Sophia, who art thou?

22. TESSA

12th January, 2018

"Stop wallowing."

"I am not wallowing, Tessa."

"Don't you have work?"

"Dave's handling it."

There is no Dave. Dave only comes by when Roman needs an excuse for why he isn't working. He's probably finished everything before his deadlines and can afford to not go into the office. He'll just meet a client for lunch and discuss business for enough hours to meet his target billable hours.

"Roman?"

"If you want to know who emptied the coffee pot, it wasn't me. Ask Milo."

"Don't even try blaming my cat again, Roman! And no, I did not want to know that."

"Is this about me hoarding your personal space? Because I promise I'll start looking for apartments today."

"Don't."

"Why?"

I did not want to tell him but I think he's the only one who can help me right now. "This apartment's expensive."

"Yeah, and?"

I swear he's so dense sometimes. "And I cannot handle all of it."

"Is there something wrong with Espresso Love?"

"No..."

"Finish that thought, Tessa."

"Not yet."

"What about you expanding to different locations?"

"That costs money. Money I don't have."

"Does mom know?"

"Hell no. She'd kill me if she knew."

"So what will you do?"

"I think I need to let some staff go."

"Soph?"

"No. Not her. She's been with me too long. Maybe some of the maintenance, some other baristas."

"That'll cover it?"

"I think I need to lease the upper floor."

"You can't do that, Tessa!"

"Then what should I do, Roman? Because everything I have tried has failed. Everything I set out to do fails!"

Oh no. I don't cry. What is this? Whoever said crying was therapeutic was wrong. This does not feel therapeutic. Seeing my older brother look at me with pity in his eyes is not therapeutic.

I aggressively dab away the tears. "Umm...I need to get to work now. I'll call you about-"

And then Roman hugs me. "You won't fail, Tessa."

"I know."

"I'll help you figure it out."

"What will you do?"

"Invest."

"You can't do that, Roman. I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking. I'm offering."

I give in. I hug him back. I don't cry any more. Feels useless. "Will you come with me to the bank tomorrow?"

"Of course I will. I love you, Tessa."

"It'd be hard not to," I smile back.

"And...she's back!"

"Thanks, Roman."

"Anytime."

*

"Jamie, the lady at table five still hasn't gotten-"

"On it, boss."

I smile. I always smile when my staff know what I mean. I always smile when they're efficient.

"Tessa?"

I turn around to see a worried Sophia. I heard about Amelia a couple days ago. "Sophia, if this is about Amelia, I really can't do anything to help her-"

"Roman's here."

"What?"

"I thought Roman wouldn't come around here. Isn't he supposed to go back to-"

"Did he tell you anything?" I cannot have my staff know about the business. This is their livelihood too.

"No, I...I didn't talk to him."

"Okay, good. That's...that's good."

"When's he going back?"

Sophia's brevity surprises me. I thought she'd want him here. But I want no part in their unresolved drama. "He isn't."

"What do you mean?"

"He got transferred here."

I stare at Sophia as she's scratching her forehead. This is the reason I never got love. I think it's overrated. Why go through so much pain just to hurt even more in the end?

"I don't know what to-"

"Get back to work."

"What?"

"The best way to get your mind off of it is to get back to work."

She nods. "Yes, ma'am."

Now that that's out of the way, I have to go kill Roman.

*