Feigning as if everything was normal whilst it was not, Reina did it best.
Despite the terrible hangover she suffered from, she managed to show up at work on time. Unlocking the door, she quickly punched in her code to disable to alarm and sighed, enjoying the scent of freshly roasted coffee. She noticed large bags of coffee from Agathe's and rejoiced at the idea of having Ethiopian coffee for the week.
Working the opening shift was like muscle memory to her. After two years of service, Reina didn't need to think twice about what needed to be done. Setting the terrace, putting out the easel on the sidewalk and calibrating the coffee machine.
Eva was late again and this time, Reina opted to do things on her own instead of waiting for her to show her how it's done. If she had to describe the mood she was in, it would be something similar to how one would feel after being hit by a truck before getting dragged on the pavement behind it.
She remembered last night's events clearly, the fear and dread she experienced, she was exhausted.
At 8.30 AM, the blonde came running in and quickly waved at her tutor before heading downstairs to the staff room. Reina wondered why she disliked the latter so, wanting to see her trip over her own feet.
"Sorry, Reina," Eva breathed out in a rush, taking her position behind the coffee machine, desperately trying to gather all of her unruly curls into a high ponytail. "The subway had-"
"Had some issues?" Reina finished her sentence, cocking an eyebrow. "I forgot, which line do you usually take?"
"The 2 at Charles de Gaulle - Étoile."
The brunette merely hummed, letting her skepticism become evident. It was literally a ten-minute ride from Eva's station to the shop. "What matters is that you're here now. I would like you to work the register today so you can get familiar with the machine. Word of warning, always wait for the customer's payment to go through before printing the ticket and check if it's American Express or not. Marie absolutely hates it when she has to go through all the tickets to find the mistake."
Eva's face drained of colour as she simply nodded, switching place with her tutor, as the latter smiled in delight. The trainee's peculiar fear of angering Marie was quite amusing.
A few customers came and left rapidly, either to go to work or to school. Oddly, they had many students coming in from the middle school and high school of the area and most were brats that she wished to permanently ban from the shop but Yves, the owner, knew most of their parents who were big-shot lawyers, businessmen and whatnot, so their children got to behave like they did in the privacy of their own house.
However, Reina enjoyed Emilie's company; the young girl always stayed a few extra minutes to exchange pleasantries with her.
"Oooh, it's 9!" Eva said gleefully before taking out her phone from her pocket and using the frontal camera to check her appearance. "I'm hoping to get his number today."
"Whose number?"
"You know who." A light blush dusted over her tan cheeks as she twisted her body like a shy school girl. "The guy in black who always comes in at 9."
Ah, Reina thought, another victim of Ciel's. She forced a smile. "Best of luck to you."
Talk of the devil, Ciel walked in with blue sunglasses perched on his nose, with nothing covering his hair. It was the first time Reina had seen him without a hoodie or a ball-cap and she could tell something about his demeanour had changed, as if he was done staying under the radar.
He crushed Eva's high hopes when she tried to make small talk with him, taking the ticket from her hand and marched in long strides towards the end of the counter. Reina pretended to be occupied with his order, barely nodding when he greeted her.
"I'm quite disappointed that I wasn't greeted by my favourite barista today," Ciel said casually, sitting on the edge of the counter. "That blonde is horribly chatty."
"Eva needed to learn how to work the register." It was the truth, even if it was only a side of it. What Reina kept unsaid was that she wasn't ready to admit that last day she came very close to losing her body and she was extremely thankful for his help even if it was rather dubious that he just happened to cross her path at that precise moment and knew exactly where she lived.
"How are you feeling?" There was no trace of concern in his tone, his smirk letting her know that this was just another form of entertainment for him.
She bit her tongue to hold in the accusation. "I'm fine, thank you very much."
Keeping her eyes strained on the timer of the scale, she poured hot water over the ground coffee in an Origami dripper methodically. She suspected that he chose to have slow coffee that morning, breaking from his daily routine of a medium Americano for the second time, just to antagonise her with his presence, feasting on her discomfort.
"Aren't you going to ask me how I found you last night? I bet you're dying to know how and why I saved you."
Yes and no. Reina, while she was grateful for his help, would rather not get entangled with him any further. Whatever ulterior motives he had, she didn't need to know them to be afraid of them.
"I'm afraid that I'm not going to like the answer."
"Smart girl." He took off his shades and she saw how his inky black eyes twinkled in interest, causing her to shiver involuntarily. "I like that you're not as gullible as other humans."
"'Other humans'?" She repeated in a mocking manner. "You talk as if you're not one."
"What a ghastly thought." He shuddered. "I'm surprised that you didn't catch on. Your grandmother noticed the moment I stepped into her office."
"How did you know my grandmother?"
Reina's grandmother, the late Madame Christine – it was how all of her customers and partners called her – had passed away twenty years ago, when she was barely 5-years-old, in a tragic gas leak. She guessed that he was around her age, perhaps a few years older than her but to have known her grandmother when she was still in practice, she was almost certain that they did not meet in the 21st century.
"I believe someone is trying to eavesdrop on our conversation," he said, gently nudging his head at the blonde behind Reina. "Meet me at the Hopping Frog in Trocadéro when your shift is over."
"And then?"
"I'll answer some of your questions and vice versa."
The moment Reina nodded, she knew she should not have let her curiosity get the best of her.