The Liberation of Alice Love - Abby McDonald [123]
They both jumped back.
“Oh, I’m sorry, you take it!” Alice gave him a nervous grin.
“No, you go ahead,” Carl replied, just as awkward. She’d thought him rather ordinary from afar, with short brown hair in a nondescript cut and a glazed, weary look as he shuffled through his morning commute; up close, however, she could see a certain delicacy in him—a cautious, introverted aura. She searched for a resemblance to Ella, but there was nothing decisive. Alice made her smile a little warmer.
“No, I couldn’t. Look, it’s the last, and you were here first…”
He shook his head. “See, I’d feel bad now. You take it, really.”
“Well, thanks.” Alice gave him a shy look, reaching again for the coronation chicken on whole grain she had absolutely no intention of eating. “That’s very sweet.”
Carl looked away, seemingly embarrassed, and there was a long pause while the woman in front loudly ordered a startling combination of tropical tea with espresso and vanilla. Alice couldn’t help but screw up her face at the thought. Noticing Carl was stifling a grin too, Alice caught his eye.
“Where do they come up with these flavors?” she murmured conspiratorially. “Maybe I’m a purist, but if you can’t even taste the coffee…”
“Right,” Carl agreed, louder than might otherwise be expected—if Alice hadn’t read his blog treatise on the proliferation of pointless flavors just the other night. “Next thing, it’ll be orange mocha Frappuccinos!”
Alice paused. “Wait, that’s from Zoolander, right? I love that film.”
Carl lit up. “It’s a classic. They’ve, uh, been talking about a sequel,” he added, almost awkward. “But I don’t think they should risk it.”
Alice nodded. “Right. They’ll probably just ruin everything, they always do, with those franchises.” She gave another shy smile as they edged forward, Carl now taking his turn at the register to order. He reached for his wallet, but Alice cleared her throat. “Let me. I mean, you let me have my lunch…” She held up the sandwich as evidence.
Carl began to flush. “Oh, I don’t—”
“Really,” Alice insisted, already passing coins over to the barista. “You can pay me back another time. I just started work around here,” she added, looking down briefly in a show of nerves before meeting his eyes again. “So, I’m sure I’ll see you again.”
Carl swallowed. “Uh, cool.” He nodded. “I…I’m Carl.” He held out his hand abruptly; Alice juggled her bag and package to her other hand and shook it.
“Ella,” she said, trying to look flustered. “Um, nice to meet you, Carl. I have to…” She gestured toward the door. “So, um, bye!”
“Bye.” Carl was still gazing after her with a faintly shell-shocked expression when Alice turned and left the café.
It wasn’t much, she knew—just a passing flash of dialogue, but there would be more. You didn’t just spill about your missing sister to a complete stranger—no, those sorts of confidences needed time and familiarity. Alice had no doubt they would get there, eventually. Carl and Ella were set to become very good friends.
***
Her new clue about Ella aside, life went on as normal for Alice—at least normal as far as her new routine was concerned. When she took a moment to reflect on her hectic schedule, she realized happily that it couldn’t be more different from the life she’d had before. Instead of spending her days up in the attic, poring over fine-print legalese, Alice was meeting with casting agents and scouts, and booking her now-growing client roster a promising array of roles. Lunch was crammed with more appointments, or dance classes at the studio, meeting Flora for an occasional snatched sandwich in the park nearby. What with her developing relationship with Nathan too, she barely had time for breath—yet still, despite the hectic pace of her schedule, Alice refused to lose sight of her real prize.
Setting her alarm to wake her