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The anguish of Sarah’s scream echoed around Dawning. Heads immediately turned in her direction to see what the commotion was about.
“Sarah?” Gloria raced to Sarah the moment she heard the beginnings of the outcry. “Oh great balls of fire! Sarah!” Gloria cried as she took in the scene in front of her. “Not again. You have got to be one of the clumsiest people I know.”
Sarah held her newly burned right hand tightly to her body. The teapot she had been filling with boiling water clattered noisily to the floor, the contents leaking out on to the floorboards. The hot water that was flowing from the coffee machine continued to cascade into the drip tray threatening to spill over as it rapidly filled.
Stepping forwards Gloria flicked on the tap over the sink that was opposite the coffee machine. “Put your hand under there,” she ordered Sarah even as she reached to turn off the hot water on the coffee machine with the other. With the potential hazard gone Gloria turned her attention back to Sarah who was still standing rooted to the spot, clutching her hand to her body as if to shield it from further harm.
“Come on, you know the drill by now. Put your hand under the running water and leave it there.” Gloria calmly directed her boss guiding her hand towards the tap.
Sarah gasped as the cool water hit the affected area. The thought of the man she had just seen was pushed from her mind as the pain coming from her throbbing hand took priority.
Behind her Gloria busied herself cleaning up the mess. Sarah could hear her calmly assure the few customers who were in the café that everything was under control as a few of them stepped forwards and made offers of help. Hearing the commotion Seth stuck his head through the cut-out between the two areas to see what was going on.
Looking behind her Sarah saw the water spilled across the floor. “I’ll get the mop,” she announced, pulling her hand out from under the water.
“No you won’t. I’ll get it,” Seth informed her before retreating back into the kitchen.
“You just leave your hand under that water and don’t move,” Gloria huffed at Sarah as she put on her best ‘I’m-a-mother-and-don’t-mess-with-me’ look before thrusting Sarah’s hand back under the flow of liquid.
“It’s just a burn,” Sarah protested moving her hand slightly, wincing with pain as the water hit a different patch of skin.
“Exactly. It’s a burn. You’ve had enough of these by now to know you need to leave your hand under there for a while yet. Don’t complain about it. Just do what you’re told.” Gloria stood with her hands on her hips and glared at Sarah.
Seth chose that moment to walk through the door, mop in one hand and a bucket in the other. Looking between the two women he frowned. “Everything alright here?” he asked.
“We’re fine,” Sarah assured him. Nodding towards Gloria Sarah spoke again, “she’s just trying to give me her best scary face.”
“It’s working,” Seth grunted lowering the bucket to the floor.
“Sorry for screaming by the way, but this hurt like hell,” she apologised to Seth and Gloria.
“No problems,” Seth replied in his usual take everything in his stride manner
“I’m not surprised it hurt,” Gloria noted as she inspected Sarah’s hand while the water continued to run over it. “You might actually need to see a doctor about this one. That’s a pretty decent size burn. What’d you do?”
“I was filling a tea pot and got distracted,” Sarah admitted, deftly leaving out any mention of the man who had been the cause of her distraction.
“Geez, it must have been one hell of a distraction to make you do that.”
You could say that, Sarah agreed inwardly.
“Leave your hand under there a bit longer. I’m needed to serve,” Gloria instructed.
As she moved away Seth looked over at her. “You okay there?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I was just careless.”
“Okay then.” Putting a ‘wet floor’ sign down next to the area Seth moved back into the kitchen with the mop and bucket.
Where is he? Where has he gone? Sarah lifted her head and scanned the tables and chairs of the café. It didn’t surprise her not to see the man who had given her the fright sitting at any of them.
Sarah couldn’t tell Gloria – or anyone - the truth. That the man she had seen had been one of the people that she had hoped she would never have to set eyes on again in her life. That seeing him had made her shake so badly that it had driven her to the point of distraction and she hadn’t noticed her hand move into the stream of the hot running water until it was too late.
But how? How did he find me? At least it was him and not....him.
“Good grief child, whatever have you done to yourself?” Betty’s voice hummed across the counter to where Sarah still stood.
“Burnt my hand,” Sarah explained.
“You should put butter on it,” Betty suggested primly.
“It’s not how burns are treated any more, Betty,” Gloria informed the older woman kindly, but firmly from the counter as she placed a muffin in a paper bag for the customer she had left Sarah to serve.
“You really should try putting butter on it,” Betty insisted ignoring the fact that Gloria had told her otherwise. “It’s what my old Mam used to do to me and it never did me any harm.”
