4. Espresso Yourself… But Keep the Espionage Secret
CHAPTER 4
ESPRESSO YOURSELF… BUT KEEP THE ESPIONAGE SECRET
DAISY
I could ask Ollie out , I think as I make the last coffee of the day. I could make the first move. I like to talk to people and do fun things. So if a guy seems interesting and a fun thing to do with them pops into my head, it’s natural for me to ask them to do it with me.
But I’m not going to ask Ollie out, because my history has shown that whenever I’ve been the one to do the asking, things between us never work out. They have to be the one who shows interest and is willing to make the first move.
I know this rule isn’t true for everyone— Laurel asked Gavin out first, and now they’re off blissfully living the married life. But for me, it’s absolutely true.
Besides , now isn’t the time to get involved with someone. I’m going to be moving somewhere new any day now. Maybe Savannah , Georgia . It’s got historic charm, southern hospitality, and a coastal vibe. It might be perfect.
I put a lid on the to-go cup, and nestle it into the insulated delivery bag with the fifteen others for Pacioli & Blackwell . I place the box of hand-picked-by-me pastries on top of the drinks and zip the lid closed. Then I tell Nora goodbye and heft the bag outside. My favorite part of my job is delivering to businesses because I get to take the Coffee Loft golf cart to do it.
Parking lots are my favorite. Especially ones with a lot of open space between cars. I like to pretend I’m an alpine skier doing the slalom and the cars are the gates I’m skiing around. ( After I do my delivery, of course. I’m not reckless— I have very full coffee cups on the seat next to me.)
I carry the bag into the accounting firm and take the elevator up to the third floor, then go down a long hall to a conference room where I always deliver to a weekly meeting of managers every Wednesday at 4:00. I place all sixteen cups of coffee, along with a basket of Coffee Loft creamers and sweeteners and the box of pastries, on the back table in the conference room as all the managers start filing in.
I’ve been delivering to this same crowd for the past year and a half, so I’ve gotten to know them pretty well. I know who is going to get excited about which pastries, who loves what flavor of creamers, and who likes to beast-mode their coffee and drink it black. We joke around for a bit and I get everyone laughing before I exit with my insulated bag so they can start their meeting.
I’m about to turn to go down the long hallway back to the elevators when I see Ollie to my right. In all the time I’ve worked at the Coffee Loft and he’s worked here, I’ve never once bumped into him when bringing the weekly coffee to the managers. He’s standing in an alcove, and he’s looking rather distressed.
So , of course, I head right instead of left. He looks like he’s thinking through something pretty deeply, because when I say, “ Ollie ?” he jumps in surprise.
“ Daisy ?” he says, looking a bit bewildered. “ What are you doing here?”
The strap of the insulated bag is over one shoulder, and I shrug with that side. “ Delivery . Are you okay?”
He’s got something tiny in his hand, and I’m guessing that if it were any bigger, he’d be wringing it. Since he can’t, he’s pinching it between his finger and thumb on one hand, then switching to the other hand to pinch it there.
“ Yeah , I’m fine. An old friend just asked me to do something that could cause a lot of trouble, and I don’t know if I can do it.”
“ Do you want to do it?”
“ Yeah ! I mean, I want to be helpful. I just…” He pauses for a moment, looking down at whatever is in his hand. “ Do you know what? I can’t do it. I can’t. ”
I can tell that whatever it is, it’s important, though. He wants to help his friend. So I walk over and stand beside him, facing the same direction, and I put my hand in his. “ Would it help if you had a friend doing it with you?”
He looks down at our hands for a moment, seeming a little stunned. But after a moment, he nods and says. “ It really would.” He glances around, then pulls me down a hall that dead ends at a door a dozen feet from the main hallway we were in. He looks through a narrow vertical window in the door, then glances down the hall again. “ If I tell you something, do you promise to keep it between us no matter what?”
“ Ollie ,” I say, my voice as serious as I can make it, “if you tell me something and ask me not to share, I’ll take it to my grave.” And I will. I pride myself on my secret-keeping abilities.
He looks into my eyes for a long moment, nodding slowly. Then he looks down at the object in his hand, so I do, too. I have no idea what it is until he says, “ I need to plant this listening device in the records room.”
Then my eyes go wide. “ Ollie ! Are you serious?”
He nods.
“ Who is this friend of yours? And why do they want you to commit espionage?”
“ He’s an intelligence operative with a government agency, and he wants me to do it because my coworker is using illegal accounting practices to aid a foreign terrorist group.”
I pull my head back in surprise. “ Oh , wow. That is huge.”
He nods again. “ It is. And if I get caught planting this…”
I square my shoulders and take in a deep breath. “ Okay , then. Let’s not get caught.”