Thursday came around quick. School has been going well, Libby and I have been spending as much time as possible together trying to catch up on everything that we have missed out on.
She surprisingly didn't make many friend when she moved to Texas, she said she didn't "click" with anyone the way she had with our group so usually hung around with Noah. She went on a few dates but didn't have any serious boyfriends and stayed away from most parties after she puked over the hottest guy she had ever seen, her words not mine. This hot guys name was Ayden and he was her crush and the guy she dated for the longest before coming home, she thought he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend before she left so when I hear her talk about him I can't help but feel she misses him more than she lets on.
Unfortunately my side of the conversation was boring, no guys, no crushes, no drama or any drama that I could talk about with anyone. All I had was the boys, Poppy and hockey but that was fine by me because now I had Libby and Noah back and I'm feeling more complete.
Noah and I are moving on from smiles to actual short conversations during Biology and lunch, we are not back to where we were before he left but I no longer want to run away when he make eye contact with me which I would say is definitely progress.
Theo's flirting has calmed down since Tuesday when I hit him over the back of the head with my bag when he thought it would be a good idea to get down on one knee and kiss my hand to try and persuade me show him around the school. The shock on his face had me bent over laughing until tears streamed down my face, Theo on the other hand didn't find the funny side of it at all but he has toned it down a notch. The rest of the boys seem to be back to normal after Monday. Nobody said anything was wrong so I'm putting their strange behaviour down to being tired.
Standing behind the counter of "Chipped Cup" I wipe the fridges down and replace the stock and sort the coffee beans out for the morning. I have been working here since the coffee shop opened two years ago. My boss Miranda is great and understands that I have to work around school, she knows I need the money for College so she will give me extra shifts during the holidays and sometimes at the weekend I will work double shifts. She also understands if I have to swap shifts at times or if I need to stay home which helps. Miranda is a happy person and fun to be around, she can make anyone smile and light up the room with her colourful clothes and blinding smile.
The "Chipped Cup" was decorated with lots of colours and mix matched chairs and tables that surprisingly all went well together, it has a book shelf at the back that customers are welcome to browse and read while they have a coffee and local artists are encouraged to hang their art on the wall. Miranda is also a firm believer that a cup of coffee should brighten the customers day and bring a smile to their face, so all workers are continuously trained in different coffee art and encouraged to try new styles out and show them to her.
This is one of my favourite places to come and relax when I can and I feel very lucky to love my job, did I mention Miranda bakes? All of the cakes in store are homemade and keeps the customers coming back for more and my stomach full.
Once I finished setting everything up for the morning I decided to try out a new coffee art since there was no one in just now, it was close to closing time but I like to be busy. I'd watched on YouTube someone making a coffee design of a monkey with the milk and chocolate syrup and thought it would be a fun design to use. I decided on a mocha since I was adding the syrup and set about grinding the beans and heating the milk. Singing along to James Bay- Best Fake Smile, I dance around the machine while the coffee pores, adding the milk I try to get the face shape of the monkey, once happy with that I gave it two small eyes and a big mouth "and you don't have to care so don't pretend, nobody needs a best fake friend, oh oh oh don't hide it!" I sing and dance, wiggling my bum and throwing my hands in the air, suddenly I hear clapping behind me and spin round nearly giving myself a neck injury to see Finn leaning over the counter trying to reach the lollipops that are given out with he bills.
" I give you 8/10, I especially liked the bum wiggle" he said with a wink
"What are you doing here" I say with a face the colour of a tomato, walking over and hitting his hand away from the sweet stash.
"Ow! What was that for? You need to help me feed my sweet tooth."
"You don't need anymore sugar in your life! And my bum wiggle definitely deserves at least a nine. So what do I owe the pleasure of your company Mr McGregor?"
"Well, I was on my way home from my date and remembered you were working so thought I would pop in and see if you wanted a lift home? I would of texted but you never check your phone so I thought it would be quicker just coming in and asking, and get my sugar fix" he said pointing at the double chocolate chip muffins.
"It's only eight thirty, is that not pretty early to be going home from a date? what went wrong? Oh man! What did you do?" I ask while unwrapping a muffin and put it on a plate for him
"I didn't do anything thank you very much for that vote of confidence, Becky had to get back to watch her brothers so we just went out for some pizza. She was nice but I don't think I'm going to ask her out again we didn't have much in common"
"You mean she didn't just jump your bones there and then in the pizza shop so you can't be bothered working hard for it?"
"Hey! You make me sound like some man whore! That's not what I'm like at all, if you must know it was kind of awkward trying to make conversation and she didn't even eat a full slice of pizza, she only ate the salad and lectured me on how many calories I had ate from my three slices. I need a girl who isn't afraid to eat"
"Well that is true, you like to eat and someone pointing out all the food you consume would give me a sore head, here have this to cheer you up" I say giving him the mocha coffee I had been working on.
