I texted Miranda to check she was okay for me to just do the register today because of my ankle and she said it would be fine as she had Matt and Mike working today as well. I haven't worked with them before but they are my age and on the basketball team in school so I've seen them around and only ever heard nice things about them both.
Kayden dropped me off this morning and after a knee weakening kiss promised to drive past mine to see if he could see anything going on.
I'd stayed at Mitch's with all the guys. We managed to squish into his super king bed and I have to say it was one of the most peaceful sleeps I've had in a while.
Hobbling in to the Chipped Cup I go through the back and change into my uniform and head back out to the front counter. My ankle doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday but there is no way I could stay on it all day. I start to restock the fridges and make the window look exciting with all the new cakes Mandy has been making then pull a stool behind the desk to sit at while I'm not working. The bell goes off over the door and I look up to see Mike and Matt walk in.
I can never tell the difference between the twins they are both identical with their dirty blonde hair shaved nearly balled at the side and swiped over at the front. They have large brown eyes and are around six feet tall if not taller, with very broad shoulders. They are both very good looking in a boy next door sort of way.
"Hey!" I say waving to them as they walk towards me. "I'm Holly" I say with a large smile.
"Hey!" They say together waving back.
"So...not to be rude but how do I tell the two of you apart? I don't want to call you by the wrong names all day" I say blushing.
Laughing they both look at each other then me as if communicating without talking . Weird! "I'm Mike" he says holding out his hand and I shake it "you can tell me apart because I always wear something red and if you can't see that then you can tell because I have a mole on my neck right here" he says leaning into my space to show me the small mole on the left side of his neck. I feel myself heat up with the close proximity and let out a nervous giggle. He pulls back smiling walking into the back room.
"I'm Matt" he says holding his hand out. "I always wear something yellow" he says pointing to a yellow sweatband "if you can't see that then I have scar just above my right eyebrow and if that fails you know I'm Matt because I'm the better looking twin" he laughs walking towards the back.
"I heard that" Mike shouts from the back room causing us both to laugh.
"It's nice to meet you both" I shout back.
"You too" they say together.
Maybe my double shift will go by fast with these two. They seem like good company.
I was right the day has been going really fast. Mike and Matt are really good workers and are great with the customers. Complete flirts with the girls and women who come in but it seems to be part of their charm. Ive managed to stay at the register making up the orders and doing the cash and my ankle is feeling okay still.
"Why don't you two go for your lunch before the teatime rush comes in? That way when I go for mine the two of you will be here to do the till and tables?" I suggest.
"Sure. We'll just go down to Patty's Diner so we won't be too far if it gets busy and you need us back" Matt says and I only know this because I can see the yellow sweatband.
"Here's our numbers incase you need us back or you know want to call us another day. You know to talk or anything" Mike says blushing.
"Eh...thanks" I say smiling. I take a pen and paper and write mine down for them. "Here's mine incase you guys are running late or that" I say handing it to Matt as he was still standing in front of me. "Mike," I shout as he's leaving for the door turning round to look at me. "How come I can't see any red on you?" I ask genuinely interested.
Instead of answering me he pulls the back of his tshirt up and with that proceeds to pull his trousers down a tiny bit revealing the top of red boxers. He looks over his shoulder with a wink and I know my face is beet red." You could of just told me you know" I say laughing.
"Where is the fun in that gorgeous" he states fixing himself.
"Alright mr flirtalot off you go" I make a shooing motion with my hands towards the door and start to clean the coffee machine.
I spent the next half an hour cleaning the counters and restocking the fridge and counters. There was only a couple customers so the tables weren't dirty enough yet to have to try and hobble my way over to them. I was texting the guys to see what they were up to and they had all gone to Noah's to chill out. Poppy was with Ruby at the cinema but would come here for closing time so we can go home together.
The bell over the door goes and I look up to see my sheepish looking dad walk through it heading towards me. I don't know why but my body seems to run cold and the feeling of anger comes inside of me. I've not heard from him in over two weeks and now he shows up.
"Hi pet" he says in his strong Scottish accent. "How you been?" He asks coming to lean against the counter.
"Hi. I'm fine. What's up?" I ask with no emotion.
"Can't your dad just pop in to see his baby girl without having a reason?" He asks smiling at me but something is off with it.
"Dad cut to he chase. You've never came by to see me while I'm at work. You've not bothered to call or text since you cancelled breakfast so what's going on?" I ask not wanting to spend time beating around the bush.
"Well the thing is...Carol's got a new job. She's going to be working in the city and it will cost a lot of money for her to commute so we are moving." He says blushing rubbing his hands through his hair. That's a nervous trait I get from him.
I can't say I'm surprised that he decides to just pop in and tell me this but what reaction is he looking for? "Okay. So when are you moving?" I ask.
