Page 10 of Molly

She looks at Evie, who is standing with her arms resting on the counter, eating dried banana chips, grinning while her eyes dart back and forth between us.

I like Evie. She came up and introduced herself to me during my third visit, and she’s always here when I come by. She likes to watch the show, obviously. She reminds me of a little fairy, with her shoulder-length, white-blonde hair, big soft brown eyes, and her tiny little frame.

“Tell him this is pointless,” Molly pleads with her friend.

Evie pops another chip in her mouth and stands up straight. She wipes her hands on a tea towel and then holds them up in front of her, trying to placate Molly.

“Hear me out. Why not just go out with him?” she says, surprising us both.

“You’re meant to be on my side!” Molly whines.

Evie rolls her eyes. “I’m always on your side, Molly. You’re the one who needs to catch up. Just go. What’s the worst that could happen?”

I knew there was a reason I liked her.

Throwing her hands in the air dramatically, Molly turns her gaze back to me. “Fine, we can have coffee. Here. Tomorrow. At one. Then this stops, okay?”

Victory.

“You got yourself a deal. I’ll see you at one.” I wink.

I smile at Evie and mouth, “Thank you.” She nods back in reply, and I head for the door, worried if I hang around too long, I’ll say something stupid, and Molly will change her mind.

I got my date.

5

MOLLY

“You look hot, Mol,” Penny says, coming up behind me. I turn my head while bending down to get a bottle of water from the staff room fridge and smile when I see Emma standing at her feet.

This morning she cracked the absolute shits when I told her she couldn’t wear her bright yellow rain boots with her hot pink, frilly dress. Guess what she’s wearing? Honestly, though, she’s rocking the outfit.

“Hi, baby girl. You having fun with Aunty Penny?” I ask.

She nods, and her smile widens. “Mumma, you wook pwetty,” she says. She still has trouble pronouncing her Ls and Rs. They come out sounding more like W’s. I love it.

I stand up, look down, and pull at the bottom of my white t-shirt dress, straightening it. I grabbed a dark blue denim jacket and a pair of white canvas shoes as I was running out the door this morning, and I’m pretty happy with the final look.

“Thank you, baby,” I whisper into her hair as I bend down and kiss the top of her head, getting a whiff of her strawberry shampoo. “You play in here with Aunty P, and I’ll be back soon, okay?”

She nods enthusiastically in reply, already eyeing off the colouring book I put out for her on the table. That girl could draw for hours. Nothing keeps her occupied more than some pencils and a pad of paper.

???

I’m in the middle of pulling dead leaves off a neon pothos when the door swings open, and Ryan walks in. He looks around, trying to spot me for a moment, and when he does, a huge smile spreads across his face. His teeth are so straight and white. It’s distracting. How do they look so bright from here?

“Hey, beautiful,” he calls out, walking towards me.

A few of the customers look my way, and I roll my eyes even though I can feel my cheeks heating. “Shall we?” I ask, gesturing towards an empty table.

He pulls my chair out for me, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes again.He’s playing gentleman today, apparently.

Sitting opposite me, he picks up his menu and starts looking it over. It takes me a second to realise he has no idea what we serve here because he’s only ever ordered coffee. I usually bring him a slice of cheesecake, too, if I’m feeling nice.

“If you’re stuck on what to get, the chocolate cake is amazing. You haven’t tried that yet,” I suggest.

Penny is famous for her chocolate cake. That and the fact she’s fucking gorgeous. We have guys come in here to literally just look at her. It’s creepy.

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