Page 7 of Love You A Latte

“Extra something.”

Frankie chews the corner of their mouth, then lightly slaps their hand on the table.

“Well, I gotta get back to it. You working while you’re in town?”

“Yeah,” I shrug. “I couldn’t afford to take the whole week off, so I’m still on the clock a few hours each day. I should probably get back so I can log on.”

Frankie nods.

“If you want to get out of the house, you’re always welcome to work here.”

I glance up from where I was untangling Moose from his leash.

“Yeah?” I ask.

“Yeah, sweets. No point in spending the next week alone if you don’t have to,” Frankie says, whistling as they turn and saunter back behind the counter.

I duck my head to hide my answering grin, unsure where this bashful side of me is coming from. I haven’t felt this way since… well, maybe middle school. I can’t remember, to be honest. And being given a nickname, especially from someone I like and admire, feels good. It makes me feel accepted, like I belong here.

~~~

When I get back to Everly’s place and Moose has settled down, I kick back on the couch with my laptop. It’s hard to turn my thoughts to work after the conundrum that is Frankie, but as usual, my email has several new notifications.

I click through them, deleting, replying, and sorting asneeded, until I come to one from Benji. My lips pinch and my heart stalls in my chest.

I’ve told him over and over not to send me private emails, and I always copy both his manager and mine on any replies I have to send to him. He doesn’t seem to care though, continuing to email me for the smallest, most asinine reasons.

Benji and I dated a few years ago, and at first after we broke up everything was fine, even though we work together. It was mutual, and we agreed to stay professional, not to let it impact our interactions or quality of work. When I started dating Sabrina a few months later though, he began to change his tune.

He was still polite enough, but everything he said or did had an undercurrent to it. A pinch of passive aggression here, a sarcastic or snide comment there. Always laughed off, and never enough to bring to HR.

I dated Sabrina for about two years, only breaking it off last December when I caught her cheating on me—with Benji. I don’t know for sure how long that had been going on, but I suspect about six months, as that’s when his behavior got drastically worse. He started making inappropriate jokes and suggestive comments about threesomes with me and Sabrina, then would tell me to “loosen up” or “take it easy” when I got upset. He always believed I was overly sensitive and loved to tell me so.

I know now that my relationship with him was never healthy, but at the time I was young and inexperienced. He was easy to date since we worked together and had the same schedule. I think it was when Sabrina started seeing him on the side that things got bad. I wasn’t able to put it together until after the fact, though.

A few weeks after I broke up with her, she showed up on my doorstep. Tearful and full of regret, she asked if we could try again. I almost said yes. I was two seconds from giving in, when she said his name.

She said, “I miss you, and Benji does too.”

Apparently, theybothwanted me back. She’d already tried this tactic when I caught her cheating: saying we could be a trio, that all three of us together would make theperfect “throuple,” even going to far as asking me to “just give a threesome a try.” I don’t have anything against poly relationships, but what I am against is cheating, manipulation, and toxic communication. All of which they excel at.

I said no—again—but apparently neither of them understand that word. Six months later, Sabrina still texts me multiple times a week. Sometimes just to tell me what she’s up to, but other times to ask if I’ve reconsidered. She pleads with me to take her back, to take them both back, telling me that the three of us together would be a dream come true.

Then I have Benji at work sending me completely unnecessary emails every day, I’m pretty sure just to have any excuse to reach out to me. He texts sometimes too, though thankfully not as often as Sabrina. His are so over the top now it would be almost comical if I wasn’t being harassed. Telling me I’m “the one” and that he doesn’t want to move forward without me being part of their relationship. I’ve never shown any interest in ethical non-monogamy, being part of a poly relationship, or even a threesome, so I truly have no idea where they got the idea that I’d be interested, but it seems neither of them can let it go.

I used to answer them, but I don’t anymore. Now I ignore the messages when I can, and if it’s something I need to address for work, I ensure others are on the email chain. It’s been months of the same, and instead of giving up, they keep getting more persistent.

So when I see another email from him, not even one day into my vacation, I nearly snap. I let out an unintelligible yell of frustration, startling poor Moose out of a dream. I huff with annoyance at myself, then decide puppy pets are exactly what I need.

I delete the pointless email, set my laptop aside, then slide down to the floor next to Moose.

“Sorry, sweet boy,” I whisper, petting his soft ears. His tail thumps the floor and he closes his eyes again, so I pet along his side and scratch his belly, letting the comfort of an innocent soul soothe me.

CHAPTER FOUR

FRANKIE

I’ve been in the coffee shop for hours already, but it’s barely nine in the morning. I woke up early with startling blue eyes fading from my vision as I blinked into reality, then realized who I was dreaming of and rolled over with a groan. I don’t know how Everly would feel about me dating her sister, though I don’t think she’d be opposed.

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