What He Left (Hannily)

12: Distractions

Emily's POV

I am awoken by the creak of my door opening, followed by a soft voice.
"Em?" My mom pokes her head inside my room. "Do you want me to call the Brew and explain what happened?"
I lift my head slowly off of my pillow and squint in the early morning sunlight.
I think about going to work. Cleaning, making coffee, smelling the hazelnut, doing miscellaneous tasks, distracting myself.
"No. I need this." I sit up and wipe the drool from the corner of my mouth.
"Okay, honey. I'll just be... down..." She doesn't finish her sentence, as she does sometimes. I'm not sure why she does that. She quietly pads down the stairs and soon it is quiet again.
I hate it.
I stand, a bit too quickly, and start getting ready for the day. I choose a pair of maroon joggers with dark green combat boots, a black and green sweater with a maroon beanie.
I look at my display of makeup.
"Eh." I make a face at all the stuff and decide to skip it today.
I head downstairs for breakfast but find nothing made, or even touched from last night.
My mother is sleeping on the couch, which she has clearly slept on all night. She probably can't handle sleeping in that empty bed knowing that her "life long companion" won't ever sleep with her in it ever again.
Again, silence is torture. I need activity.
I whip up some scrambled eggs and sausage and call Hanna whilst eating.
"Morning Emily." She answers brightly.
"Why hello there beautiful. I start my job this morning." I say enthusiastically.
"I know." She pauses for a beat, "Are you okay?" She asks and my heart clenches.
No.
"I'm fine. Let's not talk about it." I sniff and start blabbing about nothing.
Fifteen minutes later, it's 8:49 and I head outside to start my drive to work.
"Okay Han, I gotta go to work now. I'll see you after though, okay?" I say while climbing into my car.
"Alright, I'll see you then. I love you."
My heart skips a beat, as it does every single time she says that.
"I love you too." I hang up and pull out of the driveway.

As I walk in to my new workplace, I take in my surroundings. Tall, oak walls and ceilings, a dozen and a half small tables scattered at a distance so you can barely hear the conversation behind you, a spiral staircase that leads who knows where, and a small, comfortable looking area with a couch and two arm chairs.
I am pulled from my observing by a man's voice.
"Emily?" I turn around and an attractive young man is standing behind the counter wiping his hands on a dish towel.
"That's me." I smile politely and extend my hand.
"I'm Ezra, I run this fine establishment." He smiles back.
He grips my hand and places his over mine, like a sandwich.
Usually I would pull my hand back at this type of action from a man but I don't get the feeling that he is flirting.
"Well, I'll show you around the shop." He opens the small swinging door
that separates customers from the person behind the register.
"This is the entire assortment of our coffee. It may look difficult to memorize, but honestly I got it in the first week." He laughs and I smile with relief.
"The register is my job. New employees are not permitted to run the cash register, but if that wasn't the state law, I can tell already that you are a trustworthy person." He pats me on the shoulder and I feel my heart smile widely.
"Okay, let's head into the kitchen." He pushes the curtain of colored beads to the side and I step in the back of the Brew. There are six rows of shelves and they're all full of mugs, big plates, small plates, cups, boxes of napkins, and silverware bundles.
The wall closest to the door we entered through has four deep sinks, side by side.
"This," Ezra gestures toward all of the stuff, "is your job. Also, waiting tables and making coffee." He adds.
"Do I close?" I ask.
"Oh good, you already know the schedule." He claps his hands together once. "And no. Wait, yes. You know what, it depends. Some nights I will and some nights you will." He leans closer to me and whispers, "I'm not really supposed to let you because of your age but oh well."
I laugh and clasp my hands together in front of me.
Ezra digs in his pocket for a few seconds before pulling out a folded blue paper.
"This is your schedule, the map of the tables, and the coffee recipes. The Map is just to show you what tables are what numbers." He hands it to me and I start studying it.
I work on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I see that there is another woman that works here as well named Amanda, who works Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
"So, you work alone on Wednesdays?" I ask.
"Yes. Wednesdays are our slowest days, so it makes sense to have only one person working." He says.
"Well, I'd be happy to work then. I mean, I certainly need the money and it wouldn't affect my personal schedule." I offer and his face brightens.
"That... would be wonderful, thank you Emily!" He hugs me a bit awkwardly but I hug him back.
We hear a ding coming from the front of the shop and Ezra jumps to action.
"Okay, first customer. You really don't need to do anything but study the recipes and take a few notes." He heads to the register and I follow with a small notepad and a pen that says The Brew on it.

