Blue at Midnight (11 page)

Chapter 24

A bustling
Saturday shift at Coffee Time and all I could think about was how relieved I was
not to have to close up. Craig hadn’t turned up for his shift so it meant the
three of us, including the boss, were running around like headless chickens
ensuring all customers were served. I never really minded chaotic shifts
because the constant high kept me too busy to think about anything but
coffee.
 

As we were a man down
it was a struggle covering lunchtimes but I was happy to eat on the go, taking
bites out of a spicy chorizo and mozzarella wrap accompanied with shots of
espresso. Funnily enough Hugo hopped around like a robin more than usual on
days like this, thriving in the effervescent energy. He got so carried away
that he didn’t even realise that he’d eaten the other half of my wrap whilst I
was emptying the dishwasher but I chose not to mention it as it wasn’t a big
deal. The new girl wasn’t the new girl anymore. She was coping very well with
the large number of customers. Being thrown in the deep end was always the best
way to learn. That’s how I’d learnt a lot of things in life. Plus Craig wasn’t
the best Coffee Time role model as he spent most of his time trying to get
phone numbers from pretty women.

The eight-hour shift
flew by like it was on a sixty-minute timer and thankfully it was time to go
home and rest. Slowly, the day’s hard strain started to weigh me down. I’d
barely sat down for ten minutes and the aching in my lower back was proof of
it. However looking around the place whilst eating a slice of pepperoni pizza
(courtesy of Hugo), I could happily say the words ‘mission accomplished’ with
pride. Just go home, make a calm and relaxing herbal tea then lie down in your
warm, cosy bed I told myself.
 

For the first time in a
while I’d felt at ease, there was nothing to worry about and unknowingly it was
showing on my face on the way back home.
 

The rays of the smiling
sun shone upon me. Where did the night go? I could have easily slept in for
another two hours but once the sun had woken me up I knew it would be a
struggle to sleep again. As always I’d tell myself I needed darker curtains but
never really remember to buy some until I was woken again by the sunlight. As
snug as a soft velvety cushion I lay there looking at the empty
peppermint–tea-stained mug that had stayed next to my pillow the whole night.
Same as most nights I thought, I’d woken up the way I’d fallen asleep, barely
tossing and turning creating a tingling sensation through my body. This wasn’t
a good sign but last night my body was heavily oppressed by fatigue. Grateful
for the good night’s much needed sleep I decided I wasn’t going to moan.

Interrupted by my
mobile ringtone which was assigned to Coffee Time I jumped out of bed shuffling
through the heap of clothing on the floor, desperately trying to find my phone.
Luckily, I found it in time only to find out that Craig had been admitted to
hospital for somehow taking poison. The distress in Hugo’s voice made me
realise how real this was. I felt awful about the things I thought yesterday
when Craig hadn’t turned up for his shift.

At first I wondered if
he’d taken something at a nightclub thinking it was something else. Craig was
stupidly carefree like that. We decided to go to the hospital together so
Coffee Time was closed for the morning.
 

I detested hospitals!
Nauseated by my unpleasant experience in that glass house of helplessness,
frailty and disgusting food I followed Hugo in. Startled by the sound of a
disturbing cry echoing down the ward, I remembered the terrible pain of losing
my mother. My heart ached. Following the trail of agony our path was stopped by
a middle-aged Asian man in what looked like a white lab coat and black
spectacles. He seemed quite protective and his body language indicated we
couldn’t go any further without explaining ourselves to him.

“So you are his
employer?” he asked.

“Yes. As I said we are
very concerned about Craig and were…”
 

“I’m sorry to tell you
this but Craig passed away at 12:20 p.m.”

“What?” I screamed,
before looking at the clock on the wall which showed that ten minutes had
passed since his death.

My mouth opened to ask
questions but no words came out. Confused from being told that someone I’d just
spoken to recently was now gone forever was the hardest thing to believe. Hugo
continued to question the doctor. Everything I wanted to ask, Hugo had asked
seconds before. All the doctor could tell us was that Craig had a rare poison
in his body and the full details were not yet known.

Chapter 25

After spending a
night at Sonia’s sharing memories of troubled times we made our way to Coffee
Time. I thought we’d grab a take-out coffee and it would give me the chance to
check on Hugo. Surprisingly there was a new face wearing a mocha-coloured
Coffee Time apron, unloading the delivery. Even though it seemed too soon to
replace Craig, from a business point of view I knew that two part-time staff
would not be able to cover the general opening hours of the coffee house. Still
it just didn’t feel right and from the expression on Sonia’s face I could tell
she was thinking the same thing.
 

