Blue at Midnight

by S D Wile

  “Hi I’m Izzie,” I said.

  “Izzie?”

  “Yep that’s what I’m called.” With strangers I preferred to be as vague as possible.

  “Well… Izzie, nice to meet you. My name is Cale.” Unpleasantly, he gripped my hand almost squeezing it and letting go before I had a chance to react. Offended by his rude intrusion I glared at Hugo who clearly hadn’t noticed as he was too busy organising the merchandise.

  Impatiently I shoved Sonia out of the coffee house as she was moving as slow as a snail ahead of me, preventing me from making a speedy getaway from Cale’s slimy presence.

  During the college day I was hoping to see Christian, but instead I accidentally locked eyes with the college viper! Today, she was wearing a black and white pencil skirt accompanied by a suffocating black polo neck, with her hair in a neat bun. Furthermore her open-toe suede high-heeled sandals clattered along the wooden floor creating an annoying echo.

  “Check her out. Funny how she’s tied up the bird’s nest this time. She looks like…”

  “A walking liquorice stick,” I mocked before bursting out into giggles, distracting the bitter but not so sweet Jenny from her imaginary catwalk, causing her to stop and hiss at us. I suppose this was a good sign. At least she was learning to back off. On the other hand Sonia was bursting to say something but I hushed her (provoking Jenny was never a good thing).

  Chidlow hadn’t noticed me and the morning passed pleasingly. Things were getting back to normal. As I sat in the cafeteria I felt relieved; the bloodied chair incident was solved, my family started to give me space again and work was going well. That’s when I remembered Craig.

  “So are you going to eat that flapjack or are you waiting to find someone worth throwing it at?” Standing above me was a smiling pair of ocean-blue eyes waiting for my response. I didn’t know that’s what Christian’s smile looked like; playful and cheeky like his thoughts.

  “Do you think vipers would eat flapjacks if that was the only thing they had to eat?” Watching him pretending to ponder this question made me grin. I wondered if he knew who I was talking about.

  “If you stick a fat-free sign on it then yes. So where’s your partner in crime?”

  “Very funny! She’s gone to the ladies.”

  “So why are you here?” he asked.

  “What do you mean? I’m having a flapjack.”

  “Clearly… From my observations you ladies tend to go in packs.” Confusion filled my face for a few seconds until he placed his elbows on the table, leaned forward and raised his eyebrows.

  “Oh whatever. You’re in a good mood today.”

  “I know. You’d be surprised considering I had a break-in last night. Thankfully nothing was taken and all of my furniture remained intact.” It was very rare that someone would outwit me but this was certainly the first time I was left gobsmacked. Probably because my preferred response to him would have been a cheeky kick under the table but I wasn’t brave enough. Therefore, I decided to slowly lean back in my chair and take a sip of my English tea whilst holding his gaze with my smiling eyes.

  “Well, I’ll see you around and thank you.” Abruptly, he jumped off the chair only to sneakily take a bite out of my flapjack and wink. Entertained and intrigued, I watched how rapidly he moved through the crowd of students then out of the canteen doors.

  “Fraternising with the enemy.” Startled by the unimpressed tone in my best friend’s voice, I knocked the remaining flapjack onto the floor.

  “Good, it was probably poisonous anyway,” snapped Sonia as she wrapped it up in a tissue from her pocket before throwing it into the canteen bin.

  Finally I had managed to iron out all the creases in my life with Christian being an exciting and positive addition to it. The last thing I needed was Sonia scaring him off. Even though she meant well I felt I had to explain that Christian wasn’t bad, he was just someone trying to make a good change in his life.

  My recollection of Christian’s story was somewhat vague. I told her that I had unexpectedly bumped into him (which was true) and managed to convince him to tell me his story.

  “That’s crazy! So was he a part of a gang or a cult?” Sonia questioned.

  “No I didn’t think it was right to ask. By the way he spoke, I could tell it was a very personal and private matter and it would have been rude of me to delve further. It’s not like we’ve had to explain anything about our personal lives to him,” I explained. From Sonia’s next few lines I could tell that the excitement of hearing fresh gossip had died. She promised that this conversation would stay between us.

