Emmy in the Café

EMMY IN THE CAFÉ

Frederick Marsh had invited a new employee to work at Marsh’s Manor. And not just a regular employee, either. The newest addition to their “family” would be their new manager.

They managed themselves just fine, in Emmy’s opinion, but it wasn’t as if her uncle asked her for it.

Frederick chewed the last bite of his food and addressed his family again. As he looked around the table, he made eye contact with each of them.

“This could be a wonderful change, bringing someone in,” he continued.

As he eased out of his chair, Emmy and Noah stirred to help him. He wavered for a second and waved them away before he settled on his feet. He favoured his left leg as he turned and collected his crutches from beside him.

Noah sank back in his seat, his brow creased as he watched his father. His sister Lucy sat beside him. Her glazed eyes stared at a spot on the beige wall over Frederick’s head. But Emmy sat rigidly in her seat, with her eyes drilled into the side of her uncle’s head.

“I’m getting too old to do the job full time,” he sighed. “I’m not as young and fit as I used to be, and you lot can’t keep going on the way you do. It’s not right to ask that of you. You all deserve a life outside of here. With Tania working weekdays, you’ll have more time to yourselves now.”

He propped the crutches under his arms and rested his weight on them. “Besides, it’ll do the business good to have fresh blood.” He studied the three of them still seated at the table.

Noah heaved a sigh as he stood, a head above Frederick’s natural height. “I think it’s a good idea. We could do with the extra help.”

Side by side, Frederick and Noah almost looked like ‘before and after’ photographs. They shared the same sharp features, the same dark, heavy brow, curly dark hair and warm, tan complexion. They even had the same slouch. Their mannerisms were even identical.

But there were a few ways in which they differed. They were both of different heights. While Noah was tall, young and sturdy, Frederick was short, elderly and brittle.

Noah leaned over the table to collect the dirty dishes and cutlery before he took them into the kitchen. After a few seconds, the sound of rushing water reached their ears. Frederick looked across the table at the remaining two.

Lucy leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs out underneath the table. She too, shared a strong resemblance to her father and her brother, though her facial features were much softer and expressive, like Emmy’s.

“It’s not like you need the extra help, though,” she mumbled and stretched her arms over her head, her back arching like a cat’s. “Emmy and Noah don’t mind. Well, Emmy doesn’t. Do you?”

She tilted her head to one side as she watched Emmy.

But before Emmy could speak, Lucy continued.

“I… I wouldn’t mind working there, too. Like… as a more permanent thing.” She fidgeted.

“I… I could work on the weekends while I’m at sixth form… and take on more shifts during the summer holidays.”

Frederick studied her for a long moment and Lucy responded with a small smile, her eyes wide and hopeful. Frederick took in a deep, slow breath.

“We can get you working on the weekends for a few shifts and then we’ll see in a couple of months. If you do well, I’ll see about getting you a permanent job.”

Lucy’s face fell. She pouted for a moment, before she shrugged and slid out of her chair. “That’s fine,” she sighed. “I need some extra cash. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

She turned and left the living room. Her footsteps thundered against the wood as she ran up the stairs. The sound filled the air, joining the sound of running water from the kitchen.

Emmy turned her attention back to her uncle and crossed her arms over her chest. “We don’t need anyone else.” She snapped. Her voice was louder than she intended, and she flinched at the harshness of it.

“Speak for yourself!” Noah yelled from inside the kitchen.

Emmy rolled her eyes and leaned forward on her elbows. She stared at her uncle, her eyes pleading with him. “I can run things. Let me take charge.”

Frederick sighed again. He moved away from his seat and limped away from the table, toward the hallway. “You take on too much already. It’ll be easier this way, love. Why don’t you enjoy this? Most people would be happy not having to work all these hours. Oh, and I’m not docking your pay if that’s what’s worrying-”

“No! That’s not it.” Emmy set her palms down onto the dining table. It annoyed her he would think money was her priority. She didn’t work at the café for the money.

To be honest, she should have found a better-paying job. She stayed because Frederick needed both her and Noah at the time to help him.

And as far as she knew, he still did.

“Well, then… take some time for yourself. Do part time. You can still go to university.… if you change your mind again.”

Emmy averted her eyes and frowned down at her hands, resting where her plate had been. She brushed her hand over her right sleeve. Her fingers itched to pull at the frayed edges, a result of years of picking at the hem.

