Page 1 of Royal Bosshole

CHAPTER1

Mid-September

LILY

My life kind of looked like a Hallmark movie gone wrong. The struggle I dealt with every day was real.

As I took a deep breath, the aroma brought me back to when my grandmother was behind these same counters and life was a whole world away. This had been her life’s work and now it was mine, and I could swear I sometimes still heard her voice, urging me forward. But it was so hard…

“Thanks for these, Lily!” Annie, from the retirement home down the street, held up the tray of pumpkin-spice lattes. “You’re the favorite over at the community, thanks to these. Best in town!” She waited for a second. “Any chance you’ll share your secret?”

I laughed. “No way, Annie! If I did, I’d lose my favorite customers and my biggest fans,” I teased, putting her receipt on top of the lattes.

“Fair enough. Maybe one day, I’ll crack you!” She shrugged. “I can wait. In the meantime, how are you?” She eyed me up and down. “Eating enough, hon? You’re looking thin.”

No. No, I’m not. But I wish I was.It was nice that she cared, but it made me feel self-conscious. Was my weight loss that noticeable? Still, I didn’t want her to worry. “I’m all good, Annie! Just busy, you know?”

“I can see that,” she said, looking around the room. “I haven’t seen this much people in here in a while! Not since that ugly Coffee on the Go opened up a spot down the street.”

“I’ll take what I can get, Annie,” I smiled at her.

“Good for you, honey. I have to go or these will be cold and I’ll have some not-so-happy customers on my tooshie. Have a good day! And try to eat,” she said with a wave.

I took advantage of a lull in the service and went into my office, where a stack of mail awaited. I opened the one envelope I anxiously awaited every month. “Come on, Spotify, don’t let me down,” I whispered, holding the envelope against my chest, praying for a miracle.

Another fifty-seven lousy bucks. Every month I looked forward to this and every month I was crushed.

Was I that bad? What was I doing wrong?

The rest of the mail was just bills I couldn't afford to look at right now, because if I did, I knew I'd just break down and cry. It'd make me want to give up on everything.

If I opened even one of those envelopes, my failure would be there for the world to see.

When I walked back out to the café, a new song had just started playing on the loudspeakers.

"Hey Lily, who's this?" asked Jen, pointing up. The playlists here at the café were all created by me.

“She still undiscovered. Goes by Langton,” I said, blushing alittle. No one, except my best friend knew I had an alter ego on Spotify. And if things continued as they were, there was no reason for anyone to find out either.

“She’s great. Keep playing stuff by her,” Jen said before picking up the tray with the scones and heading to the customers waiting to be served at one of our tables.

Smiling with a bit of renewed hope, since apparently, I had a new fan, I headed to behind the counter, where I had served Annie. My stomach grumbled. Great. It was past lunchtime and I was still on a near-empty stomach. Again.

I would usually try to resist the temptation to steal blueberry scones from my own glass case in the coffee shop, but not that day. I swiped it when my two employees weren’t looking. Not that they’d really judge me. It was my place after all, right?

Sitting in the hidden area behind the counter, I ate my sad blueberry scone and drank coffee. This was my life. A tragic comedy on the best of days. Oh, and this was no romance either. No handsome man anywhere in sight. No prince charming to sweep me off my feet.

Come on, Lily. You don’t need a prince. Or any man, really. They are more trouble than they are worth it.

Men were trouble. All they wanted was a quick fling to get your hopes up and to get what they wanted from you, and then they were gone. Poof! Like a ghost just stopping by for a little while only to disappear into the ether. I was tired of dating, and ever since Parker Paxton led me on for a few weeks last year, I was so ready to not go out with anyone again.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t dream about being with someone. That I didn’t wish for the ‘weight of a man’ as my bestie Stevie called it. It was the phrase we used when we hadn’t gotten any in a while. And it had been a long while.

Once I finished up my scone, I poured myself another cup of coffee and then walked out from behind the counter to take a look at how things were going. Even though I’d only been hidden away for a few minutes, the coffee shop looked even fuller than it had before.

“Jen,” I said, waving her down.

“What’s up?” she asked, wiping her hands on her apron.

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