Page 36 of Cream & Sugar

Anna glares at him. Despite being half his size, she’s got some serious terrier energy about her. She’s been on my case since I arrived, criticising my sub-par coffee skills and drilling me on proper technique. As much as I’m starting to get the hang of things, I prefer Shaun as a teacher.

“You should be athome,” Anna reprimands him as though he’s her child and not the guy who pays her wages.

Shaun picks nervously at his sleeve. “I’m not staying. I just came to drop these off.” He turns to me. “How’s your shift going, Freddie?”

“Good!” I say, giving the table a final wipe. “I’ve been—”

“It’s been very quiet since Freddie started,” Anna interrupts. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Shaun nods. “Right. Good.”

So she hasn’t told him about my disastrous shift yesterday? Probably for the best.

I sidle up to the counter and catch the subtle smell of woody aftershave coming from Shaun. Damn, he evensmellsgreat.

“Anna’s been showing me how to do latte art,” I say, proudly. “So cool how you can make the little designs. I want to learn how to do a—”

“You’re going to make yourself ill, Shaun!” Anna cuts across me again, her voice crescendoing to fill the café. Luckily, our only customer is using the bathroom.

Shaun shuffles his feet. “I know, I know. I just thought I’d check if you’re alright—”

“We’refine, Shaun. Please, go home!”

Shaun’s face reddens. I sense he wasn’t expecting to be berated for dropping off a couple of boxes of flapjacks, especially at his own café. I’m a little taken aback too. While I get Anna being hard on me, I’m surprised by her brazen attitude towards our poor boss. When she said he needs support, I didn’t think she meant publicly spanking him with a two-by-four. Clearly he’s just checking in because he’s protective of his baby.

An idea springs to mind.

“Why don’t you hang around?” I suggest, innocently.

Anna’s head snaps around to face me. If lasers shot out of her eyes, I wouldn’t be surprised.

“He hasn’t had a day off inmonths,” she explains. “Working every day is not healthy—”

“I agree!” My turn to interject. “What I mean is why don’t you grab a table and chill for a bit?”

Shaun’s eyebrows fly up his forehead. “Chill?”

I shrug. “You’ve been working like a madman since you opened, right?” He grimaces and nods. “So, you’ve not had a chance to experience the fruits of your labour as a customer?”

“What are you suggesting?” Shaun asks.

“Yes. Whatareyou suggesting?” Anna parrots him.

“I’m suggesting that if you can’t keep away, hang out and enjoy a coffee and some cake. Then you can see that we have things under control, right Anna?”

There’s an awkward silence. From the back, the toilet flushes and our lone customer emerges from the bathroom, drying his hands on his trousers. He must sense the tension in the air because he glances nervously between myself, Shaun, and Anna like one of us might detonate.

I step forward, grabbing the customer's attention. “Can I get you anything else, sir?”

As I follow the man to his table with a menu, I look over my shoulder and gesture for Shaun to take a seat, treating him like I would any other customer.

“I’ll be right with you,” I say.

He and Anna stare at me, baffled, but by the time I’ve taken the man’s order, Shaun’s dutifully sitting at a window table with the edge-of-the-seat apprehension of someone about to get a tooth extracted. Jeez, this guy really needs to learn to chill out. Luckily my relaxation skills extend beyond the bedroom.

“Hello there, sir!” I say like we’ve never met before. “Is it your first time here?”

Shaun emits a dry laugh. For a moment I think he’s not going to play along, but then he shakes his head in defeat.