VICTORIA TORRES.

Elias laughed, narrowing his eyes playfully. “Oh, at least a solid 90 percent,” he said, teasing lilt to his voice. As she reached for it, he tilted his hand, hand going to his chin in mock contemplation before his often-worn grin tugged at the corners of his lips. “You’ve got yourself a deal,” he started, pulling the far-better looking pastry from behind the glass. As he placed it on the counter, he flashed her another smile. “But only because you asked nicely.” He added. “How do you take you coffee Miss…” He trailed off, letting the pause serve as a question. It was something he made a point of when he found himself short-staffed and behind the counter himself – learn the names of his customers.

“What about the other 10? Are you willing to let me die here? If I choke, will you do CPR on me?” Definitely should get a filter for that mouth of hers because who even says shit like that? That smile probably brought a lot of girls to their knees though and she wondered if he even know the kind of effect he had. “Good, I won’t just have coffee as breakfast next time I come in.” Victoria took the pastry and had a good look at it, yeah, he did not belong on the other side of the counter at all. She’s not even a baker but she can do better than that. Smiling back, “well, I’m a nice person with really nice intentions.” Not really but he didn’t need to know that, taking a bite, kind of dry but not something she would turn down. “Victoria, by the way, you need like more water or milk or whatever you added but other that, I’m finishing the rest of this.”

Sawyer wiped the sweat from her forehead, stopping the soccer ball with her foot for a brief moment. Even on that cool fall day, she was excessively perspiring. It had everything to do with the fact that she was eerily competitive making any friendly game considerably not.  It was just ingrained in her. A beat later, she halted her actions entirely in order to line up with the ball.  The very instant her foot struck it, she could tell it wasn’t going to go in favor. “Sorry,” she shouted in advance, practically wincing when the ball hit the other.

She was preparing a small lunch for Jason as he spent his time trapping himself in the tube slide, which she didn’t understand why he did but she wasn’t going to tell him to stop. Even if he had held up a line before but luckily kids were back at school and the playground was empty that day so he was free to do whatever he pleased. Victoria had just set down the napkin under the cup when a ball hit the calf of her leg, it wasn’t painful but she was gonna give that person a piece of her mind until she saw the older woman. “Barely even felt it,” she leaned down to grab the ball. 

“Start baking, they said,” Elias muttered as he stood behind the cafe counter, looking at the muffins he’d attempted to make. “It’ll be good for business.” They weren’t terrible looking, exactly. But the misshapen things were nothing he would spend his own money on. It was his fault for not hiring an actual qualified baker – instead, he insisted that he could absolutely do it on his own. He looked up to find another person, offering the most charming smile he could manage under slight duress. “Excuse you, can I ask a favor? I promise you’ll live through it,” he offered with a chuckle. “Do you mind trying one of these? It and your next coffee are on the house. Honest answer only, I promise I can take it.”

She was looking through the bottom of her purse for some extra change, when she heard a voice calling out to her, eyes meeting the older man. He was incredibly handsome, definitely someone that didn’t look like he should be on the other side of the counter. “How sure are you though? That I’ll make it through?” Tilting her head to the side, a smile spread out on her lips. Obviously she was just kidding, she would so about anything if it could get her free stuff. “I’ll take a chance and trust you on this,” her hand reached out for the pastry. “If I give you a good honest answer would you throw in a Banana Nut Bread in too?” 

She was short on rent money. Of course she was short on rent money. She’d called in sick twice this month, but seriously, could they blame her? Who could sit and be berated for a solid eight hours a day? Certainly not Kendall Summers. She ran hot on her best days, a quip always dancing on the tip of her tongue, but five days a week, she had to play nice to the person telling her to fuck off. In a moment of desperation, she took to the streets of Boulder. Walking a bit too closely to people on the sidewalk, golden eyes scanning for the tell-tale square that usually indicated a wallet, or a bag with sidepockets. When she spotted her target, she bumped into them, usually more force than her petite frame seemed capable of. “Fuck, I am so sorry.” She muttered, shaking her head as she reached up with her left hand to steady their shoulder. Her right hand deftly meandered toward the wallet, slipping it discretely into her sleeve. “Are you okay? Jesus, I’m so out of it today. Long night, if you get what I mean. No sleep for the wicked, right? Shit. You are good though, yeah? No permanent damage?” She was rambling, and she knew it. It was her usual gambit – hit, steady, grab, then talk so much that the mark couldn’t wait to get away.

The thing about being a caretaker, you were up different hours of the day, caring for a child that needed her attention more than usual and his parents? Well, they didn’t want to deal with his tantrums, even if they didn’t say it she knew it just from the way they handed her the child. She honestly felt bad for him and she knew what it was like to have parents treat her like shit so she didn’t mind always being on call for him. What she didn’t love was walking home, too tired to even function, causing her to bump into a stranger. Shaking her head, “no, it’s on me, I probably didn’t see you as my eyes started to close.” A hand came up to her face, slapping her cheek too see if maybe she could pay attention this time. “Yeah, it was definitely a long night and day if you ask me but you probably don’t care. But let me make it up to you with a drink of something.” That was when she panted jean pockets to get her phone and that’s when she realized that her wallet was gone, “oh, I’m sorry, I must have left my money with that kid I was watching. I feel terrible, like unless you wanna follow me to go get it?”