inkspresso

heaven is filled with good intentions

The bell rings obnoxiously loud. Zach cringes. His head hurts so terribly that he is not even wearing headphones. He squints his eyes at the neon sign.

He looks at the counter. It was Sydney. Jack's eldest sister. If Jack was intimidating, then she definitely took the prize home. She barely spoke to anyone in general, from what Zach could gather.

Zach sat on his usual table and opened his computer. He sighs and lowers the brightness of the screen.

Sydney's music played quietly on the counter while she cleaned. If Jack was methodical, then Sydney was the expert. There was not a single crease she missed. Everything was spotless. She cleans all windows and dusts off all shelves.

Over the course of time, Zach has come to understand their roles in the coffee shop.

Their mother, who rarely does the night shift, started the coffee shop along with their father. He is yet to discover why it works all day round.

Sydnie is the drinks and cleaning expert. It is quite rare for her to do the night shift, as well. She is quick on her feet and makes all kinds of coffee the clientèle asks from her.

Jack is the brains and brawls of the shop. He adds up everything in the register, invests in their shop, and carries all the materials alone.

Ava is the face of Inkspresso. She is young, fun, and promotes the shop to the best of her abilities. It proves itself to be fruitful.

Zach pinches the bridge of his nose as his headache only worsens.

A glass of water and a slice of cake is set by him. He looks up. it was her. Sydney slides him a pill. "For your headache."
"Thanks." He smiles softly.

"Eat something first."

With that, she walks away. At times, Sydney seems like an apparition. She wanders around, seemingly aimlessly-yet, she always knows what to do to make Zach feel better.

"Thanks." He smiles softly.

Zach eats, takes the pill, and rests for a bit before delving into his lectures. From there, he works quickly, connecting everything the professor says to previous lessons.

The bell rings, alerting the both of them. Zach's eyes shift over to the door, where he sees Jack. He furrows his eyebrows. Jack?

As if echoing his thoughts, Sydney speaks up."Jack?"

"Mom's going with Isla to the hospital. She's having another asthma attack." He runs a hand through his hair. He then lowers his voice as he speaks to her so Zach doesn't hear them.

"It's in my room. I'll go to the hospital with the money." She takes off her apron.

"Keep me posted." He puts on her apron as Sydney leaves the store. Jack looked like he had just woken up.

He pours himself a cup of coffee and takes a sip before walking around, checking what he still needs to do. Jack runs his fingers through his hair nervously.

Once he sees that Sydney has done pretty much everything, he sits in Zach's table. He pauses his lecture and looks at Jack.

The curly head looks at him. "Am I distracting you?" He asks worriedly. "I'll leave." He stands up.

Zach removes his headphones. "You can stay." He says quietly, making Jack pause. "You seem like you need to talk."

Jack sits back down. He sighs. "I just don't want to be alone now." He rubs his face. "It's like the third time Isla goes to the hospital this month, and we can't figure out what's making her like this." He sighs once more. "It's stressful." Jack rests his head on the table.

Zach fights the urge to run a hand through his hair. It appears really soft.

He shakes his head. "Maybe she's allergic to something, and that's what triggers the asthma." He suggests.

Jack lifts his head and furrows his eyebrows. He grabs his phone and dials a number. Zach looks curiously at him.

It rings and rings, and no one picks up. Jack takes one deep breath and dials the number again. No one picks up.

He checks his phone. Three am. Jack scoffs. "You're awake. Pick the goddam phone up." He dials the number again.

Zach looks at him now worriedly. He hears a hello from the other side of the line.

"Hey, babe."He greets her. Jack grabs Zachs pencil and draws on the edge of his notebook as she complains about the hour of his call. "What's that name of the chocolate you've been giving Isla?" He moves the phone away as she screams at him for calling merely for that. "Just tell me the name... It's important."

"It's that new chocolate. It's like nutcolate." Zach researches the name and shows it to Jack. The curly head looks at it more closely. "Why do you even care? It's just some random chocolate."

"Isla is allergic to nuts! You could've killed her!" He raises this voice at her. Zach's eyes widen. "I told you this!"

Jack writes a number on the notebook along with a message: call my mom, tell her about the chocolate. He stands up and walks into the back.

Zach dials the number as his hands tremble. Why would Jack even make him do this?

"Hello?"

Zach feels his heart beat out of his chest."Is this Jack's mother? He told me to call you because Isla ate chocolate with nuts."

He hears her speaking with some doctors, and he waits patiently. "What's the brand? And who gave it to her?"

"Nutcolate." He pauses. "I believe it was his girlfriend, ma'am."

Some shuffling his heard. "That's impossible. Jack always makes sure to tell everyone that in our house, there's a strict no-nut rule."

"I-I don't know... he seemed a bit mad." His voice trembles. "S-Should I check up on him?"

"Please do. Tell him that Isla is now stable, but we're spending the night so she can be observed."

"I hope she gets well soon."

"So do I, honey." She hangs up.

Zach hesitantly walks into the back. After making sure Jack wasn't in their storage unit, he opened the door to the alley, where he found Jack smoking. Once he sees him, he immediately puts it out.

Jack puffs out the smoke and clears his throat. "Sorry you had to see that. Did you call her?"

He nods. "She's stable, but she's spending the night there."

Jack tips his head back, making him hit his head on the wall. "It's my fault. I should've made it clear."

Zach leans against the threshold. "You had no way of -"

"It's my job to protect my sisters. I should've made it clearer." He sighs. "If Isla had, God forbid, died, I would never forgive myself."

The brunet pauses, unsure of what to say. "I'm sure she had good intentions when she gave her the chocolate."

"Heaven is filled with good intentions." Ava chimes in. "Stop blaming yourself for this, Jack. If anything, it's Sienna's fault. I know for a fact that you are careful enough to make sure Isla or any of us suffer any allergic reaction."

She looks at Zach. "I'm done with the whole benefit of the doubt thing. "

Jack sits down on the alley and rubs his face with his hands. "What the fuck am I supposed to do now?" He groans.

Zach swallows in dryly. "Isn't it kind of a deal breaker?"

The siblings look at him. He tries to make himself look smaller. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say.

Ava looks at Jack. "See? This is why I like him. He's actually sane." Ava crosses her arms.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll break up with her."

Zach's mouth opens slightly. Ava closes it for him. "This guy sometimes needs a real one to tell him how to function." She nudges him. "A cupcake on the house for dealing with Jack."