Free While You're Awake by Amber Stokes Page B

allowed a few tears to escape.
Several deadlines approached in rapid succession, and her progress the past
week had been too minimal. Each night seemed to offer less sleep. What would
she do if she couldn’t complete her clients’ projects?
    She eventually pulled
into the parking lot of Coffee by Angels, the local café owned by the Angel
family. Cars filled most of the spaces, reminding Ava that it was a weekday
afternoon, and thus the place would be loud and busy. The mental image of a
swarming hive came to mind, but she shook her head and swung her laptop case
and purse over her shoulder.
    Once inside, she stood
frozen, momentarily paralyzed by the activity. Couples flirting. Writers
typing. Friends chatting. Employees mopping and fixing drinks and calling
names.
    Taking a deep breath, Ava
zeroed in on an empty table for two at the far end of the shop. Her head ached
with the weight of her sleepless nights and the nagging feeling that everyone
else in this building—and the whole world, really—knew how to get things done
and have fun while they were at it. With one another. She slid onto the
cushioned chair with a sigh and stared for a while at the empty seat across
from her.
    Standing up once again,
she put her laptop bag on the extra chair and set up the computer on her side
of the table, plugging it into the wall and turning it on. While she waited for
it to bring up her home page, she grabbed her purse and wove through the crossed
legs and backpacks lining the narrow path to the counter.
    “I’ll have a large dark
chocolate mochaccino,” she told the lady at the register.
    “Name?”
    “Ava.” An annoying
buzzing sound entered her ears, and she automatically raised a hand in defense.
She whipped her head from left to right, but no bees appeared to be nearby.
    With a start, she met the
confused gaze of the barista. “Are you all right?” the woman asked, her hand
hovering over the cash register.
    “Yeah,” Ava breathed,
even as a voice in her mind taunted, Far from it. “How much was that
again?”
    The barista shot off a
number, and Ava pulled a few bills out of her wallet. After she got her
receipt, she once again shuffled through the maze of tables, chairs, and
thirsty people and plopped into her own seat.
    I’m all right.
Coffee’s coming. And I’m not stuck at home alone with the bees. She
reassured herself with positive thoughts as she typed in her password and
pulled up the most urgent project. Words were cut and lines reshaped as the
seconds ticked on—one by one, one right after the other.
    And while she worked, she
studiously avoided glancing up at the unoccupied chair.

Chapter 2
    Keegan swirled some
whipped cream over the mochaccino, sprinkled a few mini chocolate chips over
top, and took a moment to smile down at the full cup, satisfied with his
handiwork. Lifting his head, he called, “Ava?”
    A few moments passed. No
one stood up. No one peered at him in question.
    “Ava?” he tried again, a
little louder.
    Still no response.
    “Hey, Mary, do you know which
one Ava is?” he asked his coworker at the register, tilting his head to the
crowded room.
    Mary finished writing
something on a receipt and then scoured the room. “There.” She pointed to a
table in the back by the windows. A girl with red hair pulled into a ponytail
sat there, her eyes glued to the screen in front of her and her fingers
appearing to tap across the keyboard.
    “Thanks.” With a nod to
Mary, he scooped the mug into his hands and carried it across the room. When he
felt he was within earshot, he called her name. “Ava?”
    The girl jerked upright.
Bloodshot blue eyes met his, widened slightly in seeming panic. This Ava needed
coffee pronto. He offered her a sympathetic grin as he set the mug next to her
laptop. “Here’s your mochaccino.”
    Her returning smile was
weak, but kind. “Thanks.”
    Wanting to put a little
blush in her pale cheeks, he winked. “Sure thing.”
    Her gaze dropped before
he