Page 20 of In The Shadows

“Good morning, sir. What may I get for you today?” I say with a smile.

He looks at the coffee menu behind me. “I’ll just have a medium latte to go, please,” he nods.

“No problem. Would you like a muffin with your coffee?” I point at the case with our muffins in them.

He shakes his head. “No, thank you. Just the coffee.” He taps his card on the card reader.

He steps out of line to wait, and I take a deep breath as I turn towards the coffee machine.

Okay. So, he ordered a medium cup of latte. I can do this. I have to press a button.

I grab the medium-sized cup next to the machine, place it under the spout, and press the latte button. The machine comes to life and starts filling the cup up.

“Okay. The first order was completed. That was easy.” I whisper to myself cheerfully.

I wait for the machine to beep, signalling that it’s finished, grab the cup, and walk back towards the counter to hand him his drink.

“Here you are, Sir. One medium latte to go.” I smile and hand him the cup.

He takes the cup, thanks me, and walks out the door. The following customer approaches the front. Okay, we can do this. It’s easy.

For the next four hours, Alana and I take order after order from each customer who strolls into the coffee shop. I make sure to make every coffee correctly the first time. I only mess up once when I accidentally press a large coffee and put it in a medium cup. It makes a mess, but I clean it up quickly. By the time the shift ends, I feel confident in myself and this job.

“Phew! That was easy yet fast. I can’t believe I managed to do all that!” I say to Alana as I’m wiping down the counter.

“You did great on your first day! Let’s go over your schedule for the next two weeks,” she says as she pulls out a folder.

“What days can you work?” She pulls out the top sheet and puts it on the counter before us.

I think to myself for a few minutes. What days can I work? I could do four days. Alternating days?

“I can do Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday if that’s okay?” I say as I write the dates down in my phone calendar. Honestly, as many days as you will let me so I can stay busy and out of that house.

She quickly scribbles on the sheet and then looks up at me.

“Sure! That works perfectly around me and the other girls! You did great today, Callie. Well done!” she chirps.

I smile at her and feel my cheeks blush a little bit. I’m not used to people praising me or telling me I did a great job.

“Thank you! That means a lot to me,” I tearfully say as I remove my handbag from under the counter.

I wave goodbye and make my way towards the door.

“See you tomorrow, Alana!” I shout back towards her.

“See you tomorrow, Callie! Have a great evening!” She shouts back.

I open the door, walk out, and close it behind me. I chuckle to myself as I make my way back down the street. Great. A perfect day, a new job that I smashed, and now I have to go back to the shithole and face the drama.

I sigh as I make my way home. After fifteen minutes, I approached the house. Okay, let’s get this shit over with. I take my time walking up the path to the front door—anything to keep me from having to step inside this house. I take one last deep breath as I open the door and walk in.

I don’t even have a chance to close the door before I hear Amy’s voice approaching me.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Amy shouts, walking towards me from the living room.

“I was just out,” I breathe.

She looks at me pointedly and crosses her arms across her chest.

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