How could I be so stupid! My hands clutched onto the counter, I had zoned out, glaring at the jar of gigantic peanut butter cookies in front of me.

Memories of last night flashed through my head. What was I thinking! Dancing with Margot like that!

I gritted my teeth, biting on the flesh inside my cheek.

What had come over me? I must have gone-

"'xcuse me miss?" I jerked my head up at the stubby, grey haired man standing across from me.

"Yes sir," I quickly answered, trying to seem alert, and ignore the killer headache that threatened to split my brain in half.

The man ordered two chocolate croissants, I rung them up and handed them to him in the brown paper bag.

The man turned to leave, then he halted and spun back around.

"Uh sorry, these aren't chocolate. They seem to be just plain croissants."

My shoulders sagged and I hung my head as I took back the packet in embarrassment.

I hadn't been concentrating at all.

I gave the man the correct croissants, all the while trying to ignore the persistent pounding in my head.

I sucked in a deep breath and leaned my elbows against the counter again. Funnily enough, as drunk as I was last night, I still remembered every bit of it.

And that wasn't doing any good for my conscience.

I was pretty glad that Margot had called in sick to work this morning. I didn't just yet want to have to acknowledge my, well our, actions.

But what was there to acknowledge? We hadn't done anything wrong, we'd just danced... Slow danced... Holding each other in our arms.

I faced palmed myself and instantly regretted it as pain jolted throughout my head.

It wasn't just my head that was hurting, my whole body felt like it had been dragged by a truck across a road of nails.

Groggily, I looked up at the clock on the opposite wall. I still had two hours of my shift, great.

I sunk down lower on the counter, as my legs became weak. I rubbed my temples, trying to ease some of the pain.

"Morning! You alright there Riley?" Slowly I looked up at the sound of the perky Irish voice. Jess stood next to me by the counter, a bright pink azalea flower tucked behind her ear.

"Hi Jess," I mumbled, slumping back into my arms. I was so tired I didn't go through my usual dilemma of deciding which one of her three names to use.

She didn't mind me saying Jess.

"Wow," She puffed, her bangs flying upwards, "For a Saturday morning you look a wee bit... Uh well..."

"Yeah." I muttered rubbing my eyes and yawning, "Last night I -"

A thought occurred to me. I stood up and faced Jess, "That purple punch of yours, what was in it? What was it spiked with?"

Jess frowned at me, "I'm not sure what you mean? That punch was non alcoholic. Angel was very strict about that, since her little kids were also at the party."

I knotted my eyebrows, "There had to be something in it." I argued, "I was completely out of control of my senses."

"Aye," Jess bit her lip, "I might have made it too strong." She said it more to herself, than me.

"What?"

She met my gaze and I noted her enthusiastically applied multicoloured makeup.

"That drink is my signature punch. I usually take it to parties and events. And yesterday I was in such a rush, now that I think about it, I probably didn't mix in everything properly and I may have made it too strong."

I shook my head, "I'm still not following."

She blinked her turquoise and orange eyelids at me. "It's a secret remedy, that well, I use to feel better. The punch releases endorphins in the brain to make the drinker feel at ease and carefree. The remedy is used to help combat anxiety, withdrawal, nervousness, and that sort of thing." She adjusted her flower, causing several petals to fall to the ground. "It removes the filters that keep you from being your authentic self and properly acknowledging your soul."

"Meaning..." I squinted at her, desperately trying ignore the splinters in my head.

"You weren't drunk last night Riley. Everything you did was within your control - through acknowledging your subconscious mind. You were being your true self, without any anxieties to hold you back."

"Oh."

I didn't like the sound of that.

I shifted back into my slouched position on the counter.

My true self? Without filters. What did that mean?

Subconsciously I didn't mind dancing with Margot? Or subconsciously I wanted to dance with Margot?

I dragged my hand down my face. It's better not to think about it, I decided.

That didn't stop me from being angry at myself though. How could I have acted so foolishly! No filters or not, I should have controlled myself. I shouldn't have danced with Margot like that when I was with Skyler. It wasn't fair, it wasn't honest.

"One problem is," Jess interrupted my thoughts, "that once the effects wear off, and you succumb to your mental and emotional blockages again, the body... becomes tired, as you probably know."

"Yah, no kidding." I muttered, "I feel awful."

"Did something happen last night? Is that why you're asking?"

I shook my head, not wanting to let Jess into my private businesses. I shouldn't have shaken my head because I felt all woozy again.

"Woah there! Easy Riley." Jess grabbed my arm to help steady me. I gave her a grateful look. "Yah, okay next time maybe I won't bring my punch. But how many glasses did you have? Because these the worst after effects I've ever seen."

"Meh, I don't know. Six or seven." I mused.

Jess's eyes widened, "Riley! Even though there's no alcohol that drink is still pungent. Most people have three glasses at the most."

"Ya well, I thought it tasted good."

"You must gave felt amazing." She grinned. She wasn't wrong, I had felt great, but now I felt like trash. "I saw you and Margot on the dance floor, you guys were having alot of fun."

