Page 4 of Trust Fall
Great.
How was she going to avoid Megan in the area where they both grew up and lived, and for any amount of months?
Chapter 4
Ivy
"Oliver, I know you worked closing last night and opened this morning, but is there any chance you could do a full day today until closing? You know I wouldn’t normally ask anyone to do that, but Toni just called, and she can’t get anyone to watch Willow and didn’t want to bring her here. Again.” Ivy tried hard not to plead, but she was really stuck.
“I take it Sullivan is being a tool like usual and pulled out of visitation?” Oliver knew about Toni’s problems with Willow’s dad. They all did.
“Yeah, apparently, he got offered courtside tickets for tonight’s game, and he wasn’t going to miss itfor anything. Idiot. Lucas can’t spare anyone from the other shops, but he did say he’ll come over if you’re not able to stay.” Ivy knew Lucas would come in a heartbeat to help her out, but she knew he’d been busy with meetings this week with potential suppliers for new food options in all the shops, and she didn’t want to put him out.
“If you can get me next Saturday off as a trade, I’ll stay.” Oliver said with a smirk, knowing he had Ivy cornered. “I’ll even bring you in the last piece of Toni’s famous Chocolate Chip Banana Bread that I was saving for tomorrow?” His eyes glinted at her, knowing that was the one thing she could never resist.Dammit.
Reluctantly, she caved. “Urgh, fine. I’ll switch with you and come in then instead.”
“Sweet!” Oliver laughed as he continued to clean down the counter with the lull in customers.
“I’ll go make the changes to the timesheets, and when I get back you can take fifteen because you’re on a longer shift today.” Ivy looked at Oliver and he gave her the thumbs up as the door opened and the next wave of customers entered.
She made her way to the back office and made the changes to Toni and Oliver’s hours for the day, making sure payroll was correct. She then changed the hours for the following weekend, as agreed with Oliver and sent a note of the changes to Lucas. That way he knew he didn’t have to cover this evening, and he’d see how Oliver had swindled her out of getting both Saturday and Sunday off the following weekend. The sneak.
Checking her phone to make sure the changes had saved on the staff link for their shifts, she quickly looked through her emails before heading back to the shop front.
Ivy panned her sightline across the room before stepping in beside Oliver to serve the next customer.
“Hi there, what Cuppa Comfort can I make for you this afternoon?” Her warm smile was met with a cold sneer from a forest-green-trench-coat-wearing-executive-looking-woman.
“Americano, large, and can you make it hot? Not justlukewarm?” The woman didn’t raise her eyes from the phone in her hand, but Ivy had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach at the memories which flew to the front of her mind each time any suchentitledcustomers came into the shop.
“Of course,” Ivy said with as much warmth as she could muster. It took everything in hernotto burn the roast of this woman’s coffee on purpose. She did want it hot after all.
Ivy went through the motions of making the coffee, like she’d done countless times a day for years. She enjoyed the routine of it. The rhythm of pumping the coffee grounds from the bean grinder into the portafilter, and attaching it to the machine, before waiting on the boiling water running through and into the waiting cup. There was something satisfying about it the rhythm, the predictability of it all. A steadfast anchor when everything else around could be falling apart.
“If you don’t mind, I’m kind of in a hurry. Could you pick it up a bit?!” The woman said, still with her face in her phone. Ivy looked over her shoulder while she pushed the lid in place on the order.
“Here you are,” Ivy sat the cup on the counter but kept her hand around it. The woman held out her hand and perfectly manicured talons, still refusing to look up.
Over the years, Ivy had realized that customers who kept their heads in their phones during the full process are the same ones who wouldaccidentallyleave without paying. So, she made it part of the shop policy to sit all cups on the counters to help reduce that risk.
The woman glanced up from her phone, a look of confusion on her face at not having been handed the cup.
“That'll be six seventy-five, when you're ready,” Ivy said, still holding the cup in place on the counter. She forced a smile to irritate the woman further. She watched as the woman tutted loudly and rolled her eyes as she reached into her large designer tote bag in order to pay.
The woman threw the money down on the counter (exact change only, Ivy noted) before snatching her coffee from Ivy and marching out of the shop, mumbling what Ivy imagined were words of disdain under her breath.
“I don't know how you serve people like that without spitting in their cup,” a familiar voice said from the head of the line. Ivy smiled when she saw Liz standing in front of her.
“With great self-control." Ivy leaned closer to Liz and cupped her hand around her mouth to stop other customers from hearing her, “and a dart board in the staff room.” Ivy winked. The rich sound of Liz’s laughter filled the shop and loosened the knot in Ivy’s stomach that had settled there while dealing with the previous customer.
Ivy processed the previous order on the till and closed the cash drawer after dropping the coins in their correct dividers.
“It's unusual to see you here on a Sunday. Where are Dorothy and Rose?” Ivy giggled as she asked. Everyone in the shop, including the ladies themselves, referred to the trio as “The Golden Girls.”
“Well now, why am I Blanche?” Liz raised an eyebrow, and with it a flash of mischief passed across her eyes.
Ivy lifted her index finger and moved her hand in a circular motion around Liz’s face, “That look right there for one thing,” she laughed. “The usual?”
