The Space Between Us

by Megan Hart

  “I think you did a nice job,” I said.

  She tilted the plate in her hands so it caught the light, and looked at me. “You know why I’ve never used these plates?”

  I shrugged as I moved around the table to stack dishes and gather the used plasticware. “Because most people don’t ever eat dinner in the dining room except for a few times a year?”

  “Because I don’t like them,” Meredith said.

  I looked up. She stared at the plate in her hands, tipping it, turning it. She traced the gold-plated rim with her thumb and glanced at me again.

  “I feel like I got shoved into picking something because it was what people expected, and now I’m stuck with it. And we got a shit ton of this stuff, Tesla. Dinner plates, salad plates, bread plates. A gravy boat.” She laughed bitterly. “Really? A fucking gravy boat. A soup tureen. Who ever uses that shit?”

  “People who like gravy. And soup.” I moved around the table to take the plate from her and put it on the table. “Hey. What’s going on?”

  “You’re mad at me.” She crossed her arms.

  “You were mad at me,” I pointed out. I rubbed her upper arms, gently squeezing. “Ooh, your sweater’s soft.”

  Sorry wasn’t Meredith’s style. With nobody else in the room, though, I guess she deemed it okay to snuggle a little closer to me. “I wish we’d stayed here all day. Charlie’s sister’s dinner was s-o-o-o bad.”

  “Pie will make everything better. I promise. And we could play Uno. I’m not kidding you, it’ll be fun.”

  She nodded, leaning into me for a second or two before pulling away. We made short work of the dishes on the table, though the platters and serving dishes of food would take a second trip. Meredith paused in the archway and looked at the plates in her hands.

  “It’s good you used them,” she said. “Someone should.”

  Chapter 30

  Joy had wasted no time in hiring someone to replace Darek. Brandy was a little older than me, but proudly told me she’d been working in coffee shops since she was in high school. She named a few of them.

  “They’re all closed now,” she said around a mouthful of gum. “Hopefully this place stays in business longer, you know what I mean?”

  She laughed; I didn’t.

  I wasn’t happy that Darek had quit or been fired, whichever it was. I didn’t like that Joy had hired this gum-cracking, hair-whipping chick to take his place without even asking me to be part of the hiring process. And though Joy herself had backed way, way off of me since the day Darek walked out, that wasn’t really what I wanted, either. Not if it meant that coming to work felt like going to prison. In some ways, dealing with her grouchiness was what I’d grown used to. A habit. With her frosty, frigid attitude to me in direct contrast to her almost ludicrous warmth toward Brandy, Joy was making it pretty painful to be on the job.

  Johnny D. noticed. “What’s up with the new girl?”

  I looked across the room to where Brandy was talking to Carlos. She was supposed to be cleaning up the tables, but seemed to have gotten sidetracked. Carlos was casting longing, shifty glances toward his laptop that Brandy didn’t seem to notice or was ignoring.

  “Brandy. I don’t know. Joy hired her.”

  “What happened to Darek?”

  I frothed some milk for Johnny and added a couple pumps of syrup. “He quit. He and Joy got into it last week, and he just bailed.”

  “Huh.” Johnny shrugged the shoulders of his long black coat. “That’s too bad.”

  “Tell me about it.” I handed him the cup and the plate of cheese-stuffed pretzel he’d ordered. “No sweets today?”

  “My kid’s dropping off my grandson in a few minutes. I’ll let him pick. But these looked good.” He eyed the pretzel, then looked up at me. “Is it good?”

  “Oh…I guess so. I haven’t had one yet.” I grinned. “Wanna gimme a bite, big guy?”

  He laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll give you a bite, smart-ass.”

  “Pffft.” I waved a hand. “Bring it. I can handle you.”

  He turned on the charm, just for an instant, but it was enough to prove to me I probably couldn’t handle whatever Johnny D. dished out. “I thought you had a special friend,” he said.

  “Who told you that?”

  He shrugged. “Nobody had to tell me anything. I could see it all over you.”

  “Like a stain?” I suggested wryly.