“No,” she muttered, “I already said that I wasn’t going.”

She had considered going to university to study after leaving sixth form. But that was three years ago.

Frederick considered her for a minute before he answered. “Suit yourself.” He sounded tired and weak, and guilt trickled like ice water down her spine.

She ignored it and gave him a hollow smile. “But you’re right. About taking more time off. I’m sure it won’t be that bad to have extra help.”

The smile he gave her was uncertain, but after a moment’s hesitation, he hobbled out of the room.

Emmy watched him leave. She listened to the sound of his uneven footsteps as it faded away. A few seconds later, the sounds were swallowed up by the creak of a door, then there was silence. Emmy sighed and allowed herself to deflate in her chair.

She didn’t mean to sound ungrateful, or to cause him any unnecessary stress. But bringing in an outsider to run the café was going to cause more problems than it solved.

Frederick had broken his leg a week before while mopping the floor of their kitchen. Emmy had been at her parents’ house in the middle of a two-week visit to celebrate her 22nd birthday.

Everyone was aware of Frederick’s brittle bones and the fact that he had broken a few over the years, so the news of his accident was no surprise.

Without Emmy and Frederick, Noah acted as manager for what seemed like the longest two weeks of his and Emmy’s lives.

While Emmy was with her parents, he had to run the café with his younger sister, Lucy, doing the odd shift. She had been working after school, while their other employees, Tania and Andrea, took extra shifts to help.

As if that hadn’t been enough, Frederick used Emmy’s first night back home to announce all the changes he had made concerning the new management.

With Tania’s son starting nursery in a couple of days, he had changed her shift so that she’d be working with Emmy and Noah on the weekdays. Andrea and their new manager would work on the weekends.

The plan was for him to help them run the café in Frederick’s absence and even after he healed.

Instead of Emmy.

For well over two years, Emmy helped to run the café, and she always handled any issues with ease. She wasn’t inexperienced as far as the café was concerned, so this was more than a little insulting. But she couldn’t complain that he hadn’t put her in charge.

At least, not to anyone else.

Her uncle believed the new employee would liven up the place.

Emmy agreed. But not for the same reasons.

She took in a long breath through her nose and exhaled. After a few seconds of quiet, she rose from her chair with a loud scrape. She left the dining room with Noah still standing in the lit kitchen.

That night, her mind whirled as she paced the length of her room. Her uncle’s words were like a thick fog stuck in her head, even as her head hit her pillow and she fell asleep.

Emmy woke the next day in a soured mood with a throbbing headache.

Bright light poured through the windows, and the cold air crept into her room under her windowsill. It bit at her exposed arms. The clock on her bedside table beeped rapidly while it displayed 6:30 am, bright red on its screen.

Emmy groaned and flipped the covers off, fighting her sluggish muscles. As she turned off the alarm, she rubbed her arms before scampering out of her room, down the stairs and into the dim kitchen.

She padded around the kitchen and made herself a bowl of cornflakes before she collapsed in one of the dining room chairs.

Emmy hated early mornings, but they were normal for her job, so she did her best not to complain.

Lucy strolled into the room a few moments later and dropped into the chair to Emmy’s right, smiling. “Morning.”

Emmy raised an eyebrow. Lucy’s hair was a nest stuck on her head. She passed a hand through it and her fingers caught on the tangles. Her eyes were still bleary from sleep and surrounded by dark circles.

“Mm,” Emmy mumbled around a spoonful of cornflakes. Her eyes dropped to stare at the emptying bowl, the lids closing every few seconds.

Lucy rested her arm on the table and her chin on her palm. She drummed the fingers on her other hand on the table, gazing at Emmy with lazy interest. Emmy raised her head and scowled back at her, fidgeting in her chair. “What?”

“I heard you pacing in your room last night. What’s wrong?”

Emmy swallowed another spoonful and shook her head. “Nothing.”

Lucy searched Emmy’s face. “Is something the matter?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Emmy snapped at her.

Lucy leaned back, her eyes narrowed. “Fine.” She got up from her seat and headed into the kitchen. Emmy stared down at her bowl as she swallowed another spoonful around the lump in her throat.

Forty minutes later, Emmy, Noah and Lucy were ready to leave. They waved goodbye to Frederick lying on the living room couch before Emmy closed the front door behind them.