  Chapter 26

  With Sonia’s help I’d successfully avoided the college mentor during break times. Yet I was starting to get sick of having to be constantly alert. Hopefully, over time she would stop searching for me every time she passed through the canteen during lunchtimes. Maybe my paranoia was getting the best of me and she was looking for someone else but that didn’t change the fact that I was also on her list.

  Turned out the college was having a visit from the never seen before dean accompanied by a few of his wealthy pals. For the first time Chidlow lectured standing up with a smile. If you hadn’t been to her classes before you’d actually think she loved her job.

  The canteen was immaculate. Not that it wasn’t clean and tidy before but this time it looked brand new.

  “Look!” Sonia almost poked my eye out with a spoon she grabbed off the rack. “You can see your reflection!” she gasped whilst pointing at a window. Well if that wasn’t enough to impress the dean it certainly was enough to impress Sonia.

  “Fancy that. I’m surprised it hasn’t blinded some,” I mocked whilst cocking my head towards Jenny, who had glanced at her reflection in every window she had walked past.

  During the car ride home I told Sonia that it was so strange to see how life carried on, after someone died.

  “Sometimes life chews you up and spits you back out leaving you at your lowest. Then there’s times it engulfs you completely,” Sonia stated.

  “I just don’t understand how Craig’s dead, just like that and from being poisoned.”

  “I know! I’m sure there’s a police investigation underway as no one just consumes a rare poison.”

  “I agree, but I’m not keen on going to work and seeing that weird replacement. You know he actually squeezed my hand when he shook it.” Sonia’s left eyebrow lifted so high in astonishment that it nearly flew onto her dashboard. She thought it was too much of a coincidence that this strange guy managed to charm his way into a job that wasn’t even advertised.

  “Seriously, we’re in a recession! Jobs sit on top of a mountain peak these days. Your application has to be chosen amongst hundreds, then the phone interview, then a group interview, throw in a couple more interviews, observations and a magic trick and even then the decision is between you and someone who has got more experience but has been made redundant.” A serious rant but she was right and even Hugo preferred to hire people he was familiar with. That’s what made him consider me. I was a regular at Coffee Time and after a few general conversations he got to know me. Therefore when I thought about getting a job I decided to start at Coffee Time and he considered trying me on a trial basis, which I thought was fair enough. In addition to this, Hugo was a family man and very sensitive towards the feelings of others. Replacing Craig like this seemed quite the opposite.

  As she parked up on my drive I told her to wait so that I could hand over her rucksack which kept on reminding me of the illegal activity we had carried out. Just as I was about to put the keys into the door, it opened to reveal my sister Naomi welcoming me in.

  “Where’s your car?” I asked her.

  “Is Sonia not coming in?”

  “No, she’s in a hurry so I’ve just got to pass her some of the things I borrowed.” Nosily Naomi watched me race up the stairs to bring down a large rucksack.

  “What’s in that?” I ignored her as I rushed passed her, out of the house
and placed it in the boot of Sonia’s car. When I entered the house again she was still standing in the landing area with her arms crossed and her eyebrows lifted, which was her way of showing me she’d been waiting for her answer.

  “Well where’s your car then?” I asked her again. After a huff she told me that she was having new brake pads fitted at a garage, which was walking distance from here. I nodded in response.

  “Nice to see you Izzie. How’s your day been? You must be so tired. Take a seat while I put the kettle on,” I said as an attempt to remind her of the greeting I preferred. After grinning she repeated my words and did just that. I was surprised by her co-operation, as lately she’d been as suspicious as my father about my whereabouts but maybe she was able to see me, for once, and not a helpless version of me.

  When my mother was alive we frequently sat in front of the fireplace laughing about the funny comments my grandmother used to make and the latest events in our lives. Sadly, that all disappeared with her and no matter how many times I tried to talk to my sister it never was the same. Naomi couldn’t speak as openly as she used to about her life but today seemed like another opportunity to try again.

