A Lover Like Him (The Perfect Lover book #2) (Espresso CRK)

Chapter 28

No'ones Pov

Madeleine was dreaming again.

He was dreaming of Coffee Bean once more...

Or more correctly, his disappearance and Nana's death.

! A bit of abuse, tw, coming up, but not much !

It was sunny that day it happened.

Madeleine waited by the sidewalk for the mysterious boy to show up. Coffee Bean had been visiting more often now but for shorter amounts of time. At first, Madeleine didn't notice. It became more obvious when the time they were together decreased from 1 1hrs at a time to only half an hour. Coffee Bean apparently had been visiting 10 minutes less each day. 

Every time they were together, no matter how long, it felt too short. That was Madeleine's excuse for not noticing earlier. 

Madeleine wanted to ask his friend why he was doing so. He was happy that the other child had been visiting every day instead of every two to three days, but he'd honestly rather have time to do activities that needed more time than short conversations.

Madeleine swung his feet back and forth and then yawned. The sun's heat was getting to him and he forgot to bring his apple juice, so he was dehydrated. He could head to the lemonade stand nearby but he always thought that their lemons were too sour, even with sugar cubes and water. Lemon Cheesecake Cookie was an exception, along with the sweet and fluffy Lemon Meringue Pie. She was always sweet and kind to him.

Or at least, she used to be always comforting him. Despite promising Madeleine that their relationship wouldn't change and that she'd be there for him, she wasn't close to him anymore. She lied.

Lemon Cheesecake left after escorting him to his bedroom when it was time to sleep. She gave him food with a small smile when they were alone, but it was always silent. It felt like she was avoiding him during the day on purpose and when she does bump into him, her sentence is still sweet but they are short. Then she leaves after a bow. 

And I hate it! Madeleine thought childishly. Hmmph!

A wave of drowsiness swept across his mind again, and he felt himself stumbling to a nearby bench and clambering onto it. His eyes closed and another escaped his lips. He couldn't help but curl into a ball and let the sun's heat straddle him to sleep.