Mocha Me Crazy

by Kristen Flowers

  “Okay. How’s 8pm?”

  “Fine,” she replied offhandedly, as she looked intently at something on her phone.

  I scribbled my address on the notepad I carried in my apron packet and handed it to her. She took it and then looked at me blankly before abruptly bursting into laughter. I really didn’t understand what had just happened.

  “Oh, Cassie. It’s a charm, really.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “That makes it even more of a charm,” she reassured me before heading out the back door, chuckling.

  I stood in the back room of the coffee shop for a couple minutes trying to figure out what piece of the puzzle I was missing. Alice telling me it was a “charm” felt more like an insult than a compliment. I shook my head and walked out to head home. Now was not the time to brood on this.

  _____________________________

  I was just about finished getting ready, my hair still not done, when there was a knock at my door. I looked over at the clock and saw that Alice was more than ten minutes early. I appreciated punctuality, but in this case, I wasn’t exactly keen on entertaining. There was already the impending trip to a house we hadn’t been invited to for the delivery of bad news. That was more than enough for me to have to deal with in one night. I sighed and walked to the door. No matter what, I had to be courteous.

  Despite that, the first words that came out of my mouth were less than courteous, “You’re early.”

  Alice laughed and gave a small shrug. I stepped back and motioned for her to come inside. She breathed out a little whistle, the type of sound someone made when they were impressed or approving of something. I stood for a moment and watched her eyes wander to scope out the condo.

  “This is a really great place and it’s close to the center of town,” she said, sounding somewhat surprised.

  “Thank you.”

  “A place like this isn’t exactly easy to come by.”

  “I suppose luck was truly on my side,” I told her. “I’m almost finished getting ready.”

  “Oh, I can keep you company!” She said brightly.

  She had such a beaming smile on her face that I couldn’t tell her no. I gave a small nod and led the way. I pulled out the product for my hair and placed some on the palm of my hand before spreading it evenly through my curls. From the corner of my eye, I saw Alice watching me with interest.

  “Before you even go on about anything, as you tend to do, I always put this in my hair after a shower.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything,” she said, but her smug smile said something different.

  I looked away and continued to work my curls until I was happy with the way I looked. I glanced over at Alice and searched for something to say to cover up the silence. “It had taken me a long time to find this product. Before then, the brands I tried either didn’t work well enough or made my hair look oily.” I said as I set it down carefully and then wiped my hands off.

  “Nice to see you’re incredibly anal even in the comfort of your own home,” Alice joked before standing up.

  She walked over to the dresser and bent down to look at the family photo I had on top of it, right next to a small, rectangular vase filled with fresh, white tulips. She looked at the photograph before turning her attention to the flowers. She smiled faintly, but it was different than any smile I had seen on her before. It was warm and appreciative. There was something genuine about it. Then she turned her attention back to the family portrait and the smile turned into a look of confusion.

  “These are your parents, right?” She asked, pointing at the picture.

  “Yes. Why?”

  “It’s just, well, I don’t know. You do seem like your dad, in a way, but when he’s next to your mom like he is in this picture…”

  “I don’t seem like I fit in?”

  “Well, a little bit, yeah.”

  I laughed, “You don’t have to mask the truth by saying ‘a little bit’. I’m well aware of the difference.”

  “Oh,” she said, straightening up. She turned to face me. I was now applying foundation for my simple makeup. Alice cleared her throat, “So, your parents, what do they do?”

  “Well, my father’s a professor. He’s in the astronomy department at Appalachian State University.”

  “Ah, now I can see why there’s some similarity there,” she commented.

  “Well… Anyway. My mom owns a small pottery studio.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s wild just how different… Tell me more about her, Cass.”

  I sighed, “She studied Greek mythology and I guess at some point she wanted to work as a professor in that area. Then she met my dad and she decided she didn’t want to be, how would she put it? She hated the idea of being shackled to a job by a bunch of bureaucrats who cared more about running a business than a school.”

  Alice nodded, “Interesting. Go on.”

  “Well, she says she wanted to feel like she was contributing financially even though my dad told her many times it wasn’t necessary. So she opened the pottery studio.”

  “Why a pottery studio? Seems kind of random.”

  I couldn’t help but roll my eyes, “my mother is odd.”

  “You would say that.”

  I shot Alice a look, “Well, pottery has always been a passion of hers. She really enjoys the work she does there and even does Greek mythology themes for classes.”

  “That sounds really cool, actually!”

  I shrugged. I could see why others might find my mother charming, but it was a totally different story when you’re her daughter.

  “She’s extremely free-spirited and my father is too, at least to some extent. I definitely have more in common with him, though.”

  “Do you find his work more suitable?”

  I didn’t like the tone in Alice’s voice, but I replied anyway, “It’s not that I find my mother’s job unsuitable, Alice. It’s just not something that interests me. It isn’t exactly stable, either. But she is incredibly happy and my dad likes it too.”

  “Okay. So what about your dad?”

  “My father basically loves two things in this world– us and astronomy. He dedicates his entire life to both. You know, he even discovered a new technology to increase the power of telescopes. It was really interesting, at least the parts I understood.”

