Page 85 of Reclaiming Love

Chapter 47

After work had never been their usual time of meeting and for that reason Melissa felt strange to be at the coffee shop now—albeit with a more relaxed after-work crowd, people who were in no rush to get anywhere.

She herself felt exactly like that—at ease, and with a sense of calm she hadn’t experienced in days. It seemed as though she and Noah were slowly moving around the edges of a boundary, carefully appraising their decision to become entwined in one another’s lives. Their slow, hesitant steps towards each other—steps that had begun months ago—now appeared to coalesce at a junction, a point in time where they both now found themselves.

She dared not hope for too much, yet the anticipation of meeting him tonight warmed her inside as much as her hand wrapped around her tall glass of latte did. She’d arrived a little early and sat waiting for him, reading a paranormal romance on her Kindle.

“Mel?”

She looked up, distracted, and quickly jumped to attention.

“What’re you doing here?” Matt asked her. And because it was the only honest answer she could give him, she replied, “Reading a book.” Her voice was strangely calm, even though her heart hammered like a steel band under her ribcage. It occurred to her to get up and leave. She couldn’t risk Noah turning up now.

“What are you doing here?” She closed her Kindle case and noted his smart appearance. He’d needed to impress at the interview, she thought.

“Going to the gym.” Even though he hadn’t called or let her know anything about his suspension—not that she expected or wanted him to—she knew he hadn’t been at work today, or at any time this week.

His eyes narrowed. “Who are you waiting for?” he asked breaking the uncomfortable silence with an unanswerable question. Knowing she couldn’t run the risk of him seeing her and Noah—it would enable him to piece it all together—she began to put her Kindle into her bag and made moves to leave.

“What’s up, Mel? Don’t you have anything to say?”

At that moment, Noah appeared by Matt’s side. “Hey,” he said, greeting Melissa warmly, a fire in his eyes that she hadn’t seen for a while.

She returned his look in alarm and then saw Matt, with his mouth hanging open, trying to make sense of the sight of them both. And then it seemed to hit him: Noah hadn’t accidentally bumped into him at the coffee shop. Noah had come here to meet Melissa. If there were a Richter scale for registering shock, Matt’s face would have scored ten.

The moment seemed to wind down into slow-motion, and she tensed, standing where she was, with her hand on her bag, waiting for someone to say or do something.

“Imagine running into you again,” said Noah, his gaze calm and unwavering, his mouth upturned. He slipped his hand out easily for a handshake.

Matt held his hand out stiffly. He looked caught in a web of bewilderment. “You two know each other?”

“Yeah,” replied Noah, cockily. “We do, as a matter of fact.” He gave Melissa a warm look that did more to heat her insides than the latte had done.

“How?” Matt stepped back, ignoring his question. Then he turned to Melissa. “When?”

She told herself there was nothing to feel guilty about, that she had done nothing wrong. Summoning courage, she answered, “We met here.” She had successfully rendered Matt’s face a question mark. “We’re friends.” She could almost hear his brain crunching over dates and scenarios. How they’d met, when they’d got together.

Later on, in time, he would no doubt wonder about his files being corrupted, and about the scan on his work computer, and then he would look more closely upon this newfound liaison he had stumbled upon. But for now, Melissa assumed, he was merely clutching at straws, putting two and two together but not coming up with four.

“Did you dump me for him?” Matt asked her, his voice incredulous.

She saw Noah move, wanting to answer that one, but he contained himself and looked at her as if to say: you’ve got this.

“I didn’t dump you for anyone. I tried to break up with you because you made me feel like shit. But you wouldn’t let me go.”

Matt’s lips twitched, and he let out a grunt. Eyes narrowed, he peered at them both. It looked as if he wanted to ask questions, but he didn’t know what he could ask, probably because in doing so he would only implicate himself further.

“By the way, dude. I recommended you to my boss.” Noah kept his tone light and jovial. But Matt was too caught up in the mismatched pieces of the puzzle. Noah continued, affably enough. “I have a feeling he might shortlist you. Of course, it all depends on character references next.”

At this, Matt blanched. “Yeah?” He gave Melissa a cutting look once and then mumbled a hasty goodbye to them both and left. When he’d gone out of the door, Melissa allowed herself to speak. She turned to Noah, feeling a sense of relief come over her. “I’m sorry. I was about to leave, so that this wouldn’t happen.”

“I followed him in, Melissa. I saw him look through the windows. I knew he was coming to speak to you.”

“Why did you want him to see you? He’ll figure it all out.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

“You don’t know him.”

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