We Need Some Milk

"Who is that?" Becca questioned, looking through their window outside where a black Mercedes had pulled up with a brunette woman stepping out. She had a long black coat on, with black boots and a pair of sunglasses, and she was heading into Punk's place.

"Someone looking for directions probably." AJ said, "I think everything is in one piece after the storm." She said.

"We've still not had our milk delivery." Lyla said, coming through from the back where she was baking some croissants and cinnamon rolls.

"I'll try calling Mister Eckles again." AJ said.

"We open in half an hour and we have no milk?" Becca asked with concern.

"Let's not panic." AJ made clear whilst calling the farmer who delivered their milk to them, "Hi, Mister Eckles." AJ said pleasantly, "It's April from The Brewberry Café." AJ said.

Meanwhile Lyla and Becca were watching their friend to figure out what Mister Eckles was saying. He'd delivered their milk every morning at the same time for the past four years. Even in knee deep snow. Which is why they were worried.

"Oh, that's terrible." AJ said, "Of course I understand. You do what's best for your farm right now." She nodded, "Ok. You can keep me updated."

"That didn't sound good." Lyla said.

"Some of the roof from the stables caved in last night during the storm. He's got an injured horse because of it, and he's not gotten round to any milk deliveries. He said it might not be until later this evening."

"What are we supposed to do?!" Becca whined, "I mean… poor horse and poor Mister Eckles but… we need milk." She stated the obvious.

"We'll just need to go to the store and grab a few pints." Lyla said.

"That will cost us more." AJ said, "I wonder where he gets his milk from." She nodded to the window, looking over at Punk's coffee shop, "Maybe he gets it from Mister Eckles and he has the same problem as us."

"Or he gets a supplier from out of town and has a fridge load ready to go." Lyla said, "If people find out we don't have milk they'll go straight to his place instead." She panicked.

"We really should invest in our own cow." Becca nodded seriously, picking at her nails as AJ and Lyla turned to her.

"Oh, hey… we're not open yet." Daryl said, noticing the woman walking into their shop. She took her sunglasses off, perching them on her head as she looked around the place.

"I'm looking for Phil Brooks." The woman said, "Is he here?"

"Phil!" Daryl yelled as the woman jumped.

"What?" Punk said, coming out from the back and pausing as he looked across at his ex-girlfriend.

"I love what you've done with the place." The woman smiled to him.

"Sophie." Punk said, "What are you doing here?"

"What? A girl can't come check in on her ex?" Sophie asked as Daryl conveniently escaped to the back of the shop into the kitchen area.

"Most people don't." Punk said.

"I was passing through. Heading out of town to see my sister." Sophie said.

"You've got time off work?" He asked.

"Yes, everyone is very kind to me after what happened with you. I get a lot of pity smiles and sympathy pats on the backs." She nodded.

"I'm happy for you." Punk said sarcastically as she smiled.

"This place looks good. I'm serious." She said, "Thought it was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard when you told me but… it's good." She nodded.

"Thank you. I'm glad I have your approval." Punk said as she gave him an eyeroll with a smile.

"I also have things you need to sign." Sophie said, "From the firm. Legal stuff." She said as Punk nodded.

"So that's why you're here." Punk nodded.

"Well, that… and I really am going to see my sister." She said, digging through her purse and pulling out some papers, "Gordon said that he asked you to come into the office to sign them but you never did."

"I figured they could just post them to me." Punk shrugged.

"Yeah but then you moved and told no one but me where you where." Sophie shook her head.

"Do you think I was gonna walk in there after what happened? Have everyone staring at me?" He asked.

"You deserved the staring." Sophie reminded him, walking over to the counter and sitting the papers down with a pen.

He had met Sophie through the law firm he worked at. Where she also worked at. They had been in a two-year relationship until he was disbarred.

"There." Punk said, signing the papers.

"You didn't even read them." Sophie said.

"I don't care what they say." Punk assured her.

"Don't be that guy, Phil." Sophie sighed, taking the papers and putting them back in her bag.

"What guy?" He asked.

"The guy who disappears and lives alone with his guilt for the rest of his life." Sophie said.

"I'm actually enjoying it here, if you must know." Punk said, "This place is thriving pretty quickly. And the town is nice. The people are friendly." He said.

"Aren't you lonely?" She asked him.

