Page 10 of Coffee Shop Cupid
“Cause you’d kick us in the nuts if we tried,” Lenny retorted as he carried a tray of sliced onions to the prep station. “Seriously though, unless you’re really close, it takes a lot to flip that switch. However, crying in public would probably do it.”
“It was more than that…” I replied. “It was like…” I paused. “Like he’d been hurting so long that he’d forgotten what happiness was.”
Both Natalie and Lenny winced.
“He seemed down when he ordered,” she said. “But I didn’t get that from him.”
I shook my head. “Just a feeling, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d learned to hide it, at least somewhat.”
“Now I feel bad that I wasn’t paying more attention,” Natalie said.
“No,” I said. “Don’t feel bad. You were busy, and it’s not as if he’s anybody we know.”
“I guess…”
“Do me a favor though?”
“What is it?”
“Let me know if he comes back and I’m not out front. I’d like to check on him.”
She smiled. “Sure thing.”
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t my place, but I still wanted to make sure that the handsome man was doing ok.
Chapter 5 - Tristan
Istared at the plastic-wrapped plate, and the two danishes on it.
They’d still been warm when I returned home, but I’d been too emotional to eat. So I’d plopped them on a plate and wrapped it to keep them from getting stale.
Several hours later, they looked to be more like dessert than breakfast. But I still had them to look forward to, thanks to the kind alpha who’d run them out to me.
Unfortunately, I was embarrassed that he had seen me in such a state.
When would I get past the memories? When would I stop randomly crying in public?
∞∞∞
“Do you want to talk about it?” my therapist, Joey, asked several days later as I sat on his couch, head down and hands clasped between my knees.
I stared at the floor, tracing the circles in the rug with my eyes.
“Tristan?”
I took a deep breath. “I started crying in public again.”
“I see,” he responded. “Do you know why?”
I shook my head. “It was already a bad day,” I admitted. “I’d had the nightmare, so it was all on my mind.”
“Where were you?”
“A coffee shop. I’d decided to go out for breakfast.”
“That’s a big step. I’m proud of you.”