She pulled her coat tighter around her against the chill of the outside and followed Noah into the car.

The clouds overhead hung grey and dismal as Noah steered the family car down the bleak, damp streets.

Ten minutes later, they had arrived at Lucy’s school, a symmetrical group of dull grey, bricked buildings.

Over the last five years, the school had made some modifications. It was a very different place from the school Emmy and Noah had attended.

But, going by what Lucy said, all the fancy new equipment and modern renovations improved nothing.

It was a miserable, cold Thursday. Lucy’s school at this early hour of the morning was desolate, with very few students around. From where she sat in the car, Emmy watched a small girl carrying a bag twice her size on her back, with a lunch box in her hand. The little girl scurried through the main entrance of the building into the empty hallway inside.

Emmy dragged her attention away from the girl to look at Lucy. She had been babbling about the workload from her Physics class.

“Have fun. Learn things.” Emmy said, nodding towards the building. Even to her own ears, her voice sounded bleak.

Lucy smiled at her in the mirror. Her eyes lingered on Emmy a little longer before she slid out of the back of the car. “I’ll try, if you do.” She sang.

“At least try not to come back a complete idiot,” Noah called from the driver’s seat. Lucy’s mouth curled into a smirk, and her eyes narrowed.

“I can promise not to come back more stupid than you did.” She snapped.

“I didn’t fail Physics.”

“Neither did I!”

“Yet.” With a scoff, Noah drove away from the school and Lucy, and headed to the café.

They arrived outside of the two-storey brick building in Patton’s Place. The wooden plaque on the front marked it as Marsh’s Manor in black handwritten script. The café was situated on a corner of a block of stores along a side road.

Noah unlocked the front door and held it open for Emmy. With a promise that he would be back, Noah turned and left, letting the door swing shut behind him.

It had become a ritual over the past two years for him to step out to an off-licence before they opened up.

She liked the quiet his absence brought. Just her, alone in the café.

Emmy looked at the worn furniture. The old, cream-coloured, patterned couches bordering the edges of the room. The sturdy wooden tables were scattered around the room. The biggest feature was a large, stone fireplace with a metal grate standing at the rear of the café.

She ran her hand over the worn arms of the couches as she passed, rubbing the frayed woven material under her fingertips. She padded across the wooden floorboards to the back of the café, to the fireplace and lit it.

The warmth from the fire spread around the landing, but there was still a January chill in the air and it trailed in after her. The cold seeped into her body, making her sluggish and clumsy. She straighten her back and went to work.

Her mind cleared as she took down the chairs from the tables and wiped them clean. She brewed coffee and heated baked goods in the oven. Then she marched up the stairs that led to the second-floor landing and began taking down the chairs from the tables there as well.

As she worked, dull winter light filtered in through the large glass windows along the front of the café. It landed on the hardwood floors and spilt over the worn wooden tables and chairs scattered across the wide room.

She worked efficiently and quickly. Only when she had finished all her tasks, and had time to think, was she aware that the sadness she was feeling earlier had crept back.

Noah returned ten minutes later, still five minutes before the café opened. He tossed her a bar of chocolate as he passed, and she thanked him before her mind wandered again.

The new manager would arrive the day after tomorrow, and so it would just be the two of them for a few more days.

When 8:30 arrived, a rush of customers stormed in, the bell over the door ringing like a battle horn at the start of a war.

In stormed office workers, ordering coffee to wake them up before they had to catch a train or fight through traffic.

Then, there were parents who had just dropped off their children at school.

Other customers came in as part of their daily ritual, ordering the same thing they always did, sitting at the same chairs, talking to the same friends.

Emmy welcomed the familiarity of the noise and chaos. She revelled in the adrenaline it brought her. Noah took the orders with a patient nod, while she served them with bright smiles.

Just before 11 o’clock, the bustle in the café had eased. With the end of the morning rush, the quiet returned, unfortunately allowing her more time to think.

Emmy stood behind the counter, with a pensive expression on her face, silently listing some reasons she thought it counter-productive to hire someone new.

She swiped the sponge once more over the cafe counter, wiping away left-over sugar and coffee granules. As she did this, she contemplated yet again, what the new employee would be like.

Would he be tidy? Would he be on time? Easy to work with?

From what her uncle had said, he lived far enough that he wasn’t familiar with the area. “Localish, but not too local.” He had said.

