Power Couple

Chapter 1

Isla

         "Why this exact spot?" I lift my gray cat Demetri off the college assignments I left on the kitchen table. "You know, there's a lot of house available."

          Demetri yawns, stretches, and ignores me.

         "I wish I had your life," I say to his back.

         I need to be packed and ready to go soon if I'm going to have time for everything today. I gather the college-ruled papers covered in my scrawled handwritten notes along with, unfortunately, cat hair.

         A wiggle over the trash can gets them mostly clean and inspires Demetri to crack open an eye.

         "Yeah, this is you, mister," I say. He blinks, uninterested.     

         There are two bags sitting next to each other on the counter. Black for my college classes in the afternoon, red for my morning job at Cafe Clementine.

         I'm about to stash the papers in the black bag when a little produce sticker from a banana on the corner of the top one catches my eye.

         "How in the world did that get there?" I ask Demetri. "I must have been snacking while I was working." I toss the sticker in the trash and put the papers in my bag. "Well, I guess it was two in the morning."

         I zone out momentarily, listening to Demetri purr, and reach out to stroke his velvety face. The wonderful haze of the morning washes back over me.

         I am so tired. Between my college courses and my full-time job at the coffee shop, I am stretched thin.

         I just keep telling myself that it will all be worth it someday. I don’t mind hard work. I don’t mind paying my dues. It’d just be nice if I could get a little sleep once in a while.

         Busy as I am, I’m still at least staying at the top of my class as a business major. I’m sure, even if I was snacking on a banana while writing my latest report, that it’ll at least be more thorough than my classmate Simon’s plan. Simon wants to run a business that allows him to sleep through class, and his income stream assumes there will be a rich old relative he's yet to meet who dies and leaves him funds.

         "If only..." I say to myself, not sure if I'm referring to the sleep or the rich relative.

         A shrill whistle jars me back to life, and I switch off the kettle. I pour hot water into my thermos, watching the English breakfast tea bag swirl, then pour a second version into my mug.

         I set a timer on my phone for four minutes and check my Google calendar, slumping back against the counter.

         Most days I try to be at the coffee shop by seven. Today, there in bold red letters staring at me from my reminders screen, is a meeting with our new temporary boss. That means I need to be there a little earlier than usual, both to scope out the newcomer and to make sure I make a good first impression. Liam, the regular owner, is leaving on an extended vacation soon, and he’s asked his brother to keep an eye on things while Liam and Olivia are gone. 

Technically, his brother is a co-owner of Cafe Clementine. But he’s not in Sandy Springs, so I’ve never met him. I think I heard that he’s coming all the way from California to pitch in around the shop while Liam is out. 

I start skimming the text chain I share with some of my co-workers, looking for any info they’ve posted about our new boss. I do manage to find the conversation where Jennifer mentions hearing that he recently finished college in California, but I still haven’t recalled his name. 

         My timer vibrates, interrupting my search, and makes a tinkling sound like breaking glass. I turn it off, straighten up with a creak – I really should do more yoga – and remove the tea bags. The thermos goes in the red bag and the mug I take toward the refrigerator.

         Only the first cup of the day has milk. After that it's straight or, depending on how the day goes, I give up and go with coffee.

         I pour whole-fat milk into the mug, creating a beautiful light-brown liquid.

         "Don't judge me and my whole fat," I say to Demetri who is watching me, and sit back down.

         I take a sip and sigh. It's rich, deep, and delicious. These are the few moments in the day when I don’t have to do anything except enjoy the warm comfort.

         And yet my brain leaps ahead, trying to get a handle on things. First, the coffee shop and the meeting with Liam’s replacement. Then I’ll work my regular shift, and then take the bus to my campus. I have three classes this afternoon, which is a handful even by my standards. 

Despite the afternoon workload I am facing, my mind wanders back to the meeting with Liam’s brother.

         I understand why we need him. Liam is planning on taking Olivia basically around the world. This isn’t a matter of just making the schedule work out for a week while he’s gone. 

We need one person to take responsibility for the cafe, or it might not even be open by the time Liam gets back. And as much as I like to think I know all there is to know about the cafe, my schedule is too full for a task like that. I don’t have the time in my schedule to fill in every time someone calls off sick or we need to make last-minute supply runs.

         Whoever this person is, I tell myself, they're doing a good thing. They’re not trying to ruin your life. They’re just helping out Liam so he can enjoy his vacation. So why do I feel so annoyed?

         Demetri walks over to the table and sits directly in front of me, staring into my eyes.

         "You're right," I say, nodding at him. "It’s because I don’t like change. I know how to do my job. I don’t need interference."

         Demetri purrs.

         "It's not like I own Cafe Clementine." I take a sip of the tea.

         Demetri blinks and growls deeper in his chest.

         I shake my head. "Okay, you're right. I feel possessive of it, but it's not mine. Just because I've been working there for what feels like forever. Just because I know all my co-workers. That doesn’t mean someone new is going to be a bad thing."

         Demetri leans his head forward and knocks my mug with his forehead.

         "Oh! Right! Breakfast."

         I'm scraping canned food into his bowl when another vibrating alarm and tinkling comes from my phone. Time is sadly up for my tea break, and I have five minutes to make sure I'm presentable with no trace of Demetri clinging to my trousers – a pointless struggle, but I still try.

         As I finish dressing, I wonder what one wears to distinctly not impress and yet impress a temporary boss you’ve never met and only need to deal with for a short while. I hold a blazer up to my outfit. He is, after all, steering the ship for now.

         My stomach clenches again, and I fight back my annoyance.

         No blazer.

         I leave the bedroom, smiling at the extra minute I have to take a detour to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

         "Here we go," I say to Demetri a minute later, the blazer back on over my peach button-up. "Wish me luck with this California bigshot extraordinaire."

         I take one last gulp of blissful tea and put the mug in the sink as my final alarm goes off, telling me to leave.

"Having a leader will be better than us running around like chickens with our heads cut off," I say to Demetri's backside as I grab my bags. "And really, how bad can he be?"