Power Cut

"What is the deal with this weather?" Lyla huffed, walking into The Brewberry Café, taking the hood of her coat down whilst putting her umbrella down.

"I know. There's supposed to be flash flooding." AJ nodded, "Storm season is upon us."

"Come on Summer." Lyla shook her head, walking behind the counter and hanging her coat up.

A few days had passed since the open-mic night at Punk's. AJ was surprised to admit that she'd had a great time. She had been feeling so low after what happened on her date with Luke, it was a great pick-me-up to have fun with her friends. Not to mention the new calmness that had appeared between her and Punk.

"Come on October. I'm dying to get our fall decorations up." AJ huffed.

"Yeah, but I'd like a little bit of sun first." Lyla said, "I was thinking we could maybe try out some new things this Summer with our menu."

"Like what?" AJ asked as she prepared to open the shop for the day.

"Maybe some new smoothies or iced tea?" Lyla said, "I think we need some new coffee alternatives."

"That's a good idea." AJ agreed, "We could debut them at the Summer Fair."

"Sounds good." Lyla nodded, "Is it just me and you on shift today?" She asked, putting on her black apron which had their logo and name on the front.

"Yeah. Becca had a dentist appointment and Shiv is busy." AJ nodded.

"Oh, yeah. Becca was getting her wisdom tooth out, right?" Lyla chuckled.

"Yeah." AJ said, "Poor thing."

"I wish we could have gone with her and recorded her afterwards." Lyla grinned.

"Evil." AJ shook her head as Lyla chuckled.

"How have you been feeling?" Lyla asked her, "You know… since the weekend, everything with Luke…"

"I'm ok." AJ nodded, "I'm just trying my best to forget about the fact he was laughing directly at me the other night at Phil's." She said.

"Maybe it just looked that way." Lyla said, trying to reassure her.

"No, he was definitely at me." AJ nodded, "Don't blame him. He must think I'm a freak."

"Well, he's a dick if he was. And clearly not worth a second of your time." Lyla said.

"I'm ok about it. At least I know that I'm just not ready yet." AJ nodded, "I've done some self-care the past few nights to help me. Read some good books. Cooked some comfort meals. Exfoliated and moisturised." She smiled, "I'm a new woman. Ready to seize another day."

"That's my girl." Lyla smiled. It was the thing she admired most about her friend. Her resilience and fighting spirit. To keep marching on even through the darkest times.

"I also think I should maybe try therapy again." AJ admitted to her, "The problem is I just… I don't know why I get so uptight. I mean… I know why." She rolled her eyes, "But it's like my body isn't connected to my brain. My brain knows I'm ok and yet my body just has a breakdown. Can't handle any kind of closeness."

"And you think a therapist will be able to help with that?" Lyla asked.

"Maybe." AJ shrugged, "It's worth a try I guess."

"Whatever you think will help, I got your back." Lyla said as AJ smiled at her.

"He did well on Monday night." AJ said, looking over out the window where Punk was setting up his display board before opening his shop.

"Yeah, he did." Lyla nodded, "I actually had fun. And I didn't hate the fact I was having fun in his place."

"Me neither." AJ agreed, "I think maybe this whole battle of the coffee shops has gotten a little out of hand." She nodded. Ever since the open-mic night she'd been reflecting on the past month or so of Punk being here.

"Really? I think we can find more ways to annoy him." Lyla shrugged.

"I'm just curious." AJ said, "So he's lost his job, lost his girlfriend… and his solution was to open a coffee shop in a tiny little town like this?" She questioned.

"This was exactly your solution to your problems, too." Lyla reminded her, "After what happened to you… you dropped out of college, packed up your shit and moved far away to start over. Looks like he's doing the same. I guess you're not so different." Lyla nodded.

"I just wonder what might have happened if we were nice to him from the get-go." AJ admitted, "Maybe we'd even be friends."

"He's an old man." Lyla scoffed.

"He's not an old man." AJ scoffed.

"What age do you think he is?" Lyla wondered.

"I don't know… mid-thirties?" AJ shrugged, "But you were right. What you said. We have nothing to prove any more. We've established ourselves with this place. I had no reason to get so angry."

"Uh… yes you did." Lyla said, "He's been a bastard. Just because he gave you a free coffee on Monday and walked you home when you were upset… don't forget that." Lyla scoffed.

"I haven't." AJ said, "I'm just saying… maybe we can just be civil now. Co-exist." AJ nodded.

"Hey, I'll follow your lead. You're the boss." Lyla said, "But remember he was a lawyer. They're as conniving as they get."

"What do you know about lawyers beyond TV shows?" AJ rolled her eyes as Lyla just shrugged.

"You have every right to want to protect this place. You built this from the ground up. We used to get three customers in a day if we were lucky. Now look at us." Lyla said as AJ nodded. It was good to be reminded of how far they'd come. "Don't feel bad for defending this place."

"Isn't that the guy that AJ was cosied up to at Shiv's party?" Daryl asked, standing behind the counter with Punk later in the day, pointing out Luke who was sat over at a table with a coffee, looking down at his phone.

"I think so." Punk said, looking over.

"I wonder if they're dating." Daryl said.

