“Hm? Where’s Lucas?” Emilio came out of the break room after helping Valerie with some paperwork. Lucas was nowhere to be seen. There was a customer waiting at the counter with a frustrated look. “Oh my, have you been waiting long?” Emilio said as he ran to where Lucas stands at the counter.

“As a matter of fact, I have!” grunted the customer.

Emilio took the customer’s order and hurriedly began making the drink. He looked up and saw the entrance door wide open. After placing the drink he made on the counter, he walked over to the door to close it, but after looking out the door for a bit, he gasped in realization. He ran over to the break room, yelling for Valerie.

“Alright, everybody leave! We have to close now!” Valerie shouted as she came out of the break room. The customers were confused and disgruntled, but they still made their way out of the cafe.

After sitting for a while, Lucas saw some brightness coming from somewhere. He turned to the direction the light was coming from, and he saw a figure in the distance. The figure turned around, and though Lucas was not that close, it was undeniable who it was. It was himself.

The Lucas duplicate was wearing a lab coat that shined brightly in the midst of the darkness. Lucas looked down at himself, making sure he wasn’t wearing a lab coat and this wasn’t some kind of mirror image. He was right; he was still in his dark cafe uniform. The guy across from him was him, but not really him.

“Who are you?” asked Lucas.

“Do you even need to ask?” replied the duplicate.

“Where are we?”

“I’m not sure either.”

“How do I get back? I just wanted to step outside for some fresh air, I didn’t mean to end up here!” Lucas’ voice became louder.

“Go back where? Where do you need to go?” There was no malice or sarcasm in the duplicate’s tone. He only looked at Lucas with curiosity. Lucas was stunned.

“Just tell me how to get back to the cafe! Back to school! Back to Nascenshire! Anywhere that I know!” Lucas was growing more and more impatient, but the other Lucas only looked back at him, seeming just as lost. “Help me! Say something!” Lucas lunged forward to grab onto the duplicate’s shoulders, but right as he was about to make contact, the other Lucas disappeared in front of him. Lucas tumbled forward onto the ground, though the apron, long sleeves, and long pants of his uniform prevented him from getting scratched up.

Lucas hopelessly sat on the ground, giving up navigating his way back. It felt like a long time had passed, and Lucas’ eyes grew watery as he became convinced that his fate was to rot away in the dark nothingness. The tears fell down his face and made his skin feel even colder. He lied down, and then unknowingly fell asleep.

“Is that him?”

The voice woke Lucas up, and he felt his cheek on the cold ground. He sat up and struggled to open his eyes.

“Yes, it is him!” Lucas recognized that to be Valerie’s voice. Then, he heard footsteps running towards him.

“We finally found you! We were so worried about you!” Valerie said, pulling Lucas up to stand.

“I knew you would be okay! Valerie really thought you’d be done for when you ended up here.” Emilio said.

“Hey, I mean, I don’t know how anyone like Lucas is meant to survive out here,” Valerie retorted. “The most important thing is we managed to find him and he’s okay!” She looked around at the seemingly endless void. “This place really isn’t meant for anyone. Let’s all go back together! Everyone, grab my hand!”

Emilio grabbed onto Valerie’s left hand, and Lucas hesitated for a bit. Valerie laughed at Lucas before saying, “I’m the only one who can get us all back to Nascenshire. Grab onto my hand or you’ll be stuck here.” Lucas grabbed Valerie’s right hand, and the three of them began walking.

“It’s been a while since we all took a stroll like this,” commented Emilio. “You know, I’ve never been here before. I didn’t know such a place existed.”

“Of course, you can’t just come here by chance. Good thing I still have knowledge from my days of training,” Valerie said. “I never thought I’d need it after I started a cafe.”

They walked for an extremely long time, and Lucas was nervous that maybe they were all lost. But they suddenly walked right up to a door, and Valerie took out her keys to unlock it, and they were back in the cafe.

“Back at work! Well, I guess work is done for the day,” said Valerie. “Oh my goodness, look!” Valerie ran over to the flower pots at the wall. “The lilies I ordered finally bloomed!” Emilio and Lucas joined her at the flower pots to look at the flowers. The white peace lilies in the pots contrasted the black floor and walls.

“How lovely!” exclaimed Emilio.

“Peace lilies aren’t actually lilies,” Lucas said.

“Well, I still love them! I love them just as much as actual lilies!” Valerie defended. “Anyways, let’s all do a thorough clean up before we all go home!”

They cleaned and organized the cafe, and Emilio and Valerie even reorganized all the shelves and drawers in the break room.

After Lucas left, Emilio and Valerie went into the break room and went through some files.

“I think she’s coming this weekend,” said Valerie

“You think?”

“They didn’t specify in the letter. But I remember back when I first started, major appointments happened on the weekends following the arrival of the letter.”