Intrigue

Chapter 35

Sean's POV 

The next morning, I texted Malcolm from my bed.

Good luck, you'll ace the exam xxxxxx

He replied instantly. Thank you xxxx when do I see you?

I thought about it for a second. Meet me at the cafe where I'll be with Jer after the exam?

Okay, thanks, exam's till 11am. Love you xxxx

I smiled at the message, before sending a reply. I exhaled. I kept digging myself into a deeper hole.

I met Jeremy at a local cafe at around 10am. I arrived before him, and chose a seat in which I had a view of the whole cafeteria. It was an intricate, modern space, relatively close to Malcolm's university. I'd never been before, but Jeremy had suggested it because some girl had taken him there one time. I didn't want to know the details.

I ordered a large black coffee and sat down, waiting. I'd dressed down on this cold December morning, just a black hoodie and grey jeans, and white high-tops, clothes which I only wore when I was feeling extremely lazy. Jeremy walked in a few minutes after 10am, looking around for me. He spotted me and started walking towards me. He definitely looked better than I did; his light blue shirt was smoothed out, and he wore black chinos and black sneakers, and a dark blue quilted jacket.

He placed his sunglasses and phone on the table and looked at me. "What's wrong?" he asked as soon as he caught my eye. I shrugged, and he arched an eyebrow and signalled to the waitress to bring him a coffee. He sat down opposite me, and looked at me until I could no longer handle his glance. We'd messaged back and forth a few times from the last time I'd seen him at the bar, so he knew about Sophie's visit, but I hadn't elaborated much.

"I've had a rough few days," I explained, as if that wasn't obvious.

"I can tell," Jeremy said. "Is this about your dad?"

My heart sank at the mention of my father. I nodded. "Yes. I don't know what to do, if I should go meet him..." I trailed off.

He regarded me in silence. "I don't know, Sean," he said. "Do you feel like you should or will it distress you more?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea," I answered. I picked up my cup of coffee and took a large sip. I exhaled contentedly. Coffee always made me feel better.

"Did you put whiskey in your coffee again?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.

I laughed. "No, not today." The waitress put a cup of coffee in front of Jeremy. I waited for her to leave before speaking. "So. What did you think of Malcolm?" I asked. My question was placed nonchalantly, but inside of me, my heart was beating fast.

But Jeremy's answer was reassuring. "I liked him. Seems like a sweetheart and is very interesting, and looks like he makes you very happy."

I smiled. "He does. I adore him."

Jeremy was watching me with an amused smile on his lips. "He's handsome, but I would have never pegged him as your type, to be honest," he said.

I arched an eyebrow. "I have a type?" I asked. I didn't even have a preferred gender, let alone a type.

"I don't know, I haven't really seen you with many men, you know?"

"You're a man," I pointed out.

"We weren't dating." Jeremy laughed.

"Neither were him and I, at first."

Jeremy looked interested at this piece of information. "So it started how, exactly? And I cannot believe you didn't tell me."