Among Other Things by Olivia Simons

Author:Olivia Simons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Olivia Simons

Chapter 16

The weather the next day was miserable and bleak. Ominous clouds loomed overhead, threatening to drop a monsoon of rain upon us in the blink of an eye. Excluding the morning regulars like Susan and George, the cafe was consequently vacant for the majority of the morning. The lack of customers gave me time to run across the road to the pharmacy and grab some painkillers. Even though I hadn’t experienced any stomach pains since last night with Grace, I figured it would be best if I had some on standby, just in case another bout of pain assailed me again.

Cathy was out back organising finances, so Alex and I held down the front of house—me taking the orders and Alex making the coffee. It was nice to have a bit of time for just the two of us because I got to learn more about the mysterious barista and the gallery of tattoos displayed across his arms. He initially joked that if he told me he would have to kill me but, after some carefully placed chocolate pastries, courtesy of resident chef Joe, I was able to coax Alex into divulging the story of the woman on his right bicep. It was a woman from Slovenia whom he had met whilst travelling on the Trans-Siberian Railway. She was running away from an arranged marriage that was set up by her father. After learning the horror of what she had lived through, he smuggled her through Mongolia all the way to Beijing. They got married there and lived together for three years before her father found her location. He sent out a hit man and Alex’s wife was killed later that week.

The sheer shock and grief at the story Alex told me lead to tears escaping my eyes and, before I knew it, I was apologising profusely. However, even with his back to me, facing the coffee machine as he worked, the shudder of his shoulders told me enough—he wasn’t crying, he was laughing!

Although I demanded that he turn around, it was only after he finished pouring the coffee that he finally placed the cup on the counter and faced me. Tears were running down his face in pure amusement. My mouth slackened and my eyebrows rose in confusion. Crossing my arms over my chest, my impatience grew with his lack of explanation, but Alex only laughed harder.

Oh, come on Marle, you have to admit that was funny!

Without a flinch I just stood there, gobsmacked, until a hint of a smile ruined my attempt at a cold demeanour.

You asshole, I joked.

Walking closer to him, I grabbed a tea towel and wrapped it around my hand.

He saw what I was doing and repeated: You have to admit that it was funny!

I shook my head again, smiled and replied: Tell that to the tea towel.

He only had a second to ponder my words in confusion before I released one end of the tea towel and whipped it towards his legs. Upon

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