  Ten minutes later I was taking tiny sips from a milky cup of tea which was exactly how Naomi liked it but I wasn’t going to say anything.

  “So how’s college?”

  “Same as usual. Some things never change.” This wasn’t the complete truth but it was enough for now. “I got my job back at Coffee Time.”

  “Yeah, I know. Dad mentioned it.” I was surprised.

  “He said you’ve been quite busy lately.”

  “Yeah, I see you’ve got a new watch,” I told her.

  “I thought I’d treat myself.” This felt more awkward than ever, probably because in the back of her mind she thought I was recovering from a complete breakdown. Our relationship was like a piece of glass.

  “When’s your car going to be ready?”

  “Should have been done by now,” she stated whilst looking down at her silver, skinny bangle watch. I told her to call the garage as I was running out of things to say to her. Within ten minutes her car was ready and she left.

  Chapter 27

  Being woken up by a phone call an hour before my alarm panicked me. Today was supposed to be dedicated to studying. There were no classes but the college was open and we had recently been given a new assignment. I preferred to complete my work as soon as possible so I wouldn’t be stressing longer than I needed to be, like many other students.

  Surprised to see the name Coffee Time on my mobile screen I answered the phone to an unfamiliar voice.

  “Hello is this Izzie?”

  “Yeah, who is this?” No matter how much I tried I could never clear the croakiness out of my voice in the morning.

  “Sorry to wake you up but you were supposed to be here half an hour ago.”

  “What? That’s not right. I checked the rota two days ago and who is this?”

  “It’s Cale and it looks like you must have read it wrong.” Frustrated I told him I’d be there in half an hour. If he was wrong I’d make sure he wouldn’t be standing around long enough to finish his shift, let alone give orders! On the taxi ride there, confusion continued to develop every time I tracked back to the few minutes I had spent reading that rota. I’d never made a mistake like this before. Having given the wrong impression of myself to Cale, I hoped he wouldn’t use this incident to undermine me as I was not in the mood for silly games.

  With my mind unprepared for a shift, I waltzed into the empty coffee house at 9:30 a.m. having missed the morning rush. Cale was standing behind the coffee bar with the rota in his hand.

  “Have a look for yourself if you don’t believe me.” My Sunday shift had been swapped for today and to my horror I noticed every shift this week was with this smug looking individual.

  “My shift has been swapped since the last time I checked.” Cale shrugged in response which I thought was quite rude.

  “Coffee?”

  “No I’m fine,” I answered trying to control the croakiness in my voice.

  “Are you sure? You were in bed roughly thirty minutes ago.” Suddenly, I felt like he’d poured a bucket of ice-cold water over my head. What I did in my own time was nothing to do with him. I glanced at him only to see an unexpected smile which played across his mildly tanned face as he made a hot beverage for two. Yesterday he looked rather pale but today his skin was radiant.

  Stop staring at him shouted a voice in my head. Realising what I’d been doing I busied myself straightening the chairs and the tables until he offered me a soya chai tea latte. Clearly, he had been paying more attention than I expected. Knowing Hugo, the only reason that I would’ve been put on the same shifts as him was to train him. Craig used to do the training of new employees.

  Every couple of minutes I glanced towards the front door hoping for a flurry of customers but it never happened. Instead I locked eyes with Cale only to abruptly turn away. Meanwhile my mind decided to reflect on how I ended up here, feeling like this. Not one of my best ideas as I started to feel awful. This was his new job and I was treating him like he had an infectious disease. I looked into the large mirror on the back wall. Hugo thought this was perfect for spotting any trouble.

  Cale had actually finished re-arranging the sandwiches and was now looking through the front window at the empty street.

  “You worked in a coffee shop before?” I asked, knowing he’d told Hugo he had years of experience. He didn’t even turn around to face me when he replied.

