Page 27 of For All It's Worth
We broke apart and headed inside wordlessly. There was no point in pushing him for answers if he wasn’t ready, but my mind was spinning with possible scenarios.
Max led me to the office so I could hang up my jacket and then started my training. I quickly recalled how the coffee machine worked; I’d watched Max use it enough times that I could have figured it out without him taking me through it again. I was grateful that there weren’t many other changes for me to worry about and I soon got into the rhythm of things.
I helped him put out all the pastries and cakes from the bakery delivery, being careful to keep apart the different types because of allergens. Max was gluten intolerant and had found it hard to find cafes and restaurants with a good gluten-free selection, so that had been his first priority when he’d opened his own place.
The café opened at seven. The bookstore wasn’t staffed until nine so the screen between them was pulled down until then. Max had talked about opening both parts earlier but saw so little trade before nine that it made no sense financially. Plus, he’d burnt out pretty quickly after trying it. They didn’t close until seven in the evening, and when he started out he was doing that six days a week since they were only closed on Tuesdays. Once they found their niche, they opened seven days and Max had more staff so he could have days off. He still worked too much, and I worried about that a lot. Often he could be found taking meetings or doing paperwork on days he was supposed to be chilling out. Since he’d taken Kristen on, and she had gotten more comfortable in her role, she had pushed him to actually use his time off for what it was intended for— relaxing. Gradually she had taken on more tasks for him and I’d seen the weight drop off his shoulders.
If we had been our usual selves, this was the time that I would suggest that we take some time off and go somewhere even if it was just to the beach house. We were far from back to normal, though. I caught Max watching me a lot, just silently observing me as I made up coffee orders and plated pastries. Sometimes he looked worried if I stretched too far and tried to curb a wince at the ache in my muscles.
“I’m okay, Max.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, just overdid it at the gym yesterday. I’ll just make sure to go a bit easier next time.”
“You’re going back?”
“Yeah, I like the feeling that working out gives me.”
He looked me over consideringly, and I shivered at the brief flash of heat in his eyes before he turned away. “It’s working for you.”
My mouth dropped open and it took a couple of seconds for me to recover my wits.
I stewed over his comment for the next couple of hours as I served customers, wondering what he meant by it. Did he mean it as it had sounded like he was flirting with me? It was still on my mind as I took a break in the bookstore section, where I got caught up reading a photography book that I eventually realized I just had to buy.
Max was in the office when I went in to stash the book until I finished for the day. “You getting back into photography?”
Rubbing a hand over the back of my neck, I considered his words. I didn’t feel embarrassed, but I’d lost a lot of confidence in my abilities since I’d been forced to give it up. “Uh, yeah. You know how I took photos at Christmas?” He nodded. “Well I took my camera to rehab, thinking I’d take shots of the gardens and stuff, but I received a special dispensation to take some of the people. I thought about doing something with them, but I’m not sure.”
“Can I see them?”
The photos had been taken with the idea of documenting my journey and all the subjects in them had their identities obscured, a condition of permission being granted.
I could feel my cheeks flushing. “Uh, I think so. I think I'll have to show the ones I want to use to the facility management first to get approval. I can ask for permission to show you them. Maybe tell them you’re giving me advice or something.”
“Sounds good. I’d be happy to give you an outsider's perspective, you know that. Anything you need and I’m there.”
“Thanks. Well, I have to head out soon for therapy. Do you want me back later or…?” Evan’s office wasn’t far from here, so I could walk over, or maybe eat something here first. Now that my nerves had settled, I was starving.
“Nah, that’s too long for a first day. I’m not even in all day today. I have a supervisor in soon to close, so I’ll be finished, too.” He checked the clock on the wall and moved some papers about on his desk. “I’ve got a lead on another member of staff so that will make things a lot easier on all of us.”
I followed Max back through to the counter so he could quickly grab the scheduling folder he’d tucked next to the register to have a look at when I was needed. He stopped quickly and I bumped into him. I dropped my hands to his waist to stop him toppling over and we both flushed.
“When do you have therapy next?” He asked around our awkwardness.
I didn’t even need to think about it, since there were so few things to occupy my days just now. “Friday afternoon. All my appointments are in the afternoon, so I can do any opening shifts you need me to do. I should’ve said that before.”
He studied the roster for a minute, absentmindedly chewing on his lip and tapping his pen on the counter. I watched his mouth. Had it always looked so soft and tempting? The bottom lip was fuller than the top, lips rosy pink. Max spent a lot of time indoors so his skin was pale, but I knew he was prone to freckles along his nose. I could remember the path they’d take along his cheeks.
“Charlie?”
“Hmm?” I blushed when I realized that I’d been staring at his mouth. “Sorry, what were you saying?”
“It’s all good.” He seemed distracted too. Was he still thinking about what he’d said earlier, the gym thing? He cleared his throat. “Okay…so tomorrow with me. I’m off Thursday, do you want off then, too? We’re okay for staff then, so it’d be better than Friday.” He scanned the sheet focused on working out when I was needed. “What time’s your appointment?”
“Noon. Sorry, it's an awkward time.”
“No, that works better actually. Can you start at two?”
“Yeah, that’s no problem.”
We finished going over the roster, adding in my shifts for the weekend and the following week and I promised to move my therapy to slightly later if I could.
Max made sure to fix me up a quick lunch after hearing my stomach rumbling, and I left my first shift there happy that I could help him and do something useful.
