“Don’t mind her. She’s so bitter since no one wants her a—Ouch! Jesus Christ, Cleo.”
“Felicity,” she said in a sweet voice, meaning she wanted something. “Theo has a hot brother or cousin, right?”
“Yeah, how about no.”
“Greedy,” she whined. “When you get home—”
“Speaking about that, I’m going to be gone for a week.”
“What?”
“Theo invited me to North Carolina for the week. We’re leaving this afternoon.”
There was a long pause, followed by a click; she had put me on speakerphone.
“Don’t you think you’re moving a little fast?” Cleo asked.
Mark jumped in. “I’m all for it. Bring back one of those my friend went to North Carolina and all I got was this shot glass—what? Why are you glaring at me?”
She sighed. “I’m just saying you’re going to be across the country with some billionaire for a week. God only knows what’s going to happen.”
Mark laughed. “Not just God. I know too. It’s a three-letter word that starts with s and ends with x. Isn’t this what we wanted?”
I lifted the phone from my ear, allowing them to have this conversation, but they were so loud I could still hear them.
“Oh, come on, you remember your first sugar daddy—”
“Don’t call him that!” I jumped back into the middle of it.
“What is he, then?” Cleo countered.
I thought for a second and decided to stick to the same definition I’d given Theo. “We are friends with benefits. He hasn’t paid for anything that I haven’t returned.”
“Even worse,” Cleo said as she opened something that sounded like my bag of kettle corn. “You’re more likely to fall in love with a friend than a sugar daddy—”
“Don’t call him that.”
“Fine. Whatever. He’s just being careful. Remember it’s all an illusion. You’re just the new toy. New toys don’t stay shiny for long when someone is always playing with it.”
“God, you girls complicate and overthink everything. Just have fun, Felicity, no matter what,” Mark called.
“Felicity!” Rosemary, her curls piled up in a bun, was at the door. “Manny is getting pissy out here.”
“Guys, I’ll text you later. Don’t drink all my wine.” I hung up before they could reply. I put my phone in my pocket. “How mad is he that I’m late?”
She gave me a look, and I exhaled loudly.
“I guess I shouldn’t ask for a week off?”
“A week off?” Manny came up to us, and I noticed his glasses were gone and he had color contacts in. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Not when you can’t even get to work on time.”
“Manny, I haven’t been late or taken a vacation in three years!”
“We’re too busy.” He huffed and marched away.
I was tempted to take off my shoe and clock him over the head a few times.
“Bring up Darcy Entertainment,” Rosemary whispered as she went back out front.
We had a total of six customers. If six people was Manny’s definition of busy, I didn’t want to know what a slow day was like. Behind the counter, I put the fresh pies on display, trying to think of any other way to get off for the week. I didn’t like using Theo’s name like that. I couldn’t make any promises. Besides, seeing as how I had seen Manny’s demo tapes, under duress I must add, I was not heartless enough to put that in anyone’s face, let alone Theo’s.
“Goddamn thing!”
He was fighting with the espresso machine. He smacked the top of it and pulled the handle a few times. Rosemary went to help him, but I shook my head at her. She tilted her head at me in confusion. I held my finger up, waiting for it.
Three.
Two.
One.
He gave it one more smack before calling me. “Felicity! Fix this thing!”
“Actually, Manny, I was thinking of quitting.” I stacked the cups behind the counter.
“Felicity, no!” Rosemary gasped in mock horror, grasping on to the end of the counter as if she were going to jump toward me. “Please don’t! You’re the only one who knows how to fix that thing, or how to get the distributor to give us the good coffee beans, not to mention you’re the one that sets all the timers for the morning. My job will be hell.”
Manny looked between us, annoyed, and I tried not to smile. “Don’t you have to quit with notice?”
I shrugged. “I could do a horrible job, and you could fire me.”
“Fine. A week, and not a day more—Ah!” He screamed, jumping back when hot steam sprayed out of the espresso machine. “That’s it! I’m getting a new one.”