Dark Rose

Waking up the next morning, Raisa didn’t bother hitting snooze, as she headed straight for the kitchen and flipped the burner on to heat the water. Searching through the cupboards she hoped to find even the tiniest morsel of edible food, finding nothing but the can of coffee she had bought on her way home from the café. She really had to stop forgetting to eat.
Grabbing a mug, she quickly made her coffee, savoring it as she paced through the living room, oddly awake. Two minutes later, her coffee was gone and she was sitting on the bathroom sink, waiting for the shower to heat up, a process that usually took about half a minute. Sticking her hand into the spray to test the water, she found it warm enough, quickly stripping and jumping into the luke-warm water, trying not to let the cold sink in. Fifteen minutes later, Raisa emerged, feeling clean and refreshed.
Wrapping herself in an old threadbare towel, she realized that she had forgotten her clothes yet again. Trotting across the living room, her wet feet connected with the hardwood, making a quiet slapping sound. Sliding into her room, she fought to keep her towel up as she searched through her dresser for clean clothes, finding nothing but an old pair of large shredded jeans that could barely be classified as clothing anymore and a tank top she was convinced showed too much skin. But one good thing came out of her clothes search as she pulled out an old Metallica sweater she had stolen from her brother a while ago; it had been his and her favorite and he had been furious when he found out she had lost it and she was ecstatic to find it. She was still doing laundry tomorrow.
Dressing quickly, she towel-dried her hair, brushing it out and throwing it up into a bun. Heading to the kitchen, she squirmed her feet into her sneakers and grabbed her keys, making sure to lock the door as she left.
She walked to work slowly, using the extra time to her advantage. Soon arriving at John’s store, she looked through the window, flipping John off when she saw him, his only reply being a wide grin.
Having ignored the leers and crude comments from the less respectable morning passerbys, Raisa was in a reasonably good mood, despite her extreme state of hunger. Upon entering, she found the café empty, forgetting whether or not Emily had classes, since Claire was no where to be seen. She could probably ask Jeremy if she was desperate enough, but she wasn’t in the mood to socialize yet. Sliding behind the counter, she pulled off her hoodie and grabbed an apron off the hook by the espresso machine. Getting to work she organized and swept the tables and floor, but three minutes later she was done. Apparently Emily or Claire had taken care of everything the night before.
Raisa was at a loss for what to do for the next ten or fifteen minutes before opening when her stomach growled loudly, reminding her of her missed breakfast and countless meals from the day before. Stripping her apron, she walked to the other end of the counter and opened the kitchen door, a tidal wave of sweet smells hitting her, her stomach growling loudly in response.
“Got any extra?” the words were out of her mouth before she could think.
“You forgot to eat again didn’t you?” it was more a statement than a question. “The extras are over there.” Jeremy’s disembodied arm pointed to the counter to her right from the walk-in freezer.
“Why are you in the freezer? You make food, not drinks,” Raisa said walking over and plucking a bagel off the tray.
“Dairy products… that I have no idea how to find.”
“Ya, Emily has a weird way of organizing things.” Raisa said, shoving a piece of bagel in her mouth, leaning against the counter.
“Well are you going to help me?”
“What do I get?”
“The rest of your bagel-and don’t even say I can’t take it from you, you know I can.”
“How do you even know I’m eating a bagel, it could be a cookie or croissant or anything else.”
“Raisa, how long have we known each other?”
“A little over two years…I think”
“And how often do we see each other?”
“Way too much.”
“Exactly, I’d be an idiot if I didn’t know what you like by now. Now get in here and help me.” Dropping her half-eaten bagel back on the tray, Raisa stalked into the freezer, punching Jeremy’s arm to get his attention, breaking his focus on the ceiling.
“That won’t help you find it you know.” Walking to the back, she stepped onto an old milk crate, sliding a box of syrups to the right, revealing a couple gallons of various milks and boxes of butter. “Happy?” she said, turning and crossing her arms across her chest to find Jeremy giving her a skeptical look, an eyebrow raised. “What are you staring at?”
“What did you do to your pants, they’re demolished.”
“I don’t know, probably slid on pavement or something like that. Now help me bring the food out, I want to finish eating before the morning rush, I’m starving.” Raisa stepped off the crate, pushing past Jeremy on her way out of the freezer. Grabbing a tray, she walked back out to the counter and started organizing the food in front of the glass panel. She was halfway through the tray when Jeremy walked out, a tray of fresh food in one hand and what appeared to be the rest of Raisa’s bagel in the other. Abandoning her tray, Raisa stood up and grabbed her bagel out of his hand, giving him a sarcastically sweet smile, as much of a thanks as he’d ever gotten. Returning to her tray, she stuck a corner of the bagel in her mouth, careful not to drop it or bite through as she continued arranging the food.
“I’ll finish those, you should eat,” Jeremy said from her left arranging his own tray.
