Authors note at the bottom!
*Has not been edited*
The sound of Marie's singing greeted me as I entered the house. I kicked off my shoes at the front door and followed the soft tune of Michael Bublé and Marie which drifted throughout the rooms. Marie stopped singing and smiled brightly at me when she saw me standing in the kitchen doorway.
"Ally, my dear, How are you this morning? How was last night?" She asked pleasantly as she placed the kettle down. She picked up a pale green coffee cup from the bench and held it gently between her delicate fingers.
"I'm ok, thank you." I replied and smiled at Marie as I walked over to where she was standing, "and it was pretty good Cora and I just watched a bunch of movies and ate lots of junk food."
I reached up and grabbed a cup from the cabinet beside the window. I could see that the sun was beginning to rise over the water, its rays lightening up the little kitchen. The heavy rain had finally disappeared throughout the night. Turning around, I picked up the coffee jug, poured myself a cup, and leaned up against the counter.
Marie smiled brightly at me. "That's lovely dear, I'm glad you had a wonderful time," Marie said as I took a sip of my drink. She walked over to the dining table and sat on the white chair, crossing her ankles and focusing on me. "What are your plans for this evening?"
I lifted the coffee cup up to my nose, smelling the sweet aroma of coffee. "I am finishing a little bit later than normal at work today as a couple of staff members are away sick, a nasty bug has been going around. Why's that?"
Marie lifted her cup to her mouth, took a sip, and swallowed before she spoke. "Martha has invited us around for dinner. I am going around there this afternoon to help her with her garden and she said she wants to cook dinner for more than one person. So she has invited both of us. You don't have to go if you don't want to of course, or if you have other plans."
"Oh, no, I have no plans. It sounds lovely. I can come around after I finish work."
"Wonderful!" Marie said with a genuine smile, "Martha will be pleased."
___
"Good morning, again, sunshine!" Cora greeted with a huge grin plastered on her face. She shut her front door behind her and made her way down the path to where I was waiting for her. She was wearing a white off-the-shoulder top, denim shorts, and black flats, whilst holding two drink bottles in her hands. She stretched out her hand and passed me one.
"Good morning," I answered with a laugh as we began to walk down the path toward our work. I looked down at the drink bottle in confusion and then back up at Cora. "What is this for?" I asked, the confusion evident in my voice.
Cora shrugged her shoulders. "Mum started watching that new cooking show with Melinda Buyers in it after you left this morning and decided that she would make smoothies alongside her. When I left she told me to give you one, so I have no idea if it tastes okay. You don't have to drink it if you don't want to but I do apologise in advance if it's horrible."
"Oh! I'm sure it will taste okay, believe me when I say that I have had food throughout my life that could rival food out of a trashcan." I shuddered at the thought of the horrible food I had endured over the past years. Some of the foster homes that I had been in lacked the culinary skill of cooking any form of decent and edible meals. "Honestly, I have had some terrible, uneditable concoctions that you wouldn't even classify as food," I said as I twisted the lid off and took a sip. The cool and sweet liquid hit the back of my throat, the berry flavour dancing on my tongue. I smiled in encouragement at Cora, and she took her own sip. "This is actually really good," I said as I took another sip. "I have no idea what you were worried about."
Typical," Cora snorted and shook her head in disbelief, "My mum is terrible in the kitchen which is quite surprising since my nan is an amazing cook. My dad tries to keep mum out and that normally results in him physically carrying her out in his arms, it's quite the sight to see." I laughed at the picture that formed in my head of her dad carrying her mum out of the kitchen. "Normally it's Noah, dad, or me who will cook, though I am only a little bit better than mum. The boys, can both cook amazing meals. My dad took a chef course when he left high school." She tilted her head to the side and her brow furrowed, "he left because he hated cooking? Yet, he loves to cook at home." She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "He's confusing sometimes."
I giggled at her confusion and then nodded my head as I took another sip from the bottle. "Maybe, you could tell your mum that she can make these more often... I would never complain."
Cora threw her head back and laughed. "I feel like if I said that to her, we would never get her out of the kitchen. I couldn't imagine the concoctions that she would try to create if we gave her free range... Though, if I said that Ally asked, she would do it in a heartbeat. She absolutely adored you. You were all she could talk about this morning after you left. It was 'Ally this, Ally that'. She told me to tell you that you are welcome to come over at any time."
I smiled shyly at the compliment. "Your mum was really lovely and so welcoming. You can totally tell that you two are related, you are scary alike."
"You wouldn't be the first to say so," Cora giggled, "we get that so often. Mum likes to believe that we could get away as being identical twins, however, she just forgets to take into account that she is shorter than me, has brown hair, and looks a bit older."
I thought back to Janice, Cora's mum, who I had met the night before.
After I had told Cora everything about the crash that had killed my parents and told her about a couple of the past homes I had been in, we left Marie's house and rushed back through the rain to her house. Janice was there to meet us at the front door with flour rubbed against her rosy cheeks, a spatula in one hand, and a takeout menu in the other. She handed the menu over to Cora, told us to order from it, and then to head into the dining room when we had done so.
