The days got more manageable now. But my situation wasn't better than I hoped since I'm still living on my friend's couch. Even if I owned a coffee shop and financially stable, homelessness doesn't pardon anyone. Finding an apartment in the city was challenging. The only other good thing I've done since then was buying the motorcycle.
As I hoped out of my black scrambler Ducati, my eyes were quickly drawn across the street. For the first time, her car was there across the street. Most days, we always get to work at the same time. It might be out of habit or body clock, but it's never a few minutes too late to catch a glimpse of her.
But today, there were no signs of her. As the minutes ticked by, I decidedly headed inside the shop. My pace slowed as I glanced every few minutes. As soon as I reached the door, I peered one last time. There were no signs of her. Hence, I entered the shop with a smile in place and greeted my staff.
Edith knowingly examined me behind the counter with scrutiny. "From your expression, you didn't see her this morning." She pointed out rather than asked.
I ignored her words and silently rechecked everything, though I knew Ron had done it from the correct placement of all the utensils.
"So, we're still not addressing that, are we? You know you're bound to crack hiding behind that mask, boss," Edith muttered teasingly.
I sighed and finally met her gaze. "I know you mean well, Edith. But I don't have time or patience to be talking about her at work."
She looked smug for making me uncomfortable. Edith was the only acceptable person in the room, capable of making me feel uncomfortable without repercussions. It's getting to her head sometimes, but I liked that my employee wasn't afraid of me.
"When would be a great time to talk about this? You've been sighing and glancing across the street whenever you arrive. If you want to talk to her, do it already, Collin. I've never thought of you as a coward when it comes to that sort of thing."
"I'm not a coward." I huffed like an errant child. "But I can't talk to her anymore because we did talk already. We talked and talked that night. We've already said the things we wanted to say."
"Yes, what you want to say at that moment. Not now," she argued.
I spun around and retreated to my small office at the back, ending the conversation. If I've said something more, she'd only continue pressing the issue in the following days. I wasn't ready for that sort of public confession.
I rejoined them when the rush hour arrived. When noon rolled around, I was still behind the coffee machine when Edith decidedly interrupted me.
"Collin, she's here. I just saw her enter the bistro."
Like a knee jerk reaction, my eyes scanned the streets. It wasn't easy to make out the silhouette inside from this distance. But thanks to the bright windows, I quickly make out her familiar blond hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Are you sure?" I whispered.
"Yes. And I think a girl was with her. It might be Nina," she stated and followed my gaze.
Hearing Edith mentions her sister's name; I guessed why she wasn't there in the morning. "She might have taken a day off. If Nina is visiting, they would have lunch with their mother."
"Maybe." I caught Edith's gaze as I looked away. "Boss, I think—" I held up my hand, interrupting her.
"I think it's best we should stop talking about our personal lives while we're working, Edith," I gestured towards the customer, who's slightly annoyed for getting ignored.
YOU ARE READING
A Year Without You
General Fiction[WATTPAD FEATURED. NOVEMBER 2017] Emilia and Collin had been in a relationship for three years and lived under the same roof for a year and a half. Yet somehow they had drifted apart. Maybe they loved each other less, their future plans no longer in...
