Mere inches from the doorway and already I could hear his booming voice practically rattling all the items and ingredients I've meticulously organized right out of their shelves.

On the call was my best guess, proven right when I quietly shuffled in and saw him swiveling in his chair, his smartphone looking more like a plastic knock-off toy when buried in his burly fingers.

We made eye contact, and he looked grumpy, well grumpier than usual anyway.. a clear flag waving the winds of danger, so I stepped back, politely waiting for him to finish.

Thought he needed the privacy, but apparently he himself couldn't have cared any less for it, he jumped out of his seat, started to pace, continuing on as loud as he's always been.

"Second voicemail now, didn't you say you were going to get a new phone soon? You told me you were. You'll keep hearing from me until you pick up."

Thank God Nick's focus was elsewhere, had he been looking at me, he'd probably wonder what's the guilt on my face for.

"Anyway, yeah, forgot to say good morning," Nick paced for a bit more in silence, before collapsing back into his seat. "Call me back."

Reading the room was like an open book, clearly, he wasn't much in the mood for talking, but.. I'm just gonna have to pretend that I was illiterate for the moment.

I stepped forward, but then before I could even say a word, he snapped up with a glare, and I froze.

"Barely a week, and you're taking a few days leave already," Nick grumpily grumbled. "You must have been working really hard."

I didn't say anything to that, not that I even wanted to anyway. I let him have his snark.

"If it were up to me, you'd be fired already," He continued on, as drawl as always. "Lucky for you, it isn't."

"There's a bit of trouble happening back home, trouble I'm needed for," I explained to him. "It's the family type. Trust me, I wouldn't be going if it wasn't ser - "

"Save it, your boss already explained it to me," He hunched down at the computer, clicking the keys with long stubby fingers. "You're lucky she likes you.. mmm, perhaps a little too much too."

Yeah, even I was surprised that Hayley allowed me to take off without so much as a word of admonishment. Any other employer and they'd be calling me out as the lazy half-ass employee that I seemingly was.

"But it's like you said, it's for family, right?" He turned an eye to me. "That's not some bullshit reason to laze around at home all day?"

"No bullshit," I said, meeting his single-eye gaze. "And I think you know I mean that."

"Okay," He dropped the look, resumed clicking even more keys. "Finish your shift, then you can start packing your bags. Good luck sorting your troubles."

Somehow he even manages to turn well-wishes to sound like some backhanded insult even though it wasn't. Guess it's all about tone.

"Anyway, uh, Nick, do you - "

"Don't you have customers to serve?" He interrupted. "Get back to work, Hero."

"Been here long enough to know how things work, like you said, and I know new customers won't be coming in for another ten minutes at least."

"You want to talk about something, I can tell," Nick said without looking up from his work. "Save it. I'm not in the mood to talk."

"Why?"

"I'm not in the mood to tell you."

"Then allow me to take a guess," I took a step forward. "Family troubles?"

The clicking stopped dead. "Mind your own business."

Maybe any other time, those words with that tone of voice would have been enough to have me backing off, but now..

"I just have a few questions, I don't really wanna poke and prod here."

"Sure.."

"Look," I began, easing it as politely as I could in such intrusive topics. "I just noticed it seems to be a touchy subject between Hayley and you, and if I don't ask now I'd just want to know more later.. and between your sister and you, who would you rather I hear the story from?"

That's how I finally got Nick's full attention, and with it his simmering silent ire too. He swiveled his chair forward, and with it his glare too.

I knew I had him convinced, I just didn't know what he'd say. The stare, that expression, he opened his lips and began.

"My dad cheated on my mother."

Oh.

"He says it isn't true. Nobody believes him. I do. It's only me that does. He's trying to fix it, I'm trying to help him. There, that's it. Go to work now."

"No, no, wait!" I continued to stay, taking it in, and asking the more pressing questions first before I ran his patience thin. "Okay, I didn't expect it. Your dad, he cheated, why do you believe that he didn't?"

"Because he's my dad," came his simple absolute reply. "And I believe him."

That man I saw two nights ago, the one that came into the cafe, looking kind, looking mannered. He didn't strike me as the type to act on infidelities. Hugging Nick in an instant, love unhesitating, could he really have..?

"Where is he now?" I asked.

"Business trip," He said. "He told me he'll be away for a while."

Oh, so I was worrying for nothing. Nick has no suspicions, he has no idea. Irene must have already rehearsed his dad to say that as a reason for his absence. Shit, she could have mentioned that to me at least.

"I don't know why you're so curious," Nick said, glancing at me with a mixture of confusion and suspicion. "But if you go to my sister about any of this, consider yourself out of the job, I'll shove you out of the door myself. You're warned."

I nodded vigorously, warned indeed.

"Now are you done? Can you leave now?"

"What about your sister?" I asked, the only other question I can think of. "Does she believe him?"

He didn't give a direct answer, instead delving himself back towards the glow of his monitor, saying with a low whisper, "You're warned for a reason."

Guess she doesn't then..

"Alright," I said, finally backing off and leaving the grumpy giant alone. "I'll be at my station."

"Yes, you will."

Walking back to the cafe, and traversing beneath the doorway again, brought me with a whole different outlook on things.

Before I thought I was saving a wholly innocent man.. now knowing what I know now, I mean, it doesn't really diminish my resolve per se, it's just.. I'm not so sure what's so different now actually.

A life was still a life, wasn't it?

Just one more day, less than twenty-four hours, I'll be on the train back home.

We'll fix this, things will go back to normal, and then hopefully with Nick and his problems.. things will be fixed too.

I felt like I was being watched somewhere - I looked left, and there I found Sammy and Amanda's eyes unblinking for my anticipated return, and the answer to the question.

Does he know?

I shook my head, "no", and from that, all was understood.

A second later, I was back to work, washing cups and organizing cabinets to keep busy. Any minute I was expecting a customer to walk in, seriously it's like clockwork around here.historical

And there indeed, not even a minute after the thought, I heard the chime of the front door announcing a customer's entrance, and immediately poked my head out from the lower cabinets, ready with my smile and a warm welcome.

I looked ahead - and my smile froze, as did the words stuck midway through my throat.

Patron in costume was nothing new when it came to an establishment like this. I served orcs, served demons, half-dragons, even elves at some point, but this was the first time I've seen the color purple walk through that door.. especially in that cloak, more especially in that shawl.. those golden eyes so strikingly bright.

Sera..

Amanda was stricken with that same freezing sensation, stagnating her movement stiff. Meanwhile, Sammy just stared away, confused, none the wiser of the cloaked customer slowly creeping towards the counter.

How did she know where I worked? No, of course, I knew how. Not a day goes by now without being reminded as so.

We're connected, she and I. Bound to magic, bound to life.. my life.. and why she was here so suddenly, so abruptly, no doubt I knew why too.

It's like I said, this girl wasn't known for her patience..

Not at all.