Page 13 of Trust Fall
The kitchen was silent.
Gabby stood, hands on hips, eyebrow raised waiting for Ivy’s response.
Ivy stood, but her jaw was on the floor, and her head was spiraling at either the possibility of taking a chance with Cleo or being set-up with a woman by Gabby. She was unsure what to think never mind actually responding to Gabby.
Lucas grinned, eyes flicking between his wife and his best friend, wondering which one will cave first.
“Well,” Ivy said softly, “good to know where you stand... I guess?!”
“Three years is a bit much you know, even for you,” Gabby added, but Ivy could see the slightest of twitches at the edge of her friend’s mouth. There. A smirk. Dammit.
Gabby and Lucas looked at each other and buckled in laughter.
“Ivy, babe, you know I’m only messing. Mostly.” Gabby softened her gaze towards her friend. “This woman has had your sole attention, and kept it, for three years, without even knowing it. For you to feel that strong a pull towards her means that she must be something special. The fact that she’s gotyourattention? Means that she better be special enough to deserve it.Because you deserve to have someone who treats you the very same way in return.”
“Yeah, what she said,” Lucas echoed his wife’s sentiments in the only way he knew how—with very few words.
“Thanks guys, I really appreciate the... I want to say support, but I’m just not sure mushy feelings is our thing, you know?” Ivy smirked at her two closest friends. For all they wound each other up, and called each other out on their mess, Ivy knew that these people, her chosen family, would always be there for. Whether she liked it or not.
“Right, enough of this mush. Ivy’s right, that’s not us.” Lucas said with a grin. “Shall we get this movie started then?”
“Absolutely!” Gabby agreed, laughing. She started gathering up the bowls to take to the den and turned to speak to Ivy as she walked. “This one is an absolute classic. If you’ve not seen it, you’re no longer my friend. And if you don’t like it, you can’t be Lucas’s friend either.”
“Harsh, but that’s to be expected from you,” Ivy laughed and carried through a stack of three plates, with a bowl of grated cheese on top in one hand, and a bowl of guacamole in the other hand. “So, what movie do I have no choice but to have seen and absolutely love or risk losing access to my two favorite humans and my second home?”
“The Breakfast Club,” Gabby said with an eyebrow raised in question.
“Oh, the school detention movie?” Ivy asked hopefully.
“Ye-es?” Gabby narrowed her eyes, looking for Ivy’s opinion on her face as she sat down the tray of heated tortillas and dish of fajita filling.
“Seen it,” Ivy watched Lucas come in carrying a stack of three glasses under an arm carrying a mocktail pitcher in the same hand, and a bowl of salsa in the other hand. “And it’s not asbad as Dirty Dancing,” Ivy laughed as Lucas nearly dropped the pitcher from laughing so hard.
“That’s it, Ivy, you’re on your final warning with the Dirty Dancing comments!” Gabby roared at Ivy as she picked up the beanbag Ivy typically sat on and threw it to the back of the room.
Ivy wiped the tears from her eyes and went to collect her beanbag. “Ok, ok, I’m sorry Mom, last time, I swear.”
Chapter 13
Cleo
Cleo decided to go on a walk to the shops during her lunch break, something she had never done since setting up office at the river. She’d always either stayed in the office or gone on a walk along the water to help clear her head.
Today, she had decided to go and explore some of the shops she had noticed at the weekend with Sophie but hadn’t made it into yet. Namely, the camera shop with the telescopes.
She made it as far as the front door and realized that they had closed for their lunch break at the same time she had. She then remembered that she was late in taking lunch today, but she figured she’d take a few photos of the display models in the window on her phone to look up online when she got back to her desk later.
Considering she now had more time before she needed to be back at the office, and that she hadn’t gotten coffee for Lana in far too long, she crossed over the street and headed toward the coffee shop. She’d get Lana’s favorite. There was absolutely no other reason for going. Itdefinitelyhad nothing to do with the slightest possibility of seeing Ivy again.
As she cautiously pushed the door open, she was greeted by the warm, spiced smell of the roasted coffee beans behind the counter. Cleo’s mouth began to water at the thought of drinking some of the warm liquid after being out in the cold air that afternoon.
She stepped up to the counter, suddenly very aware of the clicking noise her heels were making on the wooden floor in the quiet shop as she approached. She was warmly welcomed by the type of man-boy who was very difficult to place an age on. He could have been anywhere between nineteen and thirty-five. He had mussed blonde hair more suited to a surfer, but his overall appearance seemed a little more preppy than she would have expected for a barista.
“Hi there, what Cuppa Comfort can I make for you this afternoon?” the man-boy asked her.
“Can I have two large cappuccinos to go please, and can you make one of them decaf please?” Cleo inwardly cringed at having said “please” twice in the single sentence. She looked around the shop to try and relax and noticed only one other customer. There was a student seated at the high bar top counter that ran along the main window, typing frantically on her laptop with largeheadphones to avoid distractions but other than that, the shop was empty.
“Absolutely,” the man-boy replied. Cleo scanned the rest of the shop absent-mindedly as the barista picked up two stacked to-go cups and had already removed the lid from his marker. “Can I take a name for your order?” he looked up at her expectantly.
