Page 8 of The Summer Request
“You’re right. This is delicious just as it is.” Val blew on her cup, taking as big a chug as she could and burning the entirety of her tongue.
Michelle managed to successfully steer the conversation to current events on the island. Tammy had complaints about each of them, but she seemed less disgruntled in general.
They finished their tea in record time and made excuses to leave. Tammy didn’t protest.
Once they were back in the car, Michelle confronted Valerie. “Thanks for hardly saying anything in there.”
“Yeah, Val. Nice work,” Lisa added.
Val crossed her arms. “I tried to get you some sugar. That was my last stand.”
“Sugar’s last stand,” Lisa mused, snorting a laugh.
“I feel bad for the lady,” Val continued, “but I don’t know how to handle her. You were both doing so well. Who am I to interfere?”
Lisa turned around and flashed a smile. “I forgot there are no old people in Los Angeles. You’ve lost your touch.”
“Ha ha.” Val rolled her eyes. “There are plenty of old people in LA. You just don’t see them up in their mansions.”
Lisa let out a gasp. “Michelle! Do you still make those little pies at the café? I’ve been dreaming about them all week.”
Michelle nodded, eyes focused on the road. “We do. We can head over early, if you’d like?”
They all agreed, and off they went, gabbing and talking over one another. Such was the mysterious charm of old friends. It felt like they’d picked up right where they’d left off, and Val, at least, was thankful for it.
Four
They arrived at the café to find a line of people extending out to the sidewalk. Michelle wasn’t surprised to see it, but her friends were.
Val let out a dramatic sigh and said, “Guess there’s no room for us.”
“They probably ate all of the mini pies, too,” Lisa added.
Michelle pulled the car into her reserved parking spot. She didn’t need Val getting into a spat with one of her customers, telling them to make way. “There are pies. Don’t worry. We can go upstairs. I finally got around to remodeling it.”
Michelle hoped the staff wasn’t overwhelmed by all of the people. She normally would step in and help, but she had guests. Maybe she could still pop in…
“Oh la la! Fancy!” Val got out, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head. “Your mom used to get so annoyed when we would sneak up there and dig through the old garbage. What’d you do with all of that stuff?”
“I threw most of it away,” Michelle said, locking the car doors. “Some of it was useful to the historical society, though.”
She opened the back door of the café and almost ran into Nelly, one of her employees. “Sorry! Is everything okay? Do you want me to jump in?”
Yoga Nelly, as they called her, responded with her customary cool. “It’s all good. No worries. You going up?”
Michelle nodded. “If a woman named Zora comes looking for us, can you tell her where we are?”
Nelly flashed a smile and grabbed a to-go container. “Sure thing, boss.”
Having good employees was the difference between life and death in the food industry. Michelle was thankful for her staff.
Well, except for Lola. Lola was terrible. She’d called in sick today. Again. There was always one. Hopefully she’d quit soon.
Michelle led the way up the stairs, and Lisa and Val followed.
“Shell, this is incredible!”Lisa said. “It looks like something out of a home magazine.”
“Thanks.” It’d been a lot of work, but she’d ended up with a lot more time on her hands after her son Tyler had gone off to school.
