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She disappeared only to come back less than a minute later with a tablet. She tapped it a few times, then looked up. “Can you come back here tomorrow at 11:30 am? That's the first free appointment spot.”

“Sure,” Mila agreed. It looked like Babette was bringing her all kinds of good fortune.

“Great,” Rissa said. “We can go over your resume and get you set up on LinkedIn and some other job websites.”

“Okay,” Mila said and fought hard to keep her smile. She’d already done all that. When she came back tomorrow, she would ask Rissa about housing instead of a job. Maybe she could help her find a place to live. “Thank you, Rissa.”

“Good luck!” Linda said as she and the kids settled at a table.

“Thanks, Linda,” Mila said with a smile and waved goodbye to all the kids.

Stepping out of the building, she looked around and realized how thirsty she was. Poor Babette probably needed water even more than her.

There was a business next door to the aid place. The sign hanging above the door read:

Joy

A Place for Everyone

“Let’s see if they can spare a glass of water for us,” she murmured. If not, she’d buy a bottle. She justified the cost because she could refill the water bottle later.

She opened the door, then paused to take in the small cozy bar. It was completely empty except for a handsome man behind the bar frowning down at a tablet. When she walked further inside, he looked up with a smile, took a deep breath in through his nose, then looked puzzled.

“Hello?”

“Um, I’m sorry, are you closed?” she asked. That was the only explanation for his odd welcome.

“Technically I’m closed,” he answered, setting down the tablet. “But for a woman who managed to find me, I could be open.”

She blinked at his odd words and debated about backing up and out the door. Suddenly Rissa rushed in behind her.

“Linda’s kids are hung—” Rissa almost ran into Mila. “Oh, hi! How did you find this place?”

That was a strange question! How should she answer?I opened the door.

She must’ve missed a closed sign somewhere.

“I’m sorry,” Mila blurted out, feeling like she walked into something complicated. “I was going to see if this place was hiring. I can leave.”

“No, you don’t need to do that!” Rissa assured her with a welcoming smile. “Stay here for a moment.”

She stepped around Mila and hurried over to the bar. The guy was leaning over the bartop but when she tugged at the bartender’s shirt, he put his face close to hers.

They had a rapidly whispered conversation. Mila only caught bits and pieces.

“...smell anything?” Rissa asked.

“Pure human and nothing else…but…” he answered.

“...isn’t that impossible…and…ward…”

“Not always…”

Mila was impossibly curious about what they were talking about. Why would they talk about a “pure human?” Did these people think there were aliens walking around pretending to be people?

She didn’t feel threatened but debated about leaving. It was obvious this place wasn’t big enough to have a kitchen so there was no chance for a job. Even though she was still thirsty, she wasn’t sure she could trust any drink from them not to have some kind of drug in it!

Still, she desperately wanted to know what this nice, pretty woman and the handsome man were talking about. If she stayed, maybe she could find out what secrets they were sharing.