Whatever that meant.

There was a gasp and a sharp tinkling that cut through the hum of the café as a cup shattered on the floor. Emmy looked toward the noise and saw Mrs Martin sitting by the front windows. The large plant she sat next to almost swallowed her, as she stared with horror at the broken remains of her teacup on the floor.

Mrs Martin was a regular customer at Marsh’s, who was more skittish than a squirrel had a right to be whenever Emmy or anyone else at the café spoke to her. She was tiny and round and reminded Emmy of a turtle, because of the large green coat she always wore, which practically swallowed her up. Her head was the only thing peeking out from the mass of green. On top of her head she wore a green woollen bundle pulled over her wiry hair.

Mrs Martin never liked to make a fuss, or draw attention to herself, especially if there was a crowd of people. She looked up at Emmy, appalled and apologetic.

Emmy beamed at her as she rushed over with a dustpan and brush to pick up the pieces of the broken cup.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll clean it up.” Emmy reassured her as she picked up the pieces.

“I’m so sorry.” The older woman whimpered. She wrung her hands together and began muttering more apologies that Emmy brushed off.

“It’s fine.… Noah?” She called over her shoulder to her cousin. He looked up from wiping down a table. “Can you get Mrs Martin another cup, please?”

She turned back to the woman. “Peppermint, isn’t it?”

Mrs Martin nodded, and Emmy’s smile widened. “Well, you can have this one for free.”

The woman smiled. “Oh, thank you, Emmy.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Emmy replied.

Noah led Mrs Martin over to the counter to get another cup of peppermint tea, while Emmy disposed of the broken cup pieces before she returned to wipe the spill.

As she cleaned the mess, she heard ringing laughter coming from the other side of the room. When she turned, she saw her friends sprawled on the couches in the back of the café by the fireplace, chattering with each other.

They had strolled in an hour ago, welcomed her back from her holiday, and as always, claimed the couches by the window.

Tilly lay draped over one arm of the armchair closest to the large window that dominated the wall. Her thick dark hair and her long limbs dangling like the branches of a willow tree. A wide t-shirt hung from her frame, while her leggings clung to her legs. Her striped socks were visible just above her white running shoes. Her pointed nose raised to the ceiling and her large eyes fixed upwards towards the group, her hands gesturing now and then as she spoke.

Maelie was on her right, reclining against the couch, her tangle of red curls spread out from under her beanie. She had a notepad on her lap and a tattered book in her hands. Her fingers brushed the sides of her book as she rotated it, her usual scowl fixed in place.

Henry sat across from her on the opposite couch, looking ragged and breathless as always, his light hair sticking up in all directions. He leaned over the coffee table and dragged the notebook from Maelie’s hands. Still sweaty from his morning run with Tilly despite the weather. His t-shirt clung to his back as he moved. Whatever he said next made the group laugh and Maelie snatch her book back out of his hand. She kicked her foot out at Henry, making Tilly cackle.

Katherine sat to Henry’s right. On the top of her head, her dark hair was curled and pulled up in an elaborate bun. She smirked as she smoothed her dark woollen turtle-neck dress down. She crossed her legs, before her sharp voice cut through the laughter like a knife, quieting them in an instant.

Emmy stood up and glanced at the almost empty room, then at the clock. It was just after eleven. She knew from experience that it would be quiet until around half twelve, when customers arrived for lunch.

She stood up, went to the kitchen and deposited the dirty cloth. As she exited, Katherine looked up in her direction and waved her over to them.

Tilly’s face brightened as soon as she saw her, and she sat up. “Finally!” She squealed. “You’ve been gone for months! Please don’t leave us for so long next time. I know they’re your parents, but that was too long. But, don’t worry… you’ve come back just in time.” She finished.

Maelie stretched her legs out in front of her. “Yeah, Aiden and I might need your help for our film project coming up.”

Emmy tensed. “I hope you don’t need to film me.”

“Might do. We’ll let you know.” Maelie answered vaguely.

Tilly waved the conversation away. “Yeah, yeah, that’s great, but I was talking about me. I want to go on a date.”

That made Emmy pause. “With who, exactly?”

Tilly shrugged. “I would like you to find me a boyfriend. Anyone will do.”

“Well, why are you telling me? Go find someone.”