“It’s much better for the burn to be under running water for at least ten minutes,” Gloria explained to Betty, her teeth clenched.
Betty made a scoffing noise and aimed her words at Sarah. “So are you just going to stand there for the next ten minutes then are you, dear?”
“Afraid so, Betty. Gloria’s right, it’s what the first aid people say you should do for burns like the one I managed to get.”
“Hmm. If you say so.” Betty begrudgingly acknowledged.
Gloria raised her eyebrows to Sarah so that only Sarah could see. It wasn’t the first time that Betty had ignored something that Gloria had said only to listen to Sarah instead when she confirmed the truth of the words.
“Can I get you anything Betty?” Gloria offered through her gritted teeth, her professional smile fixed in place.
“A weak macchiato please. I know you’re hurt at the moment but it really is a shame that you can’t make it for me, Sarah,” Betty called across the counter to her before turning back to Gloria. “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with the way you make it, but there just seems to be something just that bit more special to it when Sarah makes it for me.”
“Would you like something else to go with your coffee?” Gloria asked. Sarah could hear the strain in Gloria’s voice as she attempted to hold back a retort that she knew her employee would be wishing that she could give to Betty.
“No dear. Just the coffee,” she responded, handing over the appropriate amount of cash for her drink.
Sarah turned her back to Betty and Gloria to avoid watching the exchange between the pair. She wasn’t sure what it was that Gloria had done to get Betty’s back up originally, but almost every time Betty came in she inadvertently insulted Gloria in some fashion or other. Sarah was sure that Betty wouldn’t go out of her way to purposely say something hurtful to Gloria, but some days it seemed like she came awfully close to it.
Usually customers sat down to wait for their order to be brought out to them, but not Betty. She always preferred to stand by the counter and have a chat with whoever was there. This was much to the chagrin of Gloria, but ever the good employee, she understood the value of good customer service. Add this together with the fact that Betty was the town’s gossip Gloria always bit her tongue and ensured she stayed on Betty’s good side remaining polite whenever she was in the café.
“Who was the man that left here just before I arrived?” Betty asked. “I didn’t recognise him.”
Sarah stiffened as she heard the question.
“I’ve been in the kitchen most of the morning, sorry Betty. I don’t know who it was,” Gloria stated.
“Sarah, what about you? You must have seen him. I get the feeling I should know his face, but I can’t quite place it.”
“I didn’t recognise him. Just another person passing through the town, I guess,” Sarah lied turning her head away from Betty so she wouldn’t see the truth stamped across her face. Don’t ask anything else, she pleaded inwardly.
“I guess he just had one of those faces that remind you of somebody else. Still, it’s going to bug me until I work out who it is that he reminded me of,” Betty sighed. Gloria set down Betty’s now prepared macchiato on the counter for her. Looking down at the coffee Betty gave a slight huff as she took in its appearance.
“Is there a problem with the coffee, Betty?” Gloria asked. Even with her head facing away from the two women Sarah could picture the look that she knew would be on Gloria’s face. The special look she reserved for the most troublesome of customers. The one that said ‘I haven’t spit in your coffee yet, but I still just might’.
“Uh, no. I suppose not,” Betty agreed hesitantly. “Thank you for the coffee, Gloria.”
Sarah dared to glance over her shoulder as Betty picked up her drink and walked away in search of a table to sit at.
“What the hell is her problem?” Gloria complained to Sarah quietly as she came and stood next to her.
“It’s just Betty. You know what she’s like. She’s harmless really,” Sarah reminded her. Peering through the large front windows of the café Sarah hoped to catch a glimpse of the man that had been in earlier.
“Yeah, well, I’m sick of her passive aggressive rubbish. She thinks the sun shines out of your backside and that I’m the devil’s child who dared to have a child of her own when she was too young.”
Sarah drew in a sharp breath and brought her gaze back to Gloria and away from the storefront window. “She hasn’t said anything like that to you about having Kyle has she?” Betty might push the envelope too far some days, but Sarah couldn’t imagine her going out of her way to actually say something that hurtful, intentionally or not.
“No,” Gloria confessed. “But I’ve lived here all my life. The old biddy used to treat me really well until it became public that I was pregnant. She’s treated me like something that got stuck to the bottom of her shoe ever since.”
“Have you ever actually talked to her about it?”
“Why bother? She’s made it clear that she doesn’t think much of me. Well, that’s just fine by me. I can’t say that I think much of her either.” Gloria scowled and crossed her arms tightly over her chest indicating the conversation was over.
