Grounds to Leaves: The Best Joe in Town - Part 2

Chloë needed no training at all and the customers seemed to love her from the start. It took less than a week for her to memorize the orders of every regular that came into Grounds to Leaves. Everything she made, from coffee to Italian sodas, came out perfect every time.

During a slight lull one rainy afternoon, Aiden managed to corner Chelsie by the cash register. Chelsie had been trying to avoid the inevitable live music discussion ever since Chloë’s interview on Monday. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to put it off forever, but she wanted to put it off for as long as possible.

“You didn't think you could avoid me forever did you?" Aiden stared down at her, a serious look on his face.

"I haven't been avoiding you. Why would you think that?" Chelsie batted her eyelashes at him, trying to sound as innocent as she could. She knew he wouldn't buy it at all, but it never hurt to try.

"Right." Aiden rolled his eyes at her. "So we going to talk about why you don't want live music or do you have some other pressing business at this moment?"

Chelsie quickly glanced around the store, but their were only three customers still sipping at their drinks and not one dirty table that needed cleaning. Sighing, she turned her gaze back towards Aiden and waited for him to say whatever cutting remark he had planned for her.

"So?"

"What?" Chelsie stared at Aiden in shock. "That's it? No snide little remark that you've spent all week perfecting?"

Aiden raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing. Chelsie hated it most of all when he just waited for her to say something. She always ended up blathering away until she managed to trip over her own tongue. She tried to wait him out and stare him down.

"Ugh! Fine. We can talk about the live music. I don't have anything against it. You know I don't, but if we do this than we have to hire more staff. More staff that we have to pay. We've only just started and, yeah, we're popular. For now. Until the next big thing comes around. Then what? We have three people on staff and no customers..."

Chelsie bit her lip to stop her rant before she could say anything stupider than what she had already said. They lived in a city that lived on it's coffee. Another two coffee shops could open up on the same street and they would still have customers.

"You worry too much, Chels."

"You don't worry enough."

"And that is what makes us such good business partners. So you have no real objections to having live music? I was just thinking we could invest in the sound system. And we can compromise by hiring a couple of part-timers?"

"I don't have a choice in the matter do I?"

"There's always a choice, but no, not really. I already bought the sound system. I thought you could help me hook it up after we close."

Chelsie turned her back on him biting her lip to keep from saying something she might regret. She listened to Aiden whistle as he walked back into the kitchen to make another batch of chocolate croissants.

"If he wasn't family..." Chelsie muttered to the empty air.

"Ah, family. I know all about family my dear. You just hang in there."

Chelsie didn't bother to look around for Old Walter. She knew he wouldn't be visible, but his words helped to lighten her mood a bit. It would be okay. She just needed to keep reminding herself of that.

At 6:15pm the last customer left and she locked the door behind him. With a sigh, she let herself fall on to one of the couches and closed her eyes. It hadn't been a busy day comparatively, but it had been stressful for her. All she had been able to think about was Aiden and his damned music.

"Ah, my child, you worry entirely too much. What if the boy made the right decision? What if this music thing is a good idea? Buck up and sit up properly. That's not very ladylike."

"Oh, Walter, I'm not exactly feeling like much of a lady right now. And how would you know if it's the right decision?"

"I don't and you don't know it's a bad one." The angry tone in Old Walter's voice was enough to make Chelsie open her eyes and sit up.

"Are you mad at me?" Chelsie wasn't sure if a ghost could be mad, but she didn't like the thought that he would be mad at her.

"Don't be ridiculous, my dear. I'm just perturbed by how you're acting. Just buck up at bit and enjoy this while it lasts. Music is good. I always did enjoy music. I was a part of a quartet once you know. Ah, those were the days."

Groaning, Chelsie sunk back down into the couch wishing she could just disappear. Even Old Walter liked the idea of having live music here. She was the only one saying no to this idea. If even Old Walter approved, who was she to argue.

"If you can't beat them, join them. Right?"

"Yeah, and maybe help them carrying in the gear as well. This shit is heavy."

Chelsie sat straight up. "Oh, Aiden, I'm sorry. I was just..."

"Just sulking like usual. If you're finished, I can use a hand."

Trying not to look as though she was hating every minute of it, she helped Aiden unload the rest of the stuff from his truck. She grabbed the last thing in the truck and was surprised to see that it was a guitar. She looked stood there looking at for a minute.

"Surprised to see me with that?" Aiden leaned in the door way watching her.

"It's been a long time. Yeah, I'm a bit surprised. Especially since..." Chelsie let the thought trailed off. "I probably shouldn't have mentioned that. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Aiden came over to lock the truck up. "A lot of time has passed. I'm over it. Really."

"Liar." Chelsie handed him the guitar.

"Maybe, but we need to test the system out somehow."

After just over an hour of sweating, swearing and hard work, they were ready to test the system out. With fingers crossed, Aiden plugged his guitar into the amp and pulled a stool up to the microphone.

"Testing, testing. A one, two, three..." He ran his fingers over the strings of his guitar and listened to the sound. "Well?"

"It sounds good to me, but you're the musician. Want to try the lighting thing we talked about?"

"Sure, hit it."

Chelsie dimmed the store lights and turned on the two spotlights that highlighted the stage area. The effect was perfect. She smiled in the dim light. She listened as Aiden played a few random chords, his dark hair shining under the spotlights. He looked good up there.

Chelsie went to turn the spotlights off when she noticed that the few random notes had turned into a tune. A familiar tune. She pulled her hand back from the switch and leaned against the wall to listen. It has been way too long since Aiden had picked up a guitar and played anything, let alone one of his old songs.

She listened as sang a song about forgiveness and forgetting. It wasn't one of his best, but it was appropriate. As the last chord echoed in the empty store Chelsie wiped a tear from her eye. It would do no good for him to see her get all emotional. She turned on the lights and tried not to laugh as Aiden blinked at the sudden brightness.

"Well that was a good test and you know something?"

"What?" Aiden didn't look at her as he busied himself with giving everything a last check over before shutting it down.

"I'm feeling a lot better about this live music idea of yours. I'll call a few more people from my pile tomorrow and see about getting us a couple of part-timers."

"We'll have to start advertising as well. We'll have to have some later hours to make the music thing work."

"I'll give it some thought tonight. Let's get the hell out of here. It's late and I'm tired."

"You go ahead," Aiden smiled at her, still holding his guitar. "I'll lock up."

Chelsie smiled gently and went to grab her jacket and purse. She gave him one last glance as she walked out the door. Not too many people got to see the softer side of Aiden anymore, but she was glad that she got to see it again after such a long time.