Page 92 of Back to You

“Are you okay with him and his work issues now?” He explained Ethan’s plan of working only one night a week, which she agreed seemed reasonable.

They walked back into the cafe, Brandon holding the bag with his new clothes.

“You do own an iron, right?” Michelle said suddenly.

“Uh, no?”

“Okay, I’ll iron them when I get home, just swing by and pick them up.”

“Whatcha got there, boy?” Rhonda yelled across the cafe. The entire book club, including Lake, turned their heads as one to look at him.

“New clothes, Rhonda, don’t worry about it.”

“Show us what you bought!”

“I don’t think so.”

“Come on, show us!” The octogenarians began a chant of “show us, show us, show us.” He was disgruntled to see Lake and Marcus chanting along.

Brandon scowled, and looked at his sister, who was wearing her best shit-eating grin. “Come on man, give the people what they want.”

He huffed in disgust and stomped off to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he stepped out in the new clothes, sans shoes. A hush fell over the cafe.

“Damn son, you clean up good!” Rhonda cackled.

The rest of the old lady book club began to fawn over how handsome he looked. Several of them indicated they had grandchildren he might like to meet. One scolded him to “be sure to shine your shoes! A man’s shoes say a lot about him!”

Brandon sent a beseeching look toward the counter, where Marcus and Michelle were laughing.

“Little help here?”

“You’re good,” Marcus said.

Brandon finally managed to extricate himself and practically ran back to the bathroom.

When he came out, the book club and Michelle were gone, leaving Lake and Marcus standing at the counter.

“Let me see your eyes,” he demanded of Lake.

“Why?”

“I’m not letting you have more caffeine if you’re already too hopped up.”

“How does looking at my eyes do any good?”

“I don’t know, surely with as much caffeine as you ingest, your pupils will dilate or something.”

“He’s good, boss, I’ve been keeping an eye on him,” Marcus said.

Brandon looked at Lake skeptically another moment. “And you’ve eaten real food and everything?”

“I had a sandwich for lunch, if that counts,” Lake said, confused.

“Okay, you can have the nasty latte.”

“I was actually just going to ask for regular coffee,” Lake said. “I have a job interview later, and I don’t want to be too jumpy.”

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