"Why is he here?" I whispered.
"I don't know." Dad whispered back.
"You should kick him out."
"Florence, how can I? According to the contract, he owns half this business. This place is his just as much as it is ours."
I threw my hands up in frustration. "Then let's kill him!"
"Oh, sweetheart." was the sighed reply from my father. He gave me a look before turning back around to welcome a woman who had come up to the front counter with her son, whose mouth was covered in pink cotton candy. As the mom asked where the bathroom was and as my father told her, I glared at Table 5 again. I had given this certain table countless dirty looks, but they didn't seem to be getting the message.
Table 5 was the table from my nightmare. The customers from hell. Heck, they weren't even customers. They were the damn co-owners of this business. It wasn't fair. If you hadn't guessed why I was so bothered by this whole situation, worry not. I'll tell you. I hated Table 5 because it was the table that the Crowns had decided to plop their pretty little butts around. (Seriously though, Wolfe Sterling had one of the cutest butts I'd ever seen.)
Wolfe was in the center (not that there really could be a center, considering it was a circular table) and he was talking. Since I was halfway across the room from them, their chatter mixed in with the rest of the conversations going on. I could see his mouth moving though, and I was pretty sure I saw his lips form my name a couple times.
Brice, the brown-haired one that looked related to him, and the guy with the blonde hair and little man bun (his hair was gorgeous) sat on either side of Wolfe. They seemed to be discussing something important. On the table, a few files and sheets of paper were scattered between the four men. Unlike before, however, there weren't any guns visible. Thank goodness for that because today seemed to be a pretty good day for the Espresso House. We had a more than average amount of customers in, a few tables occupied and a nice elderly couple in the lounge.
I was at a loss of what to do about the Crowns. We very well couldn't just kick them out. It would look bad on us, for one. Besides, I wasn't so sure that Wolfe Sterling and his dangerous friends would be so willing that they'd get up and leave if we requested. They didn't seem like the agreeable type.
Also, I'd have thought that Wolfe would've been a little more careful about who saw his face. He was a wanted man, after all. And the cops were still buzzing around the Lane Diner. The fact that Wolfe would so openly prance around in public when he held such a reputation was a little unnerving. It was just pure luck that no one ever managed to get a photograph to put a face on the crimes. All candid pictures of Wolfe usually only showed his back. As far as I knew, their identities were still a secret to the public. Thank goodness for that.
Brice suddenly waved to me. I waved back, trying to slip into the kitchen before Wolfe saw me. Brice made a face and waved again, seemingly a bit more urgent this time. I waved back again, confused. By now, Clancy had come out of the kitchen to catch the end of Brice's strange greeting.
She frowned and nudged her chin towards their table. "Go see what they want."
"Me?" I squeaked. "Clancy, I can't. Do you know who they are? I'm not going over there."
"Florence, please." Clancy sighed. "Yes, I know who they are. And from my understanding, those men aren't going to leave until they get what they want. Right now, it seems that Wolfe Sterling and his men want your attention. I don't think refusal of service is going to sit well with those boys." Her voice was hushed and filled with worry. "Besides, the sooner you get them what they want, the sooner they'll leave. We don't want to start a scene, Florence, and I'm worried they're going to give you one if you don't get over there. Besides, what could they possibly want? Coffee? Wolfe can't ask much in a public place."
"I'm scared."
"Use that fear to make yourself a better waitress. Now make like a banana and split."
"What? That's the worst advice I've ever heard!" I whispered in panic as Clancy pushed me gently towards Table 5. I was fully aware that I had the attention of all the Crowns by now.
Wolfe's head was turned and he watched me, his lips somewhere between a smirk and a frown. Brice was apparently trying to take a selfie (we did have really good lighting here) and the two other boys were whispering to each other like best friends at a lunch table. Clancy's very helpful nudge had shoved me out in front of the counter. I looked like an idiot, standing there in terror, clutching my rag to my chest like an old lady who got frightened.
"Just give them a cup of coffee-"
"Clancy!" I hissed, turning around to see her give me a thumbs up before disappearing through the swinging doors into the kitchen. By now, a few people had noticed me. And they also noticed the Espresso House apron I was wearing and they noticed how Brice was calling me over and they noticed how I was trying to blatantly refuse them service by not going over.
Geez, if they owned half the business, I'd think that they'd also help out around here. Wolfe was supposed to be the owner, not a customer.
