The Fourteen Day Soul Detox, Volume Two (11 page)

“You made that kind of profit in
one year even after you cut your hours in half?” Cameron asked.

“Yeah, Chris and I got it up to
twenty-five percent. Loyal customers, Chris’s amazing food, low
labor cost and very little waste,” I said.

“No wonder this lady wants to buy
it so much. Is this offer over market?” he asked.

“Yeah, two million is still the
estimated value. Okay, I’m dialing him now,” I said as I
pressed the phone button on Cameron’s screen.

“Mark Hamm’s office,”
a man’s voice answered.

“Hello, my name Jamie Scott—”

“I’ll patch you through, he
only has a minute,” the man said before there was a ring on the
other line.

“You’ve reached Mark Hamm,”
a more masculine voice said.

“Hello, my name is Jamie Scott,
I—”

“Cameron’s friend, I’ve
been expecting to hear from you. Look Jamie, a client needed to come
in during my lunch break, so I only have a second, but if you can set
up a meeting with the buyer’s broker tomorrow morning before
nine-thirty, I’ll be able to go with you.”

“Um, I can definitely try. Do I
need to sign a contract or something with you?” I asked.

“No, I’m going to be doing
this as a favor to Cam.”

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

“I won’t hear it, Jamie.”
His tone was all business. “But it’s important that I
note that I’m not your attorney, I’ll just be going in an
advisory capacity, is that okay with you?”

“Yeah sure, I—”

“I’m pretty sure that’s
all you’ll be needing, but if you need to hire me on as an
attorney, we’ll talk about that if it comes to it. Do you have
a fax machine handy?”

“Yep,” I said.

“Okay, write down this fax
number,” he said, before reading out a fax number to me. “Okay,
I want you to send me every scrap of paper you have related to the
offer, the judgment lien and the shop’s worth as soon as you
possibly can.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Great. My client just arrived,
so I’m going to have to let you go. Leave me a message with my
assistant as soon as you get a meeting time with the buyer.”

“I will. Thank you so much, Mr.
Hamm.”

“You’re welcome, talk to
you soon.” He hung up.

“Wow,” I said as I handed
back Cameron’s phone.

“Yeah, he’s definitely got
a take-charge personality,” Cameron said, chuckling. “Great
guy, though. And he has 2014 Benz black series.” He looked off
at nothing with a small grin on his face. “I love that
machine.”

“Well, thank you for setting this
up,” I said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

He wrapped one hand around the back of
my neck and pulled me in closer to him. Our lips met, as if they were
the opposite poles of two magnets, meant to join. He opened my mouth
with his, deepening the kiss as his fingers threaded through my hair.

The length of his body pressed into
mine and I couldn’t stop the small moan that came from my lips.
He echoed my moan.

I pulled back to whisper, “Are
you still not going to fuck me?”

“Oh, I’m going to fuck you.
I’m just not going to fuck you right now,” he said,
grinding his body further into mine.

“Tease,” I whispered.

He laughed. “Aren’t you
supposed to be faxing papers?”

“I would be if you weren’t
here distracting me,” I replied, grabbing his waist.

“Well, I need to leave anyway,
lunch is over,” he said.

“Oh, no, you didn’t get
anything to eat! I shouldn’t have closed the shop… Let
me go make you a bagel or something.”

“You really think I’d
rather have a bagel than this?” he asked, leaning down for a
kiss again. “I’ll just stop by the burger place on the
way out of here.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Definitely,” he said,
giving me on last quick kiss before his hand squeezed my butt cheek.

“You,” I said smacking his
butt once as he left my office chuckling. After a second, I rushed
out of my office after him. “Ha, sorry, I forgot, I have to let
you out.” Unlocking the door, I gave Cameron one more quick
kiss before he left.

Right after I locked the door, Mitch
walked up, giving me a big smile and pulling on the door handle.

“Sorry,” I mouthed to him
through the window while I pointed to the sign.

The smiling expression on his face
fell.

“Wait,” I said, holding up
one finger. Rushing back to the coffee counter, I lifted the carafes
and found them all hot and full. I filled up a to-go cup and brought
it back to the door.

