Tabbs

Chapter 10

Tabbs' next shift with Valentina was tense, to say the least. Her coworker avoided all eye contact with her, talked with her when only absolutely necessary, and - strangest of all - she actually worked. Never once did she disappear into the back for hours on end or even took a lunch. When she wasn't making drinks, she was cleaning tables or scrubbing the counters.

But Tabbs was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. She had just about recovered from the back-breaking labor of cleaning and organizing her Grandmother's house, the weight of her will still hanging over her head like a lead weight. All the same, she and her sister had done a decent job at packing and shipping out various family member's trinkets they wanted from the house. None of them, naturally, actually stepping foot on the premises. Everyone, including their mother, claiming one excuse or another to not have to actually contribute. The experience, though still leaving a sour taste in Tabbs' mouth, had actually seemed to bring her sister and her closer. They were talking again on the regular. Gen even went as far as to invite her out to dinner once at a fancy restaurant with cloth napkins and multiple forks.

The old cafe, on the other hand, had been as drab and soul-sucking as ever, but at least today she actually had Valentina helping her through it. She had even gone as far as to deal with the old crone Mr. Deltoy and his constant complaining. As afternoon turned to evening, Tabbs flipped the open sign to closed and rammed the front door lock home with satisfaction. Completing her nightly ritual, she immediately untucked her green polo uniform out of her khaki slacks and flipped the camera observing the front door the bird. Striding back to the kitchen, she plugged her phone into the auxiliary port for the ambient cafe music and asked if Valentina had a preference on working music. When she answered with a shrug, Tabbs still felt the need to spare her coworker her playlist of sludge and grunge music and put on a lo-fi hip hop station instead. The two swept and mopped without speaking, something Tabbs figured was just the weight of the day on both their minds. The silence persisted right up until the point where they had collected their things, punched out, and when Tabbs was about to key in the code to arm the store's security system. She asked if Valentina was ready to make the sprint to the front door and leave before the alarm set, but Valentina only stood there in the doorway, looking through the glass windows. If it weren't for her scuffed up designer shoes and off-brand Gucci bag, she would have looked like some sort of modern equivalent of a woman looking out over a pier into the dark sea, waiting feebly for her long-lost sailor husband to return.

Tabbs asked Valentina again if she was ready, but still received no answer. At least not immediately. She appeared glued to the spot, her hand clutched around the strap of her shouldered purse so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Tabbs felt her chest tighten. She walked away from the alarm box and flanked her coworker, still mindful to keep an appropriate distance, and repeated her name a little more softly. She found her coworker's hazel eyes were red and puffy. Her cheeks were streaked with two or three lines of tears. But her eyes remained fixed ahead like a statue. Tabbs gingerly placed a hand on Valentina's shoulder, but it only took the tips of her fingers grazing over her shirt for Valentina to violently jerk away, causing Tabbs to step back reflexively.

"Sorry! Sorry. I - I tried asking if you were ready to go, but you just sorta kept-" Tabbs gestured lamely at her coworker. "You know, standing there."

Valentina's eyes met hers, then fell to a tile on the floor. "No. I'm sorry. I-" Valentina feebly cleared her throat, swallowing hard. "Sorry. I don't know what-" But she still didn't finish her sentience. Instead, she cupped her mouth with her hand and rushed over to a table in the seating area, clutched the table's corner for support, and faced away from Tabbs. Tabbs cautiously walked over again.

"Valentina."

"I just need a sec," Valentina barked back with a bubble in her throat. "Just a sec and I'll be-" A sob smothered her words. Tabbs pulled the two chairs upturned on the table and placed them on either side of it. With the touch of a feather, she guided her coworker into one of the seats, claimed the other, and withdrew a fist full of napkins from the table's dull silver dispenser. Valentina accepted the napkins and blew her nose silently into the wad. Tabbs sat, eyes suddenly taking a great interest in her own interlocked hands while she silently endured the unsuppressed wails of her coworker's sobs.