30. Chapter 30
A ria
One day merged seamlessly with the next. The warm days of summer had arrived, and Aria's time passed in a strangely contented haze. The future was unknown, but it didn't seem to matter as much.
Aria still had no luck with job applications, and she kept scrolling through listings late into the night, but for now, work at the café continued and life felt momentarily bearable.
She started looking forward to Crispin's messages.
It was embarrassing that she was beginning to soften in spite of what he and his family had put her through.
Was her spine made of jelly? His messages had lost their perfunctory note from before and had taken on a warm intensity that reached her despite the distance between them.
A single "Good morning" could make her blush like a schoolgirl, and she'd find herself checking her phone on breaks with a flutter of hope in her stomach.
It was like he was courting her in reverse.
She didn't reply to a single message, but she read them all.
It was on a balmy Tuesday morning, the kind that draped the city in a blanket woven from sunbeams. Aria was clearing a table near the back, so she didn't notice when the glass door of the café swung open with too much purpose.
It wasn't until she turned, wiping her hands on her apron, that she saw the woman seated by the window .
White linen jumpsuit, impossibly pristine against the window dappled by shadows from the tree just outside. Blond hair falling in a perfect waterfall, held back with a mother-of-pearl clip. A vision of control and effortlessness.
Helga.
Aria blinked, uncertain. She walked over, notebook in hand. "Can I get you something?"
Helga didn't look up right away. When she did, her smile was slow and cold. "A matcha latte. Oat milk. No foam."
Aria nodded and turned to prepare the order, a prickle rising along her neck as eyes followed her progress.
Helga was scrolling on her phone when Aria brought her latte to the table. She accepted the drink without thanks, took a dainty sip, and then set it down.
"I never thought I'd find you here," she said, tone conversational. "Though I suppose it makes sense... This place suits you."
It wasn't a compliment.
Aria said nothing .
Helga stirred her drink slowly. "You know, when you first came up in conversation, I thought Crispin was joking. Cleaning girl. I assumed it was some half-baked rebellion. His family thought so, too."
Crispin had talked about her to his family?
A customer nearby coughed. The café murmured with low background noise, but the space around Helga's table felt suspended.
"You think you can squeeze into our world, little girl?" Helga continued, her voice silk over steel. "You'll never be accepted. This is a losing battle. Woman to woman, stop embarrassing yourself."
Aria felt her cheeks heat, but refused to speak.
Helga leaned in as if sharing a secret. "Do you really want to condemn him to a life like this? With someone like you ?"
The words landed heavy like a slap.
And then Gallen emerged from where he had been serving the next table, his eyebrows furrowed like thunderclouds. But before he could even get a word out, Liz was already at Aria's side-flour-dusted apron, hands on hips, glare like shards of broken glass.
"Get the hell out," Liz said flatly .
Helga looked up, arching one manicured brow. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. You want to drink overpriced grass water and gossip with your plastic friends, then go to Chelsea. You don't walk in here and speak to our staff like that."
"Another specimen just like you," Helga mused almost to herself. "Perfect."
Gallen grunted, "Out."
But it was Liz who closed the distance. "You don't get to come in here and throw your daddy's money around like it buys you the right to humiliate people. And pay for your fucking coffee before you leave."
Helga's lips parted slightly. She stood, gathering her coat with theatrical precision. "I was only trying to help. Consider this your last moment of self-righteousness," she said coldly to Aria.
And then she left.
The café breathed again.
Aria stood frozen, unsure what had just happened .
Liz turned back towards the kitchen. "This is a one-time thing," she threw over her shoulder." I don't like people, but I really don't like rich folks trying to get away with that kind of shit."
She disappeared behind the counter.
"And she's back," Aria muttered under her breath, still gripping the edge of the table.
She continued her afternoon job at the Lackenbys, hands still trembling slightly from the scene. Her phone buzzed. Ophelia. She didn't answer. She didn't have it in her to listen to any explanations yet.