After unlocking the door, I held out
the cup to Mitch.

“Oh, hey Jamie, so, um, is that
for me? Because I was just sort of wanting to come inside for a
minute, but I don’t really have the money for a cup of coffee
right now.”

“No Mitch, this was extra. I was
just about to throw it out,” I told him. “I’m so
sorry but I have to close early today.”

“Well, if you’re just going
to throw it out,” he said, taking the coffee. He gave me a wide
grin, showing all his missing teeth. “I’m all cleaned up,
you see?” he asked.

My gaze passed over his clean shaven
face, recently washed sweatshirt and weather worn jeans. “You
look great, Mitch. Are those new clothes?” I asked.

“Yeah. I have a job interview
today. Someone set it up for me,” he said, beaming. “It’s
at the full service gas station right over there.” He pointed
down the street. “If I get a job there, will you and Chris come
say hi when I’m at work?”

“I definitely will, and I’ll
tell Chris. I’m sure he’ll want to too,” I said.

“It’s through an outreach
program so I really think they might actually hire me. They’re
supposed to do that, right? Hire people in outreach programs?”
he asked.

“Um, I really don’t know
about that, sorry,” I said.

“Oh, that’s okay Jamie,
that’s okay.”

“I have to do a couple things, so
I really need to get back inside, Mitch. Good luck with your
interview, I bet you’ll do great.”

“You think so?” he asked.

“Yeah, I really do,” I
said.

“Okay, well, you have a great
day, Jamie. Next time I see you, I’ll be able to buy anything
in your store.”

“Sounds awesome, Mitch. Good
luck.” I closed the door and locked it, giving Mitch one more
wave before returning to my office.

While the two offers I received fed
through my fax machine, I pulled out the judgment lien folder. I
leafed through the court documents and the fifteen year pay back deal
I’d made with the owner of the lien.

I read under my breath, “This
agreement is made between Timepiece Corporate, hereafter referred to
as the creditor, and Jamie Scott, hereafter referred to as the
debtor.” Sighing, I added the form to the pile feeding into the
fax machine.

Next I pulled out some tax and asset
forms, detailing the worth of the shop’s equipment. When all
the forms had gone through, I sat down on my office chair and pulled
out my phone. With shaking fingers, I dialed the number on the offer,
pressing the speaker button on my phone after the first ring.

“You’ve reached Nicole
Murphy’s office,” a woman’s voice said.

“Hello, is this Harrington’s
corporate office?”

“Yes, but this is not the main
line, would you like me to transfer you?”

“I’m not sure. My name is
Jamie Scott, someone from your company sent me an offer on my coffee
shop a week ago. Actually, they sent in two offers, but it’s
really hard to read the signature,” I said.

“If it was an offer, it was
probably from the company’s broker, but just give me a moment
and I’ll check with Ms. Murphy since you were given her direct
line.”

“Thanks,” I said.

Crackly classical musical played over
the line, sounding suspiciously like Beethoven. A smooth sounding
voice came over the line, “Harrington’s Coffee Shops,
they’re more than just coffee shops, they’re your home
away from home.” Then the crackly Beethoven continued. After
another couple seconds of butchered classical music, the sound
silenced.

“Hello,” the same woman’s
voice said.

“Hi,” I said.

“I’m connecting you through
to Nicole. One moment please,” she said.

“You’ve reached Nicole,”
a low, feminine voice said.

“Hello, my name is Jamie Scott,
I—”

“I know, Clara told me. You’re
calling about the offer I sent to you a week ago. This is for the
shop downtown, right? The Coral Beach shop?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“And you’re willing to
sell?”

Sighing, I said, “I think so. I
definitely want to set up a meeting if that’s possible.”

“It is. What time works for you?”
she said.

“The best time would be tomorrow
at eight, if that’s at all possible?” I said.

“At the shop?” she asked.

“We could, but it’s pretty
loud and busy here in the morning,” I said.

“Could you make it to Harrington
Corporate offices? We’re about fifteen minutes North?”

“I could make it at
eight-fifteen,” I said.

“Could you give me one second,
Jamie?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said, and
was rewarded with more distorted classical music, this time Mozart.