Ignoring him, Raisa continued sorting, standing up and sitting on the counter when she was done. Tearing into her bagel, she waited for Jeremy to finish his tray.
Five minutes later, Jeremy was back in the kitchen and Raisa was manning the front on her own. For once, she was glad the morning rush consisted mainly of businessmen (and women) who didn’t have the time to sit and eat. Normally their brisk arrogant manner annoyed her, but if they weren’t sitting, she wouldn’t have to leave the counter, since she usually brought the food to the costumers who were staying after ordering, or try explaining that they’d have to come get their food themselves. But that definitely didn’t stop anyone from complaining about the poorer than usual service. The random men staring down her shirt didn’t help Raisa’s attitude much either. Her mood got worse and worse throughout the day, the last straw hitting around noon when Raisa realized she would have no breaks and therefore, no chance to eat, her stomach was already growling, unwilling to miss another meal.
Five minutes later, Jeremy came out bearing another tray, ready to re-stock the shelves. Waiting for her last costumer of the moment to leave, she took off her apron and dropped it on Jeremy’s head, walking to the kitchen door before turning around. “I’m eating, stay here,” her words were short and clipped as she tried not to snap at him - he hadn’t actually done anything. Turning back around, she walked back into the kitchen, heading straight for the fridge at the end of the room where all appropriate cooking items were kept.
Fifteen minutes later, Raisa was sitting on the counter, her legs folded as she ate her freshly made omelet when Jeremy walked through the door, red-faced.
“You should probably be at the counter, we’re not supposed to leave the register unattended,” Raisa said, ignoring his obvious distress.
“I closed for lunch,” Jeremy’s voice was flat.
“I thought it was against the rules, or whatever else you want to call them?”
“Who gives a shit, do you have any idea how many people have thanked me for taking over for ‘that poor exhausted waitress’?” Jeremy said, annoyed.
“No clue” Raisa shook head. “But they have a good point, Emily really does need more time off.”
“They weren’t talking about Emily.”
“Then why the hell are you so upset? As far as I know, Claire just leaches off her dad and only has a job to show how ‘responsible’ she is. Although I just remembered I need to yell at her later.” She cocked her head to the side “Unless Emily doesn’t have classes today - does she?” Raisa was rambling.
“No, her classes are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and she was here yesterday, in case you didn’t notice.”
“Of course I did, I just forgot. And who the hell are they talking about anyway?”
“You!”
“I don’t look that shitty do I?” She looked herself up and down.
“Raisa, you’ve had fourteen hours of sleep in the last week, you forget to eat for days at a time and you don’t even have time to do your laundry. Who do you think they were talking about?”
“We had this conversation yesterday, I’m not stopping and I’m not cutting down my hours any more than I’m able to each night. So unless you want to fill in for me, piss off.”
“Fine, you know what, never mind. Just get your ass out here when you finish” Jeremy said, storming out. Raisa had never seen Jeremy so worked up before; he was known to be annoyingly calm and was an expert at keeping his emotions in check. The last time she had seen him show any real emotion was when his mom had died.
She had had a heart-attack one day, while returning home from work. Both Jeremy and Emily were devastated, but Jeremy took it the hardest and became furious with himself for not being with in her. Emily had been visiting and was able to say goodbye, but Jeremy might as well of been worlds away in New England. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t get to London fast enough. After the funeral, he locked himself up in his apartment, refusing to talk or let anyone in.
Emily visited him everyday for a month, sitting outside his door and talking to him, filling in his side of the conversation when he didn’t reply and leaving food when she left. But a month was all he got before Raisa got fed up with his constant absences and Emily’s complaining and went to pry Jeremy out of his apartment.
When he heard a voice other than Emily’s Jeremy finally opened the door, curious and his eyes widened at the figure in front of him. Pushing her way past Jeremy, she sat on the couch, motioning for him to join her. Once he was situated, she spoke. “Talk” and talk he did, he talked about his mother, how he regretted not being there and how nobody saw it coming. He talked about Emily, his relationship with her, funny memories from his childhood; everything, Raisa only asked questions and encouraged him when necessary. Two days later, Jeremy emerged from his apartment able to deal with the world, a tired Raisa behind him. They had come to a silent agreement that it wouldn’t change their relationship and although it may have changed their views on each other, they were still the same Jeremy and Raisa as they had always been.
Finishing up her lunch and wiping off the counter she had been sitting on, Raisa thought back to this, wondering what had gotten Jeremy so worked up. Walking out of the kitchen, Raisa walked up behind Jeremy, leaning against the counter and watching as he dealt with the costumers. ‘Calm, polite and patient, what a surprise,’ she thought sarcastically.
She was settling down wait for him to turn around and notice her - it probably wouldn’t take long since she was next to the coffee machine - when she saw him walk through the door.