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“What are you doing here, Mia?” I shouldn’t have sounded so defensive.
Pushing her glasses up her nose with a knuckle, she greeted me with her taunt—which I deserved. “Why, thank you, Benny. I indeed had a good night of sleep. Good morning to you, too.”
I rubbed my hand over my face and sat down next to her. “I’m sorry. I’m just surprised at seeing you here.” Realizing my whereabouts from the night before might be discovered, I tried to justify whatIwas doing there—I wasn’t ready to share Isabella with the guys, and that left me guilty as fuck. “I came for the coffee. She makes such good coffee here. Or he. Or they. How could I know who makes the coffee?” I laughed awkwardly, and Mia looked at me with a scrunched nose and one eyebrow arched up, like I was being weird—I was. “Then I saw you here and came in to say hi.”
One corner of her mouth lifted. “I thought you came for the coffee?”
“I did, but I also saw you inside.”
“Then why were you surprised when you found me at the counter?” She was so enjoying my discomfort.
“I wasn’t. I mean, I was, but not a lot. I’m just explaining to you what I’m doing here.”
“Because you spent the night,” she said matter-of-factly.
“How do you...? I didn’t...”
“Your car is parked out front.” She remarked, her tone indicating that was obvious and I was an idiot. Both implications were true. I didn’t know how to respond. I wanted to keep my Forest for myself for a while longer. But that was one of my best friends, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to hide what was going on.
Before I could respond, Mia muttered, “I should’ve ordered the scone as well.” She shook her head, our talk already behind us. “Why didn’t I? I hope there’s still time to add it.” She thrummed the tip of her fingers on the balcony, anxiously considering her eating options.
We stood there in silence as April meandered around, taking everyone’s orders, including mine and Mia’s addition. As we waited, Isabella came out from the kitchen, stopping in her tracks when she saw me sitting by Mia’s side. She resumed her motion, bringing in her fresh baked goodies to put them on display.
I waved weakly at her, with not a single clue as to what to do—greet her, kiss her, act as if nothing had happened. I’d never had to worry about this before. Whenever I was with a woman, we both knew the score: no attachment. But that felt different, and I felt like I’d skipped the class where they taught us how not to be a jerk to the woman you’re starting to develop feelings for. Or better yet: how not to develop them.
I was saved by Mia, who like a well-behaved person greeted Isabella. “Hi. You must be Isabella. I saw you before, but I’ve yet to introduce myself.” She waved shyly. “I’m Mia.” She motioned her index finger between us. “We work together.” I was glad she was putting the distance and watering down our relationship for my and Isabella’s sake. But it felt poor to be cast as just a co-worker. Yet I couldn’t be annoyed at her. I should’ve been more clear in my actions toward Forest, so this whole uncomfortable thing was avoided. “You have a great thing going on here.” Her sincerity was clear and helped ease some of Isabella’s wariness.
“Thank you. It’s a lot of work, but it’s been good so far.”
Before it became strained again, April came back with Mia’s order to go. “Why two cups of coffee?” Sounding like a jealous prick wasn’t helping my case with Isabella. I’d lost my ability to deal with people.
“I figured Danny could use a friendly shoulder. What better way to do that than by gorging on addicting pastries?” I owed her a lot for trying to ease things up with Isabella. Then it dawned on me. “You’re not trying to convince him to leave Andrea, right?” My voice was low, but I knew Isabella was listening.
“No, I’m not.” She sounded like a petulant child. “But if he comes to this decision on his own, I won’t complain. I might even give him a part of my scone.” She looked down at the box in her hands. “Okay, I shouldn’t be so hasty. I’ll keep my scone, but I’ll show him my happiness.”
“Mia—”
“I’m not interfering in his life, Benny.” Her demeanor changed, and she seemed serious. “I’m just worried about him, for a lot of reasons. I want him to remember he’s not alone. Whatever he decides...” She sighed heavily, showing it pained her to say it. “I’ll fully support him.”
She stood up from her stool. “Thank you, Isabella. I know I’m late for that, but welcome to Holy Water.” She grabbed her order and tipped her head to me. “See you at the Company.” Then she added quietly, only for me to hear, “Don’t be a jerk.”
Forest waved at her but seemed unsure how to respond. “She seems nice. Although, is it normal for her to try and break up couples?” I felt defensive of Mia. That wasn’t the truth, but I needed to remember Isabella didn’t know our dynamics, because I was an idiot who didn’t know how to deal with all those feelings swirling inside of me.
“She’s not trying to. I told you about Danny last night. We’ve found out some really bad things about his wife. Mia is just being protective.”
“I’m sorry.” She seemed embarrassed.
“You should be.” She looked at me in surprise, but I wasn’t talking about her discomfort. “I woke up today to find out I was all alone. That was so not cool. I felt used, and I missed you. You didn’t even give me a chance to give you a proper ‘good morning.’”
She smiled at me, softening. “You’re right. I treated you badly.” She came to stand in front of me, the damn counter keeping me from feeling her. “How can I make things up?”
I summoned my most despondent voice. “I think we should do it all over again. I mean, I can’t even count last night as our date, since you didn’t give me a good morning kiss.”
Ignoring the clients around us, she leaned over the counter and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. “Like that?”
“It helps, but it doesn’t salvage the night. Our good morning kiss should happen in bed; that’s how you properly close a successful date. Everyone knows that.”
“Oh no, what does that mean to us?”