  “I’ve done a lot of work. My last job was very… would you say the term ‘hands on’ is the right one to use? I’ve heard it said a lot.” I moved towards him wondering what it was on the street that had caught his gaze. Next I was standing right next to him, curiously searching for anything besides cars driving past and the odd elderly person taking their daily stroll. There was nothing of possible interest there so I looked back at him, thinking he wouldn’t notice. Little did I know his face was barely five centimeters from mine. He bent his head, almost aligning his amazingly symmetrical features against mine. Strangely, for a few seconds I couldn’t move, and my body became a stubborn structure which my mind was hysterically demanding to move. Finally I broke free only to misjudge the amount of force required and knocked over a mini vase of bluebells before hitting the ground myself. Confused by what had just happened I looked around wondering where the vase had fallen but instead it was sitting high up on the table looking down at me.

  “Izzie, Izzie,” his voice had a slight echo. What on earth had just happened? I asked myself. Cale was kneeling down to my left. Wearing a concerned expression he asked me if I was OK.

  “Sorry. I’m OK. I just slipped.” I hurried myself up and looked around wondering how there wasn’t even a single drop of water on the table.

  “Did you pick up the vase?”

  “No.”

  “I thought I’d knocked it over.”

  “You were close but not close enough,” Cale smiled back. Something was odd; I was feeling a bit unstable on my feet. Thankfully lunchtime arrived and our first group of customers washed over the awkward atmosphere as they made their way towards the counter. Both of us went to serve and nothing was mentioned of this peculiar incident again. When the queues started to decrease I decided to leave Cale behind the counter. There were enough customers to keep a single person busy. This gave me an opportunity to do a stock take in the quickest time ever whilst pondering over what had happened to me.

  The more I replayed the incident in my mind, the more disorientated I became. I was sure of one thing: something forced me to keep still and that was why I couldn’t move. This all happened when Cale’s hypnotic glare was upon me. Somehow he was around me as well as in front of me, crushing me from each direction. I didn’t want to spend any more time with this person. He was setting my instincts on high alert.

  At the end of my shift I decided to call Hugo but then I imagined the conver
sation we would have. No matter how many times I reworded it, it sounded unhelpful. Now the cloud above my head was starting to rain. To work this shift I had cancelled a day of laughs and giggles with Sonia. No money in the world could have replaced the amount of fun we would have had. Meanwhile toasting sandwiches and serving as many customers as I could drove the time forward speedily.

  “Hello Izzie.” Hugo’s voice washed all the concern off my face, triggering a smile that stretched from the right side of the coffee house to the left.

  “You’re looking happy today.”

  “It’s working with me,” interrupted Cale. I could have whacked him across the head with a baguette if I wasn’t so spooked by him.

  “Very funny. So Hugo, what brings you here? You working?” Desperate for a ‘yes’ I stared at him hoping he could read my eyes whilst Cale uninvitingly moved closer.

  “Well, I got up this morning and realised I’d forgotten to tell you I changed your shifts so I came here worried, thinking this poor lad might have been here all by himself but no, you managed to get here.”

  “Oh don’t worry Hugo. I called Sleeping Beauty this morning to let her know. I’ve got it all under control.” I just couldn’t help myself so I rudely nudged him with my elbow before swiftly moving away in case he returned the gesture or even worse. With Hugo present I was feeling stupidly courageous. The look on Cale’s face showed an unconcealed grin which made me move to the front of the counter, right next to Hugo.

  “You know I’m flexible, happy to help. I’ve done the stock take. Also I noticed that you put me on the same shifts as him.”

  “Yes, I thought you could train him. Is that OK?”

  “Urm oh, err yeah sure,” I lied.

  “Right I’m working the afternoon Izzie. I only put you down on the rota to work till one and it’s now half past so I’ll take it from here. Unfortunately Leah’s not able to do the afternoon shift so I’m covering for her.”

  This was what it must’ve felt like to win the lottery. I raced into the back to grab my jacket then texted Sonia to meet me at a bookstore on the high street. Excited by my new-found freedom Sonia phoned me back straight away stating that freedom was something to be celebrated. Therefore, we decided to go to a restaurant with a bar that also did non-alcoholic beverages for Sonia as she was driving.