Alpha Billionaire Series
Billionaire and the Barista Chapter 23

GABRIELLA

A few weeks later...

It was one of those days where it felt like I couldn't do anything right. Nothing was wrong with me, I just felt off. I thought I had more cupcakes in the refrigerator waiting to be frosted, I messed up my batter. I dropped a full sheet of cupcakes. I wanted to replace a corner and curl up and cry. I stepped out of the kitchen door to get some fresh air. I was assaulted with the smell of stale booze, urine, and cigarette smoke.

"F**k," I groaned. I walked around the corner of my building. A ragged-looking man sat there. He stared back at me.

"You can't be here, buddy. You gotta go."

"You can't tell me what to do bitch. Just because you work here, doesn't give you the right-"

I had been willing to offer him a cupcake and some coffee, but he started in with his tirade of what rights I did or didn't have, I changed my mind quickly. He needed to be gone. And then I saw drug paraphernalia on the ground near where he was sitting. "You need to leave, now," I said. "Get your shit and get off my property."

"I'm not going anywhere bitch."

I was done arguing with him. I shook my head and went back into the kitchen. I still had the sour smells that had surrounded him in my nose. I called the police for trespassing and drugs. I hated that I had become that person who had to call in someone else to handle my problems. I hated that I couldn't be the person to help him. Between his attitude and the drugs, I had a zero-tolerance policy for that nonsense. Besides, I wasn't in a mood to even attempt being generous.

I was still in the kitchen when there was a knock on that door. A quick glance out the small window let me know it was the police.

"Hi," I said, opening the door.

"We've got your vagrant, and we did pick up a few needles. If you go back there, be careful, there are probably more needles we didn't replace. It looks like he has been back there a while."

"Damn it," I said. I was usually better about making sure the area behind the building was kept clear because Robbie played back there. "My kid plays back there."

"You might want to do a clean sweep before you let him outside."

The police left, and I felt even worse. I was failing as a parent, as a cafe owner, at everything.

The alarm on my phone went off, and I needed to leave, or I would be late from picking Robbie up from preschool.

I washed up and stuck my head into the café. It was busy. The kind of busy that needed two people.

"I'm sorry Miguel, I have to go get Robbie."

"Okay, yeah, but when you get back."

"Absolutely." When I got back, he was going to need a break. A long one.

I jumped in the beat-up car Mitch kept running for me. The preschool was far, but they had this pick-up line, where the parents sat in their cars, and as we reached the front of the line, they would bring out our child. It was supposed to be efficient and get everyone involved used to the process once the children started elementary school.

"Mommy!" Robbie yelled enthusiastically.

Usually on my lower days, his smile, his joy brought me back to myself.

Today it reminded me that I had a headache. "Not so loud, baby. Did you have a good day?"

"I did."

"Tell me something you learned."

"We got butterflies. But they're not awake yet. I'm going to look for coatcoons when I get home."

"You mean cocoons, what caterpillars wrap up in to become butterflies."

"That. I bet we have some in the backyard."

I groaned. "I'm sorry baby, but you can't today."

"No, I want to replace a cocoon."

"I'm sorry but not today. Lacey can't play with you until later, and I need you to sit and be good and color. I can't go outside with you when we get back." It wasn't fair to him to have to explain the café was too busy. And I certainly was not going to tell him about the homeless man and the needles. Robbie was five, he didn't need to know about heroin.

He slammed himself back into his car seat and crossed his arms. He was mad at me, and there wasn't anything I could or would do about it. He could be mad at me.

"Can I get a puppy?"

"What?" I laughed. "No, we cannot get a puppy. Where would we keep it? It can't live in the apartment, and no." "Annie got a puppy. I want a puppy."

It was hard when his best friend had so much more than him. She had a father, an older brother, and now, a puppy.

He was still whining about a puppy when we reached the café. I pulled the basket of his coloring books and crayons from my desk in the kitchen and set everything up on the back corner table where I could keep an eye on him. "Robbie, baby, I need to help Miguel. I need you to be the most awesome Robbie, I know you can be right now."

