Amanda woke up feeling hot and suffocated. She stretched her arms out and looked down, realizing that there was something else under the covers with her. Pulling her covers back, she saw Hudson’s sweatshirt. She immediately threw it at the end of her bed. How did she fall asleep with that last night? She remembered taking it off while she was talking with Tabitha and didn’t remember grabbing the garment again after that. She looked over to the other side of the room where her roommate was still sleeping.
She smiled.
It had felt good to talk with Tabitha last night, telling her about what happened and actually hearing everything out loud instead of instant replay in her head. She thought it was going great until when she finished the story and looked up at her roommate, she was asleep. She was hoping to get Tabitha’s advice on this, but it would have to wait. She needed to get up and start getting ready for her shift at the café.
When Amanda got to the café, Ruby had a heartfelt smile for her.
“Good morning, sugar. I’m sure happy to see you this morning,” Ruby says to her.
“Morning, Ruby, has it been busy?” Amanda asked.
Ruby nodded. “To say the least. A couple of people called out this morning. I’m sure it was due to the beautiful day outside and they didn’t want to be stuck inside most of the day. But we are doing the best we can with what we got.”
Amanda nodded and smiled. She took Ruby’s place at the register, knowing that her and Ruby’s work flowed better when she was on the register and Ruby was on making the drinks.
It was just before noon before they started to slow down and catch their breath. It was a warm day, and the fans in the shop were doing their best to keep the place cool. Amanda grabbed a menu to fan herself with as Ruby misted herself with a spray bottle.
The door chimed as a customer walked in. Amanda turned and smiled as she recognized the man as her professor from her English class.
Ruby mumbled, “Oh Lord love a duck” and continued to wipe down the counters, turning her back to the customer.
Amanda turned to look at Ruby, shocked to hear something other than a cheery attitude from her.
“Hi, Professor Warren. What can I get for you today?” Amanda asked.
“Well, if it isn’t Miss Stevens. I didn’t know you were working here with Ruby,” Professor Warren said as he gave her his charming smile.
Amanda smiled and shook her head at the same time. Yes, her professor was handsome, but there was just something about him that didn’t make her fawn all over him as the other girls did.
“Yes, Ruby was wonderful enough to hire me. Now, do you know what you would like? I could give you a minute if you need one.”
“Let’s see here, I’ll have a medium chai latte with milk.”
Ruby spun around at that moment, put on a fake smile, and said, “Sorry, we’re all out of that.”
Professor Warren didn’t let his smile falter when Ruby talked to him. Instead, he turned his charm up a notch.
“Then what do you have available for me, my sweet Ruby?”
“Zachary, I’m not your sweet anything, and I’ve got nothing for you here,” she said with a huff.
Amanda whispered softly to Ruby, “Maybe you should let me handle this one and you go in the back and cool down.”
Ruby knew exactly what Amanda was doing. She narrowed her eyes at the girl and pursed her lips before saying, “Thank you. Don’t mind if I do.”
She looked over at Zachary one last time, and while he twiddled his fingers at her, she simply rolled her eyes and walked into the back.
“Never gets old, that Ruby,” Professor Warren said out loud.
“I’m not even going to ask.”
“It’s a long story, but Ruby and I go way back. I’m sure if you ask her, she will be more than willing to tell you the story,” he said with a sigh. “Of course, in her version, she has me as the bad guy. Once you hear her side, you should ask me then for my side. I’ll tell you the true story.”
Amanda just continued to smile. She couldn’t wait to get this story out of Ruby, provided that she was willing to tell it.
“Alright, Professor, I’ll make you that chai latte, but it will have to be to go. I can’t have you riling up Ruby right now. I need her helping me.”
Professor Warren laughed. “Fair enough. Thank you, Miss Stevens. I’ll see you in class on Monday.”
“Bye now.”
And the second the bell rang from the door, Ruby immediately popped her head out from the back.
“Is the coast clear?”
Amanda laughed but nodded.
“That damn fool gets to me every time. Just as soon as I think I’m past all his foolish games, he pulls me right back in.”
“I’ve got to hear this story.”
Ruby looked at her, shocked. “What story?”
“The story about you and the professor,” Amanda said with a knowing smile.
“Oh, pish posh, there’s not much to tell,” Ruby said with a wave of her hand.
Amanda stared at her for a moment with her eyebrow raised. She knew that Ruby was trying to pull the wool over her eyes, but she wasn’t buying it.
Ruby rolled her eyes, “Fine, go and put the closed sign up. I’m not going to be good to anyone after I tell this story.”
Amanda quickly ran around the corner and flipped the sign to say they were closed and locked the door. She continued to quickly clean and get everything situated for the next workers that would be taking over their shifts. Ruby counted the drawer and told Amanda to go sit in a booth in the back. Once Ruby was done, she grabbed a bottle from the lower shelf that was tucked in the back and brought over a glass. Amanda had already made herself something to drink and anxiously waited for Ruby. when Ruby got to the booth, she plopped the bottle that was filled with amber liquid in front of Amanda.
Amanda looked at it for a moment and then looked at Ruby with her head tilted and an arched brow.
“Don’t judge me. Do you want to hear this or not?” Ruby told her.
Amanda put both of her hands up in surrender.
Ruby pulled herself a small glass of amber liquid and closed her eyes as she sipped the drink. She took a deep breath and then opened her eyes and looked at Amanda.
“I grew up in a small town like you, not too far from here. There was a small group of us who all grew up together. It was me, my older brother Bobby, his best friend Zachary, my best friend Lily, Aaron, Travis, Sonia, and Bridget. My brother and Zachary were just a few years older than me and Lily. At first, we all just tolerated each other a we grew up.”
Ruby took another small drink and sighed.
“It wasn’t until I got into high school that I fell for my brother’s best friend.”