Authors: Vickie Johnstone
“
Cool, but w
ould you let me bu
y you a coffee
afterwards
to say sorry
and start afresh
?
”
Josie hadn
'
t expected
that and felt put on
the spot.
“
Alright,
”
she blurted out, before she could stop herself.
“
Cool!
”
said David, disappearing
back
into his hatch.
Shit,
shit, shit,
she thought
, bumbling across the landing
to the bathroom. She locked the door and sat do
wn on the
edge of the
bath.
Why had she said yes? She
'
d
rather go for coffee with Glen!
At least that would be an enjoyable experience and they might actually have something in common! She had a funny feeling
that
coffee with David would involve just talking about his
favourite topic – David! Ugh! S
he breathed a deep sigh and started to run a bath. She needed a very long soak.
The place
David chose was a small coffeehouse in the park, s
urrounded by tree
s. The interior was old-fashioned, with
wooden beams
everywhere
,
and antique-
looking lamps sat on small, round,
wooden tables.
The windows were old and criss-crossed in panels.
Josie got the
impression
that it had been there quite a while and was a family business.
While David went to order some drinks, she
sat down in th
e corner and looked around
. She had to admit that he had made a good choice for coffee. He returned to the table carrying a steaming mocha for her and a latte for himself, along wi
th a handful of wrapped, fruit-filled
biscuits.
“
I thought you might be pe
ckish,
”
he said
,
as she looked at the small
,
sweet pyramid
.
Josie
took
one of the
biscuit
s
thoughtfully. U
n
wrapping
it,
she felt
strangely nervous for no reason in particular.
David looked directly at her.
“
S
o
,
now I
'
ve got you alone…
”
She
trembled
at the thought.
“
I want to apologise for waking you up – twice – and start over. I
'
m not the
selfish git
that you probably think I am,
”
announced David, playing with his spoon between finger and thumb.
Josie
smiled.
“
Apology
accepted
, but
you already apologis
ed.
”
“
Oh
,
”
mumbled David
.
“
Right.
Cool.
”
She
tried to sip her coffee to
avoid filling
the following silence, but i
t was too hot. She spluttered it
.
“
O
ops, it
'
s
hotter
than I was expecting!
”
David grinned.
“
That
'
s because i
t came f
rom a hot place!
”
She
imagined
he did too, but she wasn
'
t going to be fazed by his eerily good looks. Perhaps he had a
deep, dark
secret and
an ugly
painting hidden up there in the attic.
“
They always have
good coffee
here,
”
said David.
“
It
'
s so m
uch b
etter than those
stuck-up
places. Good old-fashioned coffee!
”
Josie raised her eyebrows. That
wasn
'
t something she expected him to say. He was kind of plastic looking
,
so she expected
him to like plastic places. She had always preferred
things that were impe
rfect. Perfection made her nervous
.
“
W
hat made you move to
Parkside
?
”
asked David, looking intently at her. Her lack of enthusiasm for his company intrigued him.
“
I needed somewhere to live
,
and it
'
s close to work an
d where Kay lives,
”
she replied
, thoughtfully
.
“
The street is really green and leafy. I hate grey places.
And then there
'
s the park.
”
“
So you
'
re a bit of a hippie is what you
'
re telling me? You like nature and stuff?
”
“
Yep,
”
said Josie.
“
I even work on magazines about animals. I
'
m happiest ou
t of doors… unless I
'
m sleeping.
”
“
Because
you love your sleep so much and would kill if disturbed!
”
laughed David.
“
Wel
l, you almost found out! If you ha
d
woken me one more time
I wouldn
'
t have been responsible for my actions!
”
David took a sip of his coffee. He wasn
'
t sure if she was joking or not and that made the conversation really interesting.
S
o
different from the women
he was accustomed to, she was a challenge.
“
Exactly h
ow long have you been playing guitar
?
”
asked Josie.
David looked up
, his eyes brightening
. At last,
she was showing
a bit of interest in him.
“
A long, long time!
I
'
m in a band.
”
Josie nibbled on a biscuit, trying to think of something to say.
“
Is it a successful band?
”
I dream of stardom!
”
he grinned.
“
But the highest I
'
ve got is playing in the
local
pub!
”
“
Well you have to start somewhere. Do you enjoy it?
”
“
Yeah
, loads,
”
he replied.
“
It
'
s my passion. I can
'
t imagine doing anything else. I live and breathe music. I know that soun
ds cheesy.
”
“
Yeah, it does, b
ut I get it. Did yo
u ever consider a
regular
career?
”
David grinned.
“
You mean like
an estate agent?
No way. I wouldn
'
t be able to sit st
il
l. I
'
d get so bored a
nd
you have to wear a suit. That
'
s so not me. I
'
d feel squeezed in a suit. I wo
uldn
'
t be able to breathe.
I
'
d look a tosser!
”
Josie giggled, splutter
ing her coffee.
Perhaps Mr Perfect was actually more human than plastic.
“
I hate wearing suits
too. I
n a suit and high heels I
'
d feel like a transvestite!
”
“
Well, cheers to that,
”
laughed David, raising his coffe
e. They clinked mugs and drank
.
“
What say you we get out of here and take a walk?
”
he suggested,
glancing out the window
.
Outside, the sun was blazing. Some children were running around, and a couple of dogs were barking and chasing something.
Josie, despite herself, nodded.
Smiling, David got up, gathering the two mugs
.
“
I
'
ll just
go and
pay the bill.
”
That
was nice of him, she thought, c
onsiderate. She looked down at her hands. She wasn
'
t sur
e what to make of him. T
his
was not a date,
b
ut what if he
believed it was
?
Josie rolled her eyes at the thought – the guy looked
like a supermodel
!
But
what would it be like to date one
? She imagined
a private plane
, red carpets, lights
, cameras, action
...
“
L
et
'
s go!
”
Josie
landed back on Earth and
followed
David
to
the door, which he
patiently
held open for her – another
good sign.
She mumbled a thank you as they wandered out into the sun.
She squinted.
It was bright and warm.
A rush of flower and tree scents
gre
eted her
.
“
These are my favourite trees
– silver birches
,
”
observed
David as they
strode along
.
“
Mine too,
”
she said, adding
“
really
”
when he looked at her
with a raised
eyebrow.
“
They are my favourites because they are so unusual in colour. There are n
o other trees quite like them
.
”
“
I like willows
,
too.
”
“
No way!
”
said Josie,
“
they
'
re my second favourite. We
'
ve always called them Weeping Willows since I was a kid. We used to run under them
'
cos they dangle so. We
'
d stand in the middle underneath them and it would feel like
we were in a tent – a
tent that smelt of
green
.
”
“
Sounds wonderful,
”
said David, digging his hands into his jean pockets.
Josie wondered how there was any space
for
his hands
,
seeing as those jeans looked sprayed on. She forced her attention to divert to a dog chasing a stick. Wow, he can move, she thought. The dog that is!
“
W
ell,
in an attempt to get to know
you
,
and hopefully not sound
too cheesy, what
'
s your favourite colour?
”
asked David after a few minutes of silence.