I grimaced and said nothing. She didn't have to remind me, a veil of guilt already surrounded me.

"Not to pry or anything, but are you two involved with each other?"

I spun around so quickly I'm suprised I didn't collapse.

"No. What made you think that?"

"The chemistry you guys had when you were slow dancing." She met my eyes, I wanted to break the gaze but I couldn't. "I can sense there's a connection between you two. And not the connection of people who like each other and are just getting to know one another, no, your energies attract like people who have a history together?"

I stared at Jess. How was she getting to all of this?

She smiled at the look on my face, "Am I right?

"Partly," I confessed. "Margot and I used to date." I regretted saying this because Jess' smile widened until she was practically glowing. "But," I said wanting to shut her down, "That's over. And we're just friends now."

"Are you sure about that?" Jess probed. She took a slip of paper from next to the til and started doodling on it.

The thing about Jess was that it seemed that she was able to know everything about something just from one little observation.

It was a handy skill, but right now I despised it.

"Yes I'm sure." I pressed, "I'm with someone else."

I prayed for a customer to interrupt our conversation. But no, the café was quiet as ever.

"Riley," She put down her pen, and I was surprised to see that within 10 seconds she'd drawn a very realistic cat, "You and Margot have a connection." She said again, making it sound like more of a fact than an observation.

"Your personalities attract and compliment each other. I'm not trying to intrude, getting involved in the relationships of others is horrible. But I'm just saying, a lot of people would love to have what you two share." She locked eyes with me. "And a lot of people would sacrifice the world  to have  someone look at them the way Margot looks at you."

I pressed my lips together. Unfortunately the pounding in my head wasn't loud enough to drown out Jess' words.

"Right," She spoke through the silence, "I have to go bake." She folded up her cat drawing and slipped it into her apron. "Think about what I said." She winked and turned to go.

I stared at her as she walked through the swing doors into the kitchen.

Then I sighed and went back to looking at the peanut butter cookies in the jar.

I didn't care how spiritual Jess was, how many unlocked Chakra's she had, or how many connections she could feel.

She was wrong. Plain and simple.

¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥

My shift was nearly over. Thank goodness. I just wanted to get home, have a cold shower to clear my head and then dissappear into some bad local TV.

I drummed my fingers on the counter as I waited for the last eleven and a half minutes to pass by.

"Hey." I looked at the girl standing in front of me. She was tall and thin, with long wavy brown hair.

I recognised her. But I couldn't remember her name, probably because of my headache.

"Hey," I responded, "I know you."

"Ya," She smiled, I couldn't remember how I knew her, "I'm Hailey, Margot's friend."

Of course. I felt like an idiot now, but Hailey didn't take offence to the fact I couldn't remember her name. In my defence I was hung over from spiritual punch, and we'd only hung out that one time at Sabrina's party...

And that was not a night a liked to remember.

"So what can I get you." I motioned to the glass case of desserts.

"Actually I'll take a Chicken, Cheese, Tomato, and Mayo panini please."

"Sure," I said, and I popped my head around the doors to the kitchen to tell Julien.

I moved back towards the counter where Hailey was still standing.

"I'll also take a blueberry muffin." She added. "Is Margot here today?"

"Unfortunately not." I said, "She's sick."

Hailey bit her lip in disappointment. I handed her the muffin, "Thanks." She said. "It's a shame, I wanted to come see her at work."

"I'm sorry, but she'll be here another time, you should try Tuesday afternoon."

Hailey nodded. "You know, I'm really glad she took this job."

I figured that since Hailey was waiting for her panini, she decided to make small talk with me. I just wished it was about something other than Margot.

I nodded, trying to be engaging, as I wiped down the counter for the end of my shift.

"She was in a really bad place not long ago. I've known Margot for 6 years and never have I seen her like how she was last year with Sabrina, it was scary," I stopped, and looked up from wiping, a look of sadness had come across Hailey's face, "I thought I'd never get my best friend back."

She wasn't even looking at me as she spoke, she just stared down at the blueberry muffin in her hand.

This was the second time I was hearing about Margot's emotional downfall during her time with Sabrina. And looking at Hailey right now I could see how serious it had been, my heart went out to Hailey, but... even more to Margot. No one should experience something so awful, that it cripples their mental health.

"But," Hailey snapped her head up, sounding a bit more cheerful, "I think this job is good for her. Gives her something to do you know?"

"Yeah." I agreed, if Cofeesio gave you anything it was stuff to do.

I heard Julien call me and I fetched Hailey's panini. I handed it over to her.

"And," Hailey added, "I think you've made the biggest difference in Margot's life," I gave her a confused look, "She really likes working with you. Even though she wouldn't admit it."

I ignored the fluttery feeling in my stomach. I was reminded of Jess' words earlier that morning, 'you two have a connection.'

"Why do you think that?" I asked as I swiped her card.

She took her card back from me and smiled, "This is the happiest I've seen Margot in a long time."