Hello my lovely readers!
Well, the second part of the Café Latte trilogy comes to a close with the same epilogue as Fire and Freedom had, but from Tom's perspective. It takes place roughly six months after the last chapter. Don't worry, we'll be covering Jasper and Ross' wedding in the next book ;)
I hope you enjoyed this book. Authors aren't supposed to have favourite characters, it's kind of like having a favourite child. But I do, and it's Tom. Tom has always been my baby, and I love him so very dearly. Re-writing this book gave me a chance to re-visit his wonderful sarcastic self, and I enjoyed it immensely. I hope you did too!
Love, Cam
♡
PS. The shot they do that tastes like a Haribo Tangfastic is real, my brother works at a bar where they somehow made it happen and it is INCREDIBLE (also will get you drunk enough to fall off a bar stool, if you're me, although that may have been due to the Rolo-flavoured tequila).
Epilogue
Six Months Later
"I am so tired," I groaned dramatically, flopping onto my mother's sofa.
Jenny eyed me from her chair, and said, "Who's fault is that?"
"Past Tom," I whimpered. "He's a dickhead. I can't believe he agreed to go on a night out after the week he's had. What a bellend."
"I know, dear," Jenny said absent-mindedly, flicking through a magazine. "How's Angelo faring?"
Angelo, with a great sense of comedic timing, entered the room and eyed me in amusement. "I'm fine," he answered Jenny's question. "Tom clearly is the one approaching his forties, not me."
I groaned in response. We'd had a very busy week at work, plus I was still knackered from our trip to Budapest. Angelo sat beside me, lifting my head briefly so he could get comfy and then putting my head in his lap. My groan turned to a blissful sigh as he started rubbing my forehead to ease the tension.
"You're worse than Bonnie," Jenny said, referencing Jasper's cat.
I stuck my tongue out at her. "When's mum getting home?"
Jenny checked her phone for the time. "An hour. She's already picked out what she's wearing, though, so she won't take too long to get ready." She eyed me and Angelo. "You guys have chosen what you're wearing, right?"
I sighed. "Yes, mother."
Angelo nodded dutifully. "Picked it out yesterday."
"Good, I don't want a repeat of last time," she said solemnly, clearly thinking back to the last time we'd tried to coordinate a night out and wound up with me crying 'I have nothing to wear' while surrounded by about four hundred items of clothing.
"I'm going to take a shower and some paracetamol," I stretched out lazily and tried to get up in one smooth motion.
Angelo kissed my cheek before I got off the sofa. "Have some coffee."
"Have some coffee," I snorted. "As though that hadn't crossed my mind a thousand times."
******
Tonight was the night Jasper had put together for all of us; a night out in our old haunt, Fruits. I hadn't been in a year or so, and it looked exactly the same. Except for our group. My mothers were nearing their fifties now, having declared the year previously that they now considered themselves to be real adults. They had also declared the rest of us old enough that they didn't need to mother hen us anymore, and had then planned to get absolutely wasted at the club.
The biggest change, of course, was Ross and Jasper. They were coming together, from a house they'd bought in the suburbs just before they got married.
"You know," I said to Angelo, as we walked up to the bar, trying to be heard above the music. "If you'd told me eight years ago that Jasper and Ross would have been married and domestic, I'd have laughed in your face."
"I suppose it's less surprising to me, given that I've only known them together," Angelo laughed, and leaned over the bar to order us drinks. He got me an espresso martini, because he knew me well, but also a cute fizzy shot flavoured like a Haribo Tangfastic with sour sugar dusted across the rim of the shot glass.
"This is so good," I said appreciatively, throwing it back in one. "I want twenty of those before we leave."
Angelo laughed, and then caught sight of something over my shoulder. "Ross and Jasper have arrived," he said, waving to get their attention. Ross smiled and pushed a bouncy, excitable Jasper in our direction.
"Hey!" Jasper beamed, hugging Angelo and kissing me on the forehead. "How was Budapest?"
"Awesome!" I replied, leaning over to kiss Ross hello. "How was Prague?"
"Bonkers beautiful," Jasper replied cheerfully, and looked at his husband. "Drink?"
Ross nodded towards the dance floor. "I think Tom might need one." I reluctantly turned to see my mothers already mildly tipsy from a single glass of wine, swinging each other about wildly on the dance floor.
"Oh God, kill me now," I said, cringing myself into a ball. At that point, Sapphire made her way over, glittery as usual. I hadn't missed the glitter very much; after a night out with Sapphire, I found glitter on my body for at least a week afterwards, no matter how many showers I took.
"They're just enjoying their old age," Sapphire teased me, catching sight of my cringing at my mothers. "We'll all be headed to our - gulp - forties soon!"
Jenny and Lucie, as though they had somehow psychically heard her, started grinding enthusiastically against each other. I groaned loudly and leaned over the bar. "Six Cosmos, please!"
"Where are Cyri and Rory?" Ross asked Jasper.
"They won't be here until later," Jasper checked his phone. "Cyri had to work late."
The bartender handed over the Cosmos very quickly, and I couldn't help but notice that he waved at Sapphire. I wondered if when Sapphire entered a club, all of the bartenders started immediately pre-making Cosmos for when she arrived at the bar. When I returned to the conversation, Sapphire was loudly saying, "I like my light burning bright on the stage! Never working the bar ever again, darling."
Harper had joined us and took one of the Cosmos, smiling affectionately at Sapphire. I threw back my Cosmo quickly, wanting to get significantly more drunk before I went anywhere near my mothers. "Well, if we avoid my mothers, would you like to flash that light of yours on the dance floor?" I asked, holding out my hand. Sapphire took it and cheerfully shimmied onto the dance floor with me, somehow managing to dance in heels and hold a relatively fragile glass without spilling any of her cocktail.
Shortly afterwards, Angelo and Harper joined us, and I had to admire the sight. Angelo was dressed in my favourite outfit of his; the black waistcoat with gold embroidered throughout it. I also knew that underneath, he was wearing lace underwear that I'd persuaded him to get. I grinned to myself with that knowledge.
After a few minutes, I felt his hands on my waist and smiled, turning around so I could wind my arms around his neck. The lights were shining on him, as they always seemed to do when I was near him, illuminating his beautiful face. My wonderful to-be husband. He had changed my life in so many different ways.
I was so lost when I had met him, and he was my anchor. My life had become something I hadn't felt in a long time; purposeful, and safe. He gave me his heart, completely and without expectation, and I gave him mine. I lived in utter contentment, knowing that no matter how tough it got, and how many times I fell down, I'd never wind up in that pit of uncertainty again. My past was my past, and I accepted what had happened. And I knew I'd never be that unhappy again.
"I love you," I told him, leaning in so he could hear me.
Angelo beamed as though it was the first time, every time. "I love you too, Tom," he told me, beautiful and sincere. And I let happiness overcome me, as I always did. As the lights blurred around me, I closed my eyes and thought of the future to come. With Angelo, and the rest of my brilliant and crazy family, it seemed bright.
*****
Please remember that Sequins and Shots will be starting later this year (likely around July/August as I'd like to get more of Soulmates finished first!) so come back for Harper and Edward's story then <3