Page 32 of Cream & Sugar

“It’s okay,” I say, breathing hard, “I think I missed her—”

“Watch where you’re going!” The woman snaps. “What if she’d been burned!”

I want to tell her if she can’t control her kids to put a leash on them, but then I remember I’m at work.

“Sorry,” I say through gritted teeth. “It was an accident.”

“You should be more careful!” The woman takes her daughter by the arm and rejoins the queue. Slowly, the general hubbub of chatter fills the room again. I blow out a long, heavy breath and turn to find Anna holding a dustpan and brush.

“Here,” she passes them to me.

“But what about—” I start, but she shakes her head.

“It’s fine. I’ll do it. You clean.”

Anna bustles off to pick up my slack. I can tell she’s annoyed, but at least she didn’t scream at me. I feel like a colossal twat. I used to turn my nose up at the idea of working in a place like this. I thought it was beneath me, too easy, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Working with Anna has shown the gulf in skill between us. Mad respect to her and Shaun. I’ve never felt more like a spare part in my life.

Wielding the brush and pan, I crouch down and start sweeping up my mess.

Finally, it’s over. We closed ten minutes ago and I couldn’t be more relieved. I tuck the chairs under the table I’ve just cleaned and stretch, my back cracking like a machine gun. Everything hurts.

“How do you do this every day?” I ask Anna as she cashes up the till.

“You get used to it,” she says, “and it’s not always as crazy as that.”

Thank fuck.

I wipe the sweat off my brow.

“I’m sorry I was a bit useless today,” I say, dragging my feet as I approach the counter. “I hope I didn’t get in your way too much?”

Anna sucks her teeth. “You weren’t useless. You need more practice. I didn’t have a chance to teach you much today, but tomorrow we’ll try again.”

I give a dry chuckle. “I’m just glad Shaun wasn’t here. He might have fired me when he saw how much shit I dropped.”

Anna frowns. “Shaun wouldn’t do that. He’s very fair. Don’t worry about it.”

I can’t tell if she’s just being polite or not, but she doesn’t seem the type to sugarcoat things. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

“So, what made you wanna work here?” I ask, given we’ve had zero chance to chat today.

“I used to work on cruise ships,” she says, as though it’s run-of-the-mill. “In the bars and restaurants and coffee kiosks. I liked the fast pace of it. And the travel. Then I had my boy and my matka moved in, so I had to stop for a while, but I missed the work. I like making coffee. I’m good at it. I knew once Ethan got older, I wanted to work again. Now he’s started school and it was just good fortune that Shaun was opening up this place. Things just, how do you say, fell into place?”

“Rad,” I say, “and Shaun seems like a pretty cool guy to work for.”

“He is,” Anna shuts the till with a bang. “But he is not good at taking care of himself. He works too hard. I’ve seen it before and it always ends in burnout. He is already different from when I met him.”

“Different how?” I ask.

Anna sighs. “It’s not my business to tell, but he’s had a hard time lately. He needs support.”

I shouldn’t pry, but curiosity gets the better of me. “A hard time? You mean, starting a café?”

“That, yes. And other things. But it’s his business to tell.” Anna gives me a sombre smile. “Just don’t let him down. He’s a good one.”

“I can tell,” I say. “I’ll do my best.”

“Good. I think you’ll like working here, Freddie. I can already tell Shaun likes you. Here. Your tips.” Anna hands me a couple of notes which I accept gratefully, even if I don’t feel like I deserve them. “You can go, if you want. Get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow. Good work.”