Page 56 of Filthy Rich Temptation
Rich. Dark. Comforting.
Every day, I get a whiff of Theo’s local independent coffee shop, Becca’s Brew. And every day, I think maybe…
I know Theo keeps the good stuff at home, but there’s something magical about a coffee-shop brew. A proper barista-crafted, foam-art, soul-warming cup.
Back in the pre-Danny era, it was my daily ritual: coffee and a vlog. Now, just the thought of squeezing into a cramped café sets my anxiety off. But if I can dodge traffic and puddles mid-run like some Lycra-clad ninja, surely I can handle one tiny coffee shop?
I come to a halt outside the hand-painted shop front, a vibrant rainforest scene that never fails to thrill Lottie when we pass. Heart still hammering, I peer through the steamed-up glass. It’s packed. A writhing sea of bodies and a cacophony of noise.
Every instinct screams,Pivot and go home. But wouldn’t it be nice not to return empty-handed for once? To bring Theo a treat and say,Thank you, and,Hey, look what I did!
Before I can talk myself out of it, I push inside. The noise rushes at me with the bell jangling above the door but no one so much as looks my way. Winning.
I slip into the queue behind a brunette woman who’s expertly rocking a buggy with one hand while scrolling through her phone with the other. Her toddler, not much younger than Lottie, peeks out – a gorgeous afro crowning wide, rich-brown eyes that widen into fishbowls the moment they meet mine.
I smile, and he grins back, all goofy and delighted.
Okay. I’ve got this.
‘Hey Char, you seen this?’ Another woman, blonde, just ahead of her in the queue turns and hands her a colourful leaflet from a pile near the counter. ‘It’s a new soft play just down the road.Finally, we have somewhere we can run to when the weather’s like this. Joshua’s already climbing the walls after two days of it.’
She isn’t joking. Joshua is actively trying to mount the pastry display as she speaks.
‘Tell me about it,’ the brunette says as her friend wrestles her kid back to her side. ‘Yesterday, this one managed to spill juice all over Ian’s laptop. It wasn’t pretty. All this working from home is great but when Parker’s having a mad half-hour or three, it’s a nightmare.’ She glances down at the leaflet. ‘This might save my sanity as well as Ian’s.’
From his vantage point in the buggy, Parker starts pointing at my trainers. ‘Pink!’
I glance down, give them a twitch. ‘You’re right, they are.’
Parker nods, mighty pleased, and his mother turns to me.
‘He’s obsessed with colours right now,’ she says with a smile. ‘Everything is either pink, blue, or “not pink”.’
I laugh lightly. ‘That sounds about right.’
‘You’ve got a little one too?’ she asks.
‘Yeah. Lottie. She’s three.’
‘Oo, have you tried this place with her?’ she says, gesturing to the leaflet, and I shake my head. ‘I reckon I might give it a go this afternoon. What do you reckon, Rach?’
Her friend peels her son off the serving counter. ‘Definitely! You and your daughter wouldn’t fancy coming too, would you?’ she suddenly says to me. ‘If you’re free, that is…’
I blink at the invitation, startled by the warmth of it. Freaked at the ease. But maybe this is how it should be. One mum inviting another to find some calm amongst the crazy.
‘My Joshua could do with meeting some girlfriends. It might rein him in a little.’
Parker’s mum laughs. ‘You setting Josh up on dates already, Rach?’
‘Playdates, Char! Nothing more. No pressure, though,’ she adds for my benefit. ‘But we seem to be inundated with boys. Would be great to have a girl in the mix.’
I laugh again, getting swept up in their easy banter. ‘I worry my Lottie would only lead him further astray.’
‘Ha, I like your honesty. But let’s face it, they’re all a little wild at this age. Better to have them burning off steam in a place like that than destroying the home, right?’
‘True,’ I say, thinking about Theo’s once-pristine pad. And it’s tempting. Surprisingly so. Maybe Icoulddo this. Maybe it’s time to stop simply surviving and start shaping something new – lay down roots, build a life. A life with friends in it.
How did Theo put it?
