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I resist the pull for as long as I can, but a full week of thinking about Luke when I should be doing anything else is making me want to scream. I can’t concentrate when I’m dancing at the club. I can’t concentrate when I’m working at the café. I can’t concentrate when I’m lying in bed alone at night and imagining I can still smell him in my sheets.
Finally, I text him. I know it’s stupid. I know he’ll probably run or ignore it or block me, but I have to reach out before I go insane. I don’t send anything crazy, just a simple “how has your week been?” That’s a completely normal and reasonable follow up after we spent a night together and then I saw him for the field trip, but I’m not holding out hope that he’ll take it that way.
At least I have the café to keep me busy. It’s a Saturday, which means Henry isn’t here, but the yoga instructor, River, is. His class is currently ogling their shirtless teacher while he guides them through poses and the cats climb all over them. Old Babs is sleeping in a cat bed behind the coffee bar. In her old age, she isn’t one for big groups or lots of noise. She seems to prefer my silent sulking instead.
I pet the sweet old cat, stroking her black and white fur. Her chances of getting adopted are sadly pretty low. She’s at an age where cats start having health problems, and even if she was perfectly fit, it’s the younger cats that people tend to scoop up first. She’ll likely live out her days here at the café, where me and Chloe and the others will take the best care of her we can, but I wish I could find her a nice home. Somewhere quiet and calm where she could sleep in the sun all day. Somewhere without kids or other pets. A quiet person living alone would be incredible, someone who could use a companion like Babs.
I can’t materialize the perfect person out of thin air, so I do my best to take care of Babs while she lives here at the café. It’s not so bad. She gets her medication and some attention when she wants it, and everyone on staff loves her. She’s the queen of this castle in all but name.
I have to stop petting her as River’s class finishes up. It’s been a slow day here, but his students often want some kind of refreshment after they finish their session. I have to get back to making drinks and doling out baked goodsas his students roll up their mats and head for the exit. At least the work keeps my mind busy. If I’m still for too long, I’m sure I’ll stress over that text I sent to Luke and whether he’ll actually answer or not. He won’t, of course, but that won’t stop me from worrying about it.
River’s class gets their drinks and snacks and calm returns to the café. The cats settle down after the excitement of getting to climb all over strangers, and I wave to River as he heads out. He never stays after his classes, but he’s a friendly enough guy.
Chloe heads in even as River is leaving. They speak briefly in the hall, then Chloe unlocks the two doors that separate the café from the hallway. It’s a safety measure. Even if one of the cats slipped past the first door, we never have both open at the same time, so we can always usher them back into the café before there’s any risk of them escaping to the main street outside.
“Hey, Sebastian. How is everything today?” Chloe says as she heads inside.
“Same old,” I say. “It’s been a calm day.”
“Glad to hear it. Hey, I have to go to the back and take care of a couple things, but after, I wanted to chat real quick.”
“Well, you know where to find me.”
She nods and bustles into the staff area at the back of the shop. She moves quickly, perpetually busy no matter how calm things are here. I have no idea what she mightwant to talk about. Hopefully it’s nothing to do with the field trip. I thought it all went pretty well, weird eye contact with Luke aside. Surely that wasn’t noticeable. Henry kind of noticed, but he was right there beside me all day. Chloe was too busy to care about me making eyes at some dude. Probably. Hopefully.
I man the shopfront while Chloe is busy in the back, but there isn’t much to do at this time of day. The boredom leaves me itching for my phone, but I’m terrified of the possibly of Chloe coming out and finding me on it. Not because she cares. More because she might ask me why I’m scowling at it like it insulted me.
Luckily, she returns quickly, before the temptation to check for a message from Luke can overtake me.
“So,” she says as though we never stopped speaking. “I’ve been talking to someone.”
“Chloe, are you about to tell me you had a hot date?” I say. “Not that I mind. Spill it. I am all ears, girl. I’m just surprised.”
She rolls her eyes. “No one in this café iseverhearing about me being on a date, hot or otherwise. No, this is a person for the café, someone who might be able to help you and Henry.”
I perk up at this news. Henry and I have been hammering on Chloe to hire another part-timer for going on a year now. River only does his yoga classes, and the high school part-timers are super unreliable. This place isbasically run by me and Henry, and I’m only part-time, so Henry takes on way more than his fair share of shifts.
“I’m still interviewing him,” Chloe says before I can get too excited, “but it’s promising. He’s a friend of Henry’s from university. Worked at that Boyfriend Café and everything. Cameron something. I forgot the last name already, but it doesn’t matter. He has the credentials, Henry vouches for him, and he sounded good on the phone. I need to get him in here for a chat and a tour, but provided that goes well, I might be able to bring him on to help sooner rather that later.”
“That is amazing news,” I say. “Especially with Pride coming. The club asked me if I wanted some extra shifts the other day. I was going to talk to you about it.”
“Well, take them if you want them. I’ll work something out here. I know you make even better tips during Pride.”
I want to hug her. This is such a huge relief. I was nervous to talk to her about the club wanting more shifts. The money is crazy during the whole month of June, but I didn’t want to bring it up and leave her and Henry in the lurch. Henry already works way more than he should.
“When can I meet him?” I say.
“Slow down,” Chloe says. “I technically have to see how he does in person. I’m trying to get him in here quickly, but if all goes well then it might only be a week or two.”
“Does Henry know? You should tell him. Or I can tell him. I can call him right now. He’s probably not doing anything, right?”
Chloe puts up her hands. “Take it down a level, Sebastian. This is all in the beginning stages. I’ll tell Henry next time I see him.”
“Fine, fine.”
I acquiesce, but I really am so excited I want to run from the room and straight to Henry’s place around the block. He’s probably with his boyfriend. No, sorry. Fiancé. Sometimes it’s still weird remembering that my sweet little Henry got himself a whole fiancé in the past year.
“Anyway, I need to do a few more things back in the office,” Chloe says. “I just wanted to let you know while it was fresh in my mind.”
