Lies and Redemption
Dilema
Hot coffee spilled over the edge of the cup Katie hadn't been paying attention to, trickling over her fingers in a scalding stream of rich brown liquid. Hissing a few choice curse words under her breath, Katie wiped her hand on her apron before wrapping the cup in a handfull of napkins and slapping a lid on the top before passing it to the impatient customer on the opposite side of the counter, who was too busy gabbing into her cell phone about how the "stupid coffee girl" was going to make her late to manage even a half assed, insincere thank you. Between the unusually high number of obnoxious customers and the fact that she couldn't stop obsessing over the fact that for the second week running, it went without saying that she was totalloy completely overwealmed by stress and it wasn't even noon yet. Giving in to her inner nicotine fiend, she finally tapped her coworker on the shoulder.
"Are you good for a minute?," she asked, not really caring to hear the younger girl's answer.
Colleen sighed and looked at the line that was quickly forming on the far side of the counter. It would be a lot to handle for one person and as much as Katie could sympathize with the girl's unwillingness to tackle the increasingly irritated line up of customers, she couldn't bring herself to face one more cup of coffee without a little stress relief.
"I'll only be a minute," she said, disappearing into the back before Colleen could protest.
Grabbing her cell phone and cigarettes out of her jacket pocket, she stepped into the alleyway that ran behind the cafe and quickly extracted one of her Camel No. 9s from the slightly smushed box. "Stripper cigarettes," Logan had called them the first time he'd seen her smoke one. The old, and completely random memory brought up a whole new wave of stress and confusion for Katie. Lately she couldn't help thinking about how good he seemed to be with Lily, not to mention how good he'd been with her before they'd split. If they could get to the point where they were actually friends again, the whole Logan as daddy thing would be an ideal situation for her and Lily both. Not only would katie have another adult friend, a department in which she was severely lacking, Logan was a free, reliable baby sitter and a good father figure for Lily. Only problem was, there was the whole Lily-might-not-actually-be-his issue to contend with. As much as she wanted to, she didn't really feel right about just letting Logan think Lily was his beyond the shadow of any doubt.
"Damn it," she sighed, the words accompanied by a plume of smoke.
All too soon, Katie had finished her cigarette. As stressed as she was, she could easilly have stood outside chain smoking for the remainder of her shift, but she was pretty sure Colleen would kill her if she just ducked out on such a busy day. It was just as well. Smoking all day wasn't going to do anything other than make her sick to her stomach, and the last thind katie needed was indigestion to deal with on top of everything else. Flicking her cigarette to the ground, Katie resisted the urge to call and check on Lily and Logan before she went inside and got back to work.
"Are you good for a minute?," she asked, not really caring to hear the younger girl's answer.
Colleen sighed and looked at the line that was quickly forming on the far side of the counter. It would be a lot to handle for one person and as much as Katie could sympathize with the girl's unwillingness to tackle the increasingly irritated line up of customers, she couldn't bring herself to face one more cup of coffee without a little stress relief.
"I'll only be a minute," she said, disappearing into the back before Colleen could protest.
Grabbing her cell phone and cigarettes out of her jacket pocket, she stepped into the alleyway that ran behind the cafe and quickly extracted one of her Camel No. 9s from the slightly smushed box. "Stripper cigarettes," Logan had called them the first time he'd seen her smoke one. The old, and completely random memory brought up a whole new wave of stress and confusion for Katie. Lately she couldn't help thinking about how good he seemed to be with Lily, not to mention how good he'd been with her before they'd split. If they could get to the point where they were actually friends again, the whole Logan as daddy thing would be an ideal situation for her and Lily both. Not only would katie have another adult friend, a department in which she was severely lacking, Logan was a free, reliable baby sitter and a good father figure for Lily. Only problem was, there was the whole Lily-might-not-actually-be-his issue to contend with. As much as she wanted to, she didn't really feel right about just letting Logan think Lily was his beyond the shadow of any doubt.
"Damn it," she sighed, the words accompanied by a plume of smoke.
All too soon, Katie had finished her cigarette. As stressed as she was, she could easilly have stood outside chain smoking for the remainder of her shift, but she was pretty sure Colleen would kill her if she just ducked out on such a busy day. It was just as well. Smoking all day wasn't going to do anything other than make her sick to her stomach, and the last thind katie needed was indigestion to deal with on top of everything else. Flicking her cigarette to the ground, Katie resisted the urge to call and check on Lily and Logan before she went inside and got back to work.