Night Life {Watty Awards Finalist 2012}

Chapter 15

I stood in front of the sleeping figure of Tay wondering how I could possibly go pick up the coffees Jaime had told me to get. It was nearly 10 and Tay and I had had so much fun during the day that she fell right asleep at her bedtime. I figured I could carry her to La Bonne, since it wasn't that far. But at the same time, she was pretty heavy, even for a four year old.

Sighing, I decided that suffering the weight would be the better option than leaving a four year old unattended for an hour, so I picked her up gingerly. She slumped over, resting her head on my shoulder, mumbling something incoherently. I wondered for a moment what she was dreaming about. Then I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder and walked out the door.

As I walked, I realized that this was a terrible idea. I should have just called Jaime and told her to pick the coffees up herself. The more steps I took, the more this seemed like a horrible, horrible idea. But then, I saw the lights of La Bonne. Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickened my steps and reached the door. Pushing it open using my knee and hip, I stepped in.

With a grunt, I set Tay down in one of the plush booths and stood up, rubbing my lower back. When I stood up straight, I realized that the cafe wasn't empty like I had expected it to be. There were three occupants: Jim the future music producer, Serena, and...Caleb.

Caleb?

"Hey," Serena said, smiling at me.

"Umm, hey," I replied, walking up to her. Caleb was actually sitting across the table from her. He glanced up at me when I walked over.

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'm all right," I said.

"Did you kidnap Tay?" Caleb asked me, nodding his head at the sleeping girl.

"No, I offered to watch her for Jaime. She had to work a late shift tonight," I said. He nodded. I looked at him a moment, blinking.

"I'm just picking up some coffee..." I trailed off.

"That's usually the reason people come into a cafe for," Serena piped in.

I looked at her, forgetting that she was there for a moment. Then I registered the scene that was before me. Caleb and Serena were sitting at the same table and had been chatting before I got there. I was fairly certain that I had introduced the two to each other that one night about a week ago.

"Yeah..." I said lamely. Then I backed up slightly, my gaze still on Caleb, whose eyes stared back at me. I turned completely and went to the desk to order the coffees from Jeanette. It was strange, though, because Jeanette wasn't there. Instead, there was a bitter looking man that had an eye twitch. I ordered the coffees and heard someone come up behind me. I didn't have to turn around to see who it was.

"Are you meeting with Jaime tonight?" Caleb asked. I nodded, turning to face him.

"She has to pick up her kid. And we have some things to discuss," I said. He nodded.

I studied his face for a moment. He looked tired, like he hadn't slept since that night at the hospital. His face was pale and the dark circles under his eyes were more prominent than ever. His hair hung limply around his face and his eyes raged on and on and on...

"How's Liam?" I asked. He looked down at his scuffed up shoes.

"He's better," he replied, but I knew that he was lying.

"That's good to hear," I said nonetheless. Caleb looked up sharply and suddenly, as if he couldn't belive I fell for his lie.  But when he met my gaze, his expression softened.