Rumors

Chapter 2: Interruptions

Kenneth texted her at six thirty in the morning.

Which was way too early.

Mostly because Erin had been awake until almost one finishing reports that corporate suddenly decided were emergencies.

Her phone buzzed across the nightstand hard enough to wake her out of an already irritated sleep.

She blindly grabbed it.

Kenneth:

Where are you taking your calls today?

Erin squinted at the screen.

Erin:

Good morning to you too sunshine.

Three dots appeared instantly.

Kenneth:

That wasn’t an answer.

She rolled onto her back with a groan.

Erin:

I haven’t decided yet. Why?

Kenneth:

Come take them here.

Her eyebrows lifted slightly.

Erin:

At your store?

Kenneth:

Yeah. Patio’s quiet during the morning.

Three dots.

Then another message.

And the coffee doesn’t suck here.

She smiled to herself. What is he up to.

Erin:

That’s debatable.

Kenneth:

Don’t hurt my feelings before 7am.

Erin:

You’ll survive.

Kenneth:

Still coming?

She stared at the message a second too long.

Then typed—

Fine. But if your employees are loud I’m reporting you to corporate.

His reply came instantly.

Worth it.

That should not have made her stomach flip the way it did.

It absolutely should not have.

By nine thirty Erin was settled at one of the patio tables outside Kenneth’s store with her laptop open, tablet beside her, paperwork spread everywhere, and a headset already digging into her ear.

She looked like a traveling office supply aisle.

The patio itself was mostly empty except for the occasional customer drifting through with coffee cups and breakfast bags.

Inside the store she could hear the faint rush of breakfast slowing down.

Voices, Machines. The familiar rhythm of a restaurant waking up.

And every few minutes, She caught sight of Kenneth moving inside.

Dark shirt stretched across broad shoulders. Apron tied low at his waist. Tattoos peeking beneath rolled sleeves while he moved through the kitchen like he owned the chaos instead of merely surviving it.

Which honestly

He kind of did.

Her first conference call started at ten.

By 10:03am she already regretted everything.

“Moving forward,” some corporate voice droned through her headset, “we really want to focus on improving guest perception through increased urgency and intentional hospitality.”

Erin muted herself briefly just to sigh.

Then she heard the patio door open.

Kenneth stepped outside holding a drink carrier.

Without a word he walked over and placed an iced coffee beside her laptop.

She looked up.

“You made me coffee?”

“I supervised coffee being made.”

“That feels less safe.”

His mouth twitched.

“It has caramel.”

“Oh wow,” she deadpanned. “You do love me.”

Kenneth paused.

Actually paused.

Just enough for the air between them to shift.

Then he recovered smoothly.

“You have your moments.”

She picked up the cup and took a sip while still listening to the call.

It was annoyingly good.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“You put extra caramel in this.”

“I thought you could use it.”

“I thought you supervised coffee being made?”

“Maybe I helped.”

Fair point.

He leaned one forearm against the table, eyes drifting over the scattered papers.

“How long are these calls?”

“Three hours.”

Kenneth visibly grimaced.

“Absolutely not.”

She laughed softly.

“You invited me here.”

“I didn’t realize they hated you.”

Someone in her headset started saying her name.

Erin quickly unmuted herself.

“Yes, sorry— I agree. I think the rollout just needs clearer execution expectations.”

Kenneth stayed there another second, watching her effortlessly switch from sarcasm to professionalism.

Then quietly said, “You do that scary fast.”

“What?”

“Swap over to that cooperate work voice.”

She kicked his shin lightly under the table.

He smirked and disappeared back inside.

The first hour dragged.

By the second hour Kenneth had apparently decided he lived outside now.

He kept appearing. No warning. No reason. Just suddenly there.

At one point he walked over holding a laminated sign.

“Where should this go?”

Erin glanced up mid-call.

“You know where it goes.”

“Do I?”

“Yes.”

“Feels like you’re assuming.”

She muted herself again.

“I swear to God, Kenneth.”

His grin widened.

“You’re fun when you’re busy.”

“You’re annoying when you’re breathing.”

“That's mean.”

“You interrupted me.”

“You looked bored.”

“I’m literally discussing labor forecasting.”

“Exactly.”

She stared at him flatly.

Kenneth looked entirely too pleased with himself.

Twenty minutes later he came back with fries.

“I didn’t ask for these.”

“You haven’t eaten.”

“I had coffee.”

“That’s not food.”

“It’s in the liquid food group."

“That’s not a thing.”

“It absolutely is.”

He set the fries down anyway and stayed standing beside her while she returned to the call.

“…and if we compare quarterly growth,” the voice in her ear continued, “we can see a direct reflection in guest engagement—”

Kenneth leaned slightly closer.

Close enough that she caught the clean scent of soap beneath fryer oil and kitchen heat.

Close enough that she became painfully aware of the warmth radiating off him.

“You smell different today,” he murmured quietly.

Her entire brain short-circuited.

She muted herself so violently she nearly disconnected the call.

“Kenneth.”

“What?”

“You cannot say things like that while I’m working.”

“Why not?”

“Because I'm literally on a call with all of cooperate. I have to pretend I’m professional.”

His eyes dropped briefly to her mouth before lifting again.

“That sounds exhausting.”

