Coffee Shop Girl

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 

 

Dear Stranger,

 

I didn't think it worth going out any where if I was going to be back by the time Noah was finished, so instead I went back to Isabelle's. Isabelle was not in when I arrived so I spent the few hours sat in front of the TV watching cartoons I had loved as a kid. Leaving after only a couple of hours, rather desperate to ensure that I got back to see Noah in time. He was just finishing up playing as I came into the cafe and he walked over to me through the kitchen. 'Hi,' he said, with a half wave. 'do you want to go do something?'

'what's something?' he asked, seeming suspicious.

'I don't know- dinner, the cinema, anything,'

'you just want to find out about what happened don't you?'

'No! Well at least, not only that, I feel like we haven't spent a lot of time together recently...it feels weird...compared to last weekend,'

'Yeah alright then, dinner, my treat,'

'Oh I was hoping you wouldn't say dinner,' I said,

'well you suggested it,'

'I know it's just I feel so...uh...scruffy...can we just go to Pizza Hut or something?'

'Pizza Hut it is,' he said with a smile, 'but you shouldn't feel all self conscious like that, I go everywhere dressed like this,' he said, gesturing down to his unnaturally tight black skinny jeans and t shirt. 'yeah but you're...a boy...oh I don't know,'

'it's fine, I'll just get my coat,'

'okay,' I said, and followed him over to get his coat, he grabbed it and pulled it on as we left the cafe.

 

'So about what happened,' I began,

'Oh I knew you were going to start on that again,' he said, 'I was pretty drunk, you know, I can't remember much,'

'Alright then, okay we'll forget about that for now, how was your day?'

'Well, pretty crappy to be quite honest with you, I woke up alone in a derelict building with a hangover, and then I came to work,'

'Funny, I actually went to a derelict building to find this guy who had a hangover,'

'Really? Thats strange,' he said, playing along with the sarcasm. We walked into the 'restauraunt' then which was not very far from the cafe where we both worked. While we sat at a table waiting for our pizzas to arrive, I watched Noah closely. 'Are you okay?' I asked him, I did not know why I would think he was not okay, I don't know why I did think he wasn't okay. But I thought it. I don't know, there was just something about him that day, something in his eyes, in his smile. Something was not right, I just knew it. 'I'm fine,' he told me. But he hardly spoke after that, for the rest of the meal I tried to talk and joke with him, the way we always did. But something had changed in him, and I didn't know what, I left the restauraunt feeling confused and rather lonely. He did not insist on walking me home and walked in a direction I was sure did not lead to Grace's flat. But I did not comment. Why would I comment? I didn't want...I didn't know what to do...So I walked back to Isabelle's in a confused silence, wondering if she would be back home by now, trying to distract myself from worrying about Noah.

 

'Isabelle?' I called out, though quietly, her flat was only very small, as I walked through the door. I was very glad to here her reply, 'Yeah,'