Page 75 of Haunt Me

I close my laptop. “What can I do?”

She looks over her shoulder. “What?”

“What can I do to help?”

For a moment, she only stares at me. Then someone calls for more coffee.

Marge shoves the pot into my hand. “Start with table six, right there. The construction guys at the counter will need refills too, but don’t let Randy talk you into giving him regular. His wife switched him to decaf three months ago.”

I look toward the three men. “Which one’s Randy?”

“The one pretending not to listen.”

The man in the middle suddenly becomes fascinated by the sugar dispenser.

“Got it.”

I stand, tug my skirt into place, and carry the pot toward table six.

My first refill goes smoothly. The second splashes against the rim of the mug but stays on the table. By the third, I begin to understand how close people want the pot held and how to pour without twisting my wrist. Randy tries to cover his cup when I approach.

“Decaf,” I say.

His eyes narrow. “Marge tell you that?”

“Your guilty expression did.”

One of the men beside him laughs into his coffee.

Randy lowers his hand. “You’re new.”

“So I’ve been told,” I say as I refill his cup.

Marge sends me back with silverware wrapped in paper napkins, then asks me to clear a booth. The plates are heavier than they look, and balancing them requires more concentration than I imagined. I nearly lose a fork, catch it against my sweater sleeve, and decide no one saw.

The little girl with the hot chocolate did. She gives me a solemn thumbs-up.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

Within twenty minutes, I’m carrying drinks, wiping tables, and telling people Marge will be with them shortly. I don’t know the menu well enough to take orders, but I can bring ketchup, locate extra napkins, and remember that table four asked for another side of toast.

It isn’t difficult work in the way school was. There are no competing arguments to untangle or theories to defend. But it demands attention.

Who needs something.

Who’s been waiting.

Which table was seated first.

The work is immediate and visible. I do something, and a small problem disappears.

A customer smiles.

A table becomes ready.

Someone gets the coffee they asked for.

I like it more than I expect to.