Rrinkers

Chapter 8

"This is insane, Zoe! You never mentioned any remodeling to me." Evelyn had just found out that the handy-men and construction workers coming into the coffee shop were there to remodel the second floor loft. In reality, today was the day that her deal with the FBI started and those "handy-men" were FBI agents.

Zoe laughed, nervously, and scratched her head. She hated lying to Evelyn who was like a mother figure to her, but she had to. "It was kind of an impulse thing."

"How did you even find the money for it?"

Scratching her head some more, Zoe replied, "I got a loan. I had a bad leak and my floor kept leaking so when the men came here for a consultation, they realized there were a lot of things wrong. I just had to do it. I don't want the roof collapsing on me, you know."

"I get that, sweetie, but where will you be staying?"

"Umm...I'm staying at the hotel down the street." She lied. It wasn't the hotel down the street that she was staying at, it was the hotel down two streets. But if she told Evelyn she was staying at the Red's Hotel, Evelyn would know something was off because Red's Hotel cost $300 a night whereas the one down the street cost $60 per night. Now I know how the Redford family is so rich. Vultures.

"Why don't you stay with me?" Evelyn asked.

"I thought about it but I figured you want your own space, and I want my own space so it would be best to just get a hotel."

"Do you know how long it's going to take them?"

"Well...They said there were a lot of things that need fixing, so they said a maximum of six months."

"Six months!"

"Yes." Zoe laughed at how worried Evelyn was. Literally like her mother.

"You're going to waste so much money, sweetie." Evelyn looked like she was distressed, and that she really cared for Zoe.

Walking over to give her a hug, Zoe smiled and said, "I will be fine, Ev. Promise you won't worry about me too much."

"Ok...," She replied, dragging out the word and returning the hug before letting go and waiting to greet the customer that had just walked up to the counter.

It was a normal day in the Rrinkers coffee shop. Gabe didn't work so it was only Evelyn and Zoe, but they didn't mind because it was not too busy. At the end of the day, she did her normal closing activities such as closing the register, balancing the money, cleaning the shop, and finally, getting ready to go to her new home for the next six months. She went into the storage/break room and picked up the big suitcase that contained all the essentials. Before leaving the shop, she looked up to the second and thought, I wonder what they're doing up there. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere near the second floor while the FBI were conducting their business so if she forgot to get anything, she was screwed. She gave the second floor one last look and walked out the door with her suitcase.

It was a nice chilly night, so she decided to walk to the hotel. After all, it was only a ten minute walk and would probably take the same amount by taxi because of the busy streets. She yawned and checked her watch: 10:03 pm.

"I'm tired!" She exclaimed to herself as she started walking down the street towards the other establishments, thinking that she looked weird with such a large suitcase. But in Carlow, NY, no one paid attention. Looking behind her, she noticed the big warehouse that was close to the shop in the other direction. The FBI warned her to never walk in that direction so she felt wrong looking at it. Why does my business have to be on the corner next to that creepy warehouse?

She kept walking along and before she knew it, she was standing in front of the Red's Hotel. Tilting her head up, she looked at the building that went up into the sky. It was a tall hotel, the tallest one around. All the other buildings were smaller. Zoe looked up and realized that there must have been at least forty floors. It was mainly glass and beyond beautiful as it sat in the middle of the street with beautiful establishments surrounding it. The red door was the cherry on top.