Page 33 of Couple Goals

‘So? So what?’

Maeve shakes her head, putting on her hoodie, her trackies over her shorts, remembering again that she’s commando, the reasons why, the memory of Kira touching her. She forces herself to look at her, trying to pretend she’s fine with what’s just happened between them and it doesn’t have to mean anything deep.

‘I’ll see you on Monday, okay? One-on-one training. Let’s just… concentrate on our jobs. Maybe this– this side of things will… die down.’

‘Is that what you want?’ Kira asks, folding her arms.

‘No!’Maeve wants to scream.‘Obviously what I want is for us to do that again, preferably right now, but if not, then in my bed, as soon as possible, when we can really take our time, and I can compete with you to make you feel as good as you made me!’

But instead, Maeve swallows all her desires down, as she’s used to doing, and just nods.

‘I’ll– I’ll see you on Monday. I’m… I’m sorry.’

‘What are you apologising for?’ Kira calls after her.

But Maeve’s already leaving, so that Kira doesn’t see the emotion on her face.

Chapter 11Adriana

Adriana taps her heel against the elegant leg of the cafe’s table. Every time the door opens, something in her jolts and she lifts her head to naturally give a broad winning smile to the man who just entered. But it’s not Jacob, just some dude now trying to smile back at her. She sighs and tosses her carefully conditioned hair, readjusts herself on the chair to reset.

It’s now two minutes to midday, so he could be here any second. Jacob strikes her as someone who would be a stickler for being on time, so she made a concerted effort to arrive early. She wonders if there’s an etiquette to arriving on time for a date, whether it’s better to look more casual by being late. She doesn’t know – she hasn’t been on a ‘date’ since she was sixteen with her ex Dylan, and he was so insistent that they were ‘casual’ that it was only to go and make-out at the cinema.

She reminds herself it doesn’t matter, because this isnota date. It’s a business meeting.

It’s a shame, really. Only because this is a perfect date location. Honey is a recently opened cafe which turns into a bar in the evening,and it’s a little off the beaten track in the city centre, so there’s no tourists or freelancers with laptops, only a few similarly clued-in couples sat on their high bar stools or soft low armchairs, sipping expertly brewed coffee from artisan hand-thrown ceramics. It has an intimate and understated atmosphere, with exposed brick walls and warm lighting, an oasis of well-tended luscious plants, and a few chic design details which nod to the symbols of the city – artwork depicts anatomical illustrations of ‘worker bees’ and the tables each have little unique vases with single red roses, connected to the symbolic rose of Lancaster.

Adriana knows this all because she’s actually friends with the owner. She went to school with the daughter of the head pastry chef, Emily d’Montford, and their families have stayed friends – as Adriana tends to do. She came to their opening night with Maeve a few months ago and it had been such a fun evening. She got to try a sample of all the different pastries and espresso martini, and she had even taken a hot chef home with her, who she’d insisted on calling The Bear even though he was nowhere as intense as Jeremy Allen White’s character in the TV show. He’d had incredible forearms, she remembered. He had been an ideal one-night stand. Hot, but she hadn’t felt anything romantic for him.

The door opens again, and this time, her stomach lurches for good reason. Jacob’s here.

Jacob’s wearing a light brown bomber jacket over a simple but box-fresh white t-shirt, straight-cut chinos, and a thin gold chain which makes her think of Connell fromNormal People. Adriana realises she’s not seen Jacob in casual clothes before. But even though he’s not wearing his customary shirt or tie,his clothes are of the intentional design and expensive fabric which hardly makes it look ‘casual’ either.

He looks so good, Adriana forgets to do her cute smile and wave. Instead, he casts his eyes round the room looking for her, attracting the curious looks of other women in the room. Adriana feels just a little smug that it’s her that he’s meeting, and sits up straighter, tossing her hair. His eyes find hers, and he smiles back. Adriana feels like she’s in a parallel universe, where the two of them are simply a new couple, meeting for a second date in a cafe, pleased to see each other.

He walks slowly over to their little corner table.

‘Hey!’ says Adriana, finding herself flustered. ‘You found it okay! Cute, right?’

She stands, not knowing whether they’ll go for a hug, kiss, or even handshake. Jacob doesn’t seem to know either. He stays standing, and pushes his glasses up his nose, his intense hazel eyes on her.

‘So, Adriana, what do you want?’

Adriana flushes and gawps at him.

‘Umm… Well… We can get straight to business then–’

‘I meant, to drink,’ he corrects her.

Adriana is mortified. She isn’t used to being flustered around a man.

‘Oh, it’s okay,’ she says. ‘I’ll– I can get my own.’

Jacob raises an eyebrow. ‘If you prefer.’

He turns on his heel towards the front.

‘Oh, but it’s actually table service,’ she calls.

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