Rrinkers

Chapter 22

Zoe was daydreaming. She had her chin resting on the palm of her hand, looking out the window and watching the people walk on the street, the same old thing as everyday. The new year had come along with the frosty winter. Ever since she stopped living at the penthouse, she'd been feeling down. It had only been two weeks since she moved back, but her mind made it feel like it's been a year.

I wonder if Lucas read my note? She would ask herself this same question at least five times a day.

She was more than happy to keep daydreaming and have Evelyn take care of the customers, but when she saw the line starting to get long, she decided that wasn't a good idea.

"I can help the next person."

The next person in line came up to her and said, "Hi! I'll have a mocha latte with banana bread and a bottle of water."

"Of course," Zoe said, entering the amount in the computer. "That will be 10.77."

The girl handed her a twenty dollar bill and said, "Keep the change."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup, I'm gonna be here for a while doing my work so that's my tip and payment for the free Wi-Fi."

Zoe chuckled. "Thank you! You can come in here anytime and use the Wi-Fi, even if you don't want coffee."

"Appreciate it! What was your name again?"

"Zoe. I'm the owner." Zoe extended her hand for the woman to shake.

"I'm Ann. Nice to meet you. I'm new to Carlow; I live down the street, in the apartments." She shook Zoe's hand.

"That's exciting! I'm glad you're here."

"Me too! I got a new job so I'm excited about that."

"Congratulations!"

Ann nodded her head and smiled as a way to say thank you, before she walked to an empty couch in the corner and took a seat. Zoe noticed her taking out her laptop and getting to work. Ann looked like a nice girl. A little lost but still a nice girl. She looked in her mid-thirties with dark brown hair that was slicked neatly back, and a casual outfit. She was tall and muscular which gave Zoe the impression that she went to the gym. A lot. Despite that, she looked sweet.

"Zoe, we're out of cups," Evelyn broke Zoe's thoughts of looking at the new customer.

"I'll get some!" Zoe ran to the storage room and grabbed some coffee cups. She ran back to the counter and started to serve the other customers. It was a busy Sunday. Sundays were usually busy in the afternoon, but today was even busier than usual.

Once the rush died, Zoe went back to doing random things. She liked doing things alone so she had room to think to herself. That is the main reason she decided to go clean the storage room.

After five minutes of being in there, Ann popped in which caused Zoe to gasp and hold her hand to her heart.

"I'm sorry to scare you!" Ann laughed. "I just wanted to know where the bathroom is."

Laughing, Zoe responded, "No, you didn't scare. It's just that customers don't usually come in here. The bathroom is next to the star pictures on the wall. The passcode is 1024."

"Thanks."

"Aha."

Zoe's heart rate was still racing because Ann had scared her. But she laughed about it and went back to aimlessly cleaning out the storage. It's like she didn't have the energy to do anything. She felt numb. All she wanted to do was sleep and daydream about Lucas which was dangerous considering she had a shop to run.