Jasper sits in his usual chair; a newspaper open in front of him. I’m hit with déjà vu at the entire thing. Merely months ago, I walked into this exact kitchen, finding Jasper in that same spot. It feels like so much has happened since then. So much has changed.
Jasper turns his attention to me and crosses his arms over his chest. “Long time no see, kid.”
I grimace. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“We thought you’d forgotten about us,” he says, adding to my ever-growing guilt.
“I would never forget about you. I just got busy,” I lie.
“Ah yes. With the British girl,” Jasper says, his gaze knowing.
I shake my head in disbelief. “And here I thought you two were above gossip.”
Mary snorts. “Please. You couldn’t escape that piece of information if you tried. The whole town is talking about the two of you.”
I sigh. “Well, the whole town need to get a life.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Jasper says, lifting his coffee cup to his lips.
“Well, anyway, take a seat. Lunch is almost ready and then you can tell us all about your new girlfriend,” Mary says, guiding me to my usual seat.
An uneasy feeling settles in my stomach at her comment about Liv being my girlfriend. Uneasy because although she’s definitelynotmy girlfriend, I have no desire to correct her.
Mary places our sandwiches on the table in front of us, and I waste no time picking it up and digging in. If there’s one thing that woman does well, its making sandwiches. We always used to say that she could open a business andsell nothing but the sandwiches she made, but she always thought we were joking. We weren’t. She’d have made a killing.
I make it halfway through my lunch before her questions start and I answer them as best as I can without going into too much detail. I obviously leave out the part where we’re only friends with benefits, mainly because I don’t want to break the poor woman’s heart. She’s been waiting for me to find someone for years, so even though things are up in the air between Liv and me right now, I let her believe otherwise.
Jasper stays silent as I talk, but I feel his observation across the table. He waits for Mary to take our plates and leave the table before speaking. “You seem different, kid.”
I look him in the eyes, seeing an older version of my best friend staring back at me and for the first time in four years, I feel no pain in my chest. “I am different.”
He nods thoughtfully. “She seems good for you.”
I feel something sink inside of me. “Hmm,” I hum, not really sure what to say.
She may be good for me, but I’m not sure I’m good for her.
CHAPTER 42
OLIVIA
It’s a little after five when I feel my phone vibrating in the back pocket of my jeans. I let out a groan. Whoever it is will have to wait.
I hoist the overloaded black bag over my shoulder and push my way out of the fire exit door before dumping it in the waste bin behind the café. I let out a breath and brush my hands off before making my way back inside.
I spray some disinfectant on the stainless-steel work surfaces and grab a cloth, wiping away any spilled ingredients. I repeat the process throughout the entire café, making sure every surface is sparkling before I leave for the night.
Everyone else has left for the day, their shifts having ended at five on the dot leaving just me to clean the place and lock up. I don’t mind it, though. Bella has covered for me for the past week.
I didn’t tell her the real reason why I needed some time off. I lied and told her I wasn’t feeling good, and I’ve been hidingin my bedroom ever since.
I haven’t even spoken to Grayson properly. I feel bad, because I know he has attempted to check on me more than once this week, but I just haven’t had it in me to see or speak to anyone.
The phone call I had with Carter took an unexpected toll on my mental health, but after rotting in my bed for a week straight, I finally dragged my ass up and into work.
Now that the shift is over, I realise I probably should’ve left the house days ago. Being here helps to keep my mind distracted and something about being in an empty café at the end of the day is therapeutic to me. I enjoy going through the procedure of making sure the place is ready to go first thing in the morning. It makes the morning shift easier for me or Bella, depending on which one of us are opening that day.
Since living with Bella, I’ve seen the work she puts in behind the scenes for this place. She’s up at four AM every day preparing baked goods for the day or coming up with new recipes for her display case. She puts her heart and soul into everything she does for her business and if staying behind for an extra hour makes her life a little easier, then that’s what I’ll do. I have offered to help her on more than one occasion, but she made it pretty clear that the only person she trusts near the oven is herself, so I settled for being her taste tester instead.
