Coffee Shop

• 07 •

Fix your face, fix your mood, and smile.

I pushed out of the kitchen and hurried over to the shop's front door. Without missing a beat, I shut the lock and pulled each of the blinds down, blocking the view of the streets outside. When I turned around, Brian laughed and wiped his hands with his precious towel. "Never seen you move so fast," he said, lifting his eyes to look at me. "In a rush?"

"No, no." Shaking my head, I looked around the shop to keep my mind distracted. "You... you called me out here to help, so I did, and—"

"I know," Brian laughed again. "I was joking."

"Aha." I tried to laugh with him as I approached the front counter. He wiped at it with his towel, flicking away crumbs leftover from the cupcakes near the register. Knowing I had to do something, too, I reached for the front display and made sure it was properly sealed so we could store it in the back.

"Sorry if I'm a little scatterbrained." I wanted to be honest because I knew it just had to be all over my face. The conversation with my mom just had me ugh. "Busy day, trying to help you clean up. That's all." I shot him a smile, a little forced, but there. "Trying to do good by the boss, that's all."

Brian's eyes shot up as I moved the cupcakes out of the way, then opened the plexiglass door protecting the doughnuts no one purchased. There weren't many, but the few that were there couldn't be left out.

"I appreciate it." Brian smiled as he leaned against the counter. "Did you want to talk about it?"

I hadn't even had the chance to walk to the kitchen with the sealed leftovers in my hand. My foot had inched towards the door, but my eyes were on him. "What?" I gulped. "Talk about what?"

"Nevermind." Chuckling, Brian tossed his towel on his shoulder and turned towards the register. With a quick tap of a button, the til opened. His fingers counted the cash with ease. "Shouldn't have asked."

"Asked..." Still holding the container, I faced him. "Ask what?"

He gave me a side-glance; a small one. I saw the shimmer of his golden eyes catch the light from the hanging fixture, but he said nothing to me. He kept counting until he had enough to seal in a bag.

Placing the container on the counter, I inched closer to him. The awkward tension in the air between us was the same I felt in the back while I talked to my mom. Had he sensed it? Heard me? Oh my God, was I loud? Such a baby...

I frowned. "Did you hear my conversation back there?"

Brian cringed. He shrugged. He forced closed the register and reached for a backpack tucked away nicely beneath the counter drawers. "Don't worry about it," he said, securing the shop's deposit within the bag's largest pocket. "It was wrong of me to ask, intrude. You don't know me and I don't know you. Sharing personal issues is a bit much, I would know."

Without meaning to—or maybe I did—my eyes trailed over to the scars on his chin, down his neck. I followed the line until it vanished underneath the collar of his shirt. And while I stared at him, I wondered if that was what he meant—the scars on his body. Had to be a personal issue, right? Couldn't have been serious, considering he built a business for himself and seemed like a perfectly fine, and beautiful, adult.

"Right." Brian adjusted his shirt and broke my stare. And I felt awful.

"Oh..." Biting my lip, I looked back at the package of doughnuts as I wracked my thoughts. Think, think, think, you made this awkward. "Fix it..." I muttered.

Brian had already walked towards the kitchen, but when I spoke, he stopped. He inched back a step to look at me. "Fix what?"

For a second, I was a deer in headlights. "I, um..." My fingers tapped along the counter. "I'm sorry. Again—"I pointed at myself and awkwardly laughed. "—mood. I didn't mean to make this awkward. I just..."