Coffee & (Clean Version)

~Coffee & New Friends~

 As Emma said, she was silent that week. When Paul went to Beanie's the first morning, he met Kelly. When he ordered, she knew who he was. "Ah, so you're Paul," she said.

"And you are?" Paul had asked in reply.

"I'm Kelly. Covering Emma's morning and afternoon shifts this week," she said. Paul nodded.

"Ah I've heard a few things about you. Not enough to know who you are as a person," he said as she got to work on his drink.

"We will see about that later this week," Kelly said, handing Paul his drink with a laugh. She caught his pained expression. "I'm joking. Calm down."

"Good," Paul said, "I'll see you at some point."

"Same," Kelly said, going back behind the counter.

The interaction was too weird for Paul. Even the one the Monday after that one fateful Saturday was less weird. He couldn't bring himself to return to Beanie's in the mornings. At least in the afternoons, Zoey was there to talk to him easily.

It had been about a week and a half since Paul stopped going to Beanie's for his morning coffee. It wasn't until he got a text from Emma. Paul I have your awful coffee where the hell are you? Paul was in his cubicle and laughed out loud, getting some loud shushing noises. He could wait the fifteen minutes before his coffee break. When the time was announced, Paul raced to Beanie's, where Emma had his coffee ready in the paper cup.

"Where were you?" Emma demanded to know, her hands on her hips with her lips pursed.

"I had a really weird interaction with Kelly and I got too embarrassed to return," Paul confessed, scratching the back of his neck. Emma laughed, handing over the coffee.

"Well, I'm back. Hell week is over!" She exclaimed, her hands going above her head in celebration. Paul laughed. "D'you wanna, I don't know, maybe do something?"

"Um, maybe. I have to pick up Al today. Bill is having a date tonight so I offered to take Al for the night," Paul said, "You can come, if you don't mind."

"That would be nice," Emma smiled. Paul checked his watch and jumped.

"I have to get back to work!" He exclaimed, dropping a quick kiss on Emma's cheek and leaving, rushing back to the office. He was panting a bit.

"You okay, Paul?" Bill asked. Paul nodded.

"Just got a bit caught up," Paul said, getting back to his work.

After work, Paul got his afternoon coffee and took Emma to the bus stop, where Alice was waiting. "Uncle Paul!" She exclaimed, dragging her things to Paul and giving him a hug.

"Did Bill tell you—?"

"Yes. If I didn't, my greeting would've been a lot weirder," Alice said.

"Alright. Come on. Oh! Al, this is Emma, Emma this is Alice," Paul said, taking Alice's suitcase.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. I've heard only great things about you," Emma said. Alice raised an eyebrow and looked at Paul. "From Bill."

"Okay. And Uncle Paul doesn't keep me up to date on anything," Alice said.

"I texted you! It said something like you can't say I'm sad and lonely because I'm single. I said that was false," Paul said. Alice laughed.

"So I heard. And from Dad," she said, "And I know about Sylvia."

"Good, because I didn't want to accidentally reveal something," Paul said, starting on the drive to his house.

"Sylvia has red hair, right?" Emma asked. Paul nodded. "Oh, they've gone on coffee dates. They're so in love."