Simple Submission

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Aubrey was again behind the counter at The Grind but today she was learning to make steamed milk for the many drinks they offered there.  Jake hadn't trusted her with any of the machines at first.  Now that she had been employed for nearly two months he apparently thought it was safe for her to start making lattes and cappuccinos.

Ethan had disappeared from her life as quickly as he had entered it.  She knew it had only been a whim for him, but it didn't make it hurt any less.  After the debacle that was there second date, now known to her as 'the incident' was concluded he had never returned to the coffee shop.  She checked all of the CS servers but he was never in any of them, that or he had changed his screen name.  She didn't know his last name; she had never gotten his phone number. Other than the mark he left on her heart there was no proof he had ever existed.

Her cousin didn't really understand, but Ethan had been the only person to ever make her feel beautiful.  She resisted the idea but she still felt it.  She wasn't pining per se; she just wished it wouldn't have ended like it did, so abruptly.

For the first few days after 'the incident' she would watch for him to come in to the coffee shop.  She had thought that maybe he was just embarrassed but that didn't seem to be the case as all contact was dropped completely.  As the weeks went by however, she began to think something all together different.  What if he was into the lifestyle and was trying to see if she would be open and receptive to it?  If that were the case she may have made the biggest mistake in her life.  She had immediately stopped that train of thought before it got out of hand.

Her mind had been wandering as she steamed the milk and her fingers twisted the valve a little more than she thought.  Scalding milk bubbled over the edge of the stainless steel container scorching her fingers.  She dropped the container spilling the contents all over herself and the floor.  She cried out as hot steam continued to pour from the nozzle, the safety having gotten jammed when she jumped.  Jacob ran over to her and spun the valve closing it glaring at Aubrey.

"Clean up this mess, and go home," he bellowed.

Her hands were shaking as cleaned up the spilt milk.  She quickly gathered her things and scampered out the door.  She hoped that she still had a job tomorrow.  Cheryl's car was in the shop so she had borrowed Aubrey's to run some errands promising to pick her up at the end of her shift.  She still had about 3 hours before Cheryl was due back and didn't want to call and tell her cousin that she had been sent home for screwing up.  Cheryl had practically begged Jacob to give her the job and Aubrey knew messing up reflected poorly on her.

The Grind was located pretty centrally in downtown so she decided to walk around and check out some of the boutiques that had been popping up left and right.  She browsed the window displays checking out the new trends in fashion that she would probably never be caught dead in.  Who thought skinny jeans were a good idea?

She stood on the street corner for a moment near a large stone planter with decorative plants and a large oak tree providing shade to shoppers.

One shop caught her eyes from across the street, in the window was a great corset paired with a skirt and petty coat.  She loved the way skirts flowed and waited for several cars to pass.  As a large SUV lumbered across her field of vision and stopped at the light she noticed, through the windows, a group of beautiful people walk around the corner towards the shop.

Her jaw dropped, there right in front of her was Ethan with two of the most gorgeous women she had ever seen clinging to his arms laughing and jumping with glee, skipping into the store that had been her intended destination.

Her breathing became ragged, though her vision had been slightly skewed due to the window glass of the SUV there was no doubt in her mind that that had been Ethan.  The gorgeous Asian angel and blonde bombshell that had been with him explained why she hadn't seen him.  Who would want to be around someone like her when he could have that?