3. ALBANY

“I’ll lock up Lee,” I told her as I walked out of the bathroom in the back and spotted her collecting the dirty dishes. “You can go.”

Lee looked up at me and frowned. She waved a hand over the dirty dishes that still littered the metal table in the middle of the kitchen.

We were in such a hurry to deliver Mr. Miller’s order that we left everything the way it was. There had been no time to clean up like we usually would after we finished baking.

“This needs to be cleaned,” she said. “You’re not planning on leaving it like this, are you?”

“Of course not!” I exclaimed. “I’m going to cash up and then clean everything before I leave.”

“Al—”

“You have somewhere to be, and I don’t. You’re going to be late if you don’t leave.”

She frowned, dropped the bowl, and grabbed the dishcloth to wipe her hands. “Are you sure? There’s still a lot to do.”

Walking over to her, I placed my hands on her shoulder and glared at her. “Lee, I’ve done this a million times before I hired you. I can do this for one night if I have to.” Squeezing her shoulders, I stepped back and smiled. “Now go before I throw you out myself.”

“I know you’ll do that,” she muttered. “Fine. Make sure you lock the door behind me.”

I nodded and watched her grab her things. With a wave over her shoulder, Lee disappeared, and a second later, the bell chimed when she left.

My shoulders sagged the moment I knew she wouldn’t be coming back. I had a hell of a day, all thanks to Lee. She was right about the order taking my mind off things. It helped, but only while I kept busy. As soon as the adrenaline faded, my mind once again became a void of memories I was trying hard to forget.

I ran a hand through my hair as I stared at the mess. The smell of muffins and cakes still lingered in the air, but it would be gone come morning.

It was like a circle; every day was the same, it was the same baked goods, the same customers, the same routine. Frankly, I was getting a bit sick of it.

My eyes darted around, but I decided to cash up before I started on the cleaning. With one last glance at the dirty dishes, I walked to the front of the shop and took a seat on the chair behind the cash register. I grabbed the notepad and pencil and pulled them closer.

I sighed as I unlocked the register and pulled it open. Removing the money, I laid it down on the counter, but something dropped to the floor. Frowning, I leaned down and picked it up.

My hands started to shake as I unfolded it. Somehow, I knew exactly what it was. Tears burned my eyes as I stared down at the familiar writing on the pink paper.

Money can buy a lot of things, but certainly not happiness. Don’t let it get to your head, Al.

​Closing my fingers around the paper, I squeezed it into a ball and threw it to the floor before dropping my head onto my folded arms. Tears escaped and rolled down my arms onto the counter.

I bit back a sob and squeezed my eyes closed.

Exhaustion hit. I knew I had something to do, but I couldn’t remember what.

Just for a little while, I’ll rest my eyes just for a while.

***

A hand suddenly gripped my arm and shook me. My eyes shot open, and my body jerked up at the same time as my hand shot out.

“Fuck!”

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open when I realized exactly who I just punched in the face.

“Oh my god,” I cried. “Are you okay? Let me see that.”

I hurried from behind the counter and walked over to him. With shaky fingers, I touched the reddening skin of his cheekbone. His eyes were still closed, but he opened them after a while and blinked rapidly.

Had I poked him in the eye with a finger when I hit him? His eyes weren’t red or anything. The only damage was to his cheek.

My eyes darted up to his just in time to catch the smile slipping from his face.

I frowned at him. Why was he smiling at me?

“I’m fine,” Mr. Miller said as his eyes darted up to mine. “Where did you learn to throw such a mean punch?”

Colour flooded my cheeks. “Crystal made me attend some self-defence classes with her.”

Questions flashed through his eyes, but he didn’t voice any of them. Instead, he muttered something under his breath that I didn’t hear clearly.

Spinning around, I walked back behind the counter and the register. I forced my focus onto the cash I had removed from the register earlier. After counting it, I wrote the amount down on the notepad and stuffed the money into the white bag we always used.

When I looked up, he was still standing in the same place I had left him in.

“Why are you here?”

“I wanted to personally stop by to thank you for—”

“We were late,” I interrupted him.

He nodded. “But after tasting—”

“You tasted it?” I questioned in surprise. “Don’t answer that. What did you try?”

“One of your brownies.” Colour filled his cheeks. “I have a sweet tooth,” he muttered as he stepped closer. “Brownies are one of my weaknesses.”

I licked my bottom lip and looked away. My eyes darted to the glass windows and spotted the only car parked at the curb.

“You drove all this way to tell me that you like my brownies?”

Mr. Miller nodded. “That and I wanted to see you again.”

My eyes widened. Had I just heard him right? “W-why?”

“Have dinner with me, Albany.”

“I don’t know you,” I muttered.

He smiled at me. “Dinner is a perfect way for you to get to know me.”