Tilly made a face and glanced around at the others for support before looking back. “I want you to set me up with someone.”

Henry leaned toward Emmy. “You should help her, you know. She needs all the help she can get.” He muttered.

“She’s hopeless.” Maelie chimed in, clicking the button on her pen.

Henry’s teeth glinted in the firelight as he smiled. “She’ll die alone.”

Tilly’s body deflated into her armchair. “Hey! I am right here. And that’s not true. At all! You just don’t get it.”

She was right. They didn’t. Tilly’s love-life was always a source of teasing, too. Tilly would date a guy she liked. They would form a strange couple that, to everyone else, made as much sense as a car without an engine. After a month or two, they would break-up, and Tilly would spend two weeks complaining about him before moving on.

No one knew anything about Tilly’s standards. Her type would change from month to month. She had dated musicians, scholars and athletes, all with different hobbies, but she never even said what she looked for in a boyfriend. Or what had gone wrong between them? No matter the partner she chose, they always helped to form a weird, unlikely and doomed couple.

“What else is there to get?” Maelie’s voice was dry and crisp, as she twirled her pen and wrote in her notebook. “You can’t see an idiot coming from a mile away, but they can see you.”

Emmy fought back a smile and perched on the left arm of Tilly’s chair. “Mae! Be nice!” She chided as she patted Tilly’s shoulder soothingly.

Katherine picked up her cup and brought it to her lips, her sharp eyes focusing on Emmy over the brim. “You could set her up with someone at the party. You’ll have a clearer head than her.”

Tilly sprung back to life. “This.” She gestured to Katherine. “This is all I wanted. Just someone with good judgement, with me, when I’m looking my best, surrounded by people looking their best. People looking for new… friends.”

Emmy frowned, and she turned her attention to Katherine. “What party are you talking about?”

“My party. The one I’m throwing? Tomorrow?”

Emmy gave a small scoff and massaged the back of her neck as she rolled her shoulders. She had an ache in her back. “Another one? What’s brought this on?”

Katherine’s brow furrowed for a second before it smoothed out. “Oh, right! You weren’t there when we decided on it, were you? You were at your parents’ house, right?”

Emmy rolled her shoulders back again, against the tension stored there. “Yep. So?”

Katherine nodded. “We’re having a welcome party for your new boss at my house. Just so everyone can meet him in an informal setting. You know, get to know him before he starts his job. From what I’ve heard from Frederick, he sounds as dedicated as you. He already has a few ideas he wants to try. I think your uncle might have picked the perfect person for the job.”

Emmy’s shoulders stiffened, but none of her friends were paying close enough attention to notice. She rubbed her neck again. “Have you spoken to him? The new guy?”

Katherine nodded. “He seems nice enough. He’s kind of quiet.”

Noah slid into view and took a seat next to Katherine, crossing his legs by the ankles. “So, what are we all talking about?” he asked.

Emmy glanced at Katherine. “It seems we’re having a party for the new guy.”

“Bellamy? I had forgotten about that,” answered Noah.

A line appeared in between Emmy’s brows. “Bellamy? That’s his name?”

Noah nodded. “Yeah, didn’t you know? Dad mentioned it yesterday, didn’t he? I remembered him saying his name.”

Emmy shook her head. She had a hard time remembering the details of her uncle’s speech, but she was pretty sure she would have remembered that piece of information.

“Well, yesterday was the first I heard about him.”

Noah sank back into the cushions with a heavy sigh. “Look, the party will still be fun. We haven’t had one in a while.” He looked at Katherine. “Who did you invite?”

“Just a few people. Our friends…” Her phone chimed, and her eyes widened a fraction as she looked at the screen.

She froze as she read it, and when she turned back to Emmy again, her eyes were pleading. “Em, I need a favour. Can you take care of the food? I have got nothing myself yet, because I’ve been too busy. I was going to get something today, but…” She raised her phone. “Now I have something to do. Please?”

Emmy met her eyes for a second before she looked away, as the familiar guilt crept up her spine. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I-I really can’t.”

Katherine frowned. “Why not?” She demanded.

Emmy fidgeted with her left sleeve. “It’s too soon. I don’t have enough time. I…”

“Emmy! I need your help with this. It’s important. Please?” Katherine pouted at her.

Emmy raised her eyes to the ceiling and sighed. She knew Katherine too well to believe she could decline. “Fine! I’ll do it.”