"You're such a gossip." Punk shook his head, running some mugs through the dishwasher.

He was incredibly pleased with how the open-mic night had gone. After Daryl had bravely stepped up first to take the mic, other people eventually started going up. A little girl even went up and sang some sort of Disney song which made his heart melt, although he would deny that to anyone who asked.

It had been a great night, and the tension didn't seem as bad between him and the girls from The Brewberry Café. In fact, all he was really thinking about when he went home that night was AJ's smile and laughter as she clapped along to the different songs. More than once they'd locked eyes, and her smile never left her face. It was strange, not hating one another. Taking themselves out of their businesses and just being… them.

Their success on Monday had also meant that naturally, he and Daryl were on better terms, no longer being blunt with one another after the disaster at Shiv's party. He was secretly glad, as he had someone to vent to again, and was reminded that he really needed to make friends his own age soon.

"I'm not a gossip. I'm just curious." Daryl shrugged.

"Gossip." Punk replied, "Why are we so quiet today anyway?" He asked worriedly.

"Have you seen the weather outside?" Daryl asked, "I wouldn't leave my house in that either. Not even for coffee." He shook his head as Punk looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows of their shop, watching the rain lashing down with the occasional strike of lightning in the distance.

"You think we should shut early?" Punk asked, "The streets do look pretty dead."

"Maybe." Daryl nodded, "I guess you'd save on electricity bills. We've only got three customers right now." Daryl counted.

"Mister Eckles better deliver our milk in the morning." Punk worried.

"You were the one who wanted to use local produce." Daryl said, "That's the price you gotta pay."

Just as he said that, the lights in the shop all shut off, as well as the coffee machine and all their other appliances.

"What the fuck?" Daryl panicked.

"See what happens when you put stuff into the universe. It hears you." Punk said, "Talking about electricity." He grumbled, walking over to the side to check the electric board.

"Looks like a power cut." Luke stood up from his seat.

"Well spotted." Punk grumbled quietly whilst crouching down, examining the electric board and noticing all the switches were down and wouldn't shift back up.

"I guess we're closing whether we like it or not." Daryl cringed, walking over to Punk.

"Maybe it will turn back on." Lyla shrugged, sitting at a table in their empty, dark coffee shop whilst AJ knelt looking at their electric board in the corner, using her phone as a torch.

"I don't understand what any of this means!" AJ yelled with frustration as Lyla rolled her eyes.

"It means the power is down because of the weather and the whole town will be staying inside." Lyla said, "We should close up and go."

"It's only 2pm." AJ scoffed, standing up and putting her hands on her hips, "We could light candles. I think I have some in the back."

"Our coffee machine won't work." Lyla said, twirling her short hair around her finger at the side.

"Well this sucks." AJ shook her head, "It's the middle of the day. What am I supposed to do with myself now?"

"Go home and chill." Lyla nodded, "Come on, let's clean this place up."

"I can get it. You go." AJ said.

"Are you sure? You won't even have music." Lyla said.

"I'll sing to myself." AJ waved her hand, "You get home before it gets worse out there. I got this."

"Ok, well call me if you need anything." Lyla said.

"There's not much to do anyway. Just clean the floors and wipe down the surfaces." AJ said as Lyla nodded, grabbing her coat and umbrella.

"You could come to my place for a sleepover later if you want." Lyla nodded.

"Do you need me to come stay over because you hate this weather?" AJ asked her.

"No." Lyla scoffed as AJ smiled.

"I'll call you." AJ nodded.

Lyla grabbed her things and left AJ to close down the coffee shop. She began by lighting a few candles on the front counter so she could actually see what she was doing. It didn't help that the sky was dark outside, barely letting any sunlight into the shop.

She got the bucket and mop out to start cleaning the floors when she heard the door chime open, bringing in a gust of wind as she turned around.

"You got no power either?" Punk asked her.

"Clearly not." AJ said as Punk noticed the candles, "I doubt any of the town has."

"Yeah, I figured." Punk nodded, closing the door behind him, "I just wanted to check."

"This can happen sometimes when we get bad weather. Must be a weak power supply." AJ nodded to him, putting the mop into the bucket and draining it out as she began to wipe it across the floor.

"Early finish for us then?" Punk nodded.

"Looks like it." She said, looking over at him, noticing he was still standing there, "Do you want some candles?"

"Why would I need candles?" He asked.

"For when you go home. You'll have no light." AJ said.

"Oh." Punk realised, "Uh… yeah. Yeah, that'd be good." Punk nodded, watching her go through to the back of her shop, grabbing a bag of tealight candles and bringing them over to him.

"Lucky I keep these for the tables in here or I'd be screwed too." AJ said.

"Thank you." Punk nodded, taking the bag from her, watching as she headed back over to the mop and bucket. Something was keeping him here. He didn't know what. He just couldn't bring himself to leave just yet.

"Do you want some help closing up?" He asked her as he turned to him.

For a moment, he thought she was going to immediately decline. It wouldn't be out of character, but ever since the open-mic night, there'd been some kind of civility between them. No evil glares were traded in the street and no petty mind games had taken off again. They had just been co-existing, harmoniously.

"Uh… yeah. Sure." AJ nodded to him.