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The door opened and the trainer Tegan barely recognised poked his head in. “Excuse me. Owen, what’s going on?”
“Tegan, this is my father Robert,” he said before addressing his dad. “She got a bout of food poisoning from the prawns.”
“And that meant you had to bring her here...”
“Sure, where else was I going to put her until she felt better?”
Robert straightened himself. “There are no cameras in here, did you know that? Did you alert security so they could be outside the door?”
Gasnier Jnr gave a bewildered huff through his nose and stood. “What exactly do you think she was going to do?”
“All I’m saying, is, even one misunderstood gesture or word from you and this young lady would have every right to take you to court. To not have someone in here was ridiculously stupid.”
Tegan had heard enough, and popping some gum in her mouth and removing the ice pack, she said, “OK, well, I’ve got work in the morning. I’m gonna go...” She was angry that the insinuation was there, but even through her anger she could see the logic behind the caution. But even so. Fuck it. She would never see him again, so why the fuck not. She turned into Owen Gasnier and pressed her lips to his, opening his mouth slightly and flicking his tongue with hers. She could feel the warmth of his hands hovering over her skin, only lightly touching her shoulders. She took the opportunity to reach around and give the tight, toned muscle of his arse a squeeze before breaking apart.
“Thank you for taking such good care of me,” she said, planting another kiss full on his lips with a loud mwah. “You can sue me for that awesome make out sesh if you like.” She paused to chuckle. “But I’ve got fuck all money.”
She waved goodbye to the stunned father and son and made her way back to the main building. She called Fiona, responding to the seven missed calls she found. Tegan would meet her outside and they’d share a cab. She would tell Fiona everything that happened. Except the kiss. There was no way Fiona would believe Tegan would do that. And, truthfully, Tegan couldn’t either. Maybe it was a dream. After all, a mouth like Gasnier’s had to be too good to be true.
3
Tegan stoodby the coffee machine, yawning for the fourth time in the space of two minutes. Her head pulsed with the effects of last night. A hot shower and more makeup than she had ever applied, outside of a pre-party prep, could not and would not hide the fact she looked like death. Felt like the reaper.
She repeated the order to herself, in her own head, and called out the customer’s name,
“Raj? Skim latte.”
“Uh, that’s me. But I ordered a chai latte.”
A woman beside him held up her hand. “I ordered a skim latte.”
“Oh! Sorry... here...” Tegan turned to Raj, Mr Chai. “Coming right up.”
She received a pat on the rear from Fiona, who had appeared after clearing tables. “I’ll do the coffees. You work on the front for a while.”
Tegan sighed deep. “Thank you.”
“But don’t think this favour comes free. I want details about last night.”
“Hi, what can I get you?” Tegan asked the next in line. As she input his order through the ticket machine, she said with a smile, yet without looking back, “I told you what happened.”
“You told me facts. Not details. I was in too much shock and too jealous to want more. I do now,” she said, jiggling the handle for more coffee. “Cough it up.”
Tegan handed the customer's receipt back and served the next in line. The customers came and went quicker and quicker. Fiona was a machine, pumping out orders almost as fast as Tegan printed them.
Fiona placed the cups beside Tegan, more so that she could mutter questions under her breath. “What was he like?”
Tegan couldn’t hide the new smile she wore, even briefly, as she handed the cups over to the customer. “Thank you. Enjoy! He was... really sweet. Like... insanely sweet. A gentleman. Too good to be true. Next please.”
Tegan forgot to close down the previous sale screen and exited the program just as the next customer approached. She kept her eyes on the screen for a moment, ready to input her passcode, but knew she could recite the order. “Hi, just be a moment,” she said, still staring at the screen as the input code screen came up. “What can I get you?”
“Mint hot chocolate, skim milk. But extra chocolate, please.”
Tegan punched in the request on the touch screen. “No problem, that’s six-seventy. Thanks.” She looked up to take a ten dollar note but found herself stopping. Staring at the customer. He wore a hoodie with aviators, but there was no mistaking it. She was staring at Owen Gasnier.
“Wha... hi...” Tegan managed brightly. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, for starters, I really want a hot chocolate. And I realised I never gave you that autograph you asked for.”
