Coffee and Cafés - Book Two of the Café Latte Trilogy

Vanilla Frappe

Vanilla Frappe

The letter from Thomas and Savannah was small and thin, nothing to fear, but it felt like a ton of bricks in my hand. I slid it into pocket and decided I wasn't ready to read it. I didn't know what the hell it would unleash.

"You okay?" Angelo murmured sleepily as I returned to bed.

I smiled and leaned over to kiss his forehead. "I'm okay, bello. You sleep tight."

He put out his arm in an offer and I nestled down against him. He held me tight and kissed my neck, and thoughts of the letter almost flew out of my mind. I sighed happily and closed my eyes. I had thought I would be unable to sleep, but sleep came quickly and before I knew it, it was morning.

Jenny and Lucie were great hostesses, and ordinarily they'd wake up guests with breakfast and a gentle wake-up call.

This was not an ordinary morning.

"Tom," Jenny hissed, startling me awake. I jumped, and she nodded towards the door. I frowned, blearily following her out of the room.

"What the flying fuck is going on?" I asked her, chilly now I was outside of my lovely duvet cocoon.

"Harper's here," she explained.

I shrugged. "So?"

"So Harper's here," she emphasised, waiting for me to catch up.

I stared at her, wondering what on earth she was talking about. Harper lived in London, sure, but he often came back to visit. He was close friends with Jenny and Lucie, along with a ton of people that lived around here. What was the big deal about him visiting this time, other than the presumably ungodly hour?

Then I remembered where Harper was supposed to be right now; with Ed, talking about their very complicated relationship.

"Oh," I said, connecting the dots. I grimaced. "I take it something's happened?"

"I don't know," Jenny pushed a few stray hairs out of her face and sighed. "He just showed up. He's having coffee downstairs. Look, I can try and wrangle it out of him, but I know he's way more likely to talk to you about it."

I had no idea if that was accurate, but I leaned behind my bedroom door to grab a dressing gown and tied it around myself. "I'll see what I can do."

Jenny left me to walk downstairs sleepily in search of coffee and Harper. The clock in the hallway told me it was seven in the morning, which meant that Harper had left London at five-thirty at the latest. I frowned. It was early.

Harper was making a coffee when I walked into the kitchen, and he pulled a face when he saw me. "Jenny sent you to talk to me, didn't she?"

I held up my hands. "I just want coffee, dude."

Harper held my gaze for a moment, then sighed and reached for a second mug. "It's not quite as dramatic as it seems."

"Oh, I'm sure," I commented dryly. "What did he do this time?"

Harper's hand hesitated for a moment, and then he pushed the button to make an espresso pour from the machine. "Nothing. He did nothing. It was me."

"Okay, what did you do this time?" I asked.

Harper sighed, and handed me the espresso. I saw he was shaking. "It was stupid," he said, and sat down opposite me with a sigh. "I went to his show, it was great. We had a laugh afterwards with Peaches, we went dancing. I wasn't drinking, the new meds I'm on don't mix well with alcohol. But Ed was, and he was all giddy and happy. I don't know, maybe I have a problem where I can't just let myself be happy."