I stared at him silently as I tried to figure out whether he was being serious or not. He couldn’t have been serious. We only met this morning, and now he was asking me out to dinner.

Instead of answering him, I spun around and entered the kitchen again. If I ignored him long enough, he’d get the message and leave. My arm snagged on a bowl as I walked past it, sending it flying to the floor.

A curse fell from my lips as I dropped to my knees. Pulling the bowl closer, I started picking up the small decorative silver balls we used on the cakes.

“Do you need help?”

My body jerked in fright when he suddenly spoke from above me. “No,” I told him without looking up.

Mr. Miller didn’t listen; he knelt next to me on the floor and started picking the balls without a word. Watching his big hands work with something so small was doing strange things to my body.

“Who’s Crystal?”

His question was innocent, but it made tears fill my eyes and roll down my cheeks. I sniffed and reached up to wipe the tears away.

Of course, he noticed it!

The last thing I wanted was for him to see me crying. Hadn’t I embarrassed myself enough already?

“Please leave,” I whispered.

I tensed when he moved closer. Mr. Miller’s hand shot out to grip my wrist while his other arm wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me against his chest. I tried to pull away, but after a few seconds, I stopped fighting. My body slumped against his chest as a sob fell from my lips.

Somehow, I ended up sitting on his lap, slumped against his chest, and sobbing my heart out. When the sobs died down, I was too tired to move away, but I knew I had to say something.

“Mr. Miller—”

“Severide,” he interrupted. “Do you need anything?”

“N-no.” I moved my head slightly, which made my nose brush against his neck.

Sucking in a breath, I sighed. He still smelled fresh even after a full day’s work. I sniffed at him again, not realizing that he could hear it. His sudden laughter came as a shock.

“Are you sniffing me?”

“No!”

I snapped upright and crawled off his lap. With burning cheeks, I stumbled to my feet and hurried into the bathroom. It was small and contained only a single basin with a cracked mirror on top of it and a toilet.

Opening the tap, I splashed my face with some cold water and slowly straightened. My reflection caught my attention. I had puffy red eyes with pale, tear-stained cheeks and a snotty nose. My eyes widened when they dropped to my mouth; cookie crumbs were sticking to the corners of my mouth.

Had they been there all this time?

Good thing I didn’t look at him when I got up.

I grabbed some toilet paper and blew my nose. After a small pep talk, I finally found the courage to exit the bathroom. I came to a sudden stop when my eyes fell on him.

Mr. Mil—Severide had already picked up the decorative balls and was now busy collecting all the dirty bowls and stacking them on the sink. He turned and froze when our eyes locked.

“Y-you’re going to do the dishes?”

He rubbed his jaw. “I was going too, but now I’m not so sure. It doesn’t look like you want me to.”

I swallowed. “I don’t because it’s my job. Why are you still here?”

Severide chuckled, but he didn’t answer me. Instead, he glanced around, and then he looked back at me. His eyes darted over my face and lingered on my mouth. When his lips twitched, I knew he had seen the crumbs.

“I’ll wait until you’re done,” he said.

“That’s not necessary. I—”

“It’s not up for debate, Albany.” He moved closer and stopped in front of me. “You were asleep with a wad of cash next to you within plain sight, and to make matters worse, the door wasn’t even locked.”

“I...” I trailed off because I had no excuse. “Please leave.”

“Not until you agree to have dinner with me,” he said. “Nothing fancy, I promise.”

“I can’t.” I nodded to the mess. “I need—”

“Just say yes.”

I stared up at him. Why was he being so pushy? Licking my lips, I looked at the dirty dishes and stared at them as I tried to decide. In the end, exhaustion won. I wasn’t in the mood to wash dirty dishes or make conversation with a stranger.

“Thank you for the invite, but the answer’s no. I’m tired, so I’m going—”

“Good,” he interrupted with laughing eyes. “I’ll drive you home.”

Severide turned and walked away, but he paused at the door and glanced at me over his shoulder. “Albany?”

“Yes?”

“I’m driving you home, and I’ll wait if I have to.”

My eyes narrowed as I stared at the door. There was no way he’d sit around and wait for me. With a new determination, I started washing the dishes. I wiped down the counters and made sure that everything was in its place before I left the kitchen. My steps faltered when my eyes locked on him.

Severide sat at one of the tables, scrolling on his phone.

He waited.

Guilt flooded me.

“Are you done?” he asked as he pushed his phone back into his pocket and stood. “It’s not too late, we could stop for a quick bite.”

“I already ate.”

“Liar.” His eyes lowered to my stomach for a few seconds. “I can hear your stomach rumbling.”

My shoulders slumped. The last thing I wanted to do was to go home to an empty apartment, so I nodded.

Severide smiled. “I know the perfect place.”