I rubbed the coffee stain a little harder with the wet end of a towel Kieran had handed me, but it only succeeded in making the shirt wetter. There was no way I was going to get the stain out with just water.
A soft knock on the door made me jump. Before I could answer, the door crept open and Kieran poked his head around the door. His eyes darted around and then locked on me standing in front of the basin.
He smiled as he entered the bathroom with a shirt in one hand. "I don't think this will fit you, but it's all I can find."
"Thank you," I muttered as I dropped the towel. "I don't care if it fits or not, as long as it's clean."
Kieran chuckled. "It was washed yesterday."
I returned his smile but it lasted only for a few seconds before it faded. What he said earlier was bugging me. He knew Crystal, but I hadn't seen him at the funeral.
With a slight nod, he turned and made his way to the door. I stopped him when he pulled it open, unable to keep the questions to myself.
"H-how did you know Crystal?"
Kieran hesitated and then slowly turned around to face me again. His hands clenched at his sides and his eyes avoided mine.
"I use to be her trainer. She showed me pictures of you whenever she could." His lips curled up at one side. "Crystal wanted to set you up on a date with me but—"
"I canceled last minute because I chickened out," I interrupted him. "She ignored me for two weeks after that."
He nodded. "She tried a few times again after that but I was too busy. How's she doing? She said that she was going away for some time when she came in to cancel her membership. I haven't seen her around either."
I could see it in his eyes that he was genuinely interested in my answer. My eyes dropped as tears burned them. Pain flashed through my chest and my lips started to tremble. An image of Crystal in the hospital bed filled my mind.
"I'm sorry," Kieran said, breaking me from my thoughts. "I didn't mean to stir up any painful memories. Did the two of you fight? From what she told me, I got the impression that the two of you are very close."
"Like sisters," I whispered. "She was my sister."
I blinked and turned my back to him as I delivered the news to him.
"Crystal. . .she died a few months ago."
Kieran was silent for so long that I thought he'd already left. I sucked in a sharp breath and jerked away when he placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Albany, I'm very, very sorry—"
"Sorry doesn't make anything better," I told him. "Thank you for the shirt. I'll return it to you—"
"There's no need. You can keep it." There was no friendliness or sympathy in his voice—not like there was before.
My shoulders sagged when the door clicked closed behind him. I stared at my reflection in the mirror for a few seconds before I turned away. I was getting sick and tired of staring at the lonely, sad girl day after day.
Crystal wouldn't have wanted me to mourn her, but I couldn't help it. It felt like I had lost a part of myself the moment her coffin was lowered into the ground.
***
The smell of freshly baked pancakes and cinnamon filled the shop. Since it had started raining, I figured it would be a good idea to make something people loved eating on rainy days. The only down to it was the fact that we've only had a number of twenty customers for the day, and still a lot of pancakes leftover.
There was an upside as Lee kept pointing out; it gave us time to focus on the birthday cake.
I forced everything from my mind as I focused on the instructions given. By one o'clock the cake was finished and pending pickup. Lee had received an order for a dozen brownies which I was busy with when I received the call.
A call I had completely forgotten about.
"Albany's phone, how may I help?" Lee answered since my hands were elbow deep in brownie dough. "Yes, she's here. Please hold on a moment."
Lee walked over to me and held the phone out towards me. I nodded down at my hands in the bowl.
"I'll call them back."
She rolled her eyes and moved closer to press the phone against my ear.
"Hello?"
There were a few seconds of silence before the caller answered. "Albany, it's Thomas."
"Oh." I blinked down at the bowl. "H-hi."
"I'm sorry we didn't call earlier. We've been a bit busy."
"It's okay."
"You haven't forgotten about our date yet, have you?" he questioned.
I licked my lips. "N-no."
"Good. Steven figured it would put you at ease if we go out to a public place first. How does seven o'clock sound at Red's?"
Was I really considering going out with two men at the same time? I bit my lip as I debated my answer. My mind trailed to the bucket list Crystal had written for me. One of those numbers on the list included a threesome.
"We'll pick you up—"
"I'll meet you there," I quickly interrupted him.
"Albany—"
"See you at seven."
Luckily Lee got the message and pulled the phone away from my ear and ended the call. Dropping the phone on the table, she leaned forward and tried to catch my eyes.
"You're not going to tell me are you?"
"Nope."
Lee huffed and stormed to the front of the shop while muttering under her breath. It made me smile but the smile quickly faded as my mind trailed to the dilemma I was facing at the moment.
I had just agreed on a date with two men—twins at that.
What was I going to wear? Was it a good idea to go out with strangers? They seemed nice enough but people weren't always as they seemed. What if they were assholes only looking for one thing?
Shaking my head, I pulled my hands out of the bowl and rubbed most of the dough on the side of it. Walking over to the sink, I washed my hands and dried them before glancing over at the clock. Six more hours to go until my date.
It was enough time to think of an excuse as to why I wouldn't be able to make it.
***
My stomach was filled with butterflies and it wasn't the good kind. I had managed to talk myself out of showing up for the date numerous times but in the end, there wasn't a solid excuse as to why I couldn't join them.
The brownies and the birthday cake had both been picked up on time, the kitchen had been cleaned until it sparkled, and no customers lingered beyond closing time.
So, I went home, showered, and shaved. Shampooed and conditioned my hair and even spend a few minutes putting on make-up, but when it came to dressing, there was no hesitation in what I was going to wear.
I opted for something comfortable instead of sexy.
Red's was too far away to even consider walking so late at night, so I grabbed a taxi instead which pulled up in front of the bar with two minutes to spare. Paying the driver, I slid from the car and sucked in a deep breath before I turned.
My eyes widened in surprise when I spotted both twins waiting by the entrance.
They both smiled at me as they approached. Thomas shocked me when he pulled me in for a hug but I wasn't going to lie by saying that it made me uncomfortable. It had the opposite effect.
Steven kissed my cheek and instantly moved back again.
"I have a bit of bad news," Thomas said.
My heart dropped and unease filled me. Where they going to cancel on me at the last minute? Had they changed their mind about the date?
"I'm afraid we didn't think things through when we suggested Red's. It's usually the place we came for drinks with our friends."
"They're here and they invited us to join them," Steven explained.
"We don't have to," Thomas muttered. "We can go somewhere else if you'd rather—"
"No!" I interrupted him a little too quickly. "I mean it's f-fine if we hang out with your friends. I really don't mind."
They stared at me for a few seconds and then glanced at each other. It almost looked like they were communicating silently. Thomas slid an arm around my waist without another word and led me towards the entrance. One glance over my shoulder assured me that Steven was following us.
The bar wasn't as packed as usual which was great because the last thing I wanted was to have to yell to be able to hear each other. A familiar song was playing from the hidden speakers and waiters were moving between the tables, serving drinks and taking orders.
Thomas led me to a table at the back. Instead of it being one of the small, tall tables with bar stools, it had two booths and a big table.
Two men already occupied one side of the table but they had their backs to us so I couldn't see them yet, but the moment we stopped next to the table and they turned towards us, I wished I had never showed up.
Because at the table sat two men I'd already met.
"Albany, meet Severide and Kieran."