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‘What even is it?’ I looked around. ‘Around the Corner Coffee Shop? Because it’s around the corner?’
‘William, you’re disappointing me. It’s from the movie. You’ve Got Mail.’
‘Ahh,’ I drawled.
‘And it’s not just…’ she leaned in close, and I listened to her carefully. ‘Ah, never mind.’
Charlie moved away again. ‘Tell me. It’s not just what?’
She sighed. ‘It’s not just why I come here. I love reading books, okay?’
Confused and intrigued I stared at her. ‘Yes?’
‘So, I love reading romance books. I read a lot of genres but I love reading romance books because they give me hope of something beautiful. It gives me a fix, so to say. A romance fix. My happy fix. I get that same fix by coming here.’
I knew this, because whenever I had to leave a note in her office she had a different book on her desk almost every time. ‘Please don’t tell me you get your cheese from here, too.’
‘I get my what?’
I gave her a flat look. ‘Cheese? What you were looking for in a relationship?’
Understanding what I was talking about, she started laughing. Causing my own lips to twitch.
‘Oh, William.’
Thank God, another trio finished giving their orders and moved to a table with their chosen sandwiches and muffins and coffees. Who ate that much so early? I glanced over and saw four teenage girls reading the menu out loud and asking each other what they were getting. I sighed and rubbed my hand over my face. If the next couple in line did the same thing I was going to leave. Coffee be damned.
‘I’m enjoying this grumpy side of you immensely right now.’
I cast a glance at Charlie and saw she was grinning at me. ‘Glad one of us is having a good time, but I’m going to leave if I have to wait another twenty minutes.’
‘Oh come on. Don’t exaggerate.’
I stared at Charlie with an unimpressed face. ‘I’ve been waiting for the last ten minutes, Charlie.’ I gestured behind me. ‘Entertain me so the wait is more bearable.’
Charlie beamed up at me. ‘I find you fascinating right now, William. Gayle, Rick and I all find you fascinating when you’re grumpy in the mornings, but this is kinda like a special show for me and I’m here for it.’
‘Glad I’m the entertainment for the office,’ I grumbled. I opened my mouth to say something else, but Charlie was leaning closer, her eyes on something outside the cafe, and then she grabbed my arm as if she needed my help to stay upright. ‘Oh, look. It’s Monday! I forgot about that!’ she whispered.
Distracted by the feel of her small hand still clutching my wrist, I looked over my shoulder to see what she was talking about, but all I could see was a guy walking in through the door with a big bouquet of roses in his hands. ‘And?’ I asked, still trying to find something outside. ‘What exactly am I looking at?’
She had been holding onto my wrist with one hand, but when the guy with the flowers passed us, she grabbed my arm right above my elbow with the other, almost plastering her body to my side. ‘Watch,’ she whispered. ‘You’re gonna get a demonstration of what any woman would consider swoon-worthy.’
Surprised, I forgot what I was supposed to look at and glanced down at Charlie instead. She must’ve felt my stillness, because she looked up and our eyes met. Then she realized how close we were to each other and the fact that her hands were still on me. Her lips parted and she let go of my wrist first, then my arm.
‘Sorry, I got excited,’ she mumbled, taking a healthy step back.
I cleared my throat and she shook her head.
‘You’re not looking, William,’ she repeated in a strange voice. She gestured with her head to the counter where the guy with the flowers was talking to one of the baristas.
I tried to see what she was talking about.
The barista called out a name and a woman walked out of what looked to be a kitchen at the back.
The beautiful woman said a few words to the guy with a big smile on her face and then lifted the flip-up counter top to get to him.
‘What are we watching right now?’ I asked, still unsure of what was going on. Did she know the couple?
‘She is his wife,’ Charlie whispered, with something close to envy in her voice. ‘He brings her flowers every Monday.’
‘Are you friends with her or something?’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Of course not,’ I repeated, suddenly not so surprised. ‘I don’t know how I could’ve thought that.’
She looked up at me with a small smile on her lips. ‘I asked one of the baristas one day. Apparently he’s done it every single week ever since they opened. It’s their thing. I want to have my own thing with someone. Something that we do. That’s the kinda cheese I want. Did you have a thing like that with your ex-wife?’
