.
Lucas probably isn’t even at the gym. Or maybe he was and now he’s gone. Or perhaps he won’t work out till later. Who knows…
Several dark spots spread across the mirror, some in clusters and others splattered out like stars in a sky, and I use the apron to brush at them. They don’t come off. I tsk. The mirror is deteriorating. I wish we could get the damn thing off the wall.
I check the clock again.8:02.
I sigh, turning back to my reflection. Hawke was certain that removing the mirror would damage the brick, not to mention the nightmare we might find in the walls, like rats or mold. I can only hope he was teasing me. I want to be aboveboard and have a clean place, but a discovery like that could destroy my business.
And…I also feared finding something I couldn’t afford to fix three years ago when I opened the place, either. Like a structural problem.
I don’t really want to potentially damage a wall now that I’m open full time. Construction would hurt the traffic trying to come in here when I’m just getting going.
Fingerprints dot the edge of the mirror on the top right. I lean in, narrowing my eyes. It’s four fingers, minus thethumb. As if someone clutched it from behind. I frown, the images of various horror movies making me shudder.
I wipe the prints off too.
Moving into the kitchen, I toss the apron into the laundry and grab my backpack. Stepping into the bathroom, I change, slip my earbuds into a pocket, and push any long bangs back over the top of my head. But as I reach for the cap, I stop, realizing it’s not with me. He took it this morning.
I frown. I have others at home, but…that one was nice and broken in.
He still hasn’t given me my compass back, either. Does that mean the hat is still technically mine? I smile to myself and dash back into the shop. Maybe it would be warranted to go to the gym after all and take it back.
I charge through the door of the kitchen to grab my phone, but as I pick it up, I see the empty Lost and Found box again. I forgot to ask Hailey or Noel who came in for it. I thought I would’ve noticed—it’s a small shop.
Just then, ringing pierces my brain, and I gasp.Dylanappears on the screen, and I exhale, swiping. “Hello?”
“Are you coming?”
I switch off the kitchen light. “Maybe.”