After about five minutes, the line went
silent and Nicole said, “Jamie?”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Eight-fifteen works just fine
for us, we’ll see you here. Do you know our address?” she
asked.

“Is it eight four three Sea
Breeze Way?” I read off the offer form.

“That’s it exactly. Take
the elevator to the third floor then come straight back and my
receptionist will help you.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.
I’ll have a property lawyer with me, if that’s okay? I’m
not sure if you’re aware, but there’s a judgment lien on
the property—”

“We’re aware,” she
said.

“Alright, well, he’s going
to help me figure out how to transfer. If I do transfer—that
is.”

“That should be fine,” she
said.

“Oh, good, thank you,” I
said.

“See you then,” she said
before the line went dead.

After calling back Mr. Hamm and telling
his assistant about the meeting’s time and place. I walked back
into the shop and behind the counter. I pressed the button for the
final receipt and as the long tape printed out, I texted Chris.

Me:
I
might have to come in an hour late tomorrow for a meeting with the
company that made the offer. Is that going to be okay?

Almost instantly, my phone rang,
Chris’s number flashing on the screen. “I’m so
sorry Jamie,” he said in a low, raspy voice that didn’t
sound much like him.

“Oh, no, are you okay?”

“I think I’m sick, it just
suddenly came on,” he said.

“Oh no, Chris! I’m so
sorry,” I said.

“I don’t think I’m
going to be able to make it tomorrow,” he said.

“Oh, of course not. Is there
anything I can get you?”

“Melissa is at the store now, she
left work early,” he said. “I really hope I didn’t
get you or any of the customers sick.”

“I feel fine, I’m sure
everyone is fine. Just take it easy and call me if you don’t
feel better on Wednesday. I’ll figure it out.”

“I feel so guilty,” he
said.

“Shut up. I don’t even
remember the last sick day you took. You are more than due. Just rest
and feel better.”

“Okay,” he said.

“Call me if you need anything,”
I said.

“Okay, I will,” he said
before hanging up the phone.

After counting the money and totaling
up the receipts, I added up the daily till, finding the register to
be a dollar and fifteen cents short. After putting the money and
receipts into the bank deposit bag, I walked into the back office and
slipped the bag into the safe.

On a piece of paper in thickly printed
letters I wrote: ‘Store Will Be Closed on April 19
^th
.
Sorry for the inconvenience.’ Walking up to the front, I
replaced my hastily made sign that was already on the door with the
new one.

I finished sweeping and mopping the
floors before emptying the coffee carafes and filling them with water
so they could soak. When everything was clean, I took two trips to
the dumpsters in the back, first with the recycling, then with the
trash bags. After locking up the back, I returned behind the counter
to grab the gym bag I’d stashed there.

Going into the shop’s bathroom, I
changed into yoga pants, a sports bra and a tank top. When I leaned
forward to examine my outfit, my hair fell into my face and I inhaled
a strong coffee smell.

“Oh my god, I want coffee,”
I whispered as I pulled a chunk of hair to my nose. Reluctantly, I
pulled my hair back into a ponytail.

My phone buzzed and I picked it up from
where I had set it on the counter.

Susan:
You
coming to yoga?

Me:
Yes,
just leaving work now. Text me the directions?

When she did, I typed them into the
Maps app on my phone. After gathering all my stuff, I turned off all
the lights and locked up the shop on my way out. On the way to the
car, I updated The Coffee Stop’s social media pages, announcing
that the shop would be closed tomorrow. Even before I had climbed
into my car, my alerts dinged with and comments from regulars saying
that they’d miss us in the morning, or asking if something was
the matter.

“Oh, that’s so sweet,”
I mumbled to myself as I took a seat in my car, but left the keys in
my lap. I responded to the comments, saying everything was fine and
that we would miss them too.

I drove down the main street to the
opposite side of downtown, reading the signs above the storefronts
until I saw ‘Namaste Yoga Studio’ in big decorative blue
letters. I pulled in front of the studio into a metered spot.

Using my credit card, I paid for an
hour and a half at the pay kiosk, not really knowing how long a yoga
class went for.