Page 64 of Fool Me Twice
Zig winced and nipped behind the counter so as to look like he belonged here.Although, come to think of it, his all-black combo of jeans and long-sleeved shirt probably made him look more the part than Esme herself did.
He’d sold six packs of incense and a book on the healing power of crystals before it occurred to him that Esme hadn’t asked how he liked his coffee.Maybe she could tell by looking at him that he wouldn’t be fussy.
Some candles, an amulet, and a divining pendant later—how far had she gone for this coffee?Bristol?—Esme was back with two large cups with no logo.“I got you white with an extra shot.That okay?”
“Yeah, that’s good.Ta.”Zig took the cup, then couldn’t resist adding, “Was that what my aura told you?”
“Mm, no.The white was Si buying more milk than usual, and the extra shot was the bags under your eyes.”
“Cheers.”Zig toasted her, with a grimace.“You always keep an eye on your tenant’s shopping?”
“Not generally, but it’s hard to ignore when a large, hairy man runs through your store muttering, ‘Bugger, bugger, bugger, run out of milk already.’”
He had to laugh.“Fair enough.”
“How’s the job going?”
“What, the bar work, or this unpaid job you got me doing?”
“Excuse me, I’ve remunerated you with a very decent and not inexpensive cup of coffee.Which, I might add, you haven’t so much as tasted.”
“Gimme a chance.”Zig made a show of bringing the cup to his lips and taking a sip.Then he took a larger one.It was, actually, bloody good coffee.“Not bad.Still it oughtta be, for over a fiver.”
“And how do you work that out?”
“Minimum wage, and I’ve been minding your shop for half an hour—”
“Twenty minutes, if that.”She smirked at him over the top of her coffee cup.“Sell much?”
Zig reeled off a list of the items he’d sold.
“Not bad.”
Zig was almost, but not quite, certain she was mocking him.“The crystal book was an upsell too,” he went on, cos he’d been proud of that one.“I noticed she was wearing one of those tree of life necklaces, the ones made of wire and crystals, so I gave it a go.”
Esme raised an eyebrow.“You know, if you wanted to make this a regular thing, I might see my way to paying you actual money.”
“Huh.Seriously?”
“Seriously.Think about it.Now, if you’ll excuse me...”Esme put down her cup on the counter and slunk over to a shy couple loitering by the spellbooks.
Zig took his chance to escape, taking his coffee with him.Should he take Esme up on her offer?It’d been okay, manning the till and talking to the customers, he thought, as he walked down the street dodging the shoppers and their dogs.It shouldn’t conflict with working the bar on weekend nights.And it’d mean, for some days at least, that his hours would line up better with Si’s.
And if Dad turns up and you have to do a runner, that’ll be one more person you’ve let down.
The coffee turning bitter in his mouth, Zig chucked the cup in a nearby bin and jammed his hands into his pockets.
It was just after lunchtime on Monday when the locksmith’s shop bell rang and Corin stepped inside, with Adam close behind him.Si broke into a smile, touched they’d taken time out of their working day to check in with him.
Course, maybe they needed a key cut.“All right, mates?”he greeted them.“How’s it going in the world of computers?”He hadn’t seen Corin to talk to for a while.
“It’s, um, good.”Corin’s gaze was shifting all over the place, like it did when he met someone new.
“It’s me,” Si said hastily.Maybe the poor sod didn’t recognise him in his uniform.“Si.Scratch.”
Corin blinked.“I know.You’ve got a name badge.”
“Huh.S’pose I have and all.”Si peered down at his chest automatically and readSimon, which only his mum ever called him.Or Sasha, when she was narked with him, but then it was always paired with his surname.
