Page 12

Lily

“ E xcuse me! Can I get my chai tea latte with extra foam?” The shrill voice startles me from my daydream, and I jolt, spilling this very unpleasant woman’s drink all over me and the counter.

“Ugh! Did you just spill my drink?” This Karen’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

“I’ll be right back,” I mumble before turning my back and rushing over to remake her expensive, twenty-specifications-long drink.

Her eyes go comically wide, and her lips pucker, and it occurs to me that those are the only two parts of her face she can actually move. “This is ridiculous! It’s already been five minutes!” To hammer home her point, she taps the extremely gaudy diamond-encrusted, gold watch on her dainty wrist.

I snicker to myself. I used to be surrounded by people like her—heck, my mom is her— which might be why I have no patience for people who act like that.

I’ve been working at Brew & Sip for six months now, and the customers are generally okay. Aside from the broke college students who come in for study sessions or their morning caffeine drip before class starts, everyone tips nicely. But we have a few regulars who are high maintenance, to say the least.

The hours are decent, and I make enough money to help my grandma with the apartment, so it’s worth it to put up with people who take pleasure in ruining other people’s day.

“Any day now!” Karen screams from across the counter .

I always wonder what must go through a person’s mind for them to act this ugly to a complete stranger, especially in front of others. I almost feel sad for them, but then I remember my mother is one of those miserable people, and she only has herself to blame.

I finish her drink and drop it on the counter in front of her. “Have a wonderful day!” I promised myself a long time ago that I would never be like that. I would never become so discontent that I inflicted pain on others.

Her eyes narrow, and she huffs as she picks the drink up. “They really need to hire better help around here.”

“I completely agree!” a woman behind her scoffs, rolling her eyes like she’s agitated, too.

Great. Another Karen just behind this one.

The original Karen turns slightly to look at the woman behind her, giving her a triumphant “Thank you!” She turns back to face me and gives me a crappy I got you, peasant superior smile.

Aaand then the woman behind her continues in a voice that I soon realize is deceptively sweet. “Absolutely. I think I saw a now-hiring sign out front. You seem to know a lot about coffee, how long it takes to make it, and exactly how it should be done. You should apply since you know so fucking much.”

My eyes widen, and my jaw drops, and Karen’s face is about the same before she spins to look at the woman behind her.

“Ex cuse me?”

The other woman gives her a smile that is nothing shy of beautiful. “You heard me. If you can do it better, apply. You said it yourself. They need better help, and you seem to be an expert. Or… you could save yourself the time, that poor girl the effort, and me the horrible sound of your voice scraping down my eardrums like low-grit sandpaper made of salt and submerged in lemon juice and ruining all our days. Yeah? Have a great day.”

Karen is so shocked she can’t even speak. Instead, she spins on her four-inch heels and huffs all the way out of the coffee shop.

The moment the situation is diffused, all the shocked patrons within earshot burst out laughing, and then the woman—my hero—steps up to the counter .

“I’m so sorry about that,” she says.

I laugh, and I hear my coworkers laughing, too. “Please, do not be sorry. That was the highlight of my day. From the looks of all the laughter and smiling faces, it made a lot of people’s day.”

She chuckles again and shrugs. “I was a barista in college. It’s hard work! Speaking of which, I don’t actually need anything important. I was fidgeting with the edge of my lid and snapped it. I was wondering if I could get a new one?”

I smile and turn to get a lid that fits her cup before handing it to her. “Of course. Thank you again. You were great.”

She smiles as she puts the new lid on her cup. “You’re very welcome! Have a great day, ladies!”

With a wink, she turns and exits, and I turn to my favorite coworker who just walked up next to me.

“Man, she was something, ” Tessa Montgomery says. She’s been working at the coffee shop for about a month now, and we’ve jived from the beginning.

Tessa and I are practically two peas in a pod. She’s like me and would rather stay in, curled up in her pjs with a good book on a Friday night, than go out. Though, if she went out, she would definitely get all the guys’ attention.

She has long, fiery red hair, naturally flawless skin, and bright green eyes with a killer figure. She’s basically every guy’s wet dream and doesn’t even know it.

I always know my shift will be better when I see that she’s working. Some of the other girls who work here part-time care more about who’s texting them or if their boyfriends are going to stop by than actually working. Tessa isn’t like that. She’s down to earth and laid back. Two things I appreciate.

“Yeah, something is right.”

I clean up my mess from earlier. I’ve been lost in my thoughts ever since the party Saturday night. Or shall I say my brain has decided to replay every tiny detail pertaining to Luka Russo, with a majority of its focus on how freaking beautiful he is.

