I want You Deeper

Jeremy probably thought she was mad at him. Not at all. But she couldn’t deal right now. She needed to be alone.

That was why she was sitting in the cafe-hiding. She wasn’t sure what the plan was. Maybe she’d go get some dinner or something. If Emily texted to ask where she was, she’d just tell her she met up with an old friend.

It wasn’t entirely untrue. She’d enjoyed the short amount of time she’d spent with Brooke. It had taken her back to the days of working in an office, which she’d missed more than she realized. But all that just made it even clearer that there was an impending separation in her life. Her time working in this cafe was coming to an end.

Suddenly, she heard the back door to the cafe open. She was in the far corner where nobody could spot her from that back door, but all someone would have to do was enter and walk toward the front. Maybe she should hide under the table.

“What are you doing?”

The tone of Emily’s voice made it obvious she knew Alyssa was in there, even if Alyssa couldn’t see her right now. She shouldn’t have been surprised. She and Emily had that best friend’s intuition. They’d always joked about that.

“Just checking my email.”

Pathetic excuse, Alyssa knew. She should have come up with a cover story, but honestly, she had assumed Emily would text rather than come looking for her.

Emily came over and took the seat across from her at the tiny table.

“I’m guessing your meeting didn’t go well.”

“It went very well. I think I have a new client.”

Her voice was weak, probably matching her pathetic attempt at a smile. It was strange. She knew she should feel excited, but she couldn’t quite get out of this funk. Plus, something about working with TravTech again bothered her, and she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

“That’s awesome! So…what’s wrong?”

Emily was frowning at her now, and for good reason. This would be a great time for that best friend’s intuition she’d been thinking about a couple of minutes ago.

“It’s just-I’ve enjoyed helping you out here.”

There. The words were out. She couldn’t have hidden her feelings from her best friend, anyway. It was strange, though. As much time as they’d spent together since she’d lost her job, it felt like they were further apart than ever.

And that had everything to do with Emily’s brother.

He was driving a wedge between them again, just as he had after the prom night fiasco. This time, the wedge had to do mostly with Alyssa hiding things from her best friend. If it was anyone but her brother, she’d be rushing to share every detail with Emily.

Alyssa took a deep breath. “Your brother pointed out I’m not a barista and it bothered me. Silly, huh?”

Emily shook her head. “Not silly at all. You’re a fantastic barista. I’m going to have to talk with him.”

“No, don’t.” The last thing she wanted was for Jeremy to know she’d been talking to his sister about him. “It made me realize how much I’ve enjoyed helping you. But I’ve also held you back.”

“What? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard.”

Yes, Emily would think it was ridiculous. She’d forgotten that Emily didn’t yet know about the bad reviews. Maybe now was the time to tell her.

“We got some bad reviews,” Emily said in a quiet, somber tone.

Alyssa’s eyes widened. “You know about that?”

“I get an alert when things are posted about this place.”

Of course, she did. It was shortsighted of Alyssa not to realize she would. This was Emily’s cafe-her baby. If Alyssa was getting alerts on it, Emily surely would, too.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

So now it was time to take the blame for what she’d done. “If you’d been able to hire someone who was a pro at this, you wouldn’t have gotten those bad reviews. It’s my fault.”

Emily leaned forward, putting herself closer to Alyssa. “This had nothing to do with you. You’re helping me. Besides, you’ve been great. All the customers love you. Did you read the reviews?”

“Not really.”

Alyssa realized she’d seen snippets of the review in the email she’d received, but she hadn’t gotten the chance to go to the reviews and read them in their entirety. She’d just seen comments about long waits and messed-up orders.

Emily smiled and sat back in her chair. “You got a ton of mentions about your latte art, and we both were praised for being friendly. It was mostly things that are out of our control, like long lines. But they did complain about the taste of the coffee.”

“Wait…the taste of the coffee?”

Of all the negative comments she might have expected to see in the reviews, the coffee would have been the last. Alyssa was no coffee expert, but she’d always thought this place had the best-tasting coffee in town.

“I’ve been cutting corners.” This admission came out in the same weak voice Alyssa had heard from her mouth just minutes ago. Emily stood and began pacing the area as she spoke. “I had to shop around for cheaper beans. I thought it would be a way to stay in business. Then things picked up, and I started second-guessing that decision.” “I didn’t even notice,” Alyssa admitted.

It was no surprise. Alyssa poured so much stuff into her coffee, that she tasted the cream, sugar, and sweetened syrup more than she did the coffee itself. Plus, it wasn’t like she’d ever been a daily customer of this cafe, especially when she was working for TravTech. When she came to work here, she wouldn’t have noticed the difference, she supposed.

“Can you switch back?” Alyssa asked. It was suddenly sinking in just how bad this was, especially with all the traffic that had been driven here recently.

“I already did, but is it too late? I’ve been going through the old stuff first, but I guess I just need to throw that away.”

Alyssa started to agree, but before she could get the word out, she saw

Emily’s attention goes to the front door. She followed her friend’s gaze and saw Jeremy standing out there, knocking. Alyssa’s heart did its usual pace quickening as she watched his sister walk toward the door and unlock it for him.

“Hey!” Emily locked the door behind him, then turned and started toward the back door. “I’m off to get dinner started. Come on up when you’re finished.”

“Finished with what?” Alyssa called out after her.

Emily didn’t answer. A few seconds later, she heard the back door slam shut. She looked down at the table, not sure how to handle this situation.

“Sorry about my comment.” Jeremy had turned toward her and was watching her. It tugged at her heart.

“I’m not mad about that,” Alyssa said.

“Okay, well, I owe you an even bigger apology. It’s long overdue.”

Now she looked up at him. He walked slowly toward her, stopping behind the chair his sister had just vacated. He put both hands on the back of it and met her gaze head-on.

“Prom night. I completely messed that up. I’ve beaten myself up over that for years, but I’m even more disappointed that I never said I was sorry.

I’m very, very sorry.”

Tears welled in her eyes. Darn it. She’d spent all these years trying to hide how hurt she’d been when he was around, and now she was making it crystal clear. What she should have done was tell him it was no big deal. But she was crying.

“Alyssa.”

There was so much emotion in his voice when he said her name, she was willing to forgive anything at that point. He closed the distance between them and knelt next to her. The positioning made her feel like he was begging for forgiveness on her bent knee.

“I was a moron.” His voice was barely above a whisper. He reached out and took her hand. “I can’t go back and change things, but I can make it up to you. If you’ll forgive me.”

Tears were streaming down her cheeks now. She’d willed them to stop, but it seemed like she’d suddenly been transported back to when she was eighteen. She was sitting in her bedroom in her lace and sequin dress, staring at her phone, willing it to ring. She’d texted Jeremy once. Where are you? No response ever came.

She hadn’t cried then. She’d been too angry. If he’d apologized later, she probably wouldn’t have cried at that point. But enough time had passed that she had a perspective on it. Plus, if he’d apologized back then, she was pretty sure it wouldn’t have come with the look he was giving her now.

A look that showed he thought of her as far more than his sister’s best friend.

“Forgiven?”

How could Alyssa say anything but yes to that question? She was too overwhelmed to speak, though, so she just nodded. “Let’s go help my sister.”