The welcoming aroma of coffee beans and biscuits mixed together in the air and convinced me I needed the sugar rush. Pastel-coloured chairs warmed up the mostly wooden interior of the small place. The chairs, and the heater alike.
There was a chill in the air that managed to get under my skin during the short walk over, and the warmth wrapping me in its embrace as we stepped into the cafe was much appreciated. Especially since, unlike Glen, I let my hair air-dry, and it was still slightly damp from my shower and curling up rather wildly.
No, I was not expecting another ‘wet again’ joke from Mr Cocky since I knew he’d left in a hurry after his heroics. No, I was not still thinking about him. Heaven help me, I was still thinking about him!
“Cappuccino,” I told the barista as I eyed the cake selection.
“And the chocolate brownie for her,” Glen chirped in from behind me.
The barista looked from her to me, raising an eyebrow. I wished I could raise just one eyebrow the way she did, it looked cool. I bet Mr Umbrella could raise an eyebrow. On him, it would look hot as hell. Yeah, not thinking about him at all.
Glen nudged me, and I sighed. “What the hell, why not. One for me and one for her, too. Anything else you want, Glen? My treat.”
“Oh, if it’s your treat,” Glen grinned, “I’ll have a big caramel macchiato. Thanks.”
I nodded a confirmation to the barista, paid and let her prepare our coffees as we chose a window seat to settle in.
A candle in a cute little clay tray flickered on the table, and my fingers itched to press into the liquid wax in a childish reflex. Ah, to hell with it, I gave in and painted my fingertips in candle wax like it was a totally normal thing to do.
“So, Hallie,” Glen began. Her eyes poured into mine as I tapped at the table with my ‘reinforced’ fingers. “Tell me everything.”
“There isn’t much to say, really.” Tap. Tap. Tap. And a bite of my lower lip.
“That’s hard to believe, since his eyes were literally glued to you the entire time. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“That’s his problem, not mine.”
“Problem? Hallie, he is hot, and he was basically undressing you with his eyes. I don’t see any other problem here other than you being too timid to do anything about it.”
“He needn’t bother. The day I got rained upon gave a good enough impression of what’s under my clothes,” I muttered.
“Oh my God, Hallie! Your shirt was basically see-through.”
“I know, I was there.” If embarrassment was a living, breathing entity, it was sitting on my chest at that moment. “It was horrific.”
“I see why you would keep it from me. He seemed like a perfect gentleman today, though.”
“Maybe he was trying to make up for the unpleasantness of our first meeting. Not that me trapping him between the lift doors really helped my case that day. Nor the fact we ran into each other again when I was leaving IN MY PYJAMAS!”
Glen burst out laughing and didn’t stop even as the coffee and cake arrived. I tolerated it with a piece of melting brownie on my tongue and thoughts of sweet revenge in my mind. She had her own explaining to do, and I would be on at her as soon as she stopped giggling.
“About Drixie,” I said after too long of a moment. “She’ll be moving in with us.”
Glen’s face fell, and she fidgeted in her seat. “I told you, she doesn’t like me.”
I crossed my arms on my chest, momentarily letting go of my coffee mug. Eyes narrowed, I stared at Glen as she twirled her own mug round, and round, and round between her fingers. I let her fret for a moment, finishing my brownie while she took her time trying to explain her reasoning.
“Remember when I picked you up for Jay’s birthday? You took your time getting ready, and I waited in the living room. Drixie, she hissed at me and left when I sat next to her on the sofa. I didn’t invade her space or anything, I know cats at least that much. I sat two places from where she was laying, but still she complained. That’s not even the first time, but it’s the time I decided she hated me.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Jay’s birthday? You mean the one two years ago? The one where I was made a total fool out of and we never spoke to him nor his friends again? That one? That’s a long time to hold a grudge against Drixie without telling me about it.”
I’d taken my time getting ready that day because, despite despising crowded social gatherings, I wanted to look pretty for Jay. We’d not really been dating, but I’d thought he’d wanted to. I wasn’t an expert in that department, that’s for sure, because all he did want was to play around with me, then have his friends walk in on us to catch my humiliation on camera. I bet Glen would have owned up to her tits hanging out of her shirt and skirt improperly pulled up. Me? Scarred for life!
I’d just stood there in shock letting them catch it all in a video that ended up on social media. That was the last time I hung out with any of the influencer folk Glen had connected with through her channel. Not only was I mortified, but explaining it to my mother had been a total nightmare. She lectured me for hours before she had one of her contacts take the videos down. By then, it had been seen by fifty thousand people all over the world. I think it was around that time that I started having regular clashes with Mum. What a coincidence...
“There were other more substantial matters to discuss back then,” Glen said. “Like what an utter prick Jay was!”
I snorted. “Such a prick.”
