Coffee and Cafés - Book Two of the Café Latte Trilogy

Caramel Latte

"I'll park, if you want," I offered. "I'm good at fitting things in tight spaces."

He looked at me in exasperation. "Tom, I swear, I'll take you to the bathrooms right now if you don't quit it. But yes, please park for me."

Owen got out of the car and I scooted to the driver's seat, neatly parking the car in the spot. I was not good at much when it came to driving, but I was absolutely the person people relied on to park their cars in tiny spaces. He bowed to me as I got out, saying, "I am not worthy of your skills."

"Thank you," I threw the keys at him for him to lock up, and gestured to the door. "Shall we?"

I had seen the venue a few hours ago, when helping to set it up, but I had left before Ian had finalised everything and switched the lighting on. It looked incredible, a rustic-looking venue with a cosy warm glow running throughout it. The fairy lights that were shaped like little lanterns hung from the ceiling and walls, showering the hall in a delicate glow. I could see the marquee outside was full of people, admiring the music being played by the orchestra. The weather had, fortunately, held out for us.

"This is so nice," Owen commented in surprise. "I honestly thought it was going to be stuffy and boring, but this is really pretty!"

Ian popped up from nowhere and said, "Thank you!", making me flinch and exclaim, "IAN!"

Of course, Ian was too busy examining Owen to comment on my frustration, and said, "You must be Owen! I'm Ian, I work with Tom. How are you?"

Owen smiled easily, shaking Ian's hand. "I've heard a lot about you, Ian. Nice to meet you."

"You too!" Ian said, and looked directly at me. "You know, you didn't say he was that pretty."

I looked at him flatly. "I was hoping it would stop the teasing."

Ian spied Barbie and waved her over. I did a double-take; I now truly understood why her nickname was Barbie. Her hair, usually pulled back in a tight ponytail, was loose and perfectly straightened, reaching her elbows. The smoky-eye look she had opted for made her eyes look huge, and she was dressed in a short olive coloured dress and stilettos.

"Whoa," I managed to say. "Barbie, you look phenomenal."

Surprised, Barbie smiled. "Thanks, Tom, you don't clean up so bad yourself. Is that Owen?" she pointed at him with her lengthy acrylic nails.

"It is," Owen grinned. "I may be as gay as they come, but I have to agree with Tom, you look fabulous."

Barbie snorted. "Well, Ken turned out to be very dull, so I'm alone tonight. Can you use your gaydar skills to source me out the men that aren't gay?"

"Was his name actually Ken?" I asked persistently.

"In the meantime," Ian offered his hand, as they both ignored the question. "Dance?"

Barbie took his hand, to my surprise, and they whirled off towards the dance floor together. I was startled by how easily they twirled together; clearly this was not the first time that either of them had danced. I was more impressed by Barbie dancing in her heels, though.

Owen extended his hand to me. "You ready to have your mind blown?"

"I can deal with some mind-blowing," I nodded, and took his hand. He spun me onto the dance floor and began to dance me around expertly. I was surprised at my own skill; I was not a good dancer when it came to ballroom-style dance. Having grown up around a lot of gay people, I was good dancer in general, but ballroom took more skill than grinding on some half-naked dude at Fruits. Owen seemed pretty good though, so I followed his lead.