Page 52 of Mayhem and Minnie

“How can you drink that?” She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

My lip twitches.

Has she no concept of etiquette?

“Here,” I say and point to the milk and sugar. “You can sweeten it and add milk.”

She’s skeptical, but I’ll give her bonus points for not giving up.

She takes the sugar and dumps almost half the container in the coffee. She then takes the milk and fills the cup to the brim.

My eyes widen.

What in the diabetic coma is this?

Satisfied, she takes the cup once more and takes a sip.

I wait for her to screw her face up in disgust again. Any normal person would after that amount of sugar.

“Oh, this is nice!” she exclaims. Placing both hands on the cup, she takes another long sip, smacking her lips together as if it’s the most delicious thing in existence. Then she just downs the entire thing in one go.

I glance at my cup. I’ve barely taken a few sips and she’s already finished.

Once more, she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and lets out a satisfied moan.

“May I have more?”

“More?”

“It’s so good. Sweet. I like sweet things.”

I don’t.

“I suppose you can have another,” I grumble, getting up and fixing her another cup.

Like before, she pours the rest of the sugar container before adding milk to the brim. Then she drinks it in big, greedy gulps.

I’m halfway through my cup when she’s done with her second.

“May I?—”

“That’s enough, Minnie,” I cut her off, already anticipating her question. “If you’ve never had coffee before, then you likely don’t know how you react to caffeine. You may have some more later.”

She pouts before eventually nodding.

The washing machine finishes up its schedule, and I show her how to operate the dryer.

After that, I tell her the plan for the day.

“We’ll go shopping for clothes for you first.”

She opens her mouth to say something, but I shush her.

“You don’t have to worry about money. I will not expect anything in return either except for you to abide by my rules—which you have ignored so far.”

“Sorry,” she murmurs, averting her gaze.

“You may buy a full outfit for each day of the week, warm coats, boots, and whatever else you need.”

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