Katherine gave her a satisfied smile and clasped her hands together. “Good. I appreciate your help.”

Henry relaxed in his chair. “Great. So, what are we eating? Are you buying the snacks or making them? If you’re making them, could you make something with chocolate? And if you’re buying them, can you get something with chocolate? Unless you want to be adventurous and make something fancy, I’m okay with that too, as long as it tastes good.”

“Okay,” Emmy relented, then glared at him. “But you better not throw up on Katherine’s rug. Again.”

Katherine’s eyes were slits. “If he does, he’s cleaning it up.” Henry gave her an impish grin.

Tilly turned to Katherine. “What time are we all meeting here?” She turned back to Emmy, “And will there be alcohol?”

“It starts at 8:30 pm at my house tomorrow, but we’re meeting at 8:00 here first, at closing time,” Katherine said looking at Emmy.

“It’s just a few friends from around.” She turned to Tilly. “And yes, we will have alcohol. Beer and wine. Maybe, something with class. Hopefully.” She shrugged. “I already asked my father about using the house and he said it’s fine. Well, he’s fine with it if we clean up. And leave all his alcohol alone.”

Emmy glanced at her watch and rose from her seat. “Well, fine, but better get back to work. Noah?” She called over her shoulder. He unfolded himself from the chair and followed her back to the counter.

Their friends waved them away and returned to their conversation. Noah leaned over to Emmy and whispered. “Are you sure you can get everything together by tomorrow?”

She bristled at his words. “Of course, I can.”

Noah held up his palms. “Alright, then. I was just making sure. Would you like some help? I’d be happy to.”

Emmy frowned at his words. Whenever Katherine planned an event, Emmy was always the one who had to organise the food and drinks. It had been like that for years. “I’ll be fine.”

Noah looked unconvinced. “It’s a lot to do. And there’s not much time. I can help.”

“It’s only a few friends.”

He scoffed. “Better to be safe than sorry.”

She deliberated for a few seconds before a customer entered the café; the bell signalling his arrival. With no time left, she agreed.

At eight pm, Emmy and Noah closed the shop to the public.

Katherine, Henry, Maelie and Tilly were all long gone. Katherine reiterated the important information as Maelie and Henry dragged her out through the door. She had already sent money to Emmy’s account for the food. She said that she didn’t mind whatever food they decided on, but that they should bring plenty of it.

Noah sent a text to Lucy to tell her about the change in plans. She arrived at the café at half-past four, with the ingredients Emmy had asked for, then set out her Physics books on a table next to the counter and camped there until closing.

Once the shop was secure and tidy, Noah slumped into the seat he had occupied and crossed his legs at the ankles. “What are we getting? Or making? Are we making sandwiches, or something?” He glanced at the shopping bags Lucy had brought.

Emmy settled down opposite him. “Bit of both.”

She already had a list written for what they needed for the next day, they just needed to buy the extra items. She deliberated the entire day, wondering if she should bake something from scratch herself, but that would be too much work. She pondered what to do first, earning herself a frustrated look from Noah.

“Well?” he prompted.

Once again, her peace was interrupted, she snapped. “Kitchen. Now.”

The next day, Emmy woke more rested than she had been for the last few days. It was a relief that came from finishing a task, and she welcomed it like it was a warm blanket.

She and Noah had spent a few hours last night baking snacks and putting together nibbles. Lucy had given them her opinions whenever her homework failed to capture her full attention.

Early on, they all decided it was best that only Emmy did anything important. They decided this after Noah burned the first batch of store bought pastries. He had set the oven too high and forgot about their existence after he got in a fight with Lucy. Emmy had snapped at the two of them, scaring them out of the kitchen.

Even with her help, nothing they made was up to her normal standards.

Katherine always gave her more notice before something like this. But this time she had dumped it on her at the last minute.

Frederick rang half an hour into their task, demanding to know why they and Lucy weren’t home yet. Emmy had explained their involvement with Katherine’s party, as she pulled a batch of pastries out from the oven.

Four hours later, Frederick called again to remind them to lock up when they were leaving. By then, they had four dozen pastries and snacks stuffed in the café’s fridge. After his baking disaster, Noah had volunteered to buy the drinks and the rest of the snacks the next day.

When lunch arrived the next day, Katherine marched in, wearing a light blue dress with a dark blue purse and a matching coat and shoes. Her heels clicked on the floor as she closed in on Emmy.

