Rescue the Barista

of us.
“I’ve worked so hard for this, Summer. I’ve put everything into this little coffee shop. I know what the business from here means to you, too, Summer.”
“I know how hard you worked, Jamie. Try another coffee supplier, maybe?“ Summer suggests.
“At this short notice? Anyway Massimo’s roasters are the best. I did taste trials with about fifty potential customers. More than forty of them chose Massimo’s coffee.” There’s only one way I can see, but I don’t want to do it. “I’ve maxed all my credit, there’s nothing I can sell. I don’t have anything but my body. I wouldn’t get much for that.”
Summer laughs. “You sell yourself short, girl. Plenty of people would pay a lot for those curves. I’m not suggesting it as an option. I really am just saying, don’t be down on yourself about that.”
Well, at least we both manage to laugh about it. For a moment or two, anyway.
“No, Summer. There’s only one way I can see.”
There’s a hollow silence on the other end. I hear Summer gulp.
“What choice do I have?” I ask her. “I don’t have another line of credit anywhere.”
“You need to think hard about it, girl. You go that way, it’s a choice you don’t get to unmake. You go into business with someone like him, it’s for keeps.”

Chapter 8 Jamie
I’m chewing the inside of my cheek. Already the sound of his voice on the phone is washing down through my body like a hot waterfall.
“Jamie. Good to hear from you.”
His voice conjures up a picture in my mind. The picture has the smoky gleam of his eyes on one end. On the other end is the massive bulge in his pants.
I feel his eyes like I felt them wander over my body. I feel him studying me. Looking at me that way he’d look at steak. Or a tiramisu.
“Angelo, I need your help.”
“Hell, I knew you would fucking call me. We’ve got a connection. You and me? There’s something there.” There’s bravado in his voice. Like he feels the spot that I’m in and he’s keeping it light. Yeah, Jamie, I tell myself, He’s the mobster with a heart.
Now I don’t want to tell him. I didn’t want to tell him in the first place. I didn’t want to make this call. But now, now he’s talking about him and me, even joking, and I’m just calling to ask him for money. I never felt so cheap in my life.
“Angelo, you said that you could help.”
“Jamie, I’m telling you, I want to help you in every way that I can.” He’s in a crowded room with music. A bar maybe. I hear him stand, “One way in particular. I want to help you reach a cascade of devastating orgasms. I want to help you make babies by the dozen.”
It’s almost too much to bear. I shut off my mind, not daring to think about whether I want those things or not. I can’t think about that now.
He’s walking as he talks. “Tell me when you need me to come around so I can give you what you’re obviously dying for.”
“Angelo. I need money.”
There’s a sound on the other end of the line. He’s laughing. I’m begging him for money and he’s laughing at me.
Maybe it would be better if I just jump off a bridge. I don’t think I can bear this.
“Jamie?”
“Yes, Angelo?”
“Just hold on one minute, can you?”
He’s laughing again. There’s someone with him. “Okay, sugar, I promise, whatever you need. Why don’t I come see you, tomorrow. Morning. I’m not great for the first thing, crack of dawn style, get me. But later in the morning.”
“Angelo, I need money. I need it today. In the next hour or so.”
“It can’t be that urgent, sweet lips.”
“Angelo, please. Stop being such an asshole. I wouldn’t call you if I wasn’t in serious trouble.”
“Oh! You hurt my feelings. That’s the only reason you call me?”
I’m trying to hold it together, but he is really starting to make me mad. “Jamie, wait up, okay? Just one second.”
“Angelo, I said it was business. Can you be businesslike for two seconds?” I realize my voice is rising in pitch. I can hear the panic. I can see my business slipping right out of my fingers. I have probably three hours to save it from going under. If I don’t have that money by the time Massimo comes back, I might as well not even think about opening up tomorrow.
“No, wait, okay?” The sound changes, like he’s moved into a different room. I hear a door close.
Summer is right, of course. I shouldn’t even be thinking about doing business with this guy who is really a mobster. Plain and simple. A real, bona-fide, crime family.
“Jamie, okay, listen to me.” His voice is softer. Serious now. Reassuring. “I couldn’t really talk. I moved into another room. Tell me what you need.”
I tell him.
His voice lowers and flattens. His business manner sends a chill through me. “You know that borrowing from me is going to be more expensive than getting it anywhere else. You understand that, right?”
“There’s nowhere else I can go, Angelo.”
“That’s how it is. Jamie, I’m going to lay it out for you so you understand. Okay?”


Chapter 9 Jamie
That swagger in his hip, that look in his eye, he’s got more energy than most men half his age. He radiates it. As he steps into the coffee bar the air crackles with energy. The man is a walking powerplant.
His eyes register when I tell him that I want to borrow more. He’s not only thinking about the math, it isn’t just the business. He is thinking about what it means for me. I know he is. How do I know?
When