literally
breathtaking.
‘Hi.’ I can’t help smiling back
at her. She has that effect on me.
‘Hi,’ she says. She’s got a
dusting of flour across her cheek, and the urge to reach out and
wipe it off is strong.
‘You’ve got some flour on your
cheek.’
She brushes it off with the back
of her hand and laughs. ‘Occupational hazard. Come in.’
I follow her inside. ‘I hope
this is OK to wear?’ I look down at my clothes.
Her gaze runs up and down the
length of me, and something unfamiliar stirs in my belly. Something
I haven’t felt in a long, long time.
‘Yep, that’s fine.’ She looks
away quickly. ‘So, I’ll show you how the coffee machines and stuff
work, OK?’ She walks behind the counter.
I stand at the edge. I don’t
want to get too close to her again in case she has a panic attack,
but I really can’t see what I’m doing from here. I catch her
vanilla scent, and it smells like a gorgeous, fresh summer day.
‘Can you see from there?’ she
says, her voice wavering. She’s unsure about me, and that’s
understandable.
‘Not really.’
She steps back towards the
machine at the end wall and allows me to get closer, but I don’t
overstep the mark and keep a distance of about a metre, which I
hope is good enough for her.
‘That’s better,’ I say.
She pours milk into a stainless
steel jug and lifts it up to a metal wand on one of the machines.
When she presses a button, the wand hisses in the milk, frothing it
up. She fills a mug with a shot of coffee and tops it off with the
foamy milk before sprinkling it with chocolate.
‘OK, so that’s a cappuccino. Let
me show you how to do a latte.’
I ask a few questions as I watch
her demonstrate what to do, but it seems easy to learn. I’m just
enjoying being around her.
The door opens, and we glance
over at Lisa coming in.
‘You didn’t lock the door?’ Lisa
says. ‘Are we open already? I’m not late, am I?’
Grace blushes. I know she didn’t
lock it because she’s alone with me. It’s her only escape route,
and she doesn’t want to delay getting out by having to unlock it.
From what I’ve seen, she hasn’t told Lisa about what’s happened to
her, and Grace skilfully avoids her question. ‘No, you’re not
late.’
‘I was early,’ I say, so Grace
doesn’t have to explain.
‘Well, you’re keen!’ Lisa laughs
at me. ‘Glad to see you back.’
‘How did the scan go?’ Grace
gives her a hug.
She pats her belly with pride.
‘Fabulous. Great. Wonderful.’
A timer goes off in the kitchen.
‘I’ll get it,’ Lisa says. ‘You carry on and show Ben what to
do.’
The day whizzes by in a hive of
activity. The morning rush moves seamlessly into the lunchtime
rush, before the student rush later in the afternoon. In between
fills with pensioners, mums, and businesspeople working on their
laptops.
When we get a spare minute,
Grace says to me, ‘Oh, by the way the brake lights seem to be
working.’
I frown, completely lost for a
moment. ‘Brake lights?’
‘Yeah, you know, you said you
saw them and they weren’t working.’
‘Oh, yeah! Yeah, the brake
lights.’ I purse my lips. ‘Maybe it was an intermittent thing,
then. I can check the bulbs and wiring for you, if you like.’
‘OK.’
We leave Lisa in the shop and
head round the building to the car park. Grace gets in the car and
taps the brakes as I check them out.
‘No, they seem to be OK,’ I
say.
‘Good.’ She gets out of the car.
‘That’s one less thing to worry about.’
‘Let me just look at the wiring.
Some of it might have come loose.’ I lift up the boot and remove
the plastic casing covering the lights, making a show of checking
everything’s in order.
‘No, that all looks good.’ I
slam the boot back down, and Grace locks the car.
We head back in, and Lisa
disappears for an hour on her break, but it doesn’t give me any
time to chat with Grace. She offers for me to take my break at half
past one but I stay,
breathtaking.
‘Hi.’ I can’t help smiling back
at her. She has that effect on me.
‘Hi,’ she says. She’s got a
dusting of flour across her cheek, and the urge to reach out and
wipe it off is strong.
‘You’ve got some flour on your
cheek.’
She brushes it off with the back
of her hand and laughs. ‘Occupational hazard. Come in.’
I follow her inside. ‘I hope
this is OK to wear?’ I look down at my clothes.
Her gaze runs up and down the
length of me, and something unfamiliar stirs in my belly. Something
I haven’t felt in a long, long time.
‘Yep, that’s fine.’ She looks
away quickly. ‘So, I’ll show you how the coffee machines and stuff
work, OK?’ She walks behind the counter.
I stand at the edge. I don’t
want to get too close to her again in case she has a panic attack,
but I really can’t see what I’m doing from here. I catch her
vanilla scent, and it smells like a gorgeous, fresh summer day.
‘Can you see from there?’ she
says, her voice wavering. She’s unsure about me, and that’s
understandable.
‘Not really.’
She steps back towards the
machine at the end wall and allows me to get closer, but I don’t
overstep the mark and keep a distance of about a metre, which I
hope is good enough for her.
‘That’s better,’ I say.
She pours milk into a stainless
steel jug and lifts it up to a metal wand on one of the machines.
When she presses a button, the wand hisses in the milk, frothing it
up. She fills a mug with a shot of coffee and tops it off with the
foamy milk before sprinkling it with chocolate.
‘OK, so that’s a cappuccino. Let
me show you how to do a latte.’
I ask a few questions as I watch
her demonstrate what to do, but it seems easy to learn. I’m just
enjoying being around her.
The door opens, and we glance
over at Lisa coming in.
‘You didn’t lock the door?’ Lisa
says. ‘Are we open already? I’m not late, am I?’
Grace blushes. I know she didn’t
lock it because she’s alone with me. It’s her only escape route,
and she doesn’t want to delay getting out by having to unlock it.
From what I’ve seen, she hasn’t told Lisa about what’s happened to
her, and Grace skilfully avoids her question. ‘No, you’re not
late.’
‘I was early,’ I say, so Grace
doesn’t have to explain.
‘Well, you’re keen!’ Lisa laughs
at me. ‘Glad to see you back.’
‘How did the scan go?’ Grace
gives her a hug.
She pats her belly with pride.
‘Fabulous. Great. Wonderful.’
A timer goes off in the kitchen.
‘I’ll get it,’ Lisa says. ‘You carry on and show Ben what to
do.’
The day whizzes by in a hive of
activity. The morning rush moves seamlessly into the lunchtime
rush, before the student rush later in the afternoon. In between
fills with pensioners, mums, and businesspeople working on their
laptops.
When we get a spare minute,
Grace says to me, ‘Oh, by the way the brake lights seem to be
working.’
I frown, completely lost for a
moment. ‘Brake lights?’
‘Yeah, you know, you said you
saw them and they weren’t working.’
‘Oh, yeah! Yeah, the brake
lights.’ I purse my lips. ‘Maybe it was an intermittent thing,
then. I can check the bulbs and wiring for you, if you like.’
‘OK.’
We leave Lisa in the shop and
head round the building to the car park. Grace gets in the car and
taps the brakes as I check them out.
‘No, they seem to be OK,’ I
say.
‘Good.’ She gets out of the car.
‘That’s one less thing to worry about.’
‘Let me just look at the wiring.
Some of it might have come loose.’ I lift up the boot and remove
the plastic casing covering the lights, making a show of checking
everything’s in order.
‘No, that all looks good.’ I
slam the boot back down, and Grace locks the car.
We head back in, and Lisa
disappears for an hour on her break, but it doesn’t give me any
time to chat with Grace. She offers for me to take my break at half
past one but I stay,
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