"But I want a puppy," he whined.

I put my hand up, hoping his training would override his mood. "I need to go help Miguel. You need to sit here and color. We will talk about this later."

I dashed to the counter and got him a cupcake from the counter, and a juice box out of the cooler. He wasn't happy, but he was doing what I needed him to.

Miguel squeezed my shoulder. "Thanks. It's been a madhouse, and I..."

"Go, you've done enough. This isn't anything I haven't dealt with before, and you need a break."

He left through the kitchen door, and I didn't even have it in me to plaster a fake smile on my face when I turned to the customer waiting. "What can I get for you?"

Customers, cupcakes, and coffee all sped by in a complete blur. At some point, Miguel returned from his break, but we were swamped.

I didn't feel like I could take a breath until Lacey came in for Robbie.

"He's having a hard day, and he is mad at me. Anything shy of getting him a puppy to make him happy you can do."

She smiled and turned to him, and then I remembered the other thing, and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to me.

"I'm sorry, you can't go outside. He's mad about that too. There was a homeless guy and he had drugs. I haven't had a chance to make sure it's safe," I said in a rush.

"Oh, definitely we will not go outback. It's nice, mind if we walk up to the swing set at the church?"

I sighed and gave her the first smile of my day. "That would be great."

By the time the onslaught of customers had eased up, it was time to close. I wanted to lock the door and run upstairs. I wanted to grab Robbie and cuddle under blankets with him until we both fell asleep. I wanted to call Nathan to sweep me away from it all and make love to me until I forgot my own name.

The list of what I wanted, and what I was going to do was very different. I still needed to update my inventory, and I needed to replace where in my budget I could hire another front counter person. I couldn't keep running the front and baking at the same time. Accidents were happening, and I was selling out of cupcakes more often than not.

I needed a break. I needed food.

"Hey Ricky," I said as I trudged into the kitchen, pulling off my apron. "You want some extra time tonight?"

"Yeah, I could use an extra hour or so, what's up?"

"I don't have it in me to clean the front right now. And honestly, if I don't have to come back after I get Robbie to bed, that would be wonderful."

"Sure thing, Gabby. I can handle the front. I'll give you a call so you can set the alarm."

"Thank you," I waved as I pushed back out the kitchen door. The stairs seemed higher, and longer after the day I had.

It smelled like spaghetti and home when I walked into my apartment.

"Thank you for cooking, Lacey."

"It's spaghetti, not like I did anything crazy fancy."

"No, but after my day, this is perfect. Comfort food. How's Robbie doing?"

"He's in jammies, all ready for bed. He calmed down a lot once we got to the swings. But he did go on a lot about a puppy. I guess Annie got a new dog, and he's all about that."

I sighed. "He was all the way home from preschool."

I thanked her again for taking care of my boy. I set my dirty dishes in the sink and went to his room.

"Hi," I said as I picked him up to put on my lap.

He wrenched out of my arms and sat away from me.

"Still mad at me, huh?"

"Why can't I have the things my friends have? I'm the only person at school who doesn't have a puppy or a dog, and I don't have a daddy either." His breath hitched as he fought his emotions. How long had this been building in that little chest of his?

"I wouldn't need a daddy if I had a puppy."

He wanted something to love so badly, and I wasn't enough.

"We..." I started to explain the dog situation, again. It felt like no matter how often I told him why we couldn't have a dog, he wouldn't let go.

I wanted to reach out and touch him, but he was a prickly pear right now, and he did not want to be touched.

"You have a daddy, baby." And I needed to tell Nathan about Robbie so I could introduce them. So that my boy could have a father.

Robbie didn't look over from where he was running a car over the hills made by his blankets. But the car slowed, and I knew he was listening.

"I need to see what I can do so that you can finally meet him." I needed to get over my fear of telling Nathan that he had a son.