I’ve never been boy-crazy, but I suspect this may be what it feels like. It’s an odd feeling for sure, one that I don’t care for because it’s distracting and seems trivial. That doesn’t stop my brain from daydreaming about said boy every five seconds, though, which was what I was doing when Karen so rudely interrupted me.

“What’s up with you?” Tessa asks.

I use a rag to wipe the spilled latte on the counter, indecision warring in my brain about whether to tell Tessa about Luka or not. It isn’t like I can talk to Stella about it. After her comment Saturday night, I unequivocally know how she feels about Luka dating one of her friends, which makes me feel even guiltier about my inappropriate thoughts.

I nibble on my lip. I don’t know if I should, but I can’t help but think that getting it off my chest may help me let go of this grade school crush I have and refocus on what’s important, which is unraveling my dream in time to stop it.

Death dream trumps crush, Lily.

I trust her, so why not? I figure it can’t hurt at this point.

Tessa throws a rag down on the counter and turns toward me, placing her hand on her hip. “Uh-huh. I see it in your face. There’s something to tell. Spill it.”

I laugh since I decided I would tell her, but it isn’t like she’d let me out of this coffee shop without telling her anyway. I don’t know why I thought I had a choice in the matter. She’s a lot like Stella in that way. They don’t take no for an answer.

I sigh. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Start with whatever has caused that dreamy look in your eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that look was about a guy.”

I smile sheepishly.

“Shut the front door! Really?! Who ? What? Where ? Did I ask who already? !”

I smile. It’s hard not to when your friend is that excited to hear about your crush. I never really had a true crush unless you count Timmy back in the third grade, but I don’t. I was too young, and Timmy preferred playing in the mud to hanging out with a girl.

I look around to make sure no one can hear us. Except for a couple of students scattered around the shop with headphones on, there’s no one around.

“Slow down. It isn’t like that . It’s just... He’s just…” I trail off because I don’t know how to explain it.

It feels like more than a crush. The way he looked at me Saturday night was the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced, and that comes from a girl who dreams about her death on a regular basis.

It felt like he was ready to claim me.

“Oookay. This is bigger than I thought. Girl, you have some serious explaining to do. When did you meet him?”

I smile nervously. “I just met him. I’m tutoring him.”

Tessa snickers. “Lily, I didn’t know you had a kinky side!”

I swat at her arm playfully with a towel I’m holding. “It isn’t like that!”

“ Mmhmm , yes, missy, it sure is. You have a little crush on your student. Why, Ms. McKenna, what a scandal!” She throws her voice to sound like a Victorian debutant.

I throw my head back, laughing, “Tessa! I swear!”

She drops her voice low so the nonexistent eavesdroppers can’t hear her. “Is he hot?”

I scoff. “Hot is an understatement. He’s...” My cheeks heat, and I think back to how delectable he looked bent over that pool table. It almost feels like I’m violating him in some way by thinking about how much I liked the way his butt looked in the jeans he wore and picturing him without said jeans.

“He’s gorgeous.”

“OMG, your face. You have it bad.”

I shake my head so hard I worry it might fall off. “No, no. It’s harmless, and he can never find out that I think he’s hot.”

Or that I think I might like him .

Luka Russo is the first guy I’ve ever really had serious thoughts about. I’ve been solely focused on my studies, and honestly, no man has ever caught my attention like he has.

Tessa looks puzzled. “Why would you deny yourself that kind of scrumptious man meat?”

“Man meat? What in the world does that mean?”

“You know damn good and well what that means! ”

I can barely get out my next sentence in between bursts of laughter. “You are the worst!”

“Hey, I’m just saying.” She waves her hands in front of her. “It doesn’t matter though. What I mean is that you should seize the day, Lily! Go for the gold! Take life by the horns!”

I can’t stop giggling. “You mean ‘take the bull by the horns.’ Which, by the way, was a phrase first coined in the 1700s. There’s your random fact of the day. See? You’re smarter now just for knowing me.”

She snorted. “Oh, hush! Same thing! See, even in the 1700s, they took a chance on love!”

“That’s not even what that means, and no one said anything about love.” I’m giggling so much that tears are spilling down my cheeks. I wipe them away as Tessa just shrugs.

“I think you should go for it.”

That’s the thing. Part of me wants to see if something between the two of us is possible. To see if he’s even interested in me as more than a friend. Then I remember the dream and just how much is at stake.

My life .

I need answers more than I need a boyfriend, but I wouldn’t complain if those two things could be solved together.