“Upset?” she snorted, “I already forgot about it.”
She ended her lie with a dismissive wave of the hand and thought how Bella would have been proud to hear her talk so smoothly to him, after everything. His face revealed that he wasn’t indifferent to what she had just said but he decided to continue with the reason he was here nonetheless.
“Well, maybe I can refresh your memory a little,” he grinned and she couldn’t resist smiling back again.
“I’ll just run away again,” she replied and they both laughed.
She was surprised to realize that she wasn’t feeling as nervous as the last time they spoke. She was actually enjoying herself and liked teasing him back.
“Okay then, how about a coffee?”
“A coffee?” Eva replied, remembering Sebastian.
She turned around, instinctively, as if hoping to catch Sebastian somewhere around and, instead, do what she’d promised. But the only thing she saw around her were nameless faces, heading out for the day.
“Waiting for someone?” Frey asked.
“What?” she didn’t hear him at first, and then, a second later, his question registered. “No, no, not waiting for anyone. A coffee is fine.”
She carelessly threw her backpack on her shoulder and started out but he didn’t move. He was eyeing her, as if he wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not and he really wanted to find out.
“Coming?”
She turned around, questioningly. He stirred from his thoughts, nodded quickly, then joined her.
They reached the cafeteria quickly. It was usually packed and finding an empty table to sit down at was quite a challenge, as it was the only place to eat and drink, unless someone preferred picnics in the forest, only not this time of the year. Eva’s suspicions proved to be right. There was no table to sit down at. The only option was to get a coffee to go and leave for a walk but Eva didn’t mind walking.
“Hey, Frey!”
At that moment, they both heard someone call out to him. Eva didn’t know which way to turn, so she looked at Frey. He scanned the room for a second, then realized who the voice belonged to. He raised his hand to wave, grabbed Eva with his other hand and pulled her over to a nearby table. It was occupied by only one person, who had a coffee and a half-eaten piece of cheesecake in front of him.
“Hey man, what’s up?” Frey greeted his friend, then turned to Eva. “Eva, this is Dorian.”
There it was again. That gaze, the same one he gave her at the game. Eva froze. She didn’t even see the hand Dorian offered her. He waited like that for a second or two, then pulled it back.
“I usually don’t have that effect on women,” he laughed and, only then, did Eva realize that she had made a fool of herself.
“Oh, sorry,” she tried to fix it. “I’m kinda lost today, I zone out unexpectedly.”
“I can vouch for that,” Frey added with a smile and she looked at him gratefully, “it happened just before we came over here.”
“Well, in any case, it’s nice to meet you, Eva. I remember your first day speech.”
“Seriously?” Eva covered her eyes as a joke and they all laughed. “That Freud thing is going to haunt me forever.”
“Probably,” Dorian smiled. “But, it’s a good thing to be haunted by.”
“Totally,” Frey nodded, “could be much worse.”
“Why don’t you guys take a seat?” Dorian offered, gesturing at the two free chairs at the table.
“Oh, we don’t wanna impose,” Eva shook her head.
One guy she liked was enough. Two at the same time would be too much to handle right now.
“There is no other spot,” Frey told her, looking around again, to make sure they hadn’t missed anything.
She looked around as well. He was right. They could either join Dorian or grab a coffee to go.