End Game

End Game - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

            It was my first day at Espresso Yourself Café. I can’t really believe the name myself. Nevertheless, it really is the cutest place I have ever seen. The owners, the coolest, oldest hippies I have ever met, were Jack and Barb. They have been together for over thirty-five years and have traveled all over the world. When their youngest son came into town for college, they came to visit and fell in love with this place. The café is the brightest and most open place I have ever been. I love it there and I felt fortunate to work there. When we walked in, it felt like love lived there. There haven’t been many places that made me feel like that in my life. They hired Rayanne and I on the spot. They thought we were the cutest little kids that they had ever seen. Here I go, my first day with no experience at all, which should be fun.

            Rayanne and I walk to the café, which is only a block from our apartment. We are wearing our khaki pants and our hot pink Espresso Yourself t-shirts. I look average in mine, but Rayanne looks like she should be working at Hooters in hers. I am pretty sure she purposely ordered her shirt two sizes too small. “How come your shirt looks like that and mine looks like this?” I ask, pointing to my t-shirt.

            She looks at me and says, “Because I know what sells, and that is tits and ass girl.”

            I laughed at her and rolled my eyes. I wish I were able to just say what comes into my head like she does. That is my real goal for this first year away from home. I am officially starting my sophomore year of college tomorrow, and I have made it my goal to come to terms with my issues. Unfortunately, I have a lot of those. I want to learn to come to terms with my mother and my father, whoever he is. I want to learn, what it is about me, that is so fucking unlovable that even my parents can’t love me.

            As we walk into work at 6:00 am, Barb is sitting there with the biggest and happiest smile I have ever seen. I often wonder if that smile is chemically induced, because I don’t think anybody can be that happy this early in the morning. She is wearing the same uniform as Rayanne and I, and she has her hair cut into a little spiky pixie. She wears these cat eyeglasses, which I love, and I think I may have to ask her where she got them. Jack is behind the counter, also wearing the same bright pink shirt, but it doesn’t look stupid on him. He reminds me of my grandpa, a little. My grandpa was all suits and ties, while Jack is pink shirts and hemp necklaces, but the kindness in their eyes is the same. I sometimes wonder if my mother was adopted, because I just don’t know how my grandparents, who were so loving and caring, had a daughter like her. I often wonder why they didn’t try to fight to take custody of me either. I loved them, and I know that they loved me, but sometimes I wonder why they didn’t love me enough to take me away from my mother. I am going to save all those thoughts for my therapist. Man, I am nervous about that, but back to work.

            “Girls! I am so glad that you are here. Let’s get this day started,” Barb said to us, leading us into the back. Six hours later, I felt like my feet were going to fall off. Rayanne and I caught on quickly, and Jack and Barb were very impressed with us. They told us that in a month they expected us to be opening on our own.

            I was wiping down one of the tables when I saw Zane walk in with another good-looking guy next to him. My heart skipped when I saw Zane. He will always be the best-looking man I have ever seen. The guy next to him had nothing to be ashamed of either. I felt my heart rate accelerate as they came closer to me. Zane was smiling at me, “So…fancy meeting you here Hannah.”

            “Really? You already knew I would be here…didn’t you,” I said, giving Rayanne an evil stare.

            He looked at me and gave me a sly smile. “I may have called Rayanne this morning, and she told me that you guys were here working. She also wasn’t very happy with me. She told me I could go fuck myself. So…I guess you told her some stuff last night.”