Autumn Spice

"Welcome to Top Coffee!" A woman and a smaller man greet Immane from behind the counter with warm smiles as if they were wrapping her in a huge hug. She looked at both corners of the coffee shop, seeing only a young couple on one side, and a lonesome man on the other side, glancing up at her.

Immane froze in place for a moment, remembering what had happened. He looked up at her the same way he had just a few moments ago. They continued to stare at each other, both seeming lost in thought, until the coffee shop bell rang, snapping Immane back into reality. She whipped around and saw a group of friends entering, making her remember to step out of the way for them. She looked down as they passed, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone else for the rest of the time she was visiting the small coffee shop.

She looked at her hands, and she could see it all over again. The oil. Blood. It was all coming back to her, the memory she kept trying to stow away ever since the incident. Only she couldn't tell if it was a memory or not because it felt so real. The blood dripping down her arm, splattering the ground. Immane could sense a set of eyes following her as she made her way to the counter after the group ahead of her had finished their order.

Immane looked up at the woman, plastering a smile that looked totally real. A little too real. The woman at the counter turned around after talking to the person behind her and smiled the same way she had done when she greeted Immane. Warm and sweet, welcoming her

"Hello, welcome to top coffee, would you like to hear about our special this season?" Immane nodded her head, continuing to avoid making eye contact with anyone, worried that she might just break down in tears if she did. "The special this season is an Autumn Chocolate Spice,... Immane had stopped listening the moment she had said spice. It wasn't that she was annoyed, but she couldn't keep her mind away from everything else going on inside her mind.

"Could I get a medium of the special?" Immane said, cutting the woman off on accident. The woman nodded, seeming used to getting cut off by people. She nodded, maintaining her smile. "That will be two dollars please!"

Immane reached into her back pocket, firmly wrapping her fingers around the two dollars when a voice behind her spoke up. "I'll pay for the coffee. It'll be how much again?"

"It'll be two dollars please and thank you." Immane didn't even have to turn around to know who this was coming from, but she turned around anyway so that it didn't seem like she was being rude. Immane placed the same smile on her face, showing more worry than she previously had before. He nodded nd spoke up, "thank you, sir." He handed the woman behind the counter the money and turned back towards the table he had been sitting at, the second chair set away from the table, waiting for he

She sighed and let her eyes fall back to the ground before walking towards the table. "Did you get rid of what I asked you to?" He spoke, not directly speaking to her. Immane nodded, sitting into the chair. He took her left hand as the woman came to the table with her drink. "Your Autumn Chocolate Spice," she set the coffee on the table, looking at Immane. "Enjoy!"

Immane couldn't even manage a thank you before the woman had retreated behind the counter. All she could manage was a nodded in thanks and didn't give it another thought. He gave her hand a small squeeze as if to help her clear her mind. She wanted to pull her hand back, but she let it rest in his, using her right hand to grab her drink.

"How are you holding up?" He looked at her curiously, expecting an answer.

"How do you think I'm holding up?" She added a little bit of anger to her voice with each word she said to him. Immane realized that she had been shaking her right hand, causing the coffee cup to drip down from the side and meet her hand with a rather hot greeting.

"Don't be so nervous, Immane," he replied softly, stroking her hand with his thumb, making her jerk away. "Just try to calm down, you must be going through a lot with your experience, but you need to just try to calm-"

"You want me to calm down? Are you serious? After what I had to deal with? How could you be so careless?" Immane was furious. Her fist was balled up and her nails were digging into the palm of her hand. He sighed and nodded, "I understand how you feel, believe me."

Immane looked at him in the eyes for the first time since sitting at the table before getting up, leaving her filled cup of coffee at the table she had been sitting at.

"Immane, wait!" He huffed, clearly frustrated, as Immane left him alone. He rolled his eyes and went towards the bathroom as the woman behind the counter went to go pick up Immane's coffee cup.

"Well that's strange," the woman looked at the side of the cup and saw a red smudge on the side of the cup. She looked around nervously but just shrugged, thinking maybe Immane had cut her finger or something and it just got onto the coffee cup.

Immane looked through the coffee shop window before running towards the telephone on the street. She pulled out a dollar without even looking back and placed it in the machine, tearing up as she entered the number into the telephone machine.

"911, what's your emergency?"

Immane stayed silent for a moment, the man on the other line calling out for her.

"I know what happened to Rebecca Thomas."