Page 16 of Crying in the Rain

Kris zoomed out, taking in the whole person again, and discovered he wasn’t the only one having a good look while they could.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”

“Thirty-six. You?”

“Thirty-nine in January.” That sounded so much older than thirty-six.

“Ooh! My birthday’s in January too,” Ade said. “The twentieth.”

“Mine’s the thirteenth.”

“Oh…” Ade seemed disappointed, but then shrugged and added, “Well, that’s exactly a week apart.”

“We were obviously destined to meet,” Kris teased.

“Without a doubt!” Ade smiled, zapping Kris with the same spark as last night.

“I don’t feel nearly forty.”

“No, me neither, but what does that mean? Feeling nearly forty?”

“Older and wiser?” Kris speculated.

“Ha, I wish I was wiser.” Ade shook his head, briefly retreating into himself before shrugging it off. “You’re right, though. I dress like my dad.”

“Hey, I didn’t…mean… It was just you said…” Kris pursed his lips, hearing his mum’s voice in his head.Stop, take your foot out of your mouth, and try again.“Your dad had excellent taste.”

Ade bowed demurely. “A sideways compliment, but I’ll take it.”

Kris laughed. “And I suppose at my age, I should be dressing a little more conservatively.”

“Why?” Ade nodded at Kris’s shirt. “That’ssoyou.”

Kris pulled his shirt out a bit so he could see it. Shaunna had picked it out for him, claiming the swirls in multiple shades of blue, turquoise and green perfectly complemented his complexion and drew out the blue of his eyes. He’d taken her word for it, to save himself another half an hour of indecision that might’ve meant missing Ade. Still, he was curious.

“How is it so me?” he asked.

“Based on yesterday, and your CV. And…” Ade blushed so deeply his freckles all but disappeared. “Your online agency profile, reviews, interviews…”

Kris narrowed his eyes. “Are you stalking me, Mr. Simmons?”

Ade nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

They both laughed but quickly fell quiet again. Their cups were empty, their coffee date over. This could be the last time they saw each other, because even though Ade had just admitted he had all Kris’s contact details, they hadn’t officially exchanged them, and Kris didn’t want to impose.

“I’ll let you get back to work,” he said as Ade said, “I’ll walk you out.”

Kris had walked himself in, but he wasn’t going to argue against a few minutes more in Ade’s company.

As they travelled down in the lift, he watched Ade’s fuzzy reflection in the steel walls, observing that they were both doing the same thing again. They shared a smile but didn’t speak until they reached the ground floor, where Ade stood by while Kris handed back his visitor’s pass, then followed him outside.

“Might as well have a smoke while I’m here,” he said, pulling a cigarette packet from his jeans pocket. He thumbed towards the side street that ran next to the radio station building and moved off. Kris moved with him. “You don’t have to stay—oh! I haven’t given you my number!” Switching the packet to his other hand, Ade took out his phone and unlocked it. The packet slipped upwards out of his grasp and tumbled down onto the pavement. “Damn it.”

“I’ve got it,” Kris said. He picked up the packet and kept hold of it while Ade dealt with his phone.

“What’s your number?”

“Not a clue!” Kris took out his phone and unlocked it…and dropped the cigarette packet.

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