“Do you think anyone works here?” I asked, looking around the still-empty general store.
“Someone does. I was in here earlier buying beer.”
“I guess I scared them away,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
“I’m sure that’s it,” he said, laughing. He walked to the counter and called for help. “Anyone here?”
When no one answered we laughed again, and I momentarily considered stepping behind the counter and looking for a broom myself. That’s what I would have done at the coffee shop where I worked: step in and offer a hand.
But before I could grab a dustpan, a woman my age opened the door of a back room, wafts of smoke trailing her. She hadn’t taken a regular smoke break; she was getting high. I smiled, realizing exactly why my co-worker Jenn liked this place.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“I broke a cup,” the dimpled guy said. “A total accident. My bad.”
“No worries,” she said. She grabbed the broom and began sweeping. “Happens all the time.”
“Can I pay for the damages?”
“No way, man, it’s all good.” The cashier emptied the dustpan into the garbage can, then put the broom away.
“Thanks, and sorry again.” The guy gave me a little wave and said goodbye.
I couldn’t help but appreciate their laid-back demeanor. I needed more of that in my life, considering I’d just spent five hours traveling with Courtney and Callie.
To be fair, Courtney had been fine, as always. She had focus and drive, but not much got her revved up and out of her shell.
Callie, on the other hand, had been a complete nightmare the moment we got on the interstate.
If she mentioned me getting a “real job” one more time I might claw her eyes out. Apparently, since I was working as a barista I was wasting my talent.
Which was a familiar refrain considering I’d been hearing the same thing from my parents since we’d graduated college in June. Just because my job didn’t offer health insurance or a retirement plan didn’t mean I was flake. It meant I was twenty-two and just beginning to figure a few things out.
BFFs and all that jazz, sure, but Callie needed to stop being such a control freak. And even if I did agree with about fifty percent of what she said, there was no way I was going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that.
“So, how can I help you?” the cashier asked, covering a yawn.
See? I thought. This girl gets to hang out at an island oasis and smoke pot on the clock. Maybe my barista gig in the city was too stifling; if I really wanted to feel free, maybe I needed to get off the grid.
It wasn’t the first time I’d wondered this sort of thing. I was sick of living in the city. My skin was anxious for something different.
“I wanted to sign up for a hike,” I explained. “Are there any scheduled this weekend?”
“Yes, I know for a fact there are. A few guys just signed up. Hmmm, let me find the sheet.” She moved through a pile of clipboards until she found the one she wanted. “Here you go,” she said, handing it to me. “The hike is tomorrow at ten. This one is pretty substantial; it’s a six-mile route.”
“That’s fantastic,” I said happily. I loved hiking when I wasn’t scheduled to work at Cuppa Joe. “Is it a guided hike?”
“We don’t have guided ones; instead, we try and get people to sign up together. Safety in numbers. But we provide maps, and laminated pages listing the flora and fauna.”
“Sounds good.” I wrote my name down quickly.
“So just meet here tomorrow at ten, and pack your own food and camera, of course,” she said.
“Thanks,” I said, smiling.
As I handed her back the clipboard, I noticed a sign posted to the corkboard next to the cash register: Full-Time Housekeeper Needed: Apply Within. I couldn’t help but wonder if it would get boring up here year round. Not thinking any more of it, I left the general store to meet my friends back in the lobby.
My skirt fluttered as I moved toward them, and I could tell Callie and Courtney had been bickering. Callie had taken her break-up hard, but she needed to turn it down about three notches.
“What took you so long?” Callie asked.
“There was the hottest guy in the store and I couldn’t help flirting.” I reverted to my go-to conversation tactic. Discuss cute guys to deflect attention from the fact that I have no clue what the hell I am doing with my life. Five months out of college, and already life seemed less than fulfilling.
“How hot?” Courtney asked, which was endearing. She hadn’t had a boyfriend in ages, but she was still always willing to discuss potentials.
“Like hotter-than-Kyle-at-work hot,” I said, knowing her sweet spot.
“I am so over guys,” Callie whined, once again bringing down the energy level. “I don’t want to be around any this weekend without a ten-foot pole.”