Her pulse skipped hard enough to annoy her.

“It is but it's part of the job, and I'm meant to be unmuted for the majority of this call because they like interaction.

“So when I talk to you they can all hear me?”

“Not if I'm muted but if I'm not yes they can."

"I'll just save all my questions till the end."

"How is you smell different a question?"

"Fine I'll rephrase it, Erin you smell absolutely delicious today, what did you change?"

I just stared at him delicious what has gotten into him.

"You know if I didn't know any better I'd think you were flirting with me Ken."

“You answered the phone with ‘yes dear’ yesterday. Don’t act innocent now.”

I rolled my eyes and went back to the call on my screen.

That definitely sounded flirtatious.

By hour two Kenneth had fully stopped pretending he needed reasons to come outside.

Now he just wandered over whenever he felt like it.

Sometimes he leaned against the railing nearby while she talked.

Sometimes he sat across from her and quietly worked on paperwork.

Sometimes he just stood there watching her think.

Which honestly felt unfair.

Because Erin became hyperaware of him every single time.

Halfway through another presentation she felt eyes on her again.

She glanced up.

Kenneth was standing in the doorway watching her.

Not speaking, Not interrupting. Just…Watching.

Her stomach tightened unexpectedly.

She muted herself again.

“What?”

He shrugged slightly.

“Nothing.”

“You’re staring.”

“You’re pretty when you’re focused.”

Her brain completely abandoned her.

“Excuse me?”

Kenneth looked equally surprised he’d said it out loud.

He rubbed a hand over his beard and looked away first.

“Um, I’m going back inside.”

“Yeah,” Erin said faintly. “Good plan.”

He disappeared into the kitchen.

Erin sat frozen for three solid seconds before realizing someone in the call was asking her a direct question.

“Oh— sorry,” she said quickly, unmuting. “Can you repeat that?”

Professionalism was becoming increasingly difficult.

And it was entirely Kenneth’s fault.

Around noon the patio started getting warmer as sunlight shifted across the concrete.

Erin kicked off her heels beneath the table and stretched her legs carefully while half-listening to someone explain guest recovery metrics.

The patio door opened again.

She didn’t even look up this time.

“You really need a hobby.”

Kenneth laughed quietly beside her.

“You say that like you’re not sitting here voluntarily.”

“I was tricked.”

“Tricked, I only offered coffee.”

“Exactly.”

He set another drink beside her.

“Careful, You’re going to make me think you care.”

“I tolerate you professionally.”

“That sounds fake.”

“It should.”

She finally looked up at him.

And immediately regretted it.

Because Kenneth was smiling.

Not the sarcastic smirk he wore most of the time.

Not the amused little half grin.

A real smile.

Entirely too attractive, warm easy kind of smile.

It hit her right in the chest before she could brace for it.

Something in her expression must have changed because Kenneth’s smile faded slightly into something quieter.

The noise from her headset blurred into background static.

Neither of them moved.

For one dangerous second

The entire world narrowed into this tiny patio table and the man standing beside it.

Then someone inside shouted his name.

Kenneth blinked first.

“Duty calls,” he muttered.

Erin swallowed.

“Yeah.”

He hesitated.

Then reached down and tapped two fingers lightly against the table beside her hand before heading back inside.

The tiny touch lasted maybe half a second.

It still ruined her entire afternoon.

By the time the calls finally ended, Erin felt mentally hollowed out.

She pulled the headset off dramatically and dropped back against the chair.

“I’m quitting.”

The patio door opened almost immediately.

Kenneth stepped outside like he’d been waiting for permission.

“Perfect.”

She laughed tiredly.

“What?”

“You can come work for me.”

“I cannot afford the pay cut.”

“I can offer emotional support.”

“Emotional support? In what way?"

He shrugged and said “Coffee.”

I leaned my head into my hands and sighed "It's a tempting offer unfortunately I can't use coffee to pay my bills."

He sat across from her this time, stretching his long legs out beneath the table. Just slightly brushing hers.

For a minute neither of them talked. He looked over at the patio chair beside him at her bare feet sitting crossed in the chair next to him.

The quiet wasn’t awkward anymore.

That realization should’ve concerned her more than it did.

She pulled her feet back and placed them back into her heels.

Kenneth watched her rub tiredly at her temples.

“You good?”

“Just tired. These calls get more mentally draining as they get longer.”

“You get weirdly quiet when you’re tired.”

“You get weirdly observant when you stare at me all day.”

His mouth twitched slightly.

“I wasn’t staring.”

“You absolutely were.”

“Maybe a little. It's difficult not to."

The honesty hit harder than she expected.

Erin looked down at the melted ice in her coffee cup.

“You know this can't happen, right?”

I said as I pointed between us.

Kenneth went still.

The teasing faded from his face slowly.

“What can't happen?”

She gestured vaguely between them.

“Whatever this is.”

A long pause stretched between them.

Then quietly

“Yeah.”

Not denial. Just agreement.

Which somehow made it worse.

Or maybe better.

She honestly couldn’t tell anymore.

Kenneth leaned back in his chair, eyes still locked on hers.

“But you still came here.”

Her breath caught slightly.

“Yeah I did. But it's not fair.”

“No,” he agreed softly. “It’s not.”

And for the first time, Neither of them pretended they didn’t feel it.