  “Something like that.” Johnny narrowed his eyes at me. “Suits you.”

  I preened. “Thanks.”

  The bell jingled; it was Johnny’s daughter and his grandson. While the kid ran to him with a squeal, his mom was a little less excited, at least as far as I could tell by her expression. She gave me a half smile, her dad a half hug.

  “I’ll pick him up about seven tonight, if that’s okay. Call me if you need me to get him sooner. Strike that. Have Emm call me when she’s ready for me to come get him,” she said.

  Johnny shook his head, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Nah. We got it covered. Right, pal?”

  “Right.” The kid grinned up at him.

  “Don’t let him eat too much junk,” his mother warned, then looked at me. “One cookie.”

  “Don’t put her in the middle, Kimmy,” Johnny said.

  She sighed. “Dad. You can’t sugar him up and then send him home to be awake half the night.”

  I left them to their argument and headed out to the main floor to wrangle Brandy back behind the counter. Carlos shot me a grateful look as I told her she needed to get back to work. Brandy only looked surprised.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means,” I said, “that I need you in the back prepping sandwiches or even at the counter making drinks.”

  Brandy gave an insulted sniff. “Fine. I was just cleaning up out here.”

  I looked around the unusually empty shop. “And you did a great job. I just need some help up front.”

  The compliment, half-assed and insincere as it was, mollified her. She gave Carlos a smile and went into the back. I rolled my eyes.

  “She’s gonna drive Joy insane, you know that,” he said.

  “Might be the only plus to her working here.” I pretended to peek at his computer screen. “How bad did she kill your page count?”

  “It’s been worse.” He shrugged. “Some days the words come like a porn star, some days they don’t. Hey, so where’s Meredith been lately?”

  It was a question I’d thought about asking her myself. “I guess she’s been busy.”

  “You guys have a fight or something?”

  Surprised, I stepped back. “No. Why?”

  “Seems like you were pretty cozy, that’s all. And now she hasn’t been in for a couple weeks.” Carlos gave me a significant look. “Just wondered, that’s all.”

  I frowned, counting back how long it had been since Meredith had been at the Mocha. “She’s just had other stuff to do, I guess. Not everyone can sit here all day long, you know.”

  He laughed at that. “Too bad, right?”

  “Yeah.” I tapped his shoulder as I passed. “Too bad.”

  But what he’d said stuck with me. Meredith had come into the Mocha three or four days a week without fail for months. Now that we were…well, doing whatever it was we were doing, she barely came in at all. I saw her at home, of course. And I knew she was still doing all the home parties and other work that had occupied her during her hours in the Mocha’s front window. But where was she doing it now?

  I didn’t have time to dwell on it, because another rush started and I had to get to the front. Brandy, for all her experience working in coffee shops, took forever to make the simplest drinks. She blamed it on the different equipment. I blamed it on her inability to walk and chew gum at the same time.

  “My customer,” she said during the midst of the rush. She said it under her breath as she passed behind me to get a muffin from the case, so I couldn’t be sure I heard her right.

  I l
ooked up. “Huh?”

  She jerked her chin toward a spot halfway down the line. “Him. My customer.”

  I scanned the row, some strangers, some regulars, one or two favorites I wasn’t about to give up to Brandy. “Who? You mean…Sadie’s husband?”

  “That guy,” she said with a finger point. “Fourth one back, in the suit.”

  “Yeah. Sadie’s husband.” I had to think hard for a few seconds to recall his name. “Joe.”

  “Yeah, Joe!” Brandy whirled to look at me, the muffin nearly skidding off the plate. “He’s married? You’re kidding me!”

  “Um, no, and please serve that muffin before the dude waiting for it decides to reach across the counter and throttle you for it,” I advised. “He’s hungry and he’s been waiting too long.”

  “Sure, sure.” She pushed past me to serve her customer and ring him up, while I helped the woman behind him.

  It was not as seamless as when Darek and I worked together, not by a long shot, but at least Brandy was picking up the pace. Except for the fact that as the back-and-forth method of serving went, Sadie’s husband was actually my customer, and Brandy was willing to mess up the flow in order to get him.

