Alice had spent the better part of her morning shopping. Her schedule didn’t allot her much time, so when she had a free day, she had shove as much as humanly possible into twenty-four hours. She’d woken up early and arrived in town right as the stores were opening. The ridiculous A.M. hours didn’t really bother her, not after years of being trained to wake up before sunrise. What had really exhausted her was the list she’d been following. Folded in her purse was a large sheet of paper covered in Becky’s handwriting, a detailed account of everything she wanted for the new school year. Alice should have known it was a mistake to make the trip without Becky in hand to decode her explicit desires. She spent the better part of a half-hour trying to decide between a pencil case that was glittery pink and one that had dolphins on it, all because she couldn’t find one that had both, as per her orders.
When she felt like she’d accomplished everything she could by herself, Alice had decided to stop somewhere for breakfast before moving on to her next errand. The cafe was on her drive back toward home. She’d never been before, but she figured it never hurt to try something new.
With her coffee already in front of her, Alice entertained herself with watching the other people around her while she waited for her food. She had things in her bag to read, but she’d always enjoyed casing her surroundings and those within them. It was probably just old habit. She watched as a man took a seat in the booth in front of her. Catching a glimpse of his face and hearing his voice triggered this sense that she knew him from somewhere. Alice tried not to stare, at least blatantly. She waited until he had ordered before speaking up. “Have we met before?”