Page 15 of Burn for Me
With an innocent look on her elfin face, she replied, “Me? Never!” before laughing along with Kitty. “Listen, before I forget why I came in, Lee’s in the store asking for you. But, be warned, Archie is lurking. He’s in to get his daily fix.”
Pulling a face of her own, Kitty groaned. “Damn. Okay, I’ll be there in a minute. I just need to wash my hands.”
“Sure thing. I’ll let Lee know.”
Peeking around the corner, Kitty tried to see if there was any way to sneak past Archie. Seeing his attention directed away from the doorway she stepped into the storefront to gesture Lee into the kitchen. Just as she thought she’d get away with it, Archie turned and spotted her.
“Hi, Kitty. Hi. You’re looking beautiful today.” His whole face lit up as his eyes greedily took her in.
“Oh, hey, Archie. How are you?” She tried to signal Lee past her so she could make good an escape back to the kitchen as soon as possible without Archie noticing. Finally, she got the hint. Nodding, she slipped past Kitty.
“Um, Kitty…... Er, I was – um, was wondering. Would you have coffee with me?” His eagerness was palpable. Looking at him, she realised how unfair she was being to him. By constantly putting him off with a casual “maybe another time” each time he asked, she was giving him false hope. It was best to rip the plaster off and just tell him no.
Turning to Lee standing behind her, Kitty spoke softly. “Just give me a sec. I need to take care of this quickly.”
Nodding, but saying nothing, Lee acknowledged her.
“Archie, let’s have a chat over here,” she said, indicating a corner away from all the movement and noise. A corner where she could let him down easy and no one would hear it. “Archie, I don’t know how to say this without hurting your feelings, so I’m just going to say it.” As gently as she could, Kitty continued. “I’ve met someone recently, and we’ve really hit it off. Since we’re only just getting to know each other, I don’t think he’ll like it if I went out for coffee with you. I’m really sorry, Archie.”
An unpleasant look crossed his face before his features settled into a blank look. As brief as the look had been, it made Kitty uncomfortable. She wasn’t quite sure what the look was, but she didn’t think it was anything good.
“I don’t – I don’t think that’s – that’s…...” he stammered, his facing going red. Taking a breath, he tried again. “I don’t think that’s very nice of you, Kitty,” he lisped. His tone short, she realised he was upset. Very upset.
“Archie, I really am sorry. I never meant to hurt your feelings.”
“Well, I – it…... It wasn’t very nice to make me think that you would someday. And – and – and now, you say you can’t because of someone else. That’s…... that’s not very nice. I thought you were a nice person, but it – it, ah…... It seems I was wrong.”
Marching to the door, he gave her one last disgruntled look and stormed out of the shop.
Having turned to see what the ruckus was about, Jazz saw Archie storm out. “Hey Archie, your cupcake,” she called after him, holding the packaged cupcake up. He gave no response as he continued to rush away.
Sighing, Kitty turned towards the kitchen and spotted Lee standing in the doorway, where she’d left her to speak to Archie. Reaching her friend, she said, “Come then. I need coffee now.”
The other woman looked quizzically at her but didn’t give voice to her thoughts.
“I can hear the questions from over here. Ask what you want to ask.” Handing Lee a mug, Kitty went into her office off the kitchen and settled in her chair.
Taking a seat opposite Kitty, Lee eventually asked, “What on earth was all that about? Archie seemed mighty pissed about something.”
Sighing once more, Kitty replied, “He asked me to have coffee with him again. I’ve been putting him off for ages, but I figured today I would grow a backbone and finally tell him no. I don’t want to lead him on. Every time I tell him ‘maybe next time’, it gives him hope that it’ll happen when it won’t. I have no intention of ever going for coffee with him. And it wasn’t fair to keep letting him think otherwise.”
“Ahh,” was all Lee said before taking a sip of her coffee. The long look Lee gave her had Kitty almost squirming in her seat.
“Urgh, don’t look at me like that. I already feel bad.”
“Babe, Morgs and I have been warning you about this for the longest time. You had to know it was coming,” Lee finally replied.
“Yeah, I knew it. Ithasbeen coming for a long time. I should never have left it this long. And that only makes me feel worse.”
Waving a hand, Lee swallowed a mouthful of coffee before saying, “It’s done. No good beating yourself up about it now. Give him time; he’ll get over it. In the meantime, tell me about you. How are you doing? What have you been up to? And most importantly, how did the date go the other night?”
Putting the ugly scene with Archie out of her mind, Kitty grinned. “Oh my god, it was such a fabulous evening. Gray treated me to dinner and dancing. Let me just tell you, that man can move. Girl, if he dances like that, I’d like to know what else he can do that well.”
“A man that dances! You got lucky, babes. That’s a rare breed.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You really like him, don’t you?” Lee asked, giving Kitty another of those penetrating looks.