Switching off the tap Sarah shook her hand gently, shaking off the excess water.
“How is it?” Gloria asked nodding towards Sarah’s hand.
“Sore. It’ll be okay though.” Sarah pressed against the large red spot that was now on the back of her hand. “At least it didn’t blister too badly. I’ve managed to do worse before.”
“You have,” Gloria agreed as she inspected Sarah’s hand. “I really thought you were going to need the doctor for this one.”
“So did I,” she admitted. Glancing over towards Betty Sarah gave her a fond look. “Don’t let Betty get to you. Her heart is in the right place, really. She just seems to say things before thinking them through sometimes. She’s lovely really under all the layers of gossip and other things.”
Sarah heard Gloria huff next to her. “Yeah, well, if she’s as nice as you think she sure as eggs hides it well from me.” Gloria scuffed her boot against the tiled floor. “Anyway, I better get back to it in the kitchen. There’s still a little bit of lunch prep left to do.”
Sarah sensed her opportunity and took it. She hated to lie to Gloria, but she needed to get out of the café and find the man who had been the cause of her burn.
“Are you and Seth able to hold the fort for ten minutes? I think I might need to grab a bandage to cover this from the supermarket. I don’t think we have anything here in the first aid kit that would do. It’s not a good look to have this uncovered in front of customers.”
Gloria frowned at Sarah, knowing something wasn’t quite right with what she was saying. Seemingly unable to work out what it was, Gloria nodded. “Sure.”
“I’ll be as fast as I can,” Sarah promised and walked through to the kitchen. Stripping herself of her work apron, she let Seth know that she was popping out before grabbing her purse and heading out the rear entrance of Dawning.
Entering the small parking lot that was located behind the café for the staff cars Sarah looked around. Swivelling her head side to side Sarah craned her neck as she searched for the man. Not seeing him in the parking lot she walked up the side of the building and on to the street in front of the café.
Looking left and right she still couldn’t spot him. It was almost ten in the morning and people were out doing their shopping and Sarah could see the faces of a few people she didn’t recognise. Most likely they had stopped to use the town as a halfway point between two destinations.
Not seeing anything she continued onwards towards the supermarket. As she entered she gave a quick wave towards Joan who stood behind a register, a pricing gun in one hand before walking down an aisle in search for a large square bandage. Not finding what she needed she retreated back towards the counter to check with Joan if she had any in stock
“Hello, you. Strange time of the day for you to be out and about,” Joan said by way of greeting.
Sarah held up her hand. “Burnt my hand and need some of those big square bandages. You know the ones I mean?”
Joan nodded her understanding. “Pretty sure we’re out on the shelves. That’s okay though, let me just grab our first aid kit, I think we’ve got some in there. You can have one of those if you like.”
“Thanks,” Sarah replied gratefully. Joan quickly looked around to make sure there were no customers about to approach the register to be served before she slipped out from behind it. As Sarah waited patiently for Joan to return she heard the electronic ping that went off as people entered and exited the supermarket. Looking up at the noise she stared at the customer who had walked in.
It was him.
He cast only the briefest of glances in Sarah’s direction before he disappeared between the aisles. All Sarah could do was look at the space where he had been only a moment before. She felt a shiver run through her body as her heart rate began to pick up.
Sarah wasn’t afraid of him. She never had been. But the fact that he was here now, there was no possible way it could be for any reason that was good.
“Found it.” Joan’s voice jolted Sarah back into the here and now. Joan waved the first aid kit over her head as she took her place back behind the register. Unzipping the soft shell case of the first aid kit Sarah and Joan inspected the contents.
“Thanks for this, Joan,” Sarah said gratefully as she selected the square bandage from the case.
“I don’t know why you thought we stocked these ones,” she stated pointing to the large square bandage that Sarah had selected. “You know we don’t sell this size anymore. Don’t you remember last time you were in here looking for them? We talked about it then. You said you’d do an online order for them.”
Sarah inwardly cursed. She did remember and she’d even placed the order. She currently had a box of 100 of the square bandages sitting next to her own first aid kit in the café. “I must have forgotten about that,” she lied. “I’ll have to make sure that I actually get around to doing the order when I get back.”
“Easy to do, I guess,” Joan said seemingly satisfied with the explanation. “You seem to get quite busy over at the café.”
“We have our times,” Sarah agreed truthfully as she picked up the first aid kit and attempted to zip up the soft casing. With the burn on her hand she found it difficult to grip the case and pull on the zipper at the same time.
