Mr. Anonymous

Chapter 13

An hour later, Audrey found herself standing on the street outside Barista's, a local coffee shop she hadn't visited yet.

She made her way up the purple porch steps and opened the old screen door, walking inside. She looked around, loving the atmosphere in the quaint little shop.

"Audrey!" a familiar voice squealed. Before she knew it, Audrey had been enveloped in a huge hug. She pulled back, only to see Diana.

"Diana? What are you doing here?" Audrey asked, confused.

"This is my shop, dear! What are you doing here? Can I get you anything?" Diana asked.

"You own this place?" Audrey asked, impressed.

"Well, I'm still paying it off, but yep it's mine, alright!" Diana said, walking behind the counter. "Let me make something for you, on the house!"

After much discussion back and forth, Audrey finally agreed not to pay and ordered a Caramel Macchiato, though she was secretly thinking of ways she could sneak the money into the tip jar without Diana noticing.

Once she had finally ordered, the screen door banged open behind Audrey, making her jump.

"Hey! Look who stopped by the shop?!" Diana said to Jack excitedly as he walked through the front door.

"Hey Audrey! Glad you could make it!" Jack said, smiling at her.

Audrey just stared at him, smiling for a moment and then cleared her throat.

"Of course! Thanks for inviting me - this place is amazing." Audrey said, still looking around at all the vintage decorations and cozy chairs and couches.

"Wait, you invited her?" Diana said, looking confused at first, but then a smile lit up her face. "Are you two dating?!" Diana all but screamed, her voice going up three octaves by the end of the sentence.

"No, Mom, we're just hanging out." Jack told Diana, grabbing a Jones soda out of a fridge in the back. As he came back around the front counter, he turned to Audrey. "We can go sit down - my mom will call you when your drink is ready." And with that, he turned around and settled into a comfy looking corner couch by the front window. When he saw that Audrey was still standing, he gestured to the fluffy armchair next to him and she sat down.

"So, I'm happy to be of service, but first, I'm going to need to know a little more about this mystery man of yours." Jack said, taking a sip of his soda.

Audrey was suddenly nervous. She had been so focused on the fact she was getting to hang out with Jack that she hadn't even thought about the reason they were spending time together.

"What do you want to know?" Audrey asked, fidgeting under his gaze.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to read your messages or anything. Just tell me anything that could be a clue to his identity; how old he is, his family, his interests, things like that. Has he told you anything about what he looks like?" Jack asked.

"No, he hasn't told me what he looks like, but I also haven't asked him. I don't want to seem nosy." Audrey said.

"I think you could ask him for some details, considering you don't even know who he is. I doubt he'd think you were being nosy." Jack said, scratching his chin.

"I just want him to tell me things in his own time. I don't want to push him away by being impatient." Audrey confessed, shyly.

Jack paused for a moment.

"Well, what about the other things I mentioned? Has he ever talked about school or his family or friends?" Jack asked, leaning towards her and resting his forearms on his thighs. He was staring at her so intently, Audrey lost her train of thought for a moment.