“Why didn’t you come?” asked Kurt in what he must have assumed was a threatening tone of voice.
“Last time I looked, you weren’t paying my salary,” answered Roo, moving to the elbow of the customer who had just tipped him a single copper coin. He nimbly filled the man’s half-empty cup without being asked and the two businessmen at the table barely noticed him doing his job.
Kurt put his hand on Roo’s arm as he turned. Roo glanced at the hand and said, “I would advise you not to touch me again.”
Kurt almost snarled as he quietly said, “And what if I do?”
“You don’t want to find out,” Roo answered calmly.
Kurt said, “I’ve eaten bigger men than you for breakfast.”
Roo said, “I have no doubt. But I’m not interested in your love life.” He dropped his voice. “Now get your hand off my arm.
Kurt withdrew it and said, “You’re not worth a scene at work. But don’t think I’ve forgotten you.”
“I’ll be here every day to remind you in case you do,” said Roo. “Now, what did you want me to come over for in the first place?”
“Shift change. You’re on the door.”
Roo glanced at the large fancy timepiece that was hanging from the ceiling. A water clock fashioned in Kesh, it displayed the hour and the minute by a rising column of blue water that dripped into a transparent tube marked with the hours at a controlled rate. One of his jobs, as juniormost waiter, was to be in the common room at dawn to quickly flip the valve that caused the strange device to pump water back to the tank above, while the second tank began dripping, so that the time was always accurate. Roo had been uncertain why it was so critical for these businessmen always to know what time it was, but he was fascinated by the device and the fact that he could see what time of day it was with a glance to the center of the room.
“Why the change?” he asked as he headed for the kitchen, Kurt a step behind him. “We’re not due for a shift change for another hour.”
“It’s raining,” answered Kurt with a smug grin as he brushed his black hair away from his forehead and took up his own tray. “New boy always gets to wipe up the mud.”
Roo said, “Fair enough, I guess.” He didn’t think it was fair at all, but he was damned if he was going to give Kurt the satisfaction of seeing him distressed by the news. He left his own tray and cleaning cloth on a shelf designated as his, and moved quickly through the large kitchen door and crossed the commons to the front door.
Jason was waiting for him, and Roo looked out to see that a tropical storm up from Kesh had swept across the Bitter Sea and was now dumping massive amounts of warm rain on the Prince’s City.
Already a pile of damp rags were tossed into the corner and Jason said, “We try to keep the floor as clean as possible before the rail so we don’t have to mop down the floor completely throughout the coffee house.”
Roo nodded. Jason tossed him a rag and knelt and began to clean up the mud that was splashing in from the force of the rain, along the edge of the doorway on his side. Roo duplicated his actions at his own door and knew it was going to be a long, frustrating morning.
After the fourth cleaning of the portal, a large carriage turned the corner at high speed, just a few feet from the doorway to Barret’s. The splash of mud through the door barely missed Roo’s boots. He quickly knelt and used a rag to get as much of it off the wood as possible. The rain continued its steady tattoo, and little splatters of dirty water continued to edge the wooden floor with grime, but the majority of the entrance hall to the coffee shop was still clean.
Jason tossed Roo a fresh rag. “Here you go.”
“Thanks,” answered Roo, catching it. “This seems a bit pointless,” he added, nodding through the open door to where the rain was picking up in intensity. It was a typical fall storm off the Bitter Sea and it could mean days of unrelenting rain. The streets were becoming rivers of mud, and each new arrival at Barret’s tracked increasing quantities of the dark brown ooze onto the wooden floor of the entranceway.
“Think how it would look by now if we didn’t keep at it,” suggested Jason.
“What else do we do besides fight mud?” asked Roo.