ALICIA
Seven thirty in the morning was way too early to be contemplating the possibility of life without caffeine, but when only three beans fell out as I shook the coffee container, I was forced to confront the truth that it might be today’s harsh reality.
Unless coffee beans could be reused, I was screwed. Maybe if I put yesterday’s grounds back into the machine and add water, I’ll be able to see if they operate on the same principles as soup.
As tempted as I was to try it though, I didn’t really have time to get too creative. There have to be more beans somewhere. I just have to find them.
Determined to trust that the universe would produce coffee if I just looked hard enough, I opened the cupboard next to the fridge, then searched under the cabinet with the mugs, and then, finally, found seven more beans behind the toaster and chose not to think about how they might’ve ended up there as I scooped them into my palm.
Hallelujah.
I was just dropping them into the grinder when Tasha came downstairs, her backpack slung over one shoulder and her hair pulled up into a bun that looked like she’d made it while running from a fire.
On the other hand, she’d been my housemate for a while now and she almost always looked like she’d gotten dressed while running from something.
The life of a grad student, I guess.
“Good morning,” she said happily, then glanced at the coffee machine on her way into the kitchen. “Wow. That’s rough.”
“Tell me about it.”
“We’re out of coffee.”
I laughed. “Yeah, thanks for the update.”
“You said to tell you about it.” She smirked. “Are we out of instant too?”
“We’re out of anything containing an acceptable amount of caffeine,” I said. “Sorry.”
“No worries.” She shrugged. “I’ll just grab a coffee on my way to class. We do need groceries, though. There’s only mustard and half an onion in the fridge.”
“I bought some more ramen,” I said. “It’s in the pantry.”
Tasha grinned. “Well, at least that’s dinner sorted.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t really thinking about the ramen anymore. Instead, my mind had wandered to the exceptionally good-looking asshole who’d helped me save it. Mr. Tall, Blond, and Handsome.
I had no idea where he’d come from, but when he’d appeared seemingly out of thin air to ride to my groceries’ rescue, I’d thought maybe he was my knight in shining armor.
Until he’d opened his mouth. Oh, and looked at me like I was the greatest disappointment he’d ever had the displeasure of experiencing.
All because of a helmet. Asshole.
Tasha snapped me out of my thoughts when she tossed a stack of envelopes onto the kitchen counter. “Before I forget to give this to you again, I grabbed the mail yesterday. I just forgot it in my backpack.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
She smiled, extracting another envelope from the mess inside the backpack and setting it down on top of the mail. “There’s my rent, too. Don’t spend it on coffee.”
I groaned. “Trust me, I wish I could.”
“We’ll make it big one day, babe. Just keep your chin up. Five years from now, we’ll be swimming in the best beans money can buy.” She winked and backed toward the door. “I’ve got to get going or I’ll be late, but have a good one!”
“You too,” I said, barely managing to get the words out before the front door slammed behind her.
Exhaling a deep breath, I waited until I heard her car start before I looked through the mail. It was mostly junk, flyers, and a few other things, but underneath all that was an envelope that made my heart squeeze and my stomach drop.
I didn’t even have to open it to know what it was. At this point, the city had sent me so many of them that I recognized the threat before I’d even touched the packaging it had come in. This particular letter had a red stripe across the front, which I hadn’t seen for a while.
The last time I’d received one of these, they’d let me appease them with promises, but my luck was definitely running out. Just another day in paradise.
Instead of reading the bold warning, I chose to protect what little joy I could find in my weak coffee and went to get ready for the day. Then I headed to work without even looking at the envelope again. The time would come when I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I was painfully aware of that.
As it was, I was on borrowed time in the house. Ultimately, I would lose it. One way or another. I simply didn’t want to face the heartbreaking reality of that until I absolutely had to—and I didn’t need reminders from the city to know what was going to happen.
When I got to the library, it was like I could feel my worries check themselves at the door. I dropped my bag behind the children’s desk and immediately headed to the picture books to choose one for story time, determined not to let the world ruin my happy place.
The library might be where I worked, but it was also my sanctuary.
While I was in here, I got to escape to beautiful, magical worlds and go on exciting adventures.
One day, I’d be a pirate and the next, a fairy.
I could go on fantastical quests with tiny, gleeful, trouble-free children and forget that my real life was a mess.
With Halloween coming up soon, my job got even more exciting.
It was still weeks away, but children operated on a different calendar system, which meant that technically, Halloween had already begun and Christmas was right around the corner.
Plus, every day was potentially dinosaur day for one of my five-year-old regulars who owned a T-Rex outfit.
I was reaching for a book about a dinosaur going trick-or-treating with his friends when I heard my name from the entrance to the reading nook. “Alicia?”
When I turned, my eyebrows inched up, but a smile spread across my face. “Jane. Hi.”
Jane Thayer returned my smile, opening her arms for a hug as she crossed toward me. “It’s been a while.”
“You can say that again.” I wrapped my arms around her. “I was starting to wonder if you’d forgotten where the library was.”
She chuckled and gave me a quick squeeze before pulling away. “Don’t judge me. We’ve been busy.”
“I figured as much. There was a time you spent half your life here, but I haven’t seen you in months. We’ve missed having you guys around for story time.”
Jane smiled. “Trust me, you haven’t missed us as much as the kids are missing you.”