Hanna's POV

My mother left yesterday for a business trip, so I'm home alone for the next three days. That means, all I have to do around here is feed myself and entertain myself. Easy enough.
I throw my snacks on the couch and place myself next to them.
I switch the television to a cheesy soap opera and dig in.
Right when the show is getting good, the doorbell rings.
"Are you joking?" I groan and trudge to the door.
I open it and almost fall over.
His face isn't towards me but I recognize his figure and long dark hair immediately.
"Caleb?" I gasp, and he turns around.
His eyes are bloodshot, and his face is paler than I've ever seen it. A burst of anger rushes through me at the sight of him. I'm surprised when he speaks first.
"Hanna I miss you." He confesses pitifully, "I know I screwed up. I shouldn't have left you so quickly, we could have talked through it. I don't know how you will forgive me but I really hope you can." He begins to cry and I sigh.
"You're right." I say simply.
His hopeful eyes meet my bored ones.
"What?" He says.
"You're right. You did screw up. And you're too late. You being gone has opened my eyes to newer, better possibilities. I don't need you anymore, Caleb. I need Emily now. She has been there for me, even when I left her. I can't deal with you right now."
"Hanna please, at least talk-"
I shut the door in the middle of his sentence and lean against it.
That was the most unexpected thing to occur right now. I've got to tell Emily.
I run to the living room and grab my phone.

Emily's POV

In the middle of stocking mugs, my apron pocket starts vibrating. I pull my cell phone out and see Hanna's name on screen.
"Hey, is everything okay?" I ask immediately, wondering why she would be calling me at work.
"No, well sort of. The weirdest thing just happened." She gushes.
"And what is that?" I ask, intrigued.
"Caleb just appeared at my door and started apologizing for everything." She explains.
My stomach flips and I feel my eyes go wide.
"Oh wow." Is all I say before Ezra walks into the kitchen and sees me.
"Oh Emily, I forgot to tell you no personal calls on the job." He says politely and I nod.
"Han, I have to go. We'll talk when I get off work." I say and don't wait for a reply before I hang up. "Sorry Ezra, it was my... girlfriend." I hesitate, not really knowing what to call Hanna.
"Girlfriend?" He smirks.
"Yes." I blush and he smiles.
"Don't be embarrassed, I have no problem with that whatsoever. My brother is gay actually." He nods and I smile.
"Well thank you." I step off of the small stool I was standing on to reach the top shelves.
"Oh by the way, tables four through eleven are dirty, and business is really building up."
"I'll get right to it." I stock the last four mugs and turn my phone off just in case I get any more calls.
I grab the rag and the spray from their place on the cleaning cart, and start washing tables.

My shift is almost done and I'm exhausted. My job isn't really that tiring, but the fact that I'm five months pregnant makes it all the more worse.
I guess the twins are in a dancing mood tonight because they've been kicking for the last half an hour. It's making it extremely hard to keep working because every time they kick, I want to sit down, and I can't.
"Emily are you okay?" Ezra asks from behind the counter, as I stumble due to another kick.
"Oh, yes I'm fine. They keep kicking and it's throwing my balance.
"Hey, you've only got what? Twenty minutes left? Go home." He says kindly.
"Ezra I can stay-"
"Emily. Go home." He laughs and I laugh too.
"Thank you." I say as I hang up my apron on the hook next to the register.
"No problem. See you tomorrow at nine." He smiles and I exit the shop into the frosty night air.
I hop into my car and head home.
The silence immediately sets as soon as I start driving, so I switch in the radio to an overplayed pop song. Anything that occupies my mind from my deadly thoughts is fine with me.