It turned out that the
lanky male in his mid-twenties had a glowing reference and five years’
experience as a barista. In fact Hugo said that he just turned up in his time
of need. A huge delivery had arrived and this young man took the initiative to
start unloading with Hugo. According to the relieved boss it was fate that
brought him here as he happened to be in need of a job and had his references
with him. Timing was everything to Hugo and the fact that he was keen to help
impressed him.

Just as I was about to
leave with my coffee, my pathway was blocked by the new employee saluting me.

“Before you leave I’d
just like to introduce myself as we’ll be working together.” Charming I
thought. He definitely knows how to smooth his way in.

“Hi I’m Izzie,” I said.

“Izzie?”

“Yep that’s what I’m
called.” With strangers I preferred to be as vague as possible.

“Well…
Izzie, nice to meet you.
My name is Cale.” Unpleasantly, he
gripped my hand almost squeezing it and letting go before I had a chance to
react. Offended by his rude intrusion I glared at Hugo who clearly hadn’t
noticed as he was too busy organising the merchandise.

Impatiently I shoved
Sonia out of the coffee house as she was moving as slow as a snail ahead of me,
preventing me from making a speedy getaway from Cale’s slimy presence.

During the college day
I was hoping to see Christian, but instead I accidentally locked eyes with the
college viper! Today, she was wearing a black and white pencil skirt
accompanied by a suffocating black polo neck, with her hair in a neat bun.
Furthermore her open-toe suede high-heeled sandals clattered along the wooden
floor creating an annoying echo.
   

“Check her out.
Funny how she’s tied up the bird’s nest this time.
She looks
like…”

“A walking liquorice
stick,” I mocked before bursting out into giggles, distracting the bitter but
not so sweet Jenny from her imaginary catwalk, causing her to stop and hiss at
us. I suppose this was a good sign. At least she was learning to back off. On
the other hand Sonia was bursting to say something but I hushed her (provoking
Jenny was never a good thing).

Chidlow hadn’t noticed
me and the morning passed pleasingly. Things were getting back to normal. As I
sat in the cafeteria I felt relieved; the bloodied chair incident was solved,
my family started to give me space again and work was going well. That’s when I
remembered Craig.

“So are you going to
eat that flapjack or are you waiting to find someone worth throwing it at?”
Standing above me was a smiling pair of ocean-blue eyes waiting for my
response. I didn’t know that’s what Christian’s smile looked like; playful and
cheeky like his thoughts.

“Do you think vipers
would eat flapjacks if that was the only thing they had to eat?”
Watching him pretending to ponder this question made me grin.
I wondered if he knew who I was talking about.

“If you stick a
fat-free sign on it then yes.
So where’s your
partner in crime?”

“Very funny!
She’s gone to the ladies.”

“So why are you here?”
he asked.

“What do you mean? I’m
having a flapjack.”

“Clearly… From my
observations you ladies tend to go in packs.” Confusion filled my face for a
few seconds until he placed his elbows on the table, leaned forward and raised
his eyebrows.

“Oh whatever.
You’re in a good mood today.”

“I know. You’d be
surprised considering I had a break-in last night. Thankfully nothing was taken
and all of my furniture remained intact.” It was very rare that someone would
outwit me but this was certainly the first time I was left gobsmacked. Probably
because my preferred response to him would have been a cheeky kick under the
table but I wasn’t brave enough. Therefore, I decided to slowly lean back in my
chair and take a sip of my English tea whilst holding his gaze with my smiling
eyes.

“Well, I’ll see you
around and thank you.” Abruptly, he jumped off the chair only to sneakily take
a bite out of my flapjack and wink. Entertained and intrigued, I watched how
rapidly he moved through the crowd of students then out of the canteen
doors.
 

“Fraternising
with the enemy.”
Startled by the
unimpressed tone in my best friend’s voice, I knocked the remaining flapjack
onto the floor.

“Good, it was probably
poisonous anyway,” snapped Sonia as she wrapped it up in a tissue from her
pocket before throwing it into the canteen bin.
 

Finally I had managed
to iron out all the creases in my life with Christian being an exciting and
positive addition to it. The last thing I needed was Sonia scaring him
off.
 
Even though she meant well I felt I
had to explain that Christian wasn’t bad, he was just someone trying to make a
good change in his life.

 
My recollection of Christian’s story was
somewhat vague. I told her that I had unexpectedly bumped into him (which was
true) and managed to convince him to tell me his story.

“That’s crazy!
So was he a part of a gang or a cult?”
Sonia questioned.

“No I didn’t think it
was right to ask. By the way he spoke, I could tell it was a very personal and
private matter and it would have been rude of me to delve further. It’s not
like we’ve had to explain anything about our personal lives to him,” I
explained. From Sonia’s next few lines I could tell that the excitement of
hearing fresh gossip had died. She promised that this conversation would stay
between us.
 