“Are they here?” I asked.
She shook her head and waved an immaculately manicured hand toward the conference room. “I have a planning meeting for the Halloween Gala.”
“We’re hosting that here again?”
“Indeed, you are.” She pumped her eyebrows at me. “And you’re helping.”
“I’d really rather not.”
“I’d really rather not beg you, but I will.” She pressed her hands together. “Please help to keep me sane during this planning process?”
I sighed. “Fine, but only because it’s you asking.”
She looked around the children’s department, her features softening. “Gosh, I’ve missed being here.”
I followed her gaze toward the story-time corner. “You can come visit anytime. Maybe bring some doughnuts.”
“I’ll think about it. But for now, I have to go plan how we’re going to raise funds to make sure this place isn’t going anywhere.” She smiled. “I’ll see you later?”
“Probably,” I said. “Unless the children revolt and carry me away to Neverland.”
Jane laughed. “Before I head in there, I actually came over to invite you to a little dinner Alex and I are having at our house tonight.”
My brain stopped functioning for a full few seconds.
Jane and Alex were not just Jane and Alex.
They were Jane Thayer and Alex Westwood, power couple extraordinaire.
Both of them were CEOs of companies worth billions of dollars, the kind of people whose names regularly appeared on any list of the city’s most influential people.
And they’re inviting me to dinner at their house.
For a second, I just stared at her like she was inviting me for tea with the president.
Jane Thayer had always been mildly intimidating to me.
She’d never done anything to make me feel that way.
In fact, she’d always been warm and kind, but she could buy my house, pay off all the outstanding taxes, and not even notice the transaction on her bank statement.
“Uh, okay,” I finally agreed. “It’ll be good to see the kids again.”
“Yeah, they’re going to love seeing you as well. I’ve been meaning to bring them, really, but ever since Cameron started grade school, it’s been hard to find the time to do all the things we used to do together. He still reads a lot, though.”
“Good.”
She chuckled. “He might be all cool and sophisticated now that he’s started big school, but that love you instilled for reading is definitely still there.”
Genuine happiness erupted in my chest. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.”
Someone called her name from the front desk and she glanced over, showing them she just needed a minute before she turned back to me. “I have to go, but I’ll text you the address. We’ll see you at eight, Alicia. I’m looking forward to catching up.”
“So am I,” I said, but I was already stressing about what I was going to wear.
Even as I waved before she spun and walked away, I was mentally rummaging through my closet. I had no idea what one put on to eat dinner with people who owned chairs worth more than the average car.
The conundrum stayed with me all day, only getting worse as the hours ticked by. When I eventually got home, I was already in a flat spin, practically ready to start pulling out my hair as I stripped off my clothes and went to stand in front of my closet in my underwear.
For thirty long minutes, I tried on one outfit after another, but I hated them all. I was seconds away from faking my own death to get out of dinner when Tasha appeared in my doorway.
“What are you doing?” she asked, frowning when she glanced at the pile of discarded items on my bed. “Fall is an odd time for spring cleaning, don’t you think?”
“No, it’s not that. I wish it was, but I have a dinner.”
“With the Pope?”
“No, but it kind of feels like it. Actually, no. That would’ve been better. This is at Jane Thayer and her husband’s house.”
She paused halfway to my bed. “Jane Thayer, as in, the head of Thayer Steelworks?”
“The one and only.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
“That’s pretty freaking fancy.” Tasha’s eyebrows climbed to her hairline and she promptly switched direction from heading to my bed to coming to stand next to me at the closet. “What are you wearing?”
“Why do you think I’m standing here?”
She shrugged. “Well, you have to wear something.”
“That’s the current plan, but what am I supposed to wear to dinner at the house of not one, but two billionaires?”
“Beats me.” She suddenly stilled, a slight frown furrowing her brow. “Wait. Thayer. I wonder if my new friend is related to them.”
“Your new friend?”
“Yeah. From ethics class.” She pulled out her phone and opened her messaging app, showing me an unsaved contact of someone whose name came up as Holden Thayer. “Do you think your Thayer and mine are brother and sister?”
“I have no idea, but unless it’s going to help me figure out what to wear, we’ll have to work it out later.”
Tasha rummaged through a few things in my closet, finally pulling out a simple, dark blue dress. “Here. Wear this.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. It won’t make you look like you stood here for an hour trying to decide what to wear.”
“It’s been more than an hour.”
She gave me a pointed look. “Do you want them to know that?”
“Obviously not.”
“Then wear this.” She shoved the dress toward me and I took it, pulling it over my head before striding toward the mirror.
My stomach was in absolute knots as I looked myself over, but she’d been right. The dress was stylish and classy without making it look like I was trying too hard. “Do you think rich people notice when someone doesn’t know which fork to use?”
Tasha laughed. “Relax, babe. I don’t know if they’d notice that, but I suspect everyone notices when someone is so nervous that their hands are shaking.”
“Shit, I didn’t even notice that until you pointed it out.” I shook my hands out, trying to diffuse the nervous energy.
“You’re welcome.” She started toward the door, turning back to smile at me once she’d reached it. “Just relax and enjoy tonight, Alicia. You deserve a break.”
As she spun around and disappeared into the hall, I decided she was right. I did deserve a break. As long as I didn’t make a fool of myself, I would have a great time.
***