  “Whoa, whoa. Hold up. He invented that? That’s got to be huge!”

  “It was,” I said, “It changed all of our lives. But the money isn’t what brought him joy about it. The real gift, to him, was having the ability to do and share it.”

  “Wow,” Alice said. She paused and looked around for a moment, “Explains your place.”

  “What?”

  “I meant what I said earlier, Cass. This isn’t the type of place to come by easily. And not just anyone can afford to live here. Why are you even working at a coffee shop?”

  I bit the side of my cheek in frustration, “I’m ready. Let’s go,” I said pointedly.

  It was past 8pm when the loud doorbell rang through the house. Immediately, NotCat started barking. Ordinarily, he would have ran up to the door, poised for attack, but he was still in a cast so he didn’t bother moving much.

  Cal, who had to hold his dog down, shouted, “If it’s the cunt neighbor, tell her to fuck off!”

  I rolled my eyes at him and opened the door. The first person I saw was Cassie staring right back at me with wide eyes. I couldn’t hide the shocked look on my face.

  At once, Alice stepped forward, “We have something important to tell you. Well, you and your buddy.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Cassie and I, well, we’re pretty sure we know something about who hit NotCat.”

  My mouth fell open a little more. Then I slowly turned to look at Cassie for confirmation.

  “I wouldn’t say pretty sure but-” Cassie started.

  “Oh, come on.” Alice interrupted, “this
isn’t us just assuming things. It’s safe to say we’re pretty sure. Now, can you please invite us inside because it’s fucking freezing out here.”

  I ran my hand over the back of my head and gave a small smile before ushering them inside. As soon as they walked past the foyer they made their way to the living room. It was large with vaulted ceilings and a fireplace set in stone. It was rustic, gorgeous, and I somehow managed to make it look in touch with modern time without being tacky. The way Cassie was looking around I could tell she was impressed, but of course, she would never admit that to anyone.

  “Did you tell her to fuck off?” Cal shouted from the couch, without turning around.

  Alice tugged down on the bottom of her shirt a bit before walking around to stand in front of the couch, “No, he didn’t.”

  Cal nearly fell right off his seat when he saw Alice standing in front of him. Cassie and I watched amused from the back of the room.

  Cal went to stand up, “Don’t bother.” Alice said, waving him back down.

  Alice plopped down on the adjacent armchair and casually draped one leg over the other.

  “I’d be a terrible host if I didn’t offer drinks,” I leaned in and muttered to Cassie.

  “That is true,” she agreed.

  “Would I be terrible if I asked you to help me instead of peeling Cal off the couch?”

  Cassie looked over at Alice and Cal, but her focus fell on NotCat, who was comfortably cuddled up beside Cal’s leg.

  “I can’t bring myself to move a sick doggy,” she said, “So I’ll let it slide this time.”

  I laughed and nodded in the direction of the kitchen. “Your house isn’t an open floor plan,” she said as she followed me into the kitchen. It was an odd thing to say, but she had always been kind of an awkward person. She looked around at the wooden walls as if she were walking in a museum. I had forgotten what the house felt like when I first looked at it with a fresh pair of eyes. It was definitely unique, which was why I fell in love with the place. It was a large, gorgeous mountain house with log construction. I smiled as I watched her looking around the place. She wouldn’t want to say it, but I could tell she liked my taste.

  I pulled four beers out of the refrigerator and, after uncapping them all, handed two of them to Cassie, “I’ll take one to mine and you take the other to yours.”

  She gave a slight roll of her eyes and the two of us walked into the living room. Cal and Alice were chatting, but he looked much more into the conversation than she did.

  “We’ve got beer,” I announced happily.

  I took a seat down beside Cal and sipped my drink, my eyes followed Cassie’s every move. I could tell she was trying to play it off like she didn’t notice my gaze following her. She wanted to pretend I didn’t make her nervous, but I could see right through her. I smirked and took another sip, pleased to find that she had no choice but to sit either right beside me on the large couch or adjacent to me on the loveseat. Either way, she would be sitting close.

  It wouldn’t have worked out any better if I had planned it.

  Cal reached under the end table and pulled out a plush cushion. He set it on the floor and carefully guided the dog onto it. “He likes to fall asleep on it and now’s right around the time he gets tired. The pain meds make him sleepier in the evenings than usual.”

  “Well,” I said, “That’s actually why they’re here.”

  “To check up on NotCat?”

  “Not exactly,” I told him, “They, uh, they might know something about who hit him.”

  “What?” Cal perked up so fast even NotCat got startled. He leaned down and petted him on the head, “Sh, sh. It’s okay, old boy. It’s okay. You get your rest.” He ran his thumb over one of the dog’s ears, “Tell me everything.”

  “We had a customer the day after NotCat got hit,” Cassie started, “Who said some things that I thought were, well, quite cruel, but it wasn’t until later that I put two and two together. What she said sounded an awful lot like what happened to NotCat.”

  “I’m going to need details.”

  “Well, this woman was talking on the phone and explaining how her truck was in the shop. She mentioned there was an animal that got in the way and she hit it ‘accidentally’ before hitting a trash can, which was why it needed to be fixed.”

