Page 27 of Welcome to Fae Cafe
The morning was quiet as Kate headed downstairs and filled the café with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Tales of dragons lingered in her mind, but they faded away as reality set back in, leaving her with holes in her own story and unanswered questions.
She finished sanding the counter and dragged over a can of deep green paint. She swept and mopped the floors until they sparkled, then hung the artwork she and Lily had picked out from the thrift store last week. Last, she dusted off the old fireplace in the corner now that it had passed inspection.
Heavy boxes rested by the front door in a pyramid. The two largest paintings leaned against the wall, waiting for Lily to find time to help Kate lift them. The rest of the mugs had to be unpacked, and the windows still needed to be washed.
Kate kept herself from thinking about mean smiles and old women knitting for as long as she could. But when noon arrived, and the floors were clean, and the counter was painted, and the coffee was gone, Kate folded her arms and shouted, “What do you mean,‘the fae Prince has come to kill you’?!”
Lily burst through the café door in jeans and a hoodie, and Kate jumped. “Are you crazy?!” Lily accused, waving her phone in the air. “What’swrongwith you?”
For the first time since before knitting club, Kate realized she was supposed to meet Lily here yesterday.
“Why have you been sending me all these crazy texts?!” Lily shouted again, and Kate’s brows furrowed as she took Lily’s phone.
A conversation filled the screen:
1:30pm:Lily: Where are you? I’ve been waiting here for like thirty minutes.
1:45pm:Kate: Kate is unfortunately occupied and cannot make your very important appointment. Apologies, impatient human.
1:47pm:Lily: Are you trying to be funny?
1:50pm:Kate: Very.
1:55pm:Lily: Get over here so we can talk. I want to go to bed.
2:15pm:Kate: A human sleeping in the middle of the day? How odd. And how unproductive.
2:17pm:Lily: Seriously, Kate, I was on shift all night and this morning. Can you just get here?
2:45pm:Kate: Kate Kole doesn’t know how to knit. Perhaps you should teach her before you go to bed.
2:48pm:Lily: Seriously, Kate?
3:35pm:Kate: I’m quite serious. Perhaps if she followed the ways of the yarn, she might understand a few things.
3:38pm:Lily: I’m going to bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
4:50pm:Kate: Kate Kole might not live until tomorrow.
4:51pm:Lily: Where are you?
6:59pm:Kate: Tell Kate to remember what Freida said.
7:01pm:Lily: Who is this?
9:03pm:Kate: Only fools give real names.
Kate dragged a hand through her hair, making it stand on end. She wanted to march back to theYarn & Stitchand toss a brick through the window. “Crazy old ladies,” she muttered.
“Does some weirdo have your phone?” Lily demanded.
Kate handed the phone back with a nod. “Looks like it.”
“This isn’t funny. You told me you had something to talk about and then this person said you might not live until tomorrow. That’s not a joke to me, Kate.” Lily put her hands on her hips. “I’ve seen a lot of bad things happen in my line of work. I didn’t sleep all afternoon yesterday over this, and your apartment was still empty when I came back and checked!”
“I was busy,” Kate said, remembering the hours she spent searching the streets for the knitting club after they dispersed. She’d walked to Grandma Lewis’s house after. It had been late when Kate finally came back to her apartment.
When a heavy pause took up too much space, Kate shifted her footing and nodded to the wall art. “What do you think?”
