Page 22 of Billionaire and the Barista

He was a smart kid. I liked that he jumped right in without having to be told.

I patted him on the shoulder.

“I’m headed out back for a break, I need some fresh air. Will you keep an ear out if Miguel needs anything?”

“Sure thing.” Ricky left his headphones hanging around his neck, instead of over his ears blocking out all other sounds.

I pushed out the back door into the cooler evening air. I looked up and saw… “Oh shit.”

I turned around and went right back inside. I closed the door most of the way but held it open enough that I could watch Nathan as he crossed the parking lot to the shops next door.

“What are you doing?” Ricky asked.

“Sh,” I waved him off.

“Gabby, you’re acting weird. What is it? Drug deal? Need me to call the cops?”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing like that.”

I leaned against the wall and tilted my head for Ricky to open the door.

“See that guy out there?” I asked.

He looked out the door but didn’t say anything for a while.

“Okay, so he looks like he’s looking at the building. Why?”

I couldn’t tell the seventeen-year-old busboy and dishwasher that I was hiding from an old boyfriend who was supposed to be living in Europe. I sure as hell couldn’t tell him I was spying on my baby daddy.

“I used to see that guy.” Not a lie. “He kind of showed up today out of the blue. Like I haven’t seen him or heard from him in years. And he wanted to catch up.”

“That’s totally suspicious, Gabby. Old friend wanting to catch up, yeah, I can see how you don’t trust him,” Ricky was entirely too sarcastic.

“Shut up and go wash dishes.”

He left me to my spying with a laugh. I peeked out again. Ricky was right, it looked like Nathan was investigating the building and the parking lot. He wasn’t looking at the businesses, a liquor store, a smoke shop, and an empty tax office that would be open again until tax season.

Maybe he was being nostalgic and simply looking around. Why did I have to think he was doing anything suspicious? Because I was full of conflicted emotions, and part of me wanted him to be guilty of having an ulterior motive.

Why the hell had he shown up after all this time? Maybe I should have taken a few minutes to chat. But with the customer rush, that wasn’t going to happen. I grabbed a clean apron and headed back out to the front.

“Feeling better?” Miguel asked.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” I pulled a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator case and took a long drink after opening it. I fished two bucks out of the tip jar and rang the drink up in the register. I dropped the change back into the tip bucket.

“Go take a break,” I started. “No, change that. Take off. Go home early, you earned it after that rush.”

He gave me that look he had when he didn’t trust me.

“Write your normal hours in and go home. Consider it an extra hour of vacation. Ricky is in the back if I need anything,” I waved Miguel away.

I busied myself clearing out the dishes in the front of the house and wiping down tables. I had nothing but time. Once that mid-week after-work rush was over, we would be lucky if anyone came in. Now would be a perfect time for Nathan to come back and talk to me.

I started the shutdown process early. I mopped the front and made a little sign and taped it to one of the chairs stating the seating area was closed.

I hadn’t needed to bother. The last two customers of the night were to-go orders. I was able to lock the doors exactly at seven.

“Are you done back here Ricky?” I asked as I headed back into the kitchen.

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