She had wanted to meet the 'girl' that had become the centre of her children's attention, and throughout dinner (which ended up being take-out as she burnt the meal she was going to cook) she kept the conversation alive. She asked plenty of questions but was mindful of all the topics she brought up. It was evident to see that Cora took after her. She was very lovely, kind and actually listened to what I had to say. We ended up watching our movies much later than we intended as we were just too busy talking about Cora and Noah's childhood. Janice was more than happy to tell me stories about Cora as a child, much to Cora's dismay, and I feel like if Noah had been there he would have been just as embarrassed.
In a way, Janice reminded me a lot of my own mother. It was in the way that she acted and behaved, she just had that aura around her that made you feel comfortable and safe. There were so many similarities between the two women, the kindness, the smiles, the way she treated everyone, the terrible cooking...
Like Janice, my mother wasn't a great cook, I could remember one time that she tried to roast a corned beef. My dad and I had looked at each other in shock., especially as mum wanted us to eat it. We both pretended to eat the meal to please her, and then, later on, that evening dad snuck down to Mcdonald's to get me a happy meal to make up for the terrible tea.
Last night, I had seen all these similarities in Janice that made me miss my mum.
I looked back at Cora and smiled. "But it's nice that you are able to have that relationship and that you get along so well." I dropped my head and let my hand run along the leaves of the bush that we walked alongside. "I feel as though if my mum was still here, I would have the same relationship that you and your mum have."
If she were here, I feel like I would never feel alone, that I would have that one person who would be a constant in my life.
Cora smiled softly, her eyes showing her sympathy and understanding. "I could imagine that." She stated softly, "if she was anything like you described last night, I could totally imagine that. I feel like our mothers would have gotten along very nicely."
I nodded and shifted my head so that I was looking out in front of me, the view of Wilson's coffee shop was in view. "Yeah, I feel as though they would've."
A comfortable silence fell between us as we got closer to work, the silence allowing me to think about my parents and the endless opportunities I could have had if they were still here.
"Shitdicks!" Cora said loudly thick with panic, "I just realised I forgot to tell you, I won't be able to walk home with you today. Noah is picking me up just after lunch as we a have an afternoon tea at my nan's house for her eightieth birthday." Cora added as a frown formed on her face, "I hope that is okay?"
I placed the bottle that had the smoothie in it in the bag that I had on my shoulder and looked up at Cora. "Of course! Don't be silly, of course, that is fine." I said reassuringly, "I am actually working to close today anyway, and then I am going to Martha's tonight with Marie for dinner."
Cora's face lit up, "Oh that's good then! Makes me feel less guilty about abandoning you!"
My head shot up and I lifted an eyebrow at Cora, what does she mean? I don't think she is abandoning me.
I understand that she has other commitments.
Does she think that I have to be handled with caution? "You're not abandoning me?"
"Oh! I didn't mean it like that!" She said and waved her hand in front of her.
I looked at her in confusion, how did she mean it then? What did she mean by it?
"Ho-"
"Hey, Cora!" I was interrupted by a tall brunette calling from the parking lot of the small set of shops where we worked out. She waved vigorously at Cora.
Cora shifted her gaze from mine and met the tall brunette. A grin formed on her face. "Hey, Amber!" She called back and waved in return.
I stopped and hesitated for a moment, my mind still trying to figure out what Cora had meant. I looked up at Cora who had ended up a few steps in front of me and was standing outside Wilson's Coffee Shop. "I'll see you tomorrow morning?"
She looked back at me and smiled. "Of course. See you outside my house at the normal time?"
"Okay. See you later then." I said as I walked off toward the entrance of the coffee shop,
"See you!" Cora said with a grin as she walked over toward Amber. She hugged the girl and they both walked into Carlisle Crafts.
---
When I entered the shop, I was met with almost complete silence. The only sound was of chatter of staff members over by the tables and coffee beans grinding through the grinder. The smell of coffee lingered in the air. I could see a few of the other staff members, that were beginning to look familiar to me, preparing to open up for the day. I walked over to Marcus who was standing across the shop at the coffee machine, reaching for a lid that was stored on top of the machine and placing it securely on the cup in his hand.
"Good morning, Ally." He greeted me with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He turned his head into the crease of his elbow and coughed violently. He didn't look like his normal cheery self, instead, he looked very tired and very sick.
"Morning Marcus, are you okay?" I asked, the concern noticeable in my voice. I gave him a small smile as I adjusted the bag on my shoulder.
He looked at me blankly. "I'm sorry dear, I'm not feeling a hundred percent today, I have my son Oliver coming in today to run the place. I am just staying here until he gets here." Marus stated as he looked down at the watch that was on his wrist and sighed, "he should be here within the next hour."
"That is not good!" I replied. I took a deep breath and tried again, "I mean, that it's not good that you aren't feeling well, not that your son is coming here."
He let out a deep chuckle which turned into a horrible cough. "I knew what you meant. Have you met him yet?" He asked as he wiped the steam wand with a pink cloth.
I nodded, as I thought back to the first time I had met Oliver, how he had given me a fright and then held me in his arms... "I met him the other night at the bonfire... he was nice."
"He's a good lad. A bit rough around the edges, but a good lad, all in all. He will be able to help teach and guide you with everything you need to know for closing up shop tonight."
I smiled up at Marcus, "I'm sure we will be fine."
"I know you and Oliver will be..."
"You and Oliver will be what?" Said a voice from behind me. The unexpected voice caused me to jump and spin around in fright. I placed my hand on my chest to try and control my fast heart rate.
I didn't hear him approach.
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