I arrived at work later that morning and found the place in chaos. Today was my scheduled day off and I had planned on taking the time to sort through all of mum’s things within the house. Reflecting on how emotional it had been just sitting inside her bedroom, Grace and I agreed that we should leave it for another day. The items weren’t going anywhere and we weren’t in a rush, so it made sense to wait.
With a whole day off and nothing to do, I decided to call into work and see if I could help out. I knew that my boss, Cathy, was still understaffed, even after hiring me, so it wasn’t a surprise to arrive at work and see that she needed my help.
The warmer temperature only served to entice people inside for a drink. It was as if a week of being couped-up inside during the storm was enough and everyone needed some fresh air.
Without wanting to delay getting to work, I roughly tied my apron around my waist. Cathy mouthed her thanks and looked relieved, then moved over to help Alex with the coffee orders.
My job wasn’t hard or complicated. At times, it was incredibly mind numbing, but it was usually busy enough to keep me distracted from the noise in my head. It also put money in my bank account, which I desperately needed. After arriving back home with an embarrassing two hundred dollars, I made it my priority to start saving. Whilst I did buy most of the food for the house, it was ultimately Grace who had been paying for everything else. Even though she relayed countless times that paying didn’t bother her, I knew that funerals weren’t cheap. With mum’s life insurance not yet having reimbursed any of the payments, I knew that Grace had spent a lot in the past two weeks. I knew that what I earned working at the cafe was nothing compared to what Grace had spent, but I needed to try and pay her back regardless. It was the least I could do.
Running around, serving plates of food and clearing empty cups of coffee, I spent most of the day in a daze, going from one customer to the next. Regular visitors came and went together with a crowd of tourists. Eventually, realising that the beginning of the school holidays caused this chaos, I was too busy to register the conveyor belt of people who were constantly lining up to place orders. It wasn’t until I started packing up that I took a breath.
The cleaning up was easy. With the front doors closed, it only took thirty minutes to have everything swept, moped and packed away for tomorrow.
Finished for the day, I was opening my car door on the other side of the road when Luke came strolling out of his studio. Looking over my shoulder, I ended up locking eyes with him as he was locking up.
Breaking the unintended and awkward eye contact, I looked down at my phone to check the time. Whilst 4:00 p.m. meant a late day for me, it was probably an early one for him. Considering it was a small town, I figured that working hours were a little more flexible than those in major cities. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I failed to notice Luke approaching until he was right behind me.
Subtle and light, he cautiously said: Hey.
Frozen in place, I felt my face redden at the memory of what happened last week. Brazenly trying to kiss him in his car wasn’t the issue, it was the fact that he had brushed me off that made me feel awkward. The whole situation felt awkward.
It had been a week since that blunder had occurred. I made it my mission to try and avoid the man out of respect for my own dignity, but I had obviously failed in my endeavour.
I turned around to face him and smiled hesitantly before replying: Hey.
He looked the way he always looked. Dark hair that was slightly tousled, as if his own hands had recently run through it. Eyes electrifyingly blue and a smile that tugged at the corner of his lips in a playful yet genuine way. He was gorgeous and I had humiliated myself in front of him. Not wanting to achieve the same level of embarrassment I did the other week, I kept my mouth shut and waited for him to speak first.
He opened his mouth to talk but stopped, as if he couldn’t quite find the words. I took a step back towards my car with my hand resting on the door handle. My thought was that if he mentioned last week, then I only have to open the door and slide into the car. The windows weren’t tinted, but I could at least pretend that there was a barrier between us that afforded me the luxury of shrinking into a ball and dying.
Snapping out of my own imagination, I was prompted by Luke coughing into his hand. Shifting his weight from one foot to another, it dawned on me that he had spoken and I had missed every word. I blinked the confusion away and then stumbled for my next words.
I’m sorry? I asked.
With my hands fumbling around with the car keys that were dangling in anticipation, I looked up again to see his facial expression. He shook his head in humour at having to repeat himself. Placing his hands in his pockets, he stepped closer so that he was only a breath away and repeated.
I said, would you like to grab some dinner tonight?
Stunned by the invitation, I only had to breathe in the scent of his cologne before I smiled and nodded my head.
I noted just a fraction of tension leave his shoulders as Luke took a step back and removed his own set of keys from the pocket of his jeans.
Great. I’ll pick you at seven.
With those last words, he took a few steps backwards before he spun around and walked towards his car.
I remained standing there, with my back against the car and my hand loosely holding the keys, processing what had just happened. It was only when a lone cloud passed overhead that the sudden arrival of shade prompted me into movement.