  “Hi, Joe.” She leaned across the counter, probably to show off her tits in her low-cut shirt. “Long time no see, am I right?”

  Joe didn’t come in here as often as his wife did, but he shot me a smile, anyway. “Hey, Tesla. Hi…?”

  “Brandy,” she told him, as if he should’ve already known. “It’s me. Brandy.”

  A slow, dawning look of unease slipped over his face.

  “…Hi, Brandy.”

  “From Mary Catherine’s coffee shop.” Her voice had gone a little high and squeaky. A giggle slipped out.

  He looked as if he ought to remember her and knew it, but couldn’t quite. “It’s good to see you.”

  “I’ve lost weight,” she said, as if that should explain it all. “Since you saw me last. I used to be bigger.”

  “What can we get you, Joe?” I figured if this transaction was ever going to get finished, I had to be the one pushing it through. Clearly, Brandy couldn’t focus, and Joe was too polite to tell her he had no clue who she was.

  “Ah…large special blend to go and a scone.” He gave me the smile Brandy wanted, and her a small, sideways glance. “Room for cream and sugar, please.”

  “I can get it,” she insisted.

  I wasn’t going to fight her for it. We still had four people left in line and most of the tables filled. I got to work and managed to help the next two people while Brandy struggled with Joe’s order. Finally, she handed him his to-go coffee and the scone wrapped in paper and a bag. She took his money.

  She wasn’t ready to let him go, though. “So…you come in here a lot?”

  Joe, pocketing his change, looked up. “Uh…no. Not really. Sometimes.”

  “You live close by?”

  “How’s Sadie?” I interjected, to give him a break.

  He looked relieved, his smile genuine. “Tired. Cranky.”

  “Won’t be long now. Tell her I asked about her, okay?” I handed my customer her coffee and bagel, rang her up and took her money while Brandy stared longingly at Joe.

  He nodded, backing up. “Will do. See you, Tesla. And…Brandy.”

  At the door he paused and glanced over his shoulder. Something like recognition drifted over his face, though it was hard to see that far away. He nodded at her and went out.

  She sighed. Since I’d waited on the final customers while she was staring after him, there was nobody waiting when she turned to me with big, wet eyes and a trembling mouth. I braced myself.

  “That guy,” she said.

  “Joe.” I washed my hands, something I always did after handling money and before handling food.

  “Him,” Brandy said.

  “Sadie’s husband,” I said, just to hammer it home. “You know him?”

  “He used to come into the shop I worked in before.”

  “Uh-huh.” Drying my hands, I turned. “He’s cute.”

  “Way cute.” She perked up, as if maybe we had something in common. “We used to go out.”

  I found that hard to believe, but didn’t want to say so. “Uh-huh.”

  “Yeah. He’s fantastic in bed.”

  I found that less difficult to believe, but didn’t say that, either. Brandy didn’t need me to answer. She was still staring out after him, forlorn.

  “He’s married?”

  “Yep. His wife’s having a baby any day now.”

  Brandy whipped around to look at me again. “No! Really? Oh. Shit! Damn. That sucks.”

  “I doubt they think so,” I told her with a frown.

  “Why are the good ones always taken?” Brandy huffed.

  “I guess because they’re the good ones.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  My phone buzzed in my pocket, and because nobody was waiting, I answered it. “Hey, sexy pants.”

  “Hi, cutie bum.” Meredith sounded congested. “What’s going on?”

  “Work. Same old. Carlos was asking about you.” I made sure nobody else had come in and nothing needed my attention before I leaned against the counter. I ignored Brandy’s wide-eyed look. “He wants to know why you haven’t been in lately.”

  She coughed. “What’s that saying about the cow and the milk?”

  “Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?”

  “That one. Why pay for the coffee when I have the coffee girl living with me?” She coughed again. “I feel like shit. I called Charlie, but he didn’t answer. Do you think you could pick up some medicine for me?”

