1. Chapter 1 #2
“Take a second look.”
Frowning, Yareli gingerly opened the jar; astonishment loosened her jaw, and she gaped. Gone was the awful odor, replaced by the familiar smell of coffee. She could have sworn it hadn’t been, but the evidence sat in her hands. The jar was indeed filled with coffee beans.
“Weird…” she muttered.
“Things certainly can be,” Don said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you know what they say. Things aren’t always what they seem.” He laughed, taking the jar away. “It’s nothing. Donna says I watch too many conspiracy videos. I’ll take care of the rest. Go check if she’s managed to shoo Erick away.”
Yareli stepped out of the kitchen, but not before she scrutinized Don one more time. He was handsome, reminding her of a famous actor, but those had definitely not been coffee beans the first time. She took her time walking across the kitchen, stalling in case Erick was still hanging around.
She peeked her head; he was gone.
“He had swim practice he was running late to,” Donna explained, materializing next to her, and Yareli stiffened.
She had a feeling Donna had a habit of suddenly appearing, like a specter; it was going to take her a while to get used to it. Anything was better than her previous manager, she reminded herself. They had been a micromanaging asshole from hell who had hounded her every shift.
“I take it he’s the coworker who runs late,” Yareli said.
“He is,” Donna said, showing her the cash register. “If I were you, I’d extort a hot chocolate from him every time.”
Yareli’s lips curled up. “Noted.”
“Now that you’ve met your coworkers, we can get started. You’ll shadow me for the first week. Afterward, you’ll be on your own with Don in the kitchen. He’ll help if there’s a rush of customers.”
As Donna continued to fire off instructions, Yareli fell into the familiar groove of the service industry.
Prior to Enchanted Brew, she had been at a local diner for over a year.
Manning the cash register and serving pastries and coffee came to her as easily as breathing.
After all, she had spent a miserable three weeks at a chain cafe.
By the time it was ten, she was spent. As expected, Erick was late.
Donna had let Yareli clock out while she waited for him.
“Good work,” Donna said as Yareli, dressed in her clothes, walked past the counter. “See you tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” she replied, a surge of confidence making her feet lighter.
She knew she could impress them; all she had to do was believe in her experience. It was not, however, the sole reason she skipped to the bus stop; tomorrow was her weekly meet-up with August. She missed his calm, steady presence and his occasional teasing.
She inhaled, curling her hands into fists and remembering her promise. If this goes well, I’ll tell him how I feel.
As she clicked through her notifications, she ignored her family’s texts.
She was exhausted; she would respond in the morning.
She squashed her guilt by locking her phone as the bus arrived exactly three minutes late and took her seat.
The city rushed by, the nightlife ramping up as the moon rose.
Yareli hadn’t gone out in almost six months; working and attending school full-time meant she was always busy.
Her family could wait a few hours; Yareli deserved the rest. Except, family didn’t always wait.
The ceiling rumbled as the upstairs neighbor returned home.
Yareli, already in bed, counted their steps until the sound of rushing water in the pipes blared.
They had the same routine every weekday; it comforted her knowing that another person was alive, living their drab routine as she did.
Although she had two roommates, they weren’t close.
In fact, she hardly saw them anymore. Models at the same company, they had taken Yareli as a roommate to take care of the apartment while they were gone.
It had been the quickest that her hopes of friendship had been extinguished.
Her phone rang. She picked up without a second thought.
“Hello?”
“So, you are alive.” Her brother’s voice rang in her ear, reminding her of the two unopened texts she had from him.
Yareli cursed. She wasn’t avoiding her brother, not really, but she had forgotten he was impatient.
“Did you get my texts?”
She blanched. Fernando had always been straight to the point. “Yep. Sorry, I was busy today.”
The silence on the other line told her he didn’t believe her. There was an exhale.
“I stopped by the diner today.”
Hijo de su… Yareli's stomach dropped. “Did you?”
“Yeah, your piece of shit manager told me you don’t work there anymore. You got enough money for rent this month?”
Fernando’s concern both pleased and displeased her.
It was nice to know he cared, but it was also a stark reminder of her failure.
While Yareli had listened to their parents’ wishes—going to college even if she had no clue what she was doing—Fernando had resisted.
He had dropped out of high school and picked up a job at a local mechanic’s shop, helping cover some of their bills.
Since then, their parents’ quality of life had improved; their mom no longer had to work at the factory, and their dad was able to drop winter snow removal as one of his services.
Yareli was supposed to be a role model, to show him that he didn’t have to worry about money, to focus on his education.
But here he was, worrying about her too.
He wasn’t even eighteen yet, and he was more adult than her.
“Don’t worry. I already found another job. My first day was today.”
“Where?”
“Just another cafe.” The lie rolled off her tongue, and she cringed.
Another long pause from Fernando.
“Alright. Let me know if you need any cash.”
“I have more than enough savings. No te preocupes. Tell Mom I’ll visit soon.” Yareli told him not to worry, but she knew he would. That was the kind of heart he had—caring and self-sacrificing. It broke her own.
“A'ight. Good night then.” He hung up before she could say bye.
Gruff on the outside but sweet on the inside, she thought.
No longer sleepy, she sat up, drawing her knees to her chest. It hadn’t taken him long to find out; no matter how far she ran, her chain was locked in place.
Her guilt tugged harder; her current life away from home was possible because of her family’s sacrifices, but here she was.
Actively fighting to stay away. She rested her head on her knees.
One problem at a time. One day, she’d repay her debts.
Her phone buzzed again, and she groaned. Please don’t be Fernando.
It was August.
Did you get home safe?
A smile stole across her unwilling lips.
Yeah. Cya tomorrow.
Exhaling, Yareli flopped backward, landing on her much too lumpy mattress with a soft thump.
August never failed to calm her, which was counterintuitive given the effect he had on her heart.
The feeling was especially potent these days, considering he was increasingly absent and had missed a few weeks of their meetups.
She settled in bed farther, shifting her blankets over her until she was nearly covered head-to-toe.
Her phone vibrated again, and she scrambled to check the notification, only it was Fernando this time.
Double trouble.
She groaned, throwing her blanket over her head.
Double trouble was their code word for when their parents fought.
Funny how adulting worked—put out one fire only for another to spring up.
A flower in a wildfire, it was a miracle she hadn’t gone up in flames yet.
She shut her phone off. Family problems would have to wait; she had a coffee date tomorrow.