“Can I help you?” I say, sugar sweet even though we both know she can’t stand me.
“I heard what you did to that garage next door. I wanted to come and express my bitter disappointment. I have dear friends that come into this café and you can be assured they won’t be returning after they know what you’ve done.”
Oh, so it was her that spread the word.
Nosy old bitch.
“I see you got a haircut, Karen,” I say sweetly, nodding at her hair which is now cut without the “Karen” fringe.
“My name isn’t Karen,” she scoffs.
“Could have fooled me. Do you enjoy sticking your nose into other people’s business or am I just the lucky one?”
She crosses her arms. “I’m simply sharing the truth.”
“No cats allowed in my café, either.” I point to her dog.
She looks horrified. “Fifi is a dog!”
I stare at the fluffy mess of a dog. “Could have fooled me,” I say, narrowing my eyes and pretending to really study it. “You called your dog Fifi?”
She exhales angrily. “You are so rude!”
“I’m rude?” I say, crossing my arms. “You don’t even know me and you’ve been throwing the evil eye at me since I opened this café. Now you’re in here threatening to run my customers out the door. You need a reality check, lady, because you’ve got some serious issues.”
Her face grows red. “This used to be my store!”
Oh.
Now it makes sense.
It’s all coming together.
I was told when I purchased this space that the owner beforehand couldn’t afford rent so the bank took it off them and put it up for sale. I felt bad of course, but business is business, and if you can’t afford it someone else will.
“How was I supposed to know that?”
She wiggles her finger at me. “I was going to make the repayments but by the time I had the money you’d swooped in and bought my place out from beneath me.”
“Once again, how was I supposed to know that?”
“Now you’re here running this awful café, with music and loud noise. It’s horrible. You’ve caused nothing but troubles since you’ve moved in.”
“Firstly,” I say, angrily, “my café is incredibly successful and my customers love me. You’re just angry because your chance went down the toilet. I’m sorry for that but I purchased this space fair and square, and I did it through the right legal channels. Now, you’re holding up my line, Karen, if you don’t mind.”
“My name is not Karen!” she shrieks. “It’s Susan.”
I snort.
“No kidding,” I grin.
“You rude, rude, young lady.”
I take a deep breath. “You came in here, Susan, and started this. I have done nothing wrong to you and you’ve never given me a chance to show you that I’m actually a really nice person. If you treat me badly, I’ll treat you badly. Now, would you like something or are you going to be leaving?”
“I would never eat here! Come on, Fifi!”
She spins on her heel, and I watch her go, slamming the door so loudly the bell actually dislodges and falls onto the ground. I exhale and rub my temples. I don’t know why she seems to think I have anything to do with her fate, but she really fucking hates me.
I’m tired of people hating me.
My café is emptier than it’s ever been, and my heart is heavy.
“Hey,” Ramona says coming out from the kitchen. “It’ll get better.”
She squeezes my shoulder. “Will it? This could ruin my café and everything I’ve worked for.”
“We’ll find out who lit that fire, and we’ll make sure the town knows it. When they do, the customers will come crawling back.”
God, I hope she’s right.
I turn to her and give her a hug.
“Also, you calling that old bag Karen made my fucking day.”
We both laugh.
“I have to go do my nursing placement this week. I’m up for a job so I’m hoping I’ll get it. Do you want me to help you find someone to replace me?”
Ramona is starting her time as a nurse, and she’s finally got placement. She’s been studying for years, and I’m super proud of her. I hope she makes a big name for herself. I’ll miss her around here, but I can get more staff.
“I’ll be fine, just let me know when you need to go. Have you heard about Adan?”
She nods. “I actually did see him in the hospital when I was there yesterday. He’s got bad burns to both his hands, he’s in a lot of pain and will probably need a fair bit of time to recover. He’ll go home in a week, he has a few surgeries ahead of him. I think there is damage to his hands, so he’ll need rehab.”
My heart drops. “That’s horrible.”
“He’s alive, honey. It could be worse.”
Yeah, maybe.
Right now it feels like nothing could be worse.
Nothing at all.
“HEY.” CARMEN SMILES, strolling into the café later that afternoon just as I’m packing up for the day.
“Hey,” I say to her, wondering where she has been the last few days. I haven’t seen much of her. “How are you?”
“Good. I heard what happened next door, that’s awful. Was anyone hurt?”
I nod. “One of the bikers got burned on the arm, but he’s okay. They were lucky. They think it was me, so now Riggs isn’t talking to me.”
Her eyes widen. “They think it was you? Why?”
“Because we’ve had that stupid war going and they think I’m dumb enough to go and do something like that.”
“So you two aren’t together now?”
I shake my head, wiping a table before stacking the chairs. “No, we’re not, not that we ever were. He hates me, I’m certain of it. He refuses to admit we had something and told me he doesn’t care about anyone. So that’s over.”
She steps forward and reaches out to hug