"That's the thing. The house has been on the market for the last month and it sold on Friday. I told your mother but I guess she didn't tell you since you look surprised. We have already secured another house in the city so we will be moving in the next three days." He says matter of factly.
Three days?? Friday? So that's why Mum was so upset about Dad on Friday. It's his fault she was drinking she didn't want to have to tell us that he was moving away and probably wouldn't see him hardly or if at all if Carol has her way. She was obviously hurt by everything he has done and dealt with it the best way she knows how. It's his fault she hurt me because she was so upset from what he told her.
"And your bothering to tell me now why" I ask angrily.
"Well, I'm not going to be around the town anymore and I wanted to talk to you about it. I knew your mum never told you because you never called or anything so I thought I would talk to you face to face to see how you are about it." He rushes out.
"Well I'm fine about it. You haven't been there for me since the moment you walked out on us to be with Carol. You haven't been there for me when I've been dealing with mum's drinking and you certainly haven't been there for me when I needed you the most. I've taken care of your family. Me! A teenage girl has taken care of her family where her Dad has chosen to forget about them. So you can go and live in the city with your perfect family and you can finally fully forget about your old one since that's what you've been trying to do for the past few years!" I shout at him thankful that the coffee shop was empty because my high pitches voice and tears would surely scare them off.
I look to my dad and he's staring at me with an open mouth and wide eyes obviously not knowing what to do or say. I've always just went along with anything he said and kept my opinions to myself but I've had enough.
"Holly" he says reaching out for me.
"Don't! I can't speak for Poppy but for me I don't care what you do. You don't help Mum out with money for us, I work so I don't have to ask her for money and I look after Poppy when Mum can't look after either of us or herself so I'd say I've grown up fast and don't need your help. You obviously couldn't care less that you have two daughters that love you and want to spend time with you all you see is Carol and Alex so now you don't need to worry about trying to fit us in to your life" I start to cry and I let it all come out not even trying to stop the tears from flowing.
"Holly that's not how it is and you know it. How dare you say I want to forget about you" he says angrily.
He doesn't have a right to be angry he's been living his life unaware of anything going on because I knew he wouldn't help us if we needed it so I just got on with it.
"Just go dad. Go and be with Carol and Alex in the city. Enjoy your new family" I spit out staring at him.
He pulls his hand back that was reaching out to me and I can see the hurt in his eyes but he's the adult he should start acting like it and realise he has three kids not one and put effort in where it's needed instead of hiding away and trying to not rock the boat with her majesty.
He gives me one last look and walks out the door. I watch him walk away without a backward glance to his car. I think that hurt the most that I wasn't even worth a glance back to see if I was okay.
I turn around and slide down the glass to the floor hugging my knees letting my tears fall. My chest feels tight and I can't seem to get a breath. Maybe I was too hard on him? No! He deserves to know how he's made me feel not being there for me and Poppy.
The bell rings over the door. I try to wipe my face the best I can and control my breathing. I try to pretend that I'm doing something on the floor so that the customer doesn't think I've lost my mind. "Be with you in two minutes" I force out between hiccups.
"Holly?" I hear a male voice ask above me. "Holly are you okay?"
I look up and see Milo peering down at me and I sag onto the floor with my head in my hands shaking my head.
I hear footsteps and the next moment I'm wrapped up in strong arms. "Shh it's alright. It's alright" I hear him coo into my ear stroking my hair. I lean in to him and try to control my breathing.
When I've finally managed to get it under control I pull back wiping my nose with he back of my hand and trying to dry my eyes with the other. "Sorry Milo. You just caught me on a bad moment" I say trying to smile.
"You okay now?" He asks concerned and I nod my head pulling myself up with help from the counter and move to sit on the stool. I pull my hair out and redo it for something to occupy my hands to reduce my embarrassment. "Hey look at me" he places his hand on the side of my face bringing it to look at him. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asks with a warm smile.
"No thanks but thanks for the hug it helped" I say smiling a genuine smile at him removing his hands.
"My pleasure. How you been?" He asks leaning against the fridge.
I forgot I've not seen him since that awkward moment at lunch at the beginning of the week. I still haven't told him that we can't be anything more than friends but I don't think this is the right time.
"Yea good. We won the match yesterday but I hurt my ankle so that kinda sucks but apart from that nothing much. You"
"Just been thinking about you" he smiles winking at me. Oh no! Maybe now is the right time. "He don't look so horrified" he laughs "I have been meaning to text you about that date" he smiles.
"Look Milo"
"That doesn't sound like the response I was hoping for " he jokes making me smile.
"Sorry" I say honestly "you are such a nice guy and I really do like you but I don't think I'm in the right place to date just now but I would love your friendship" I state.
