Life of Illusion

The next morning, when I woke up to the sound of my phone's alarm clock, feeling nervous again. My first day of work. I had to be there a little bit before opening, so William could teach me a little more about the machines and stuff.

William said to dress nice, but not necessarily all skirts. But, I didn't really have any dressy pants, I stuck with another skirt and fancy top. Since I would have to put on an apron anyway, I don't really think it mattered what my shirt looked like.

I ate a bowl of oatmeal, blueberry flavored, and drank some orange juice before walking to the shop. William was there, turning on machines and putting out the muffins that they sold. “Mmmm, it smells so good in here.” I smiled, and William looked up.

“Oh, good morning, Aline.” He greeted.

“Good morning, Will.” I slid in next to him.

“You could have one, if you'd like.”

“No, I already had breakfast, but now I know to wait.” I giggled, smiling up at him.

“You look nice, it's a shame you'll have to put on this stupid apron.” William joked, handing me the white cloth.

“Shame.” I agreed, shaking my head.

“I think, for the next few days, you should just observe what I do, you know. So you can get the hang of everything.”

“Aye, aye, Cap'n.” I saluted. Will gave me another weird look, but his mouth lifted into a smile anyway. He shook his head once before switching the sign on the door to 'open.'

“Most of our business is in the morning.” Will mentioned and someone walked in not five seconds later. He ordered a coffee, two parts cream, one part sugar. I watched William intently as he prepared the cup, chatting casually with the old man with a tan suit and blue tie.

“Have a wonderful day, sir. Enjoy your coffee.” Will smiled as the man walked out of the shop. “Always smile.” William reminded me, then thought about it, “I don't think that will be a problem with you, actually.”

“Nope.” I laughed.

More people came in, and by the fifth or sixth time he made a coffee, I figured I could make my own cup. “Morning, Aline!” Two familiar voices sounded from the door after the jingle sounded. “Morning, Will!”

“Hi, guys!” I waved, excited. “What are you doing here?”

“We came to see you at your first day of work.” They explained.

“Hey, guys.” William waved, “Nice to see you again. It's been a while.”

“That it has, Will.” Oliver clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You're looking well. How's the old man?”

“He's going good. Should be here any moment.” William answered, “I suspect you want your regular cappuccinos?”

“Yes. Put extra whipped cream on mine, like usual.” Oliver requested.

“I want Aline to make mine.” James said playfully.

“I don't know how to make those yet!” I piped up, looking at James with wide eyes.

“I'm sure Will will help you.”

“Fine.” I huffed, grabbing a cup.

“It's not actually that hard.” Will said from behind me as I walked up to the machine, “You just press the button.” He pointed to the button. He was really close. I could smell him. I felt my heart speed up a little. I held the button down, letting the cup fill up. “You let it go when the cup is about three-quarters full.” William explained.

I swallowed, letting go of the button a little too late, and the hot liquid spilled over the top. “Ah!” I exclaimed, jumping back as it burned on my hand. I fell against Will. “S-sorry.” I stuttered, straightening.

“It's all right, just wipe off the sides with a cloth and finish it with the whipped cream.” Will instructed. I nodded, taking a couple napkins and wiping the cup down.

I handed the finished product to James, how looked a little odd. Will took care of the price while Mr. Holster walked in the front door.

“Good morning, Ed!” I greeted, large grin on my face.

“Good morning, Aline. It's nice to see you so happy.”

“She's always that happy.” Oliver put in, sitting down at a table with the muffin he bought with James, who was drinking his cappuccino. “Get used to it.”

“I like it.” William put it, “It's nice to have someone so lively around here.”

“I'm sure you do.” I heard James mutter as I walked by to help Edward get something from his car.

“Paint?” I asked, looking at the five cans that were in his back seat.

“Yeah, I figured we should re-do the shop. We're closing early to paint today, already talked it over with Will.”

“Why are you doing that?” I asked, carrying three cans and a bag of other paint supplies while Edward go the other two and the rest of the paint supplies.

Edward shrugged his shoulders, “I figured it was time for a change, you know?”

I nodded, “I know exactly what you mean, Edward.” And, did I ever. I pushed it from my mind and followed him back into the shop. “What color is it?”

“Brick red.” He answered, leading me into the back room. I gave a low sound of approval. “And, I have a little job for you, Aline.”

“Anything, sir.” I said as he paused to look at me.

“I need more decorations for this place. I want you to go out and find anything you can to make this place look less...bleak.”

“Okay...but I'll need some help.”

“You can take Will, I'll be okay running this place by myself. We don't really get much business after this time anyway...”

“Okay, sir. But, I wouldn't feel right leaving you all alone here. Can I take James and Oliver?”

“If that's what you want.” He said as I took off my apron and hung it back up. “Take this.” He held out a plastic card to me. “If you can, keep it under 1,000 euros.”

“Got it!” I saluted, “Shouldn't be too hard, I just did something like this and found a whole bunch of deals. Spent a fortune in cab money, though.” I pointed out with a scowl. “And, if I can't, I'll use some of my money.”

“You don't have to do that, Aline. Just do what you can.”

“Alright, I'll be off then!” I waved. “James, Oliver, would you like to accompany me on a mission?” I asked, and Will gave me a look. The twins were just finishing their drinks.

“What is it?” They asked together.

“Shopping!” I exclaimed, they groaned.

“Aren't you supposed to be working?”

“Believe it or not, I'll be getting paid for this.” I smiled, “It's for this place. We're remodeling.” I said.

“We've got nothing better to do.” Oliver shrugged, standing up. With a pointed look at Will, James stood up, too.

“He's staying?” James said with a nod to Will, who was just going through the back door for the ovens.

“Will? Yeah, I don't like Ed staying here alone.”

“I'm sure he's done it before. It's only those two at this shop anyway.” Oliver explained.

“Still.” I said, shrugging, leading the way out the doors, “Can we use your car?”

“Yeah, we'd have to go back to the house first though.” Oliver nodded. James seemed rather quiet.

“Hey, Jamie, what's wrong?” I asked as we started walking back the two blocks to our houses.

“Nothing.” He replied shortly, clearly sulking. My mouth twisted to the side, and I clumsily walked backwards in front of him. I poked the sides of his mouth, pulling them up so it looked like he was smiling.

“Much better.” I giggled, and then I didn't have to hold my fingers there for him to be smiling. “See, it's hard staying all sad, isn't it?” I asked, skipping back to my place beside him.

“Sure.” He laughed.