Missing Things

there used to be something different here

There never was anyone in the kitchen anymore.

Carl remembered the fuss everyone had made five years ago when the company had decided to replace the long tables that had been in the kitchen with small bistro tables that were there now. Everyone had complained that the bistro tables wouldn't be big enough, that there wouldn't be enough seating, that people would be forced to eat at their desks or stagger their lunch times.

And now none of that mattered because the kitchen was always empty.

Carl made himself coffee using one of the pods in the basket next to the Nespresso machine. He didn't mind the Nespresso, but he missed the old automatic coffee machine. He missed its freshly-ground the beans, and he missed the selections for mochas and lattes.

There was no mocha or latte option with the Nespresso.

He drank his coffee while looking out the window at the construction site across the street.

"Missing Panini Plus?" Kevin said from behind him.

Carl turned around. "Yeah. I don't know what to do about lunch anymore. I hate making myself lunch."

Kevin came to stand beside him. "Yeah. Almost every place we used to eat at is closed now. I've been bringing in frozen dinners. I've been keeping them in the freezer. No one else is using it."

"I guess I could do that." Carl took a sip of his drink and watched two construction workers talk over a pile of dirt. "Do you know what happened to the building?"

"From what I understand there was a fire during the first lockdown. According to Sam, they started renovating, but at some point they just gave up and tore down the building. I think he said that was during second lockdown. It was an empty lot for a while. But even if the building hadn't burnt down, there was no way that Panini Plus would have survived. We would have been in the same boat now even if the building hadn't burned down."