“Well?” She demanded. “Why haven’t you called me? I was waiting for you to call and tell me what’s going on.”

“We’ve been busy with the food and work.” Emmy muttered.

Katherine stared at Emmy. “So? What’s happening? Is everything sorted?”

Emmy’s shoulders tensed again. “Everything’s in the kitchen fridge. We made some pastries and sandwiches and stuff. Noah’s gone out to buy drinks and more snacks.”

Katherine raised an eyebrow, glaring down at Emmy. “That’s it? That’s all?” She moved around Emmy and stomped in to the kitchen. Emmy bristled but didn’t bother to follow her, choosing to root herself in the same spot she stood and waited. She heard the heavy refrigerator door open.

There was a loud rustling and then the door slamming back louder than it had opened.

When Katherine appeared at the doorway, she looked disgruntled, but she gave Emmy a weak smile. “Not your best work I’ll admit. But… good enough, I guess.”

Heat rose in Emmy’s face and she clenched her hands into fists as her temper rose.

“I might’ve done more if I had more time.” Emmy snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me before? Why didn’t you call me, while I was with my parents? Gave me more of a warning about this, maybe? You always want my help, so why didn’t you call before? I didn’t know about any of this until yesterday.”

Katherine pulled back, crossing her arms over her chest, her purse under her left arm. “I thought you could handle something simple for me.”

“Something simple? You call organising food for a party last minute simple?”

“Kind of. And you should’ve said something if you couldn’t do it.”

Emmy scoffed. “I did do it. I still did my best with the time you gave me.”

Katherine conceded, lowering her eyes and fidgeting with her purse. She stared down at her shoes and Emmy followed her gaze. They were expensive. That’s as much as Emmy could tell about them, but she knew it must have been if Katherine wore them. Quality was always very important to Katherine.

After a few seconds, Katherine sighed and raised her head. “Look, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’m sorry. It’s very… stressful.”

Emmy nodded, and her shoulders slumped down. The spat had left a pang of uncomfortable guilt in its place. “It’s fine. I’m sorry… I snapped. What’s… what’s making you stressed?”

Katherine shook her head. “It doesn’t matter… It’s fine. Don’t worry.” She composed herself, her posture straightening again.

She stared at Emmy, but her gaze was unfocused and distracted. With a funny, brief smile, she turned away, burrowing in her purse, and pulling out her phone. “Can you get me a coffee?” She called as she walked away, heading to the upstairs landing.

Emmy stood still, staring after Katherine. She exhaled and went to work on the coffee, but kept thinking about Katherine.

When she had made the coffee, Emmy picked up the mug, jerking it towards her quicker than she intended. She had filled it too much and as she lifted it, coffee fell on her hand, spilling between her fingers and down on to her top.

Emmy hissed in pain as the hot liquid landed on her stomach. She pulled her top away from her skin, picked up a pile of napkins. She wiped the spilt coffee from the mug and rested it back on the counter.

Emmy glanced down at herself and she saw the coffee had stained her mint green top brown. The coffee seeped across the middle. She moved forward towards the counter trying to hide the stain, but it would be unmissable to anyone standing in front of her if she moved back a step.

She turned to the kitchen, just as the front door swung open, blowing in cold air, and a tall, young man around her age walked in.

He wore a plain t-shirt, a plain coat and the plainest pair of jeans to match, but he had confidence to his posture. He wasn’t familiar to her, which was an intriguing surprise.

She hesitated, torn between dealing with the stain and helping a customer. Reluctantly, she decided on the latter. She turned toward him, welcoming him with a smile, hoping that he wouldn’t notice her soiled top as she stood closer to the counter for cover.

He surveyed the room for a moment before his focus settled on her, and he paused. He smiled politely, and closed the distance between them, settling on the other side of the counter.

“Hello.” He greeted her. His voice was heavy and soothing. He pressed his hand on the countertop, leaning towards her.

“Hello.” She greeted him cheerfully. “What would you like? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate?” She gestured vaguely at the counter before her hands moved to fidget with the sleeve of her top.

“I’m not here for the food. I’m meeting someone.” He glanced down at the worn watch on his left wrist. “Hope I’m not late. I’m looking for Katherine. Katherine Parson. My name is Bellamy Vella.”