Author's P.O.V
Adelaide couldn't believe how peaceful her everyday life was until she went through the events of the day.
She had overslept due to which her start was not only late but also with an empty stomach. The coffee beans hadn't arrived on time causing the café to open later than the fixed time. And above all, she had to work on her client's last-minute demands. She had barely managed to complete her work before working hours only to be given more. Taking all the work to the cafe and ultimately home seemed like a burden and so she decided to inform Mr Riccardo that she would be late and focused on finishing all that she could before nine.
In the dimly lit room, Adelaide was seated on the chair with her head on her desk with her now knotted, wavy hair covering her face. She had no progress in quite a while now and had almost ripped her hair out in annoyance until it led to her present state. Her office was completely dark besides her station whose table light fell on Adelaide like a stage light emphasizing the characters misery in a Shakespeare drama.
Blankly staring at her feet under the table, Adelaide sighed and had finally made her mind to continue working only to be startled by her own phone's notification bell. Watching her phone screen light up, she breathed a deep sigh before reaching out for it. It was a message from Carson.
"You're already running away from you're cafe duties?"
That was what his message read.
"I want to run away from something else, not the cafe. How did you know I'm not there though?"
Adelaide sent her reply to Carson and soon started tidying up her desk to finally leave her workplace.
Finally done packing her things, Adelaide went on to switch off the table light making her surroundings completely dark. The light from the moon didn't help much and thus Adelaide switched on her phone's flashlight and soon navigated her way out of her office. As Adelaide was walking towards the cafe she met the same customer who left his documents at the shop near the intersection. He smiled at her as he saw her approaching the crosswalk opposite to where he stood. As Adelaide crossed the intersection to meet the man whose appearance she finally started looking more into, she noticed that contrary to his rather lean built body his gaunt face and dead eyes stood out a lot.
It's only natural to think that a meeting with a stranger will end with a casual smile and so Adelaide walked past the customer and was heading towards the cafe when she heard him say something that was clearly directed towards her and not anyone else who surrounded her.
"Are you off on Wednesdays?"
Those words and the calmness with which they were spoken sent shivers down Adelaide's spine as her body impulsively stopped and pinned her to the ground she landed her feet on. Her mind couldn't comprehend why she felt so creeped out by that question. It could be a casual question upon seeing her here at such a time, place and attire but; that wasn't it. Something, something very deep in his voice held a different motive.
"Why do you ask?" -she responded without moving around to face the man.
"No particular reason. I should get going, the lights green. Be careful on the roads." -he replied as the pedestrian walking light turned green.
As Adelaide felt the presence of the man in question fade away, she slowly turned to see him across the street walking away to his destination. She probably would've pondered longer about what had just happened if it weren't for Carson calling out to her. His voice echoed in her ears as her fists that were clutching her files close to herself finally loosened and the strength that had drained away from her after hours of work gushed back to her even in the slightest.
"Heading home?" -he spoke as they both halted in front of each other.
Adelaide hummed and negatively nodded her head as she started walking forward. Carson reached up to Adelaide, took a hold of her files and continued walking with her.
"Finally working overtime is it?" -Carson spoke while glancing at Adelaide whose state didn't hide her exhaustion.
"Yeah..." -replied Adelaide with a sigh. "Plus it's so trivial and yet I'm stuck on it. Ugh!"
As Adelaide completed her sentence her hand reached out to push behind her messy hair that fell on her face.
"Wanna grab a drink?" -Carson suggested as he moved Adelaide to his right and stood to the outer area of the footpath.
"That sounds great but I got to finish these by tomorrow." -Adelaide whined in response to Carson's tempting suggestion.
"Too bad then, I thought I'd treat you on this auspicious day."
Adelaide's eyes sparkled with excitement as the desire to simply forget her work and relax here on out on this tiresome day rose within her. Carson noticing the change in Adelaide's expression decided to pull her leg.
"Giving up on work already? I thought you were more serious about it! I guess not." -he ended his sentence with a teasing smile directed at Adelaide who could feel her desire change to one that wanted to bury her friend alive. Before Adelaide could attack Carson, the two had already reached 'Tackles'.
The two walked in to see a few customers spread across the cafe and Mr Riccardo out of sight. Carson took a seat by the counter, placing Adelaide's files down as she went to check on Mr Riccardo in the storeroom. Shortly, the two were seen coming out of the storeroom with a few limes in their hands. Adelaide soon kept two lattes before Carson and came over to the other side of the counter and sitting beside him.
"Whats the part-timer doing here?" -Carson spoke, keeping his phone down and turning to face Adelaide who couldn't wait any longer to energise herself with some caffeine.
Taking a sip of her latte, Adelaide finally felt alive again as the caffeine entered her system and rejuvenated her. Humming in response to the sweet after taste of her latte Adelaide spoke.
"My non-existent boss tells me I can go home because there is no work that needs my assistance. But then, I shall stay and work on other stuff and watch out for any task that needs me."
Saying so, Adelaide slides her files to her side and starts working on her unfinished work while sipping on her life support every now and then.
Adelaide was starting to feel that the night had decided to go gentle on her as she was progressing well with her work and was close to finishing it without feeling guilty of not helping Mr Riccardo all thanks to Carson, who decided to show his 'well-mannered and helping' side.
It was eleven o'clock when their last customer left and everything was wrapped up; finally allowing the cafe to close for the day. Adelaide holding a content smile on her face left the cafe doors with Carson. The pair waited for Mr Riccardo to lock the shop, who soon did so and faced Adelaide.
"Before I forget it again. Adelaide, you might have to help Dylan in my stead. Since I'm attending work so often we barely make much progress so I suggested that you work with him and-"
"Mr Riccardo but I... I won't be of any help to him." -Adelaide didn't want to believe what she heard. She just wanted to avoid it at all costs because she was sure they'd get lesser work done together.
"There's not much left Adelaide and the event dates are so close. You don't have to spend extra time here. I spoke to him about your free hours and he said he'll adjust to us."
Mr Riccardo didn't stop there. He unintentionally spoke the words that effected Adelaide the most, especially when it came from an older person.
"Please help the cafe out."
And just like that, almost the moment she heard those words, her mouth immediately replied with a partly forced smile.
"I- I will."