Chapter 26

With Sonia’s
help I’d successfully avoided the college mentor during break times. Yet I was
starting to get sick of having to be constantly alert. Hopefully, over time she
would stop searching for me every time she passed through the canteen during
lunchtimes. Maybe my paranoia was getting the best of me and she was looking
for someone else but that didn’t change the fact that I was also on her list.

Turned out the college
was having a visit from the never seen before dean accompanied by a few of his
wealthy pals. For the first time Chidlow lectured standing up with a smile. If
you hadn’t been to her classes before you’d actually think she loved her job.

The canteen was
immaculate. Not that it wasn’t clean and tidy before but this time it looked
brand new.

“Look!” Sonia almost
poked my eye out with a spoon she grabbed off the rack. “You can see your
reflection!” she gasped whilst pointing at a window. Well if that wasn’t enough
to impress the dean it certainly was enough to impress Sonia.

“Fancy that. I’m
surprised it hasn’t blinded some,” I mocked whilst cocking my head towards
Jenny, who had glanced at her reflection in every window she had walked past.

During the car ride
home I told Sonia that it was so strange to see how life carried on, after
someone died.

“Sometimes life chews you
up and spits you back out leaving you at your lowest. Then there’s times it
engulfs you completely,” Sonia stated.

“I just don’t
understand how Craig’s dead, just like that and from being poisoned.”

“I know! I’m sure
there’s a police investigation underway as no one just consumes a rare poison.”

“I agree, but I’m not
keen on going to work and seeing that weird replacement. You know he actually
squeezed my hand when he shook it.” Sonia’s left eyebrow lifted so high in
astonishment that it nearly flew onto her dashboard. She thought it was too
much of a coincidence that this strange guy managed to charm his way into a job
that wasn’t even advertised.

“Seriously, we’re in a
recession! Jobs sit on top of a mountain peak these days. Your application has
to be chosen amongst hundreds, then the phone
interview, then
a group interview, throw
in a couple more interviews, observations and a
magic trick and even then the decision is between you and someone who has got
more experience but has been made redundant.” A serious rant but she was right
and even Hugo preferred to hire people he was familiar with. That’s what made
him consider me. I was a regular at Coffee Time and after a few general
conversations he got to know me. Therefore when I thought about getting a job I
decided to start at Coffee Time and he considered trying me on a trial basis,
which I thought was fair enough. In addition to this, Hugo was a family man and
very sensitive towards the feelings of others. Replacing Craig like this seemed
quite the opposite.

As she parked up on my
drive I told her to wait so that I could hand over her rucksack which kept on
reminding me of the illegal activity we had carried out.
 
Just as I was about to put the keys into the
door, it opened to reveal my sister Naomi welcoming me in.

“Where’s your car?” I
asked her.

“Is Sonia not coming
in?”

“No, she’s in a hurry
so I’ve just got to pass her some of the things I borrowed.” Nosily Naomi
watched me race up the stairs to bring down a large rucksack.

“What’s in that?” I ignored
her as I rushed passed her, out of the house and placed it in the boot of
Sonia’s car. When I entered the house again she was still standing in the
landing area with her arms crossed and her eyebrows lifted, which was her way
of showing me she’d been waiting for her answer.

“Well where’s your car
then?” I asked her again. After a huff she told me that she was having new
brake pads fitted at a garage, which was walking distance from here. I nodded
in response.

“Nice to see you
Izzie.
How’s your day been?
You must be so tired. Take a seat while I put the kettle on,” I said as an
attempt to remind her of the greeting I preferred. After grinning she repeated
my words and did just that. I was surprised by her co-operation, as lately
she’d been as suspicious as my father about my whereabouts but maybe she was
able to see me, for once, and not a helpless version of me.
 

When my mother was
alive we frequently sat in front of the fireplace laughing about the funny
comments my grandmother used to make and the latest events in our lives. Sadly,
that all disappeared with her and no matter how many times I tried to talk to
my sister it never was the same. Naomi couldn’t speak as openly as she used to
about her life but today seemed like another opportunity to try again.

Ten minutes later I was
taking tiny sips from a milky cup of tea which was exactly how Naomi liked it
but I wasn’t going to say anything.

“So how’s college?”

“Same as usual.
Some things never change.” This wasn’t the complete truth but it was enough for
now. “I got my job back at Coffee Time.”

“Yeah, I know. Dad
mentioned it.” I was surprised.

“He said you’ve been
quite busy lately.”

“Yeah, I see you’ve got
a new watch,” I told her.

“I thought I’d treat
myself.” This felt more awkward than ever, probably because in the back of her
mind she thought I was recovering from a complete breakdown. Our relationship
was like a piece of glass.

“When’s your car going
to be ready?”

“Should have been done
by now,” she stated whilst looking down at her silver, skinny bangle watch. I
told her to call the garage as I was running out of things to say to her.
Within ten minutes her car was ready and she left.