“You’re the best!” She calls back just as I leave the back of the store.
It’s been two weeks and it’s still so weird to not be the owner. To just finish my work and…go home. Go home and not think about work again until the next morning.
It.
Is.
Amazing!
I almost squeal as I head out in the heat of the early afternoon and climb on my bike. I go by the general store to grab a few essential groceries and Michelle, the owner, chats with me. She is warm and welcoming and I don’t have to talk much for it to feel like we’re fast friends.
I go by the florist to confirm my big order for tomorrow and stop to get dinner at one of the restaurants. I sit at the bar top and make myself chat with the bartender. He’s a young surfer guy named Leaf and, as I suspected, he knows everything andeveryone in town. Between him and Michelle and my boss, Janessa, I’m set. I’ll be a true townie in no time.
I call Lily hands-free on my way home to my new apartment, which I bought furnished. It’s fully decked out in the most cliche, on-the-cheek beach decor and Iloveit. I go through my nighttime routine with extra skin care since the sun, salt and wind here are no joke. I go outside, say my prayers, wishing away my feelings. I still tear up when I see a man in a suit or a giant dog. I get irrationally excited any time I get a message on Instagram.
But it’ll pass.
Eventually.
I sigh and go back inside. Tonight, I need to focus. Janessa needs us to be on top of our game tomorrow and I won’t let her down. I pull out my laptop from my tote bag and open up my recipe file. I wonder if the health inspector will like sea-salt caramel cookies…
_____
“Still no sign of them?” I ask Janessa as the breakfast rush finally dies down. She shakes her head. She’s sweaty and frazzled and a bit of a mess. Reminds me of me just a few months ago. But this store is fairly new and crushing it. Not feeling the pressure of impending closure.
Now that the crowd is thinning, she can head to the back office and regroup. I’ll tag in at the counter until the next shift arrives in a few minutes. I wipe the displays and turn to run a rinse cycle on the steamer. And then all the hairs on my neck stand up.
“Black coffee, please,” says the deep, slightly-British voice I’d recognize anytime, anywhere.
I turn around to tell him off but at the sight of him, here, in his suit, thick black hair looking windswept and perfect, dark eyes studying me.
Wow.
“I hear it’s the best in Montauk,” Aiden says quietly. “Some secret special ingredient.”
I hear Janessa close a cabinet back in the office and snap out of my shock. There are two people behind Aiden.
“I…I can’t do this now,” I tell him. He frowns, “You’ll have to come back later. The health inspector and the owner are both coming by, I can’t be…” I gesture between us with my hand.
He sees his opportunity and, smug jerk, as always, pounces.
He crosses his arms and asks, “What will I get if I come back later? I’ve been waiting for this coffee for almost two months.”
I roll my eyes, “A hug? Go! I’m serious!”
“Tempting opening offer,” he says. “After the owner comes by, go to lunch with me.”
I shake my head, looking over my shoulder for my poor boss to come out and wonder why this man is holding up the line.
“Be right there,” I tell the lady behind Aiden. I pour him a large coffee and whisper, “Fine, take it and go!”
“New terms I’m afraid. I didn’t know hug was on the table, now I’ve upped the ante. Owner, then lunch with a hug.”
“Fine!”
“Brilliant,” he says, studying me. He takes out his credit card like he’s stuck in slow motion and taps it on the iPad. He makes a show of leaving a hundred dollar tip, which gets another eye roll from me, then finishes his purchase. He stands there for a beat more, right as I’m about to turn to the next customer and then, eyes still on me, he callsout, “Janessa?”
I…
