The Echoes of Solitude

Chapter Nine

***

"Marcus said that you can go on your lunch break now." Nathan stated, as I bent down to grab the last book out of the brown box and placed it on the shelf, "Oh, and before I forget, Cora is out front waiting for you too." I looked up at him, my brow furrowed.

"Is she?"

Why was she here? ... Oh, that's right, she said she was coming to see me on her break, I mused to myself.

"Is it just a half an hour break?" I asked.

"Yup." He answered, answering both of my questions in one word, "Have fun." He added, waving as he walked away.

Shrugging to myself, I stood up, picked up the now empty box, and placed it behind the bookstore counter. I would put the box in the recycling bin when I got back from my break. I bent down to grab the bag that I had placed in the cubbyhole under the bench and walked through the café to where Cora was 'apparently' waiting for me.

The morning had gone by fast. After signing my contract, Marcus got Nathan, a fellow high schooler to show me around. Nathan was in charge of training me and getting me up to date with the way the book side of the shop runs. Nathan was a scrawny boy, he had dark hair and bright white glasses. He was a genuinely nice guy, he made me feel welcome, he explained how things worked, and was very easy to talk to.

I maneuvered through the shop, passing customers who were either chatting away happily, reading a book or were invested in their laptops, their eyes glued to their screens.

Cora was standing by the sliding door, her gaze fixated on the ocean, which could be seen through the glass. She had a cardboard tray that held two coffee cups to go, in one hand, and a brown paper bag with the Café logo on the side, in the other.

"Hey Cora," I greeted softly as I approached her.

Cora's head swirled at the sound of my voice, a huge smile planted on her face. "Hey Ally, I come bearing gifts," She answered, lifting her hands to show me the items that were in them, "I'm on break too, so I thought I would come and see if you wanted to have lunch with me. My treat, obviously," She added with a chuckle.

"That sounds good to me." I replied as I placed a stray strand of hair behind my ear, "I can't turn down free food." Or the chance to actually go outside and admire the fresh air.

"How about we sit outside on the sand dunes, it's like a two-minute walk from here. Plus, it's like, really nice and warm outside, we need to make the most of any sunshine we can get. Being stuck inside on a warm, sunny day is one of the sucky sides of working through the summer holidays." She stated sadly, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout.

I couldn't help but nod in agreement at that statement.

"Lead the way," I answered with a grin, motioning to the door with my hands.

After living in the foster care system for so long, I was always denied the right to go to the mall or the beach and do normal teenage things, especially as it never fit in with what my foster families wanted. I always had set rules and restrictions in each foster house which meant that I never had any sense of freedom, but being here in Swansea was changing that.

I followed Cora out the door, waving goodbye to Marcus, who was standing across the shop at the coffee machine. I pulled the sliding door closed gently behind me. We walked down the stone path, which started at the entrance at the back of the café, and followed it through until we reached the sand dunes. We hiked up the sand dune that was closest to the path and both sat down on the wooden bench that was perched on the top.