Grimacing, I forced myself to walk over there. My heart thudded harder the closer I got to that table. Pulling out my favorite notepad (it had little kittens on the cover) I poised my pen over a new sheet, ready to take their order and get this over with. "Hi!" I chirped as happily as I could, repeating my usual welcome to customers as I stood by Brice. It took everything in me not to grimace. "Welcome to the Espresso House. My name is Florence, I will be serving you today. What can I get you?"
"She's so adorable." Brice chuckled, reaching up to tweak my chin with his thumb. I smiled at him. Brice really was the adorable one here. His beard was magnificent. I liked him. Well, not really liked. I could never like a criminal. But I did prefer him over the rest of them, especially over Wolfe. He was now staring me down like we were in a staring competition. I dutifully ignored his eyes and waited patiently to hear what they wanted.
When no one said anything, I sighed. "Your order, please. I don't have all day."
Wolfe frowned. "We don't have anything to order-"
"I'll take a black iced tea," said blonde ponytail guy.
"I'll take an iced tea too, but I want the raspberry-flavored one, please," said the brown-haired one that looked related to Brice. Without the really awesome beard, though.
"I'll take a Toffee Nut Latte," added Brice. "Thanks, Flo."
I scribbled down their orders. "Anything else?"
Wolfe looked annoyed. He glared at his friends before getting back to what he was saying before. "We just wanted to know how far the tunnels in the cellar-"
"Do the muffins here contain eggs?" Blonde ponytail guy interrupted. He didn't see the look Wolfe gave him and continued curiously. "I'm allergic to eggs but I'm really craving a muffin right now-"
"As I was saying-" Wolfe growled.
"We do have a muffin option that doesn't contain eggs or any egg ingredient. It comes in flavors chocolate and blueberry only." I nodded, taking no notice of how angry Wolfe was now getting. "We had to make several changes to the menu and add some things for people who may have allergies. We also have a lactose-intolerant line of breakfast items, along with several vegan options. It's good to have a wide variety of food items. People are pretty picky. Can I put you down for the egg-free muffin then?"
"Yeah. I'd like blueberry, please." He smiled. I smiled back, adding it to the notepad.
Brice looked thoughtful. "What are the vegan items-"
Wolfe suddenly slammed his hand down onto the table, silencing everyone. A few tables with customers also went quiet, people staring at the Crowns. To be fair, the Crowns were a sight. Amongst couples and a few friends to each table, four big hulking men at one stuck out like a sore thumb. Also, it really didn't help that they were all wearing badass leather jackets and had permanent resting bitch faces, and Wolfe wearing his signature black suit looking like some important businessman. Except he had a gun instead of a briefcase.
Wolfe stood up, his eyes glittering angrily. "Florence, where are your parents?"
"In the kitchen. Why?" I stepped where he did, trying to get into his way to prevent him from going after my parents. I was terrified of what he could do to them. My parents weren't always so open-minded. My mother also had a real mouth on her. From what I've come to see, Wolfe disliked anyone speaking out against him. As much as my mother wanted me to avoid Wolfe, the same went for them and the Crowns.
"Move."
"I will, but just hold on one second, please-"
Wolfe accidentally elbowed me in the face. At least, I think it was accidental. Actually, judging from the smirk on his face, I was beginning to think it was not accidental at all. Rubbing my sore nose, I subtly jabbed my elbow into his stomach while trying to pretend I was doing my duty as a waitress. From the gasps and laughter by the people around us, they had seen.
He grimaced and tried to step off to the side to get past, but I blocked his path. It didn't take long for him to get annoyed enough to take drastic measures. If I knew one thing for sure, it was that Wolfe would always resort to threats to get what he wanted. The difference between him and most people was that he would actually carry out those threats. His lips curled in a disdainful frown. "Florence, get out of my way. I need to speak with your parents since you're no help at all-"
"I'll help." I quickly interrupted. Anything to keep him away from my parents. "I'm sorry, I'll help you. What do you need?"
"I will physically remove you if you don't step aside right now."
"Wolfe-"
He grabbed my waist and shoved none too gently.
"All right!" I squealed, slapping his hands away. Casting a hateful glare, I moved back and let Wolfe pass. Brice and the rest of them watched the whole exchange with amusement. I noticed a few people watching Wolfe walk up to the counter and past the barrier into the kitchen as if he owned the place- oh, wait...he did. Clancy looked horrified as Wolfe breezed past her. She gave me a 'wtf' look and I could do nothing but helplessly shrug.
"Um....Florence?" A voice spoke. I turned around to see the brown-haired one extend his hand across the table. "I don't think we've officially met. My name is Jasper. Brice is my brother."
