That night, she stayed at the 

cafe

later than she should've. Had she left with the final employee two hours ago then she would probably already be showered and ready for bed. Comfy at home.

Instead she was now leaving into an empty parking lot to the sounds of the summer bugs screaming into the night. In her car, she looked at the cafe with all its lights off and thought how nice it would be if there were more hours in a day.

Driving at this hour was pleasant. There were not many cars out, which meant she could drive slower than usual. She could drive a mile under the speed limit and not worry about pissing the person behind her off. She could enjoy the music and the smooth motion the car provided. She imagined this is how a baby felt, being rocked to sleep.

At times like these she wished her drive home was longer. Not that she wished she lived further out in the country. What she wished for was a stretch of road through a small sleepy town, at night like this. Driving by the closed schools and the houses lit up from inside, and the closed businesses.

Life had not turned out as expected for 

Imogen Howe

. Back when she was working as a

barista

in her early 20s, just trying to make enough to scrape by and eventually go to school to become something more 'professional', she would've never imagined that she would still be a barista today. Now she was 30. 31 next month. But nobody knew in her daily life knew that. She didn't tell a soul her birthday.

Not that she was insecure about her age. There was still so much to do at the cafe. A thing like a birthday could totally derail her focus. All the people trying to congratulate her and plan parties for her. There was only so little time in a day. She couldn't oblige all that. And she knew she would if her friends threw her these parties. She knew that she would love it. And that's why she never told her birthday to anyone. Because she felt like she couldn't afford a celebration. Not this year.

Home was almost near. Just four minutes away now. She was stopped at an intersection. Red light. She looked over at the 

gas station

to her left. She saw a pack of high schoolers going in. Bored small town kids, with nothing else to do. But they liked their boredom. She had been there before as well.

The light turned green. She quickly put on the left turn signal and turned. Not into the gas station, but onto the road that led to Kransz Mart. She had a snack craving. 

Cheez-it

would be her treat tonight.

She sat outside in the parking lot an extra minute as the song ended. The store's lights were so bright but there was hardly nobody but the employees around. She wondered why they even kept a grocery store in such a small town open so late. But it made her feel good. Having someplace that she could go before having to go home eventually and sleeping.

A girl working the checkout was bent over looking at her phone. She looked up for a moment to say hello and then went back to looking at her phone. Pop music from two generations back whispered softly above the store aisles.

A tall, middle aged, thin, balding man was mopping the pharmacy aisle while whistling along with the tune. "I'm going to soak up the sun". When he noticed her he stopped to give her a nod before returning to his mopping. And whistling.

Before going to the snack aisle she was curious as to what the rest of the store looked like at this hour. She walked all the way down back to where the deli section was. It was closed but she could hear a loud sound. The sound of someone screaming excitedly, but a fake excitement like they were acting. It was a small black guy in a shopping cart. And running after him was 

Georgie Wilcox

. She remembered him being at the cafe earlier. He hadn't seen her, but she watched him as he bounced around awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

She didn't know if he would remember her. Or she did, but she was afraid that maybe he wouldn't remember her right away. So she decided to walk away without saying hi. But she gave a smile.

"Hey!" he said. 

"Hi," Imogen stopped and replied, smiling more. The small black man was now getting out of the shopping cart while making some more loud noises that somehow blamed Georgie for leaving him hanging.

"It's been a long time, Imogen. What are you up to these days? I didn't even know you lived here anymore."

"I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Yeah I just opened up a cafe here."

"Wow! Hey, it doesn't happen to be. You're not the boss of Cool Beans are you?"

"Yup. That's me," she said while smiling and bobbing her head.

"No way! That's hella cool. I was just there today."

"Oh. I must've been out. I didn't see you."

"Yeah. Well I'll make sure to come in again soon. I always thought you were artistic and creative. It's so cool that you're running a cafe now."

"What are you up to?"

"You're looking at the new nightshift manager!" Georgie said while pointing to himself proudly. "Oh. And this is my noble steed Marquis."

"More like I'm his wingman! Hey, Marquis. Nice to meet you."

"Imogen"

They shook hands.

"Damn I swear. In high school Imogen was so cool. She used to make these mixtapes for people. And they were so cool. I had to jack one from my friend because well," he pointed to Imogen, "you and I didn't hang out."

"Yeah that's right," she said. 

"Damn looks like my man's gotten smarter since then," Marquis said while patting the front of Georgie's chest from behind. "Now Georgie knows cool people when he meets one. Like me!"

They laughed together.

"Say G, when were you gonna take me to this cafe?"

"Oh you both should come. We are having a little party and small concert next Friday."

"Shit, mr bossman. I'm calling Friday night off. Sorry but I ain't coming in no more!"

"I might need to take that day off, too," Georgie smiled.

"Well just look us up on Instagram. You'll see more details there. Hope to see you both. Nice meeting you, Marquis." she turned to leave.

"The pleasure was mine."

"Seeyah!"

She walked over to the snacks aisle feeling chipper. Georgie hadn't changed much at all. Marquis seemed nice and funny. Then she noticed something bizarre about the snack section. There was a giant section of chocolate bars missing. It wasn't some kind of holiday? she wondered. She couldn't think of any reason for this. She thought about turning to ask Georgie about this, but she thought it was best to leave them, leave the conversation as it had happened. No need to revisit and prolong their encounter.

She took a box of the original flavored Cheez-it and headed to the register. The girl got off her phone and smiled at her. It was a nice smile. A tired one, but genuine.

"Just that?" she asked grinning.

"Just that."

"Crazy night!"

"You bet."

When she got back into her car she felt more grounded. She no longer felt that wanting to do something exciting or wishing that the day was still young. She was happy to go be going home. On the way she felt like she was being rocked like a baby.