"C'mon, Soph. It's not like I had dozens of friends back in Chicago. You were about the only person I spoke to in the firm anyway." He shook his head, turning his attention to the door where AJ rushed in.

"Hi, do you have milk?" AJ asked immediately.

"Milk?" Punk shook his head.

"Yes, the thing you put in coffee sometimes. Comes out of a cow." AJ explained seriously as Punk scoffed.

"Yes. I have milk." Punk nodded whilst Sophie watched from the side, "I'm kinda… in the middle of something." He told AJ, pointing to Sophie.

"Oh, sorry." AJ realised, "It's just… we couldn't get our milk delivery because of the storm." She said.

"Ok?" Punk waited.

"Can we have some of yours?" She asked, "Please." She added.

"I kinda need it." Punk said.

"How much do you have?" AJ asked, making her way over to his counter, walking behind it and locating his fridges, opening them up, "Oh, you have plenty to spare." She said, already helping herself to some pints.

"Uh… you'll need to pay me for those." Punk said.

"I will. I promise." AJ nodded, "I'll send Becca and Lyla over for some more." She added, making her way out from the counter and heading out of the shop.

"Neighbour?" Sophie asked Punk with a small smile.

"Something like that." Punk shook his head, "I'm opening up soon. You could stay for a coffee." He nodded.

"No, I should be going anyway." Sophie nodded, "I hope you're happy here." She said sincerely.

"Trying to be." Punk said truthfully as she smiled, putting her sunglasses back over her eyes before leaving the shop and getting back into her car.

"Hey, we're here for more milk." Lyla said, coming into the shop with Becca as Punk rolled his eyes.

"Just a few more." Punk warned.

"Why are they taking our milk?" Daryl came out from the kitchen.

"Our delivery hasn't come because of the storm." Lyla explained, "And the store would cost too much."

"Uh… you'll be paying me back for this." Punk made clear.

"We will. Of course." Becca nodded, "Thank you. You saved the day." She smiled, waddling her way to the front door with the pints of milk whilst Lyla followed behind.

"See ya, Phil!" Lyla yelled as she left.

"Why did you agree to this?" Daryl shook his head.

"I was distracted when April came in asking." Punk shook his head.

"Yeah, with your ex?" Daryl asked, "What was that about?"

"Just… work stuff." Punk shook his head, "She worked at the same firm as me." He explained, "She was just giving me some stuff to sign. And she was probably wanting to check this place out."

"Did you break up because of the disbarred thing?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Punk nodded, "Although we were probably destined to break up anyway." He admitted.

"You realise they're never going to pay us for that milk they took, right?" Daryl nodded.

"They better." Punk shook his head, "Come on, we need to open."

"Do you think that was his sister?" AJ asked Lyla curiously in the late afternoon, "Or his wife?" She wondered. She hadn't even considered the possibility of him having a wife or family. She was way too consumed in hating him that she'd forgotten he was an actual person sometimes.

"I don't think he has a ring on his finger." Lyla shook her head, "Maybe a girlfriend? I don't think it was his sister."

"I don't know. When I went in for the milk it looked kinda tense between them. It definitely wasn't a stranger." AJ said. She didn't know why she was so intrigued. Perhaps because the man was a complete mystery to her beyond being her arch nemesis across the street.

"Maybe an ex-wife." Lyla said, "Would explain why he moved here."

"To run away from an ex-wife." AJ nodded, "Yeah, makes sense."

"Are we actually going to pay him for the milk?" Lyla asked her.

"It did save our asses." AJ said, "We would have had to close and miss a full day's business. I know we could have gone to the store but it's not like we could have taken all their milk."

"We should pay him." Lyla nodded, knowing it was the right thing to do.

"Yeah, I'll sort it." AJ shrugged.

"You definitely have it covered for next week when I'm gone?" Lyla asked.

"Yes. Me, Becca and Shiv have it under control." AJ smiled, "Go enjoy time with your family. You haven't seen them in a while."

"I know, my nephew will have gotten so big." Lyla smiled, "I'll send you pictures of course."

"Did I forget to invite you both to my party?" Shiv asked, coming out from the back after hearing them talking.

"What party?" Lyla asked.

"My folks are away on vacation next week. I'm having a party on Friday. Obviously, you guys are invited." Shiv said.