He doesn't seem to be as mad or upset as I expect and just smiles at me. "Friendship I can do. If anything else comes from that then I will be a lucky guy" he says holding out his hand.
"Friendship is all I can do Milo." I say honestly "if you can just be my friend then I would love that?" I say seriously wanting him to know that there isn't any wiggle room for more without telling him why.
"Friendship it is then" he states taking my hand to shake on it. "Now friend. Do you think your up to making me a mochachino?" He asks with a laugh.
"Sure I can" getting up off the stool I head over to the coffee machine while he goes to stand at the customer side of the counter. "What design do you want on top?" I ask
"Surprise me"
I decide to do a smiley face for cheering me up and give it to him free of charge for helping me. Mike and Matt come back in and start to talk with Milo. They know each other from school. The four of us spend time catching up and the guys talk about the party we didn't go to last night. From the sounds of it the party was just the same as any other.
"Holly do you wanna go get your dinner now?" Matt asks picking up the dirty dishes from the tables heading to the sink.
"Sure. A'll just go to Patty's as well incase you need me" I state wobbling to the back room to get my bag.
"Mind if I come with you?" Milo asks
"Sure" I smile heading to the door. I wave goodbye to the boys and head out. Milo catches up to me taking my hand. I look down at our joined hands and look back at him.
"What?" He asks innocently "friends hold hands. I've seen you holding Mitch's hand." He states. When he says it like that I have always done that with the guys so decide to not worry about it.
We spend the next hour talking about everything and anything while eating our hamburgers. Milo walks me back to the coffee shop telling me he will see me at school tomorrow giving me a hug goodbye. Mike and Matt want to know if I'm dating Milo but I tell them we're just friends but they say they don't believe me. Shaking my head I put my stuff in the back room and head back to work.
Spending time with Milo was fun and I have absolutely no romantic feelings towards him. I don't think I ever did. I think I just enjoyed having some attention from a guy who wasn't one of my boys when I didn't know about their feelings.
The rest of my shift goes by without issue and Poppy arrives an hour before closing begging for some hot chocolate and chocolate cake. Mike and Matt do their best to flirt with her but I don't think Poppy even noticed which made me laugh.
At the end of my shift we say bye to the guys and Miranda locks up. Walking outside I realise I don't have my car.
"I don't think I can walk all the way home." I moan to Poppy but before she can reply I see my baby pull up with Noah behind the driving seat.
"We knew you couldn't walk all the way but do you think you can drive?" He shouts from the window.
Nodding my head I waddle over to the car. "Yea I think I can it doesn't hurt too much anymore just a niggle if I move the wrong way" i smile.
"Good. In you get" he says getting out and pulling me in. Closing the door he leans through the window and gives me a kiss. "There's Mitch. He's gonna take me home. See you tomorrow. Bye Poppy" Poppy and I both wave and watch him walk away. Mitch beeps and I beep back reversing the car out the spot and head for home.
"Did Dad call you?" I ask Poppy.
"Yea. He told me he's moving into the city. He told me about your fight are you okay?" She asks concerned.
"Yea am fine. It was about time I got it out no use keeping it inside" I state staring straight ahead.
"If it helps I told him that I agreed with you and felt that you have been there for me more than anyone the last few years. He went quiet not saying very much which makes me think he knows he's messed up. We'll be fine won't we?" She asks worriedly.
I look over and squeeze her hand. "We will be totally fine Pops. Things will go back to normal with Mum hopefully and we're use to Dad not being there" I smile sadly.
We pull up at the house to see it in complete darkness. I park in the driveway since Mums car is in the garage and head inside.
"Hello" I call out for Mum or Sam but no response.
"Mum?" Poppy shouts but still silence.
We both walk to her room but she's not there. Walking back into the kitchen we see a note on the fridge.
Holly & Poppy
I've taken your Mum away for a while to my lodge up the mountains. She's really sorry for everything that happened but needs time to deal with things that's going on in her life.
I promise to keep her safe and look after her well. I've left you money on the counter for anything you might need. You have my mobile number if anything happens or go to Ralph at the bar.
Hopefully when we get back we can all sit down and talk and things can get sorted out.
Take care of each other.
Sam x
I love you girls! Mum xxx
"So Sam's taken mum away for a while?" Poppy asks for confirmation.
"Yea I guess so. Maybe it's just what she needs." I shrug turning towards her "you okay?" I ask giving her a side hug.
"Yea. I've got you" she smiles.
"Right let's get to bed" I say steering us toward the stairs.
"Night H. Love you" poppy says walking along the hall to her room.
"Love you too P" I say heading into my bedroom.
I have a shower and get changed heading under my covers to get comfy.
I guess it really is me and Poppy for a time now.
Turning over to hug my pillow I quickly fall asleep from exhaustion.