The Last Coffee Shop

Chapter 6: The Girl Who Cried Wolf

Luc was a quick learner. Mads found that she rarely had to tell him something twice, and he soon settled into the café routine. His friend Graynard pitched in as well, and together, they got Mads a good deal on the salvage from the crashed ship.

After a week, Mads was resigned, even grateful to have Luc around. Krill was ecstatic, especially when she found out that Luc liked to cook AND stay out late. After that, they were inseparable.

Mads had released the two of them early tonight, while she stayed behind to close up the shop and do the weekend accounting. It was dull work, but the figures were promising. After the boost from the junk shop, Mads thought two more good weeks could raise them enough money to pay Alan back. 

Mads massaged her head, trying to keep her eyes open. She never slept well, not these days. The synthetic moonlight wasn't helping, especially since tonight it was full, a massive disc of silver light that shone right through her window.

She checked the time. Krill was late, very late. Of course, Krill was an adult, and she could stay out as long as she wanted, but Mads still worried. But then, Mads worried about nearly everything. She was interrupted by a tap on the door behind her.

"Come in, it's open," she called without looking back.

"Madeleine?" Her grandmother's softly accented voice. "Why didn't you go out with the others? I'm sure you could have convinced Alan to come."

Mads made a face at her account logs, then quickly switched it for a smile before she swiveled her chair to face Grandmere. "I'm too busy for all that. The books won't balance themselves."

Her grandmother walked over to the desk and blinked down at the numbers displayed on the datapad. "Is it good or bad?"

Mads reached over and flicked the screen off, hiding the electronic pages. "Good. Don't worry about it."

Grandmere laughed. "I never do. You worry enough for all of us, just like your mother." Her smile died and she looked out at the moon. "It looks so real." She changed the subject abruptly, the same way she always did when either of them brought up Lisette Capot. Mads had only ever heard about her mother in fragments, all the unconscious tidbits dropped by Grandmere through the years.

Mads looked up at the photorealistic moon. "It is real, just because we can't see the real thing doesn't mean it's gone."

Grandmere hugged herself, as if she were cold. "Of course. Well, don't stay up too late, you've no excuse if you aren't out having fun."

Mads smiled, "I'm almost finished."

They both paused as they heard the jingling of bells in the shop below. Grandmere arched a white brow, "See, you didn't need to worry. There they are." She bent down and kissed the top of Mads head, "Goodnight love."

"Night Gran." Mads bent back down to her work.

After a few minutes, there was another sound at the door, a familiar pattering of finger taps that were Krill's signature. The door creaked open.

"Glad you made it back, Krill." Mads kept her eyes on the datapad. "How was it?" She didn't really want to hear, but she knew it was polite to ask.

"Fun, fun, fun, only you weren't there and Luc is actually kind of boring to talk to." Krill floated into view, or rather, one of her arms did. She plucked the stylus from Mads fingers. "Could you at least look at me?"

"Luc is boring, heard that." Mads snatched the stylus back, but she turned around to face the Andalarian. "And?"

Krill's vibrant deep purple hair was curled and coiled up on her head, and she wore some sparkling silver contraption that reminded Mads (privately) of tinfoil, but it actually looked good on the Andalarian girl's long, slender frame.