"It's nice to meet you." I shook his hand. "I'm Florence Remy. My parents own this place. Well, half of it now, I guess." I muttered, still butthurt over what Wolfe did. Jasper smiled but didn't say anything else.
Blonde ponytail guy also held out his hand. "Hey. I'm Daniel, but everyone calls me Dan. It's nice to meet you. Wolfe mentioned you. If I remember correctly, you're the one that dumped coffee into his face, right? Oh, man. That was the greatest thing."
"Dan worships you for that." Brice rolled his eyes. He turned to Dan. "It was so much better in real life, though. Holy shit, you should've seen Wolfe's face! I've never seen him get so pissed." Brice turned back to me. "I'm surprised you're still alive, Florence. People usually don't throw coffee into Wolfe Sterling's face, and the ones that do don't live to see the next day. Man-" He shook his head in amusement. "-highlight of my career as a Crown."
"Hey, Florence?" Jasper spoke.
"Yeah?" I wasn't looking at him. I was looking at the front doors of the Espresso House. A very familiar face was now walking up to them. Through the glass, I could make out his frown. Distracted, I shoved my notepad and pen back into the pocket of my apron.
"What's the wifi password for this place?" He asked. "We can't get connected online-"
"We just wanted to apologize for what happened in the cellar a couple days ago." Dan interrupted. "You know, when you walked in on us trying to play Monopoly? Sorry about that. As you probably know, we were being chased by cops and the tunnels were right there, the perfect escape route. I guess we just ended up in the cellar by chance. We didn't mean to. I mean, it's not as if we were searching for it. We just needed to get away. And I guess it's partly my fault for what Wolfe's doing, since I was the one that mentioned the tunnels to him-"
"Hey, Jasper? Shut the fuck up." Brice grumbled. "Florence doesn't care."
"No, I do." I really didn't. I was too enthralled by the man walking up to the door to listen to what Jasper was saying. "Hey." Poking Brice's shoulder, I pointed to the man. "Do you know that guy?"
The man I was talking about had already made an appearance in an earlier chapter. He had curly black hair, dark eyes, and oh yeah...chewed bubblegum. He was chewing some now, blowing a pink bubble as he pulled open the door and walked inside. The man who told me to turn on the television so we could watch the news was here, angry-looking and tattooed with the same crown as Wolfe had on his middle finger. Looking down at Brice's hand, I realized he had the same tattoo as well. So did Jasper and Dan. Some kind of symbolic representation for their famous criminal organization, I guess.
I got the answer to my question soon enough. Wolfe walked back out of the kitchen, followed by my parents. His cobalt eyes travelled to us, and then to me, and then to the man standing in the doorway of the Espresso House. Wolfe's face brightened. He walked past us and up to the man, where they shook hands and began talking.
"Yeah." Dan nodded. "That's Elliot Josiah. He's always angry about something, but he's brilliant. Wolfe keeps him around for the more technological crimes. Can't rob a bank if you don't have the security codes, right?"
I shook my head and started walking back to the front counter, relieved that nothing too terrible had happened. With a volatile factor like the Crowns involved, a normal day or conversation could become a scene out of an action movie. "I seriously hope a cop overhears your conversations one day." I muttered to myself as I began making a latte.
I rushed through their orders because I wanted to do some secret spy sleuthing and find out what Wolfe wanted to talk to my parents about, and ended up adding chocolate flavoring instead of toffee nut. Already a wreck, I was about to start over when Samantha appeared.
"I can do that, Flo." She said graciously, taking the cup from my trembling fingers.
"Thanks, Sam! I owe you one." I immediately cleaned my hands and made a beeline for the kitchen door. Before I could, however, it opened from the inside and smacked me in the forehead.
I clapped my hands over my face, grimacing in pain.
"Sorry about that, Florence," came Wolf's casual apology. I felt his hand rub the top of my head for a second, and then leave as his footsteps began walking away.
Taking a moment to gather my composure, I glared after Wolf's back as he retreated to his friends, and then entered the kitchen. Mom and Dad were sitting at the table, frowning at each other in silence. I shut the door behind me.
"What did he want?" I asked, trying to appear nonchalant.
Mom sighed. "To see if we were willing to negotiate for tunnel space. I don't know why. He has half-ownership, what's ours is theirs."
I sighed too. "I don't think this is going to end well."
Now it was Dad's turn to join the sighing party. "Unfortunately, Florence...I think you're right."