What You're Missing

Chapter 8

That same day after school, Charlotte went to her new job at the Swell Café. It had been almost a week since she'd been working there and the curly-haired girl was pleased to admit she was glad she got the job.

She enjoyed the bittersweet aroma of coffee and sweets, and she appreciated the short distance between the café and her house that only called for a ten minute walk. And the job itself wasn't too difficult. While she sometimes grew tiresome of running around the kitchen and brewing the same order of caramel mochas (she swore she got at least twenty orders of those a day), she loved being able to experience some responsibility outside of school. And getting her homework done and keeping up with being class president were simple when it came to someone as organized as herself.

Plus, she loved getting discounts off of vanilla lattes.

With Jasper's busy schedule and Henry's job, she had begun to feel left out. Having a job to attend to after school made her feel more included, and, to be frank, a lot less lonely. Before she had been working, she would've went home and buried herself in homework or watch TV, hoping to get a call or text. Now, she could say she was occupying herself in a better way.

The bells to the door of Swell Café jingled as a group of customers left. It was 8:30pm, half an hour before closing time, and only a few customers remained in the shop. A few occupied the tables, typing away on their laptops while taking a sip of their coffee every now and then. The shop remained fairly peaceful with only the sound of a few girls talking at a table and the soft buzz of the lit fridge containing cupcakes and brownies. If during earlier hours, like right after school, the café would be loud and restless with rambunctious teenagers huddling over the tables and a line going almost out the door. Now, preparing for closing, Charlotte wiped down the counter with a rag as a blonde woman came up behind her.

"Don't work too hard," the blonde joked. "You'll crack the counter." Charlotte laughed.

"You can never tell me to work less, Liz," the petite girl replied. "Will only make me work harder."

"Aren't you a tough one?" she responded. "Your momma taught you that?"

"She'd be the one." Charlotte smiled. She loved and looked up to her mother more than anyone else. If she saw her right now, she'd be scolding her that she missed a spot on the counter.

Charlotte swung the rag over her shoulder and turned towards her coworker.

"Leaving already?" she asked after she noticed her out of uniform and holding her bag.

"Yeah, I asked Stacy if I could check out early today. It's Tony and I's one year anniversary." Liz grinned. Stacy was the manager of Swell Café and their boss.

"Aw, Liz, I'm so happy for you!" Charlotte replied, bringing her hands out to hold Liz's hands. "And I hate you for leaving me here by myself." Her grin dropped to a frown, and her eyes narrowed into a glare. Liz laughed. The two coworkers had become friends almost instantly and became quite close in the short span they had been working together. With only about four employees and six hour shifts daily, it was pretty hard not to become friends with each other.

"Sorry, sugar," Liz replied, walking around to the front of the counter.

"What are you guys doing, anyway?" Charlotte asked, leaning her elbows across the counter and resting her chin over her fists.

"Tony got us reservations at Montego's," Liz said with a smirk. Charlotte's jaw dropped.

"Montego's? The famous steakhouse? How'd he manage to pull that off?" she asked.

"Don't ask me!" Liz replied. "Anyways, I gotta run. I'll miss you!"

"Yeah, right, you'll definitely be thinking of me as you're eating your fancy steak while I'm here closing up shop alone." Charlotte playfully rolled her eyes as she finished wiping the counter.