"Thanks, Shiv but we're kinda a bit old for high school parties." AJ laughed a little.

"It's not just a high school party. Lots of people are invited." Shiv shrugged.

"Well I definitely can't go. I'm not in town." Lyla said.

"I'm twenty-seven." AJ scoffed, "I can't come to your party."

"But I invited Lou, too." Shiv said, "Becca is coming. She's twenty-one."

"You invited Lou? He's 64." AJ shook her head as Shiv shrugged.

"I don't age discriminate." Shiv said, "We're all entitled to a good time." She tutted as AJ chuckled.

"I'll pass, Shiv. But thanks." AJ smiled, chuckling with Lyla.

"Maybe you should go and mingle." Lyla nudged AJ with a smile, "Her house is beautiful. I'd go just to geek out over the interiors."

"Yeah, maybe I should go mingle and find myself that farmer you see me married to in the future." AJ said sarcastically as Lyla smiled.

"Now that… that sounds like a good idea." Lyla nodded as AJ shook her head.

"Why were we so busy at 5pm?" Daryl shook his head tiredly, stacking the chairs on top of the tables out front as they closed down the shop for the night.

"I have no idea." Punk said, equally as tired.

He'd underestimated how exhausting this job would be when he first started. Being on his feet from six in the morning until six at night was challenging, especially when they were getting as busy as they were.

"Would you ever get more staff?" Daryl wondered.

"That's another person I'd have to pay." Punk shook his head.

"Don't you wanna take day's off eventually?" Daryl asked.

"Maybe when we get super busy I'll hire another person. We manage fine just now." He said.

"My feet hurt." Daryl admitted, taking a seat on one of the chairs as Punk watched him massage his leg.

"Is it too much for you? Being on your feet all day? With your leg?" Punk asked curiously.

"No… no, I can do it." Daryl said stubbornly, "Just hurts a little."

"It must have gotten you real down." He said. The last thing he thought when he moved here was that his first and only friend would be an eighteen-year-old high school dropout.

"Yeah." Daryl nodded, "Yeah, I went a bit crazy, actually." He said, "Started drinking and hanging out with older kids who weren't good for me. Basically got kicked out of school. Broke up with my girlfriend. I guess we're pretty similar like that." He realised as Punk nodded.

"What the hell do you know about girlfriends? You're twelve." Punk shook his head as Daryl rolled his eyes, "You liked her?"

"Yeah, I did." Daryl nodded, "She's away to college after Summer. And I was an ass to her after my injury." He said.

"Hurt people tend to hurt people." Punk nodded, "You got a whole life ahead of you. Don't stress too much." He said as Daryl nodded, "You get outta here. I'll finish closing up."

"But we've not done the kitchen yet." Daryl said.

"I got it. We were busy today. You should get home. Get some rest." Punk said as Daryl nodded.

"Thank you." Daryl said, grabbing his bag and jacket from the back, "I'll see you in the morning."

"See you, kid." Punk said, watching him leave the shop.

He continued cleaning up the shop, making his way into the messy kitchen and beginning to tackle the dishes and counters, dreaming of getting home and into bed. Although there was definitely a certain pride to his tiredness, knowing they had been so busy today, perhaps the busiest they'd been.

He heard the door to the shop open whilst his hands were in the sink doing the dishes, assuming it was Daryl, "You forgot something?" Punk called, listening to the door open and close again, "Daryl?" He said.

He took his hands from the sink and dried them, making his way out of the back and into the front of the shop, noticing no one was there.

He walked towards the counter suspiciously, looking out the window to see if he could see anyone lurking. As he began to walk away, a little unnerved, he noticed something on the counter.

He picked up the note on the counter which said, "Thank you for giving us the milk today (I know we didn't actually give you a choice). You really saved our assess. The money will be with you tomorrow. I hope the cookie helps you through the cleaning. April. P.S I didn't poison it."

He stared at the note, then turned his attention to what was beside it. A napkin with a cookie on it. He took a bite from it as he walked back to the kitchen, pausing once he tasted how good it was. It was warm, which made him realise she'd just made it. It was sweet and chewy and soft and probably the best thing he'd ever put in his mouth.

"That's ridiculous." Punk shook his head to himself, taking another bite immediately. Seconds later it was finished and he was upset.

A/N: Thank you for the great reviews! I love reading them and appreciate them so much.