Coffee Break (Part 6)

          Ceta was awakened by the sound of feverish knocking on her door, and Mikey shaking her foot repeatedly, calling her name with nervousness in his voice. She sat up slowly and cleared her eyes, trying desperately to reorient herself to the fact that a small child was in her apartment, standing over her with trepidation in his eyes. Quickly realizing her state, Ceta tried her best to appear just slightly tired, but collected. 
​
            “Good morning. Are you hungry? What’s wrong?”  

            ​“Can you unlock the door? Que’s trying to get in. I can’t reach the chain. He told me to go get you, but you keep not waking up,” he said nearly falling apart with worry despite Ceta being fully awake. 
 
            “I’m so sorry, I should’ve set my alarm,” Ceta said hopping up from the couch, checking her silenced phone lying on the floor --- 8:23 a.m. it read. Ceta shuffled towards the door. She stopped short of unlocking it to check her face in the varying sized mirrors on the wall adjacent to her front door. The pounding on the door returned more rapidly this time, loudly. 
 
            “Coming! I’m coming, one second,” she called out before running behind the kitchen bar to grab a half-drank bottle of water. She dumped some in her hand and frantically rubbed it over the corners of her eyes and the sides of her mouth. Ceta then took a swig, swishing it around her mouth before setting it back down and running back to the door. As she finally unlocked the top latch, the force of the door caught her by surprise as Que pushed it open weightily, looking at her with bulging eyes. 
 
            “Fuck wrong with you? You don’t answer your phone no more?” 
 
            “I am so sorry, I fell asleep with my phone on silent, I never heard it ring.”
 
            “You ain’t hear Mikey calling you? I heard him outside the door, so how’s that?”
 
            “I was really tired. I’ve been tired lately, I slept hard. I said I’m sorry.”
 
           “I gotta drive back home to get him ready and now we don’t have enough time. He’s ‘bout to be so late for football practice, might as well not even show up,” Que mumbled. “I been knocking for thirty minutes, and that’s the best you got? You’re ‘tired?’” he asked Ceta, shaking his head.
 
            Que brushed past Ceta and walked towards Mikey, hugging him and rubbing the top of his head before signaling him to gather his things from Ceta’s bedroom. 
 
            “Speaking of not answering phones, what happened to you? You never told me he was spending the night. You could’ve been in a ditch for all I know,” Ceta said in a hushed tone with her hands on her hips more for stability than a display of indignation.
 
            “Chris called off last minute, and Maggie left early for a family emergency. I was the only one closing.” Que said crossing his arms looking back towards her bedroom with furrowed brows.
 
            “And you didn’t think to call or text me that? You thought popping up in the morning was good enough?” Ceta said starting to gain her nerve back after recalling the uncertainty of the night before. 
 
            Que’s face softened slightly as he turned towards Ceta. 
 
          “I thought y’all prob’ly fell asleep. I Didn’t wanna wake y’all up. Plus, you know we get busy on Friday nights; I don’t always get a break.”
 
            Ceta’s stomach churned as she tried to discretely breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth. She desperately needed to lie back down, and interrogating Que about his frequent need for smoke breaks didn’t seem like a risk worth the reward. 

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