Chapter Two

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Adela checked her watch. She had two hours to spare before her shift at the café. Perfect. Clutching the bag with her laptop inside, she briskly walked out of her therapist's building and headed toward Pick of the Bunch Eatery & Café. It was a local florist and café, run by a woman in her mid-twenties named Rose—a coincidental pun Rose did not find amusing.

"Hi Rose," Adela greeted as she walked in. The bell tinkled gently with her entry. "Can I please have a shot of espresso? Actually, make that three shots." At Rose's questioning look, she grimaced. "It's been a rough morning."

And night, she mentally added. Adela hadn't always been a coffee person, but her strong dependency on coffee began when her dreams became more sinister, haunting her every night. It was the only thing that helped her fight the exhaustion she felt each morning when she woke from a nightmare. And now, with her mother missing, it was the only thing that offered her any sort of consolation when no one else could.

"Still no word about your mother?" Rose asked as the coffee machine came to life.

Adela sighed. "Unfortunately, no."

"I'm sure they'll find her soon."

Adela highly doubted it. She'd been at the police station almost every day since her mother's disappearance, asking—begging—them to do more. "I hope so."

"I'm always here if you need anything, you know that."

Adela gave Rose a small smile. "I know. Thank you."

"Are you meeting with Evenie soon?" Rose glanced in the direction of Adela's bag. Then, looking at her own watch she said, "Is this why you're two hours early for your shift?"

Adela smiled wryly. "Yep, and is it that obvious?"

Rose shrugged but there was a knowing twinkle in her eye.

"It's the plan... if she makes it on time!"

Rose laughed, her dark frizzy hair bouncing on her shoulders. "Ah, knowing Evenie, you'll be waiting a while. Go take a seat, I'll bring the coffee over your way when it's ready. Besides, it's nice you came in. You're our only customer today."

"Oh?" Adela looked around the café. Sure enough, it was just her and Rose. "That's odd. Wednesday is usually our busiest day. I wonder what's going on in town today."

"I'm wondering the same."

Adela made her way under a beautiful flowering vine that bordered an archway toward the back of the café. After placing her bag onto an emerald slipper chair tucked underneath a long wooden coffee table, she looked up to take in the view from the window adjacent to her...

And froze. The bell on the door hadn't rung a second time, and when she looked around the café, she had been certain it was empty. Yet someone was already sitting on a cushioned armchair in the corner to Adela's left, heavily into a book she couldn't make the title of. Fighting the urge to take another glance at the mysterious stranger, she took a seat next to her belongings and patiently waited for her coffee.

After what felt like eternity, Rose finally arrived. "Here you go," she said as she placed the coffee in front of Adela. Its scent was heavenly!

"Are you going to the town's fair on Friday night?" Rose asked before turning away.

"This Friday? As in, two days from now?"

Rose nodded.

"I completely forgot about it," Adela said. "I don't think so."

"Oh, why not?"

"I don't know..." she sighed. "With my mother missing, I just find it hard to want to do anything remotely interesting these days. Oh, wait—do you need me there?"

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