“Here, let me help you,” a male voice offered as a hairy arm entered her field of vision and took the first aid kit out of her grip.
Joan yelped in surprise. Looking at the man who had silently joined them Sarah was unsurprised to find it was him. Sitting innocuously on the conveyer belt next to him was a handful of items that he intended to purchase.
“Good Lord, where did you come from?” Joan gasped pressing a hand against her heart. “You just about scared the living daylights out of me sneaking up on us like that.”
The man laughed gently. “Sorry, didn’t mean to give you a fright. I must have quiet shoes on today.” Holding the first aid case firmly in place he turned his attention back to Sarah. “Here, try now,” he suggested.
“Oh, ah, thanks,” Sarah stuttered keeping her eyes down as she tugged on the zipper. He hadn’t yet made any move to show that he knew her at all so she chose to follow his lead and do likewise.
“I haven’t seen you around town before,” Joan remarked casually attempting to engage in conversation as she began to scan his items and place them into a carry bag.
“Just on my way through,” he explained. Turning to Sarah he indicated to the bandage in her hand that was still in its wrapper. “Do you want a hand putting that on? Looks like it might be a bit awkward trying to put it on with only one hand.”
“Please, that would be great.”
He gently prised the bandage out of Sarah’s hand and took a few steps away from Joan, Sarah following behind. The electronic ding of the door pinged once again as another customer entered the supermarket. The man tracked the new customer with his eyes as Joan called out her customary greeting, before they headed down one of the aisles.
“How did you find me?” Sarah asked in a voice low enough not to carry back to Joan as she lifted her hand towards him for the bandage.
“Not now. We need to talk. Soon as possible.” the man replied in an equally low voice as he ripped the paper packaging off of the bandage.
Sarah fixed her gaze stoically to a place on the wall. She could feel her heart continuing to race. Taking a deep breath she willed it to slow down. If only it were that simple. “Do you know where I live?” She inwardly begged him to say no, but knowing him as she did Sarah expected him to answer with the affirmative.
“Yes.” His one word response confirmed her suspicion. Ripping the backing off of the bandage he secured it in place on the back of her hand over the burn. Grasping her hand in both of his he gently smoothed over the edges of the plastic adhesive to ensure it stuck well, careful to avoid sticking it to the burn itself.
“My place. Tonight. Around six.” Sarah told him.
He nodded once. “There you go, all done,” he said raising his voice to normal volume. Giving her wrist a gentle squeeze he released her hand.
Crossing the few short steps back to where Joan hand now finished ringing up his purchases the man quickly paid her in cash before scooping up the bag they’d been placed in. He offered Joan a broad smile and a word of thanks as he said goodbye. As he strode towards the door and past Sarah he gave her a wink before exiting the supermarket without looking back again.
“You two know each other?” Joan asked genially.
“What? No. Never seen him before,” Sarah protested. She needed to get out of there. Her heart was racing and her hands were beginning to shake from the adrenaline that was shooting through her body. Mask on, Sarah. Mask on. Don’t let her see the truth. Don’t ever let anyone see the truth.
“Huh. Lucky you, then,” Joan commented.
“Sorry?”
“First Jamie and now that guy. Seems good looking men like coming to your rescue.”
I don’t need rescuing, Sarah thought. Instead of voicing what she was thinking Sarah offered a small laugh. “Hardly. He just helped me with the bandage, that’s all. As for Jamie, he was roadside assistance. Realistically I paid for him to rescue me.”
Joan tipped her head to the side contemplating what Sarah said. “True, I guess,” she conceded. “Still, I wouldn’t mind having a guy who looked like him doing a bit of rescuing of me, if you know what I mean.”
“Joan, you’re married!” Sarah couldn’t hide the shock from her voice.
Joan shrugged. “Married, Sarah. I’m not dead. Big difference there. I can still appreciate a good looking man. All the more so because my Trevor lately...”
Sarah shook her head slightly and put up a hand to stop Joan from telling her anything else. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get back to Dawning. Thanks for the bandage, I appreciate it.”
“No problems. See if you can remember to order yourself some this time, eh?” Joan called out to her as Sarah headed out the sliding doors.
Just walk. One step in front of the other. Keep the mask up. No one here knows who you are. You’re safe. It’s okay. Sarah repeated her mantra to herself with each step as she walked in the direction of Dawning.
But if everything was so okay like she was telling herself then why was he here and why did he need to talk to her so urgently?