  “Sure. What do you need?” Reflexively, I thought of the kiss I’d stolen this morning while she was still sleeping. So far I didn’t feel sick.

  “Something for coughs and headache, fever. Body aches.”

  “Shit, baby, is it the flu? I told you to get the flu shot.”

  “I don’t know what the hell it is.” She sounded annoyed. “Can you just get me the stuff without the lecture?”

  “Sorry. Sure. I can stop after work.”

  Silence. Then a sniffling, snuffling sigh. “I’m sick now, Tesla.”

  I could hear that. “I’m…it’s just me and this new girl in here today, honey. I’m not sure I can get out and run home—”

  “I’ll be okay.” Apparently Brandy had no conception of private conversations, or shame about eavesdropping. “I can handle it.”

  “Who’s that?” Meredith asked with another cough.

  “New girl.” I looked at the clock. I wasn’t due to get out of here until five, when Moira, the part-time chick, came in to relieve me. “I guess I could take my lunch break a little early and use it to run to the store and stuff.”

  “Could you? I really feel like crap,” Meredith said. “Please?”

  I knew Charlie wouldn’t be able to do it until after school ended, which was earlier than I’d be able to get home from work, but still too late for someone who was sick. I hated running errands on my lunch break. “Of course. Let me make sure everything’s under control here and then I’ll go out and get your stuff. Okay? Did you drink some juice or hot tea? Maybe take a hot shower, that might help. Did you call the doctor?”

  “I don’t need a doctor,” Meredith said. “I just need some damn cold medicine, okay? Jesus, Tesla.”

  “I’ll be there in an hour.” I disconnected the call and found Brandy staring at me. “What?”

  “I can handle things here while you go get stuff for your boyfriend,” she said.

  “It wasn’t my boyfriend.”

  “Oh. It sounded like your boyfriend.” A lightbulb went on in her formerly dark attic. “Oh! Friend with bennies? I got it.”

  “She’s my girlfriend,” I said deliberately, to mess with her.

  Brandy recoiled. “Oh.” She recovered, barely, enough to add, “That’s cool. That’s totally cool with me.”

  “Really? Good.
I’m so glad it’s cool with you.”

  Sarcasm didn’t seem to be her strong point. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s all good. No hate, right?”

  I sighed. “Brandy. Whatever. I need to run out, but I’ll be back in a couple hours. Can you handle things here, really? Because I can see if Moira can come in…”

  “No! I mean, is that her name? Your girlfriend?”

  I wanted to shake her. “Moira is the girl who works the evening shift. She is not my girlfriend.”

  “Oh. Okay. Phew.” Brandy’s nervous giggle was even more annoying than her general one, something I hadn’t thought was possible. “No, really. I’m fine for a couple hours. It’s not even busy in here.”

  But it could be at any moment. I looked at the clock again. We usually had another rush between three and four. I should be back by then, no problem. If Joy was here she’d never have let me go, and I was sure if she found out about it I’d never hear the end of it, but I couldn’t ask Brandy to keep it a secret. And did it matter? I was going whether I had to face Joy’s wrath or not.

  It took me half an hour in the pharmacy to pick out what I thought Meredith would need and another ten minutes to get it home. I carried the bags up to her bedroom, which was dim. She was in bed with the TV on. I climbed on top of the comforter to lay out what I’d brought.

  She sniffled and shifted higher on the pillows. “Thanks.”

  I held up a bottle. “Coughs, cold, fever, body aches. This other one is for nighttime. This one is for cough suppression. I didn’t know which you needed—expectorant or whatever.”

  She made a face. “Gross. I need something to make this headache go away and for a sore throat.”

  I rustled in the bags and pulled out more bottles. We settled on a combination of liquids and pills, which I served her along with some water and orange juice I’d also picked up. I pulled out a couple cans of soup, too.

  “Hungry? I can make this for you before I head back.”

  “Canned soup?” Meredith made another face. “Fat and sodium in dead chicken juice, no thanks.”

  “It’s supposed to make you feel better. Sorry I don’t have time to make you some fresh,” I told her. “Maybe when I get home tonight.”