Counting Shadows [complete]

Chapter 21

Compared to the excitement of the previous week, the day was rather dull. All I did was eating ice cream in front of the TV working my way through the three tubs in the freezer, one of which was my emergency reserve. I was thinking about going out but didn't feel like facing the nature and all the gossip it goes with it as yet. Well, I was ready to face some gossip - that's why I texted Saira in case she had time before the class. Luckily she had. Or, as she put it, we did need to review something for the class. The review process naturally included coffee and cake and given the time in the late afternoon, a dinner all together. I just let Lee-Ann know I did need to review my course work with her and set off to Flackwell Heath.

I always wondered who designed the public transport in High Wycombe. Clearly not someone who would actually use it. To get to the college at Flackwell Heath I had the option of changing the bus once and it would take about 40 minutes or more, or take the more direct bus which however stopped rather far away or spend about the same time simply walking up the hill. The downside of the latter was, of course, crossing the Rye and all the trees that were there. On the other hand, usually, it was a relaxing way how to spend an hour.

I took a deep breath before entering the park. I normally liked the little river Wye, the enormous open space of the Rye where you could touch the sky and the well-grown trees around it. But it didn't look the same to me since Jonathan first approached me there. I just walked past the lido uphill, ignoring the trees around me. Luckily, they couldn't be so pushy with all the people around. I kept going up, speeding through the shadowed alleys where there was too much privacy for my liking. The road then continued through the open fields with romantic views of M40 and the traffic coming from and to London. The fields were rather calm, so all in all, the walk was not as bad as I feared. If I were really honest with myself, I would had to admit I quite enjoyed it like any other time. Walking and spotting red kites flying around has its charms, even if you are ignoring the trees. I didn't stop by the college but continued to the small village centre.

I was running a bit late, Saira was already sitting in the cafe. I saw her immediately, the coffee shop wasn't too busy and it was small, just three rows of three tables. I liked it there, tucked away behind the Sainsbury's, it had a surprisingly good menu and it was relatively close to the college. I knew the owners would be fine for us to just hang around, as we would be anyway leaving before the main crowd came in for dinner. Plus Monday was not the busiest day, they were probably happy for any custom really.

"So, what's up?" Saira greeted me as soon as I sat down at the table. She didn't even give me the time to read through the menu.

"Well, you know..." I just shrugged.

"Oh, so you asked me to come to see you, after Saturday, just because you had no one to eat dinner with?" She asked. I wanted to say that that wasn't true. I might mock Saira from time to time, but she was my closest friend here.

"How did your date went?" She asked instead when I hadn't respond. I sighted.

"To be absolutely honest, I wanted to see you so we could talk about anything else than Jake. Like absolutely anything." I admitted.

"I guess that needs a cake," Saira said and I nodded. She was right. I was not sure that cake would really make a difference, but I was willing to give it a try. It would be a nice change after all the ice cream I ate during the day. The coffee shop served a mean apple pie. Through the few years in the UK, I developed a bit of addiction to the apple pies. In my opinion, that was the biggest contribution of the British culture to the world. I just nodded.

"Yep. And I think we can talk about anything but Jake." I agreed.

"That bad?" She asked and I nodded and was relieved that at the very moment the waitress approached us and I could just avoid the topic. I decided to go for cappuccino, tuna panini and the apple pie. After all, I was walking to the class and was planning to walk back. And stressed. And I couldn't care less.