"I'd rather drink expired milk,” I muttered.
"Liar." She bumped my hip with hers. "The sexual frustration is so thick I could serve it with a spoon."
"There's no sexual frustration. That’s mutual annoyance."
"Uh-huh. That's why you get that look every time he walks in."
"What look?"
"The 'I want to either kill him or climb him like a tree' look." Mika grinned, her dark eyes sparkling with mischief. "Personally, you know the way I’d go. He’s not my type but I do have eyeballs. He's a silver foxwho wandered out of a CEO calendar who looks at you like he wants to eat you. And I do mean,” she waggled her eyebrows suggestively, “eatyou.”
“Mika!” I gasped, swatting her with my counter towel. “You’re disgusting!”
Mike dissolved into giggles as I focused on steaming milk, letting the noise drown out her nonsense. My little horn dog coworker was a pervert who also believed in fairy tales and meet-cutes and the transformative power of love. I believed in paying rent and not making spectacularly bad decisions —not that I’ve excelled in the latter department, mind you, but I’m trying.
If I believed in New Year’s resolutions, it would’ve been something along the lines of, “Stop making colossally bad life decisions” but that’s all bullshit so I don’t bother.
However…
Mika wandered back over to me, whispering out of the corner of her mouth, “You know what the best part about an older man is…they know what they’re doing. They knowexactlywhere to find the magic bean. No wandering around like a lost puppy. They go straight for the prize. Best sex I’ve ever had was with a man twice my age, not gonna lie.”
I whipped my head to regard her with instant curiosity. “Who did you?—”
She shrugged. “Not important. Just know…I speak the truth.”
“But…he'sseventeenyears older than me," I said when the steam wand shut off. I shuddered. "He's a…millennial."
"So? Age is just a number."
"And I'm just a barista he enjoys bullying. It's not that deep."
"Oh, it's deep. In fact, I think he wants to be ‘deep’ in you.” Mika grabbed the finished drinks and headed to the back to grab restock.
I shot Mika an exasperated look. Like I needed more X-rated visuals like that in my head. Despite my protests to the contrary, I was guilty of some private thoughts that would make a porn star blush.
But that wasprivateandsecretlike all good fantasies should be.
Mika returned with a stack of cups, sliding them into their place, still on her favorite topic. “Wake up, girl. Nobody comes to the same coffee shop every single day for a year just for simple, black coffee. Seriously, he could go to McDonalds for that, but he comeshere. Get a clue, babe.”
I wanted to argue, but the morning rush swallowed us whole. For the next hour, I lived in the rhythm of pull, tamp, pour, steam. My hands knew the movements. My body understood the dance. There was acomfort in knowing what to do and how to handle the rush.
Except the register drawer stuck twice, and I'd need to call the repair guy again. The owners were going to crash out when I gave them the bad news. The espresso machine's pressure gauge wavered ominously. The cooler in the back made a grinding noise that promised an expensive breakdown in the immediate future—but at least I wasn't getting that bill. I had enough of my own. I didn't envy the coffee shop's financial problems.
I shoved the thought down and kept moving.
As quick as it began, the rush had thinned to a manageable trickle. I was wiping down the counter when the bell chimed again, and my mother's voice cut through the ambient noise.
"Willow! Sweetheart, we thought we'd surprise you."
My stomach dropped.
Mom and Dad stood just inside the door, looking out of place in their suburban casual wear—Dad in his burgundy sweater he got for Christmas, Mom in her gardening fleece. They wore matching looks of hopeful concern that made my throat tight.
How lovely. An ambush from the parentals to spice up my morning.
"Hey." I set down the rag and came around the counter to hug them both. "What are you doing here?"
"We were in the neighborhood," Mom said, which was a lie. They lived forty minutes away in the suburbs, and there was nothing in this neighborhood they needed.
