“What are they doing, giving you a hard time?”
“I started writing this book while I was still happy and in a steady relationship with John. I write about love and romance and all kind of things you’ll probably think are sappy and stupid. But my relationship ended, and love and I are kind of done at the moment. But my characters haven’t gotten the memo.”
“Love and you are done?”
I simply nod, and he huffs.
“Love and I’ve been done for a long time and I don’t miss it one bit.”
I don’t tell him that’s pretty sad in my opinion, so I just give him a little smile and take a sip of my tea. It's good tea.
“So, O said you’re joining us for drinks on Friday?” he breaks the silence.
“If I manage to finish these chapters that is. I didn’t know you were joining us as well; I only knew about Gil and O?”
“We’re kind of a package deal on Fridays. It’s our regular drinking night.” He stretches his legs and then stands up. “I’ll let you get back to your characters, so you’ll be able to come out with us. It’ll be fun.”
I look him directly in his bright blue eyes and the corners of my mouth inadvertently go up. “I’m looking forward to it.”
A few hours later I let my head fall on the keyboard of my laptop. I manage to stop myself from doing it over and over again, because I don’t trust myself to not let my chapter disappear again. From the other side of the room, Shelby walks over and lays a gentle hand on my back.
“You okay, sweety?”
A sound like a gentle whining moan leaves my mouth. I start laughing when it reaches my ears because I sound pathetic.
“I’m good. Splendid. Marvellous. Ecstatic. My characters are way too happy for my liking and they’re making it impossible to write this chapter.”
She winks at me while she tries to hold her laugh back. “For future reference, does this mean you need more coffee or is this the point where I cut you off?”
“Definitely one of those two options. I’m not telling you which though,” I answer while pointing a finger at her and squeezing one eye shut.
The door opens and Miss Patterson and Miss Frieda walk in with their yoga outfits on. I wasn’t aware that we have a yoga studio in Charlington, but I guess I don’t know everything about the small town I grew up in anymore.
“Hey girls,” Shelby welcomes the old ladies, while they seat themselves at a table across the room.
“Shelby baby,” Miss Frieda says as she not so smoothly tries to sit down. “Can we get two of the largest coffees you can manage to make?”
“Aren’t you supposed to drink water after yoga?” the sassy café owner says.
“Shush your mouth child. That was no yoga class! That was torture. Senior yoga my ass! Bodies aren’t supposed to do that after sixty. Now, be a doll and get us some coffee. See if you can get your brother to spike it with something strong if you can too.”
I snort and watch as Shelby takes off to make them coffee. With the finished coffees in her hands, she sticks her head into the kitchen, searching Dean out.
“Can you spike these drinks for our local hags?” she asks.
“Yeah, that’s our deal,” he answers.
“Your deal?”
“Yeah, I hit them up with spiked coffees and they stop hitting on me and harassing me.”
The two old ladies give each other a knowing smirk and I can’t help but love the people of this town. I’ve always known they’re the source of all the gossip in town, but I wasn’t aware of their cougar tendencies. I can’t say I blame them when it comes to Dean though.
When the door opens again and a group of tired looking women step in, I shut my laptop and start packing everything up. I can see that Roots isn’t normally as quiet as it is on Wednesday mornings, but I like the peace, and I’m not in the mood to deal with groups of people or noises in general this day. This must be the afternoon rush Shelby mentioned earlier. When I reach the register to pay my bill, I hear Miss Patterson and Miss Frieda giggling and ogling Dean’s butt as he walks back after bringing their booze over.
“Done for the day?” Shelby asks.
“Yeah, it’s probably as much as I’m going to get out of it today. I had a really productive day as well to be honest. So you can expect me back some time soon.”