  “And you bought that?”

  “She wasn’t telling me and I’m just relaying what I heard.”

  “I’m going to need more, new girl. I need a name.” Cal said, prying her like she was on trial.

  Cassie drew in a breath and held it. Here she was, going out on a limb and meddling in a messy issue, but Cal still couldn’t speak with basic respect. I couldn’t help but sigh in frustration. He always had an immature streak. Alice must have caught on that Cassie was annoyed because she took over the conversation.

  “Well, I didn’t hear what she said, but I can give you a name. It was Mrs. Christianson.”

  “I fucking knew it!” Cal burst out in a strange mixture of anger and satisfaction.

  Alice and Cassie looked at each other in confusion.

  “Mrs. Christianson is the cunt next door,” Cal explained, “She’s the one I was screaming about when you two got here.”

  “But what do you mean you ‘knew it’? And why do you hate her? I understand she is certainly an unpleasant woman but-”

  Cal cut Cassie off with a dismissive wave of his hand, “She’s our neighbor and saying she’s unpleasant is the understatement of the century.”

  “I’ve got to side with Cal on this one,” I spoke up, “She’s been awful.”

  “She put a damn letter on our door saying the neighborhood rules dictated all dogs had to be on a leash. She tried to make it seem official, like it was a reminder to everyone but it was literally only on our door. She’s always thought we didn’t ‘belong’ in the neighborhood. Probably because we’re young and richer than her.” Cal laughed.

  “Honestly, that’s not the first big problem we’ve had with her. I always felt like she had it out for us ever since we moved in. It’s like she thinks we don’t belong here.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Cassie said quietly.

  “I know,” Cal scoffed, “I mean, we didn’t grow up fancy pants but that doesn’t make it fine to treat us like shit!”

  “Oh, that’s not…” Cassie took in a deep breath, “I just don’t think she hit NotCat on purpose. Honestly, who could do such an awful thing?”

  Cal let out a mocking laugh, “You’ve obviously never lived among the real bitches of Vail. Or maybe not long enough to get it. That cunt would for sure hit a dog and drive off. To her, it’s just a solution to whatever problem she thinks is going on here.”

  Cassie was dumbfounded. She fell silent. I could see her mind working to piece it all together. I could tell she didn’t want to believe someone could actually be so malicious, especially toward an innocent animal, despite what she had heard. Unfortunately, there truly are awful people in the world, and Mrs. Christianson was one of them.

  “My father is an attorney,” Alice mentioned, “He could possibly help but there is one stipulation. It’s a pretty big one.”

  “What is it? If it’s money, that’s not a problem.” Cal said.

  Alice looked around and said flatly, “Right, it’s money.”

  “Fine. What’s the stipulation?”

  “My dad can’t know you’re NotCat’s owner.”

  “What the hell? Why not?” Cal looked shocked.

  “He, uh, well, he kind of hates you?”

  “Are you asking me or telling me?”

  “He hates you. He thinks you’re an ignorant, rude child,” she informed him before hurriedly adding, “It has nothing to do with him thinking you ‘don’t belong’ or anything like that. He’s not that sort of man. He just doesn’t like rude people, no matter what their background is.”

  Cal sipped on his beer and stayed silent for a while, obviously giving it some thought.

  “Fine.
Tell me more.”

  As the two of them continued talking about what Alice’s father could potentially do to help, I leaned over to Cassie. She turned to look at me with a scrunched brow. I put my hand on her thigh and smiled reassuringly, “Don’t worry, not everyone in Vail runs over dogs.”

  My smile quickly turned into a smirk. Cassie held my gaze for a moment before laughing like she couldn’t help it. Still, she made sure to pull her leg out from under my hand.

  “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh,” I said.

  She immediately stopped to regain her composure. She was, after all, nothing like Cal and I. She was here to deliver news and now her ride was busy talking.

  “It’s a shame,” I said under my breath.

  “What’s a shame?”

  “That you stopped laughing. You have a beautiful smile.”

  Cassie sat back and crossed her arms.

  “I’m not that kind of girl,” she whispered, leaving me slightly confused.

  “We need to talk about this more,” Cal said, “And we need more beer.”

  “I’ll help with that,” Alice smiled.

  The two of them walked into the kitchen, but didn’t come back. The kitchen filled with the noise of uncapping bottles and clinking of glasses. There was hushed talking and laughter. Meanwhile, I sat awkwardly on the couch. I was avoiding Hunter’s eyes at all costs and holding onto the beer bottle in my hand with a nervous death grip. The sound of more bottles being opened made me wonder if Cal and Alice were just guzzling them down.

  There was more laughter, “Logistics! We’re… logistics!” Cal called out.

  Then everything went silent and I knew Alice, and my ride, had just ditched me in favor of Cal. I almost couldn’t believe it. I cleared my throat and took the tiniest sip of beer, wondering what I should do now. The best I could do was to continue sitting awkwardly while still trying to play it cool. I felt a little warm and my stomach had a small knot starting to form, but there was no way it could mean what it usually did. There was no way I had any kind of feelings for Hunter.