"Wow! This one is brilliant, I don't want to mess it up by drinking it" with that said he takes a large sip leaving a milk moustache on his face, so much for not wanting to mess it up.
I lean over the table and wipe his top lip for him and lick the milk off my finger and start to clean the coffee machine up so that we can leave as soon as Miranda arrives to lock up. After a couple of seconds I realise Finn has been really quiet and turn around to look at him and see that he's just staring at me, "what?"
"Did you just clean my face and then...lick it off your finger?"
"Yea why? It's not like I licked my finger before cleaning your face like mums do to babies" I say with a shrug
"O..k, did you find out if you are off on Friday to go to Theo's."
"Give me a minute and a'll go and check" I walk into the back room and get my copy of the rota. Scanning it I see I'm working Friday but only until seven. "I'm working until seven then off Saturday and the lunchtime shift on Sunday, what time are we to go round at?"
"We haven't arranged a time yet. You are gonna come round after work right?" He mumbles while stuffing his face with muffin,
"Yea, a'll just head home after work and get changed then head over and meet you guys there?"
" yea that sounds good. You want some?" He asks pointing to the muffin, " it's so good and you know I don't share so tell me quick before it's gone." Finn starts to lift it up to his mouth but I quickly nod my head, with a teasing smile he leans across the he table, "open up" he says and I open my mouth and he places it on my tongue. I can already taste the moist chocolatey goodness on my tongue , with a small moan I close my mouth and playful bite Finn's finger that he's not moved yet. Looking at him I can see that his cheeks have tinted a pink blush and seems frozen. I raise my eyebrow at him with a look that asks what's wrong but before he can answer the bell above the door chimes, with a cough Finn quickly pulls away from me when he sees Miranda coming through the door,
"Awww you guys are so cute!", Finn stutters a hello and tells me he'll wait for me in the car waving bye to Miranda and leaving money on the counter for his muffin. Weird.
"Hey Miranda, everything's all cleaned up and ready for the morning"
"That's great Holly thanks. So you finally put Finlay out of his misery and went out on a date with him then?"
"What? No, no we're just friends, he just popped in to see if I wanted a lift home on his way back from a date", me and Finn? What is she talking about?
"Oh, I'm sorry I just thought I interrupted you guys when I came in, he's very good looking though maybe you should ask him." she says with a wink and starts to cash up.
"No way! We've been friends for too long that would be weird!"
"Ok, I believe you, just keep an open mind Holly, you've kept yourself closed off for so long maybe it's time to let someone in? Go and get yourself home I can finish here, a'll see you on Sunday, I'm making apple pie, will keep you a slice"
"Thanks Miranda, a'll see you then." I turn and head in the back to get my bag and phone and head out to get Finn mulling over what she said. Let someone in? Closed off? Interrupted a moment? Maybe Miranda notices more than I give her credit for but we didn't have a moment he was just giving me a bit of his muffin.
Walking out I find Finn sitting in his truck eating a packet of gummy worms nodding his head along to the music,
"What have you got for lunch." The little boy beside me asks, I look in my bag and realise my mum has forgot to pack a sandwich so all I have is my carton of juice and an apple "just an apple and juice" I say with a small smile. "That's not enough for your lunch" he says with a frown and picks up his lunch and moves to sit beside me at the lunch table. Looking at his lunch he has a lot of food, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a ham sandwich and hands it to me, "here you can have some of mine", I make no move to take it so he grabs my hand and puts the sandwich in it. "Thanks". He gives me a nod and goes back to eating his food.
He's got auburn hair that has a slight curl to it, freckles over his nose and bright green eyes the colour of grass. He has bits of playdough in his hair and paint on his face but seems to look happy even while eating. "You going to eat it? If not a'll eat it. I've got some cookies if you want instead?" Taking a bite I smile "this is good thanks".
Digging in his bag he pulls out a small tub and leans in, " shh,don't tell anyone but I snuck some gummy worms in when my mom wasn't looking", giggling I look at his serious face "these are my favourite things ever, you can have one if you want? I don't share these with just anyone but I think they will make you happy too and are better than an apple" he puts his hand in and pulls out a purple one and hands it to me giving me a toothy smile. "Thanks, purple is my favourite colour, I'm Holly". "Finlay McGregor but everyone calls me Finn".
"Hey you coming or are you just going to stare at me like a creeper all night?"
I walk over to the truck and get in and put my seatbelt on "sorry, I was daydreaming"
"It's ok" he leans over and hands me a purple gummy worm and starts the engine.
Smiling at Finn I turn and watch where we are going and eat my gummy worm while Finn and I debate the best flavour in the bag all the way back to mine.