☽Ⓛ❈Ⓒ☾

'Morning, Caven,' I reply tiredly. 'Americano?'

He scrunches up his nose. 'That's without milk and sugar, right?'

'Yes,' I respond. 'It's just a black coffee.'

'Great. Yeah, I'll have one of those.' He pulls his wallet out. 'Can you tell I've never been in here before? My coffees come from a Kenco jar.'

'Nothing wrong with that,' I reply, holding up the card machine for him to pay.

I make up his coffee for him, feeling his eyes on me the whole time. I slide it over the counter and he thanks me. I wait, but he doesn't make any move to leave.

I can see Pippa talking with Zane in the window over Caven's shoulder. I wonder what they're talking about.

'I'm thinking we could try that new Chinese restaurant. It opened two weeks ago and I've been meaning to try it out.'

I drag my attention back to Caven.

'Sure. I like Chinese.'

'Great. Seven alright?'

'Yep.'

'Cool.' He straightens up and swaps his coffee to his left hand. 'Have a good day, I'll see you soon.'

'Thank you, you too. Bye, Caven.'

Caven nods at Pippa and blanks Zane, who glares at Caven behind his glasses. Zane watches Caven leave, staring after him for a few moments before turning back to Pippa.

The day carries on without incident. Zane leaves at about eleven. He nods goodbye to Pippa and I behind the counter, I smile and wave like an idiot. I probably looked like one of those penguins from Madagascar.

Later on in the evening, I change into a pretty top and skirt to get ready for my date with Caven. I'm thinking this should be our last date.

The fact that I'm more excited about the food than the date is probably a big sign that I should end things now.

Tonight, I will tell him that, as much as I enjoy his company, I don't think this is going to go anywhere romantic. We can still hang out if he wants to go for drinks or try out new restaurants or whatever, but we're not working towards a relationship by any means.

Caven arrives outside my house at the agreed time. We walk to the restaurant and he tells me about his day. When we sit down with the menus, we swap over and I tell him about mine.

'I can't believe that you've never been in a café before.'

'Well, I have, just not that café.'

'Did you enjoy your coffee?'

'Yes, I did. Thank you.'

The food is delicious. I know already that this place is going to make a killing in this town. The tables are filled all around us and everyone looks happy with their food.

All in all, it's a good evening. We leave after paying and take a slow stroll home.

A woman is approaching us on the high street. I realise straight away that she must know Caven because a wide smile comes over her face.

'Hey, Caven!' She calls out as she comes to us.

We all stop on the pavement. The girl is actually a woman and must be around my age. She has dyed red hair that suits her pale complexion. Her dress is short and hugs her lovely figure. She's an attractive redhead, that's for sure.

'Oh, hey, Marta. How are you?'

Her smile widens. 'Good thanks. You?'

'Yeah, all good. We've just been to that new Chinese restaurant.'

'Was it nice?'

'So good, definitely recommend it.'

I remain silent, smiling politely like an idiot. Marta seems to finally notice me. Her blue eyes scan my body and then she gives me a small, tight smile.

'Long time, no speak. Don't be a stranger,' Marta says to Caven. 'I'll see you soon.'

'Sure. See you.'

We carry on walking once Marta has past us.

'Is she an ex or something?' I ask casually.

He shakes his head. 'Nah. She worked at Jack's as a waitress for a few months and I got to know her. She quit a while back and I haven't seen her since.'

'Oh, right.'

We get back to my house and I steel myself to tell him how I feel about us. I'm fishing for my keys when Caven's phone starts ringing.

'Sorry,' he apologises quickly and takes the call.

He turns his back to me and I take the opportunity to unlock my door.

'Yeah, is everyone there? Sure. Hold on one sec,' he says.

He puts his hand over the microphone and turns to me.

'Come round to mine on Saturday? We can have brunch before my shift.'

I can't really talk to him when he's on the phone like this. It's obviously an important call.

'Okay, I'll see you then,' I reply.

I know that this is just delaying the inevitable, but we can talk on Saturday.

'Thanks for tonight,' he responds. 'See you Saturday.'

He turns back around and I open my front door. As I step inside, I hear the end of his phone call as he walks away.

'Yeah, I was just dropping this girl off. I'll be at the pub in five. See you soon, mate.'

This girl?

Fucking marvellous.

I text the girls, telling them about the 'this girl' comment. They are as pissed off as I am.

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Caven texted me late last night, asking me to come to his at 11AM. I'm honestly kind of surprised that he offered to make brunch. It seems a lot of effort for him.

By the time I'm ready to see Caven in the morning, I have decided that I'm just going to outright tell him how I feel when I get to his. We can discuss it over brunch, which I hope is nice. I don't know how good a cook he is.

I'm ready fifteen minutes early and I'm feeling antsy. Unable to help myself, I get into my car and decide to drive to Caven's.

He's on the other side of the town, which would be a twenty minute walk. I'd normally go for it, but it's overcast and looking like it might rain soon.

Bipolar British weather.

(is that offensive? Please tell me if it is, it's just something Brits seem to say)

I drive over to Caven's house. I go straight past it the first time, missing it completely. After pulling up further down the road, I squint to check the house numbers and realise I need to turn around.

I do a three-point turn and come back the way I came. I spot Caven's house, number 17 and look for somewhere to park. There's a silver Peugeot in front of the house, so I have to park on the opposite side of the road.

I pull out my phone and check my notifications, ready to kill some time. There is movement in my peripherals and I look up.

The door to Caven's house is open. I watch him appear in the doorway. A second later, the girl that we saw last night- Marta, I think- steps out.

She's wearing the same dress we saw her in last night.

I watch the two of them kiss. He waves her off and she walks over to the Peugeot, heels in one hand and keys in the other.

She's obviously leaving after a night hooking up.

Panicking, I start my engine and get out of there as quick as I can. I arrive home in three minutes. For a moment, I just sit in my car, processing what I saw.

I'm not hurt, I'm shocked. This might sound crazy to some people, but to me, if I'm dating someone, I don't get with other people.

Even if we've only been on two or three dates, we haven't agreed anything, whatever, I still wouldn't sleep with someone else. Why pursue someone whilst fucking around? Why waste that person's time?

Is it impossible for some people to focus on one person at once?

I unlock my house and take out my phone. I text Caven.

That's such a shitty text.

Good luck for the future? What a dick you are, Lily.

Meh, he deserves it.

I pull up my phone app and call the café. Pippa answers on the third ring.

'Hey, you! Aren't you supposed to be on a date right now?'

'I'm not going, I'll explain later. Please can I come in and work today? I'm going to go crazy sat at home all day by myself.'

'Uh, yeah, if you want to. It's actually really busy, we could use the help.'

'Perfect. I'll be there in fifteen.'

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I arrive at work and Pippa was right, it is busy. It's hard to get past the queue of customers to even get to the counter. I practically throw my things into the back staff room and come out whilst tying my apron on.

Pippa and her grandmother are working behind the counter. I jump in straight away, helping Pippa make the drinks whilst her grandmother takes the orders.

'So? Why are you here?' Pippa asks as we both make coffees.

I turn to her and give her a deadpan look.

'You are not going to believe this.'

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So I had a reader reply to the bipolar comment and let me know that, whilst they don't find it offensive, it's statements like 'bipolar weather' that reinforce the outdated view that bipolar disorder is all about drastic, rapid mood swings.

I'll leave it in the chapter, but I won't use a phrase like it in the future. We live and we learn ❤️