I bite my lip. There must be a way to sort by new contacts.
After a few minutes of fiddling and trying to stop my omega from melting down, I find the weirdly hidden 'sort by recent' function.
There. Yesterday. One I don't recognise.
For some reason, Johanna has stored her number in my phone as FMiL. I'll have to ask her later why she put herself in there as Fuck My Life, and what the deal is with the little i.
I gather my courage in both hands, and open a new draft message.
Hi Johanna, it's Dellie.
Cripes. What now? Uh, thanks for the 5am panic coffee? You know how I ran out on your son and his pack yesterday before the sun was up—well, ooops, changed my mind, can I grab his number?
Stuff it.
Hi Johanna, it's Dellie. I'd love to take you up on that offer of a coffee if you have time.
I breathe deeply, and force myself to hit send. The reply is almost instant.
FMiL
Hi Dellie, I'm glad you're taking me up on it. I've got some time this morning. I can meet you at Malou around 10.30
8.49am
I bite my lip. I owe them this. It's in an hour and a half. That should be plenty of time.
Thanks so much Johanna. I'll see you then.
8.51am
Ninety minutes isnowherenear enough time.
I burst into the main house, out of breath, begging Loz to check if she has some decent clean clothes that might fit me. When I tell her it's so I can meet Ralph's mum in something other than a t-shirt that looks like it's been slept in, Loz is not only kind enough not to waste too much time rubbing my nose in it, but she also loans me a gorgeous silk blouse she'd got from an ex but had never worn. It would be massively oversized on her but just might be able to be buttoned up on me.
No, she rubs my nose in itwhileI get dressed. She's efficient like that.
The blouse fits. My faded black pants look almost intentional with it. In the right light, I could kind of pass for someone who knows how to put themselves together.
And she sends me out the door in Lance's care, under strict instructions to not muck around, get Ralph's phone number at all costs, and pick up a tub of cookie dough ice-cream on the way home.
Now it's 10.26, and I can just see the white awning from the car window. We're stalled in traffic, three blocks away.
Stuff it.
I jump out of the car, yell a hasty thanks to Lance and ask him to meet me here in forty-five minutes, and power walk as quickly as I can towards the coffee shop.
I walk through the door, heart pounding and sweating way more than is socially acceptable, at exactly 10.29. I glance around, feeling my face flush.
She's at a small table, sipping iced water from a low glass. I breathe deeply.
Finger out, Adeline.
I approach her table with cautious steps. "Johanna? Um, hi."
She glances up at me and smiles. "I'm glad you could make it, Dellie," she says, gesturing at the chair opposite her. I sink gratefully into the seat.
